Poor Performance Key Phrases Options

[johnn]

Hi,

In an ad group of google adwords, I have some very good CTR performance phrases and some poor CTR performance phrases, though all have normal status, should I remove poor CTR performance phrases or not? BTW, the whole CTR of an ad group is still good.

Thanks,
John

[Scottie]

Hi Johnn-

Which ones convert more? If you get a low CTR, but the ones that do click actually buy, I'd keep them. That's a very good thing- the ad is only sending qualified traffic.

Conversely, if you have great CTR's but low sales for some ads, turn 'em off! They are burning up your budget and not converting.

Click throughs are not the goal- it's traffic that buys. Start with converson rates and work back from there. (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Jill]

Google will disable the low ctr's in time anyway, I believe.

[Haystack]

Purging underperforming terms will definitely improve your ad's overall performance, but as Scottie has pointed out, just because a term has a low CTR doesn't mean it should be removed entirely. A good strategy for this is to create new ad groups with the purged terms.

Jill, in this case, it sounds like johnn's CTR's on poor performers are not poor enough to automatically get disabled so he has to decide for himself.

[Martin C]

it sounds like johnn's CTR's on poor performers are not poor enough to automatically get disabled

It is my understanding that Google have over the past 6 months introduced a 'restricted' state that makes the disabling of keywords less frequent than it was - as to how long a keyword remains 'restricted' before being 'disabled' or returned to normal - I'm not sure.

I agree totally with Haystack that the poor performing keywords should be moved to a new campaign so they start with a new slate - just a warning don't do it the otherway round i.e. leave the poor performing keywords and move the good performing keywords to a new campaign as that would loose all the historical performance data.

[patrickmeast]

It is my understanding that Google have over the past 6 months introduced a 'restricted' state that makes the disabling of keywords less frequent than it was - as to how long a keyword remains 'restricted' before being 'disabled' or returned to normal - I'm not sure.

I agree totally with Haystack that the poor performing keywords should be moved to a new campaign so they start with a new slate - just a warning don't do it the otherway round i.e. leave the poor performing keywords and move the good performing keywords to a new campaign as that would loose all the historical performance data.

Do the keywords really start with a clean slate if you move them to a new campaign? This has been the case historically but I've done a bit of this in recent months, trying to get disabled keywords to work. The tactic seems to work for the first hundred or so impressions in the new campaign but then Google disables the keyword again.

[Martin C]

Do the keywords really start with a clean slate if you move them to a new campaign?

Well I did attend a Google presentation (end of Oct) and the Google speaker did say that this was the case. I wouldn't like to say it's a fact but it did come from a Google bod. It sort of makes sense that it would work that way - but when has that been anything to go on. I guess it is the sort of thing that we could ask Google technical support one way or the other - trouble is by the time they reply they might have changed it (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/lol.gif)

[Pauline]

Just following this thread and thought I would add my experience. I have many accounts that have gone through the disable stage and have talked with many reps at Google on how to fix this.

Yes, in the past, when keywords got shut down, you simply had to change ad copy or change the parameters of the term (ie broad, specific) and voila - it was back in. Then that didn't work so the new strategy was to simply create a new adgroup. Then that didn't work so then I had to create new campaigns which of course doesn't work.

Now the situation is this - once your keywords get disabled, you won't be able to keep them going within that account because the system takes a historical picture from your whole account. The one solution was to start a whole new account which in reality, could lead to the same results - keywords getting disabled because of no impressions. The other is to change the parameters of your keyword from broad to quotations etc.. That's not always a great solution because in some cases, that term needs to be broad because visitors search in a whole variety of ways as you know.

It's troubling because we were all encouraged to expand on our keywords, get more terms, get specific and now that's all useless. It's also tough if you have a very niche term, region specific or seasonal. Most of my regional terms got nixed.

I was thinking that if the keyword was not generating any impressions, then people simply weren't searching for it....not....I believe Google's system is not recognizing the actual search because they applied it to the broadest term possible - I see this in my log files all the time.

On another note regarding "in trial". Those tagged keywords do not slow down the account so leave those in but try to isolate them into another adgroup with new ads. Also I found out from one rep at AW, even if you have a high impression rate, their system might deem that keyword non-performing based on poor performance from all competitors. Not sure if some of you get this but understanding how AW works is still very much a game today.

I have all kinds of theories on why Google is doing this type of filtering but that's a whole chapter plus I would never want to "assume" what they are up to.

Hope this helps....

[Martin C]

Thanks Pauline for sharing your experiences - I certainlyfound what you wrote interesting. It does seem a bit extreme to penalise a whole account. Shows how fluid the whole thing is.

When people are starting out using Adwords they are bound to make some basic mistakes and it does seem extreme that certain keywords could them be marked useless for eternity.

Everyone makes mistakes it's part of the learning process - I really think they ought to have a 'start again' option. Lets hope they get the balance right soon - and when they do they then communicate it.

[supak]

I've been shutting down the high click through phrases at overture, as they also happen to be the most expensive for my clients. I've found the best conversions are on the very specific phrases, which reflect the niche aspects of the product more than the general, which tends to attract the more casual browser.

This has helped increase sales for less money spent. That's the ration my clients like best.

[Haystack]

Welcome, supak. (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

By high click through, do you mean the click volume or the rate? I'll assume the former since niche terms tend to have high CTRs due to less ad competition.

General terms involve a level of merchandising beyond having a product in stock at a fair price. People haven't made up their mind about what they want yet, so it's up to the web site to guide them. Most sites do an extremely poor job of this, but for those who figure it out, they can make a lot of money because the search volumes are so high for the more general terms.