Google Adwords - You Do NOT Want to Be #1

That's right, on Google, Yahoo and other Sponsored Links, you do NOT want to be #1. Remember in the prior post how I pointed out the higher the price of a product, the more ads a buyer will click on. There are not too many advertised products more expensive than homes. So you do NOT want to pay the premium to be #1, when a potential buyer is going to click on several Google ads. This means, even if you are 3,4,5, or more, you are probably going to be clicked on . . . if you have an ad that appeals to the buyer.

You can tell Google exactly what position you want when you set the Positions Preference option in Settings for each Campaign. Once that is set, you can then adjust positions by keywords, but it is much easier to do it by Ad Groups.

You have a few options.

1 - Set a specific position that you want. If I were going to use this option, I would set 3-5, because this way you maximize your exposure in the top right hand corner position. Google will display from 1-3 ads on top of the wide organic section, and the rest of the ads go down the right hand side.

2 - Another option is to select 2-8, which means you will be on the first page, but you do not want to pay for position #1. I should note that Google will still place you in the #1 position if you are bidding enough to make it worthwhile for them to place you there. That is a complicated message that will be dealt with in my next post on how Google decides the order of ads.

If you have a question about this post, please post in the comments section or email me Mike@MikeMorgan7.com I will respond to all questions posted.

Mike Morgan, J.D., CRS, GRI, SRES, e-PRO, REO TRANS Platinum
"Internet Marketing for Real Estate Professionals"

Phone: (772) 260-5448

Email: Mike@MikeMorgan7.com

Website: www.MikeMorgan7.com

How Google Ranks Paid Ads - #1 vs. #8

You bid $3.00 for keyword and I bid $1.00 for a keyword. You get placed #7 and I get placed #2. You might think . . . that makes no sense because you were willing to pay three times more than I was.

Google was the first search engine to actually look at revenue versus bidding. Yahoo was one of the last to convert to a revenue model. So by now you might be wondering what I am talking about. Here it is very simple . . .

You bid $3.00 per keyword and get 100 clicks in a month for a total to Google of $300.00

I bid $1.00 per keyword and get 400 clicks in a month for total to Google of $400.00.

Guess what? Google is going to put me on top of you because I am performing better and making more money for Google. If you don't understand this, I suggest you email or call me. This is something you need to understand before you start spending money on Google.

Two other huge issues we see with real estate agents and brokers throwing money away on Google is bidding the same amount for all keywords and not understanding the value of phrase, match and broad. We'll look at these in upcoming posts.

If you have a question about this post, please post in the comments section or email me Mike@MikeMorgan7.com . I will respond to all questions posted.

Mike Morgan, J.D., CRS, GRI, SRES, e-PRO, REO TRANS Platinum
"Internet Marketing for Real Estate Professionals"

Phone: (772) 260-5448

Email: Mike@MikeMorgan7.com

Website: www.MikeMorgan7.com

Google Bidding - How Much?

I recently reviewed a broker's Google bidding as we were getting ready to manage their Sponsored Links. What was most shocking (and common) is the bidding of one bid on all keywords. In this case, it was $3.00. HUGE mistake.

We have set up Sponsored Link accounts with 600,000 different keyword combinations. I'm not kidding, but we'll explain how that happens in another post. For the $3 bidder, they were missing a true breakout of Campaigns and Ad Groups. Basically, you want to bid the most on keywords that demonstrate the web surfer is closest to making a decision.

Here's an example. When we work with clients selling a product, we want to focus on item number. If someone is looking for a printer online, and they type in HP7400, that keyword is far more valuable to us than someone searching on the keyword "printers."

And the same holds true for real estate. You want to bid more for someone searching for "real estate agent in Palm City" then you do for someone searching for "Florida real estate." In fact, you probably do not want to even be bidding on someone searching for "Florida real estate."

The rule of thumb we use is 10:1. Someone that is searching for a real estate agent is 10 times more valuable to us than someone poking around real estate websites for pricing, ideas or just something to do.

If you have a question about this post, please post in the comments section or email me Mike@MikeMorgan7.com I will respond to all questions posted.

Mike Morgan, J.D., CRS, GRI, SRES, e-PRO, REO TRANS Platinum
"Internet Marketing for Real Estate Professionals"

Phone: (772) 260-5448

Email: Mike@MikeMorgan7.com

Website: www.MikeMorgan7.com