Creative Strategies for Successful Adwords Bidding
By
There are many different approaches to the process of bidding for position within AdWords. A $5.00 minimum deposit is required to set up any AdWords account, but once it’s set up, any of the listed bidding options are available to you.
The ‘Always be #1, No Matter what it takes’ Strategy
This strategy espouses the view that being #1 is everything. It is true that the top listing gets the most traffic. In some cases, the top listing can generate much more traffic than the lower listings — even the second listing. The top listing will also always be the most expensive spot for any given keyword or phrase and, depending on the popularity of the search term and the bid required to secure it, the top listing may become very expensive to maintain.
Also, as AdWords uses the click through rate to weight your listing, it may simply be impossible to sustain the number one position at any bid price. Remember, too, that Google currently has a $50 per click maximum bid limit. The ‘Always be #1’ strategy is also prone to bidding wars.
The ‘Never Bid More Than the Minimum Bid’ Strategy This strategy focuses on cost containment. Given a vast assortment of search terms, it is likely that some top bids will be only as high as the minimum bid. These terms will most likely be less popular terms that don’t generate a significant amount of clicks.
This strategy assumes that even where the top bids are $1 or more, some visitors will read through the entire list of advertisements, and click on much lower bids. As of the writing of this article, Google AdWords bids can range in price from 5 cents, to $50.
The ‘Position Yourself Next to a Weaker Competitor’ Strategy
The thrust of this strategy is to position your listing as high as possible, while looking critically at competitor’s listings and offers. You then position yourself next to a competitor whose price is much higher than yours for the same item, or whose offering is in some other way uncompetitive with yours, thereby making your offering seem even more attractive.
For example, if you mention a sales price of $149 for a Palm V in your listing and the listing directly above or below yours displays a price of $99 for a Palm V, your offer appears overpriced. However, if there is a listing that offers the Palm V at $199, positioning your listing directly above or below the $199 price can make your price of $149 look more attractive.
The ‘Steady State’ Strategy
This strategy is similar to the ‘Never Bid More Than the Minimum Bid’ strategy, but with a twist. You calculate the amount that you are willing to pay for each qualified customer that lands on your site, and always bid exactly that amount. For example, let’s say that you calculate that you are more than willing to spend $1.35 for each qualified customer who lands on your site. You simply bid $1.35 on your best keywords, regardless of what others around you bid.
This strategy is often employed by bidders who take a “hands off” approach to their bids. They simply want to set the account up once, and let it run on ‘autopilot’, without much (if any) maintenance.
Of course, you can access your AdWords account as frequently as you like, and adjust your maximum bid to give the return on investment (ROI) you require. Measuring and maximizing your ROI will be the topic of discussion in this Search Engine Optimization Tutorial…
Related posts:
