Conversion Rates from: Winning Results with Google AdWords (2005)

Keyword buying objective : to create profitable new sales from potential customers who are using search engines

Conversion rate as a measurement tool Conversion rate = # of sales / # of clicks Best used in comparing similar campaigns by the same vendor Google will track conversion through HTML vendor puts on “Thank you” page

proxy measures for sales --fill out a form --subscribe to --request materials used for immediate measurement/control when the sales cycle is long

Conversion rates are typically low: -- less than 1% is bad -- more than 5% is unusually good Rates can be a blend of: --broad terms, cheap but low conversion --focused terms, more expensive but higher conversion You may not want higher conversion --depends on price or volume needed

Keyword Prices flower delivery $5.97 cheap flowers $4.59 flowers $3.67 cheap wedding $2.82 flowers wedding flowers $2.19

Most expensive search terms #1 insurance $54.91/click #2 loans $44.28 #6 lawyer $42.51 #17 classes $35.04 #18 rehab $33.59

What is the cost per sale? Situation: an insurance company wants to generate leads for sales force and buys “insurance” keyword for $50/click 20% of clicks begin to fill out online form 10% of clicks complete form, creating sales leads 10% of leads converted into sales Cost of one sale = $5000

Non-keyword factors in conversion --quality and pricing of product --attractiveness, user friendliness of website --competence of sales force

Content targeting vs. paid search Content targeting means the search engine company places your ad on a website that has content relevant to your products when a user lands on it. Pricing and conversion rates differ from paid search.