Your Biggest Problem in SEM?

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What is your BIGGEST problem in SEM?
Wanted to start a discussion to see where there are problems to be solved.

Here are some issues I've had in the past:

cost-per-click is too high - need cheaper keywords
Ad Click-thru rate too low - Need better ads
Landing page conversion rate too low
Need more volume -- CTR too low or trouble finding new keywords
Landing page doesn't match all of the different ads being tried, not dynamic enough
Adwords interface too complex
others..?
#pay per click/search engine marketing (ppc/sem) #biggest #ppc #problem #sem
  • You'll find that these are the same "problems" every PPC advertiser has or is trying to solve.

    CTR: you said it yourself, you need better ads. Searchers are not going to click an ad if it doesn't address what their search intent is (which could be a problem that you are being too broad with your keywords). Also, CTR is heavily dependent on ad position just like organics are so we are talking here of improving relative CTR for a certain position. Your CTR and thus ad quality may not be improved if you are comparing absolute CTR in one position vs that of one in another position. That's why QS exists.

    CPC: when QS increases, CPC generally decreases. This is also a relative term. While you may balk at paying a certain price, even with a great QS, that may be the standard in your industry (the keywords).

    Low LP conversion. Most sites suffer from this. Much as you need to convince people to click your ad, you then have to close the sale. In other words, give them an offer they can't refuse. If you don't, the competition will grab those sales away from you if they have a better offer. A better offer is not the lowest price, it's providing the best value.

    Volume. Search volumes for any keywords are what they are. You cannot increase that. You can of course get more clicks with better CTR. This may also give you a larger share of impressions as your QS will improve and Adwords giving you a larger slice of the impression share.

    The Adwords interface can be confusing, even complex for those not using it very often. Heck, it can be even for old pros, especially with new functionality. There is not much one can do about that except learn its intricacies.
  • Most people automatically turn off paid advertisements. They don't trust advertisements as well as they trust sources, such as known bloggers or writers who are respected for their opinions on set topics. So PPC Ads come with an inherent drawback that a large portion of the viewing audience already believes them to be less reliable just because they are paid advertisements.

    None of that necessarily means that you should dump the idea of PPC advertising altogether. Despite what it may sound like, PPC does work extremely well sometimes, you might need to retool your thinking on the role PPC plays in to your overall marketing efforts and be strategic.
    • [1] reply
    • Hi vovanfree,

      I have often seen that claim made by people that offer a service that competes with PPC advertising, namely SEO service and Social Media content providers. It sounds like a plausible theory, and for a limited number of people it is true. However, the facts do not support that assertion in regard to search engine traffic as a whole.

      People tend to click organic listings more often when they are merely seeking information and click ads when their search has higher commercial intent. Most people, certainly not all, actually trust the ads more for commercial search queries than they do the organic listings. In fact the data shows PPC ads on average generate twice the number of online sales as does organic listings.

      Agreed, if you were to dump the idea of PPC advertising, especially for search, you are in effect giving up two thirds of the market to your competitors. When you factor in the lifeltime value of a customer, PPC advertising is typically more profitable than other alternatives even when the CPA is significantly higher.

      For example, let's say that you make half the profit per transaction on PPC traffic than you do on organic traffic from an SEO campaign. Because you have twice the number of transactions from your PPC channel you have made approximately the same total profit during the same time period, but you will have an even higher total long term profit because you have twice the customers, which will generate twice the number of repeat/follow on/upgrade orders, and twice the number of new customer referrals over the lifetime of the customer.

      When you add in the compounding effects of an effective customer referral program, over a long term period, the total revenue derived from your PPC ads over the years can often dwarf what you earn from the organic channel. This stems from the fact that buyers tend to click and purchase from ads at roughly twice the rate as they click and purchase from organic search listings. That's a fact based on empirical data, not merely an opinion.
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