We recently came across some interesting stats from a Pay Per Click agency, WordStream, who analyzed over 2,500 Pay Per Click accounts to get benchmarks on click through rates and conversions using the Google Search network (text Pay Per Click ads) and Google Display network (graphical Pay Per Click ads).
Here are the results for internet and telecom, plus computers and electronics, which are the most relevant for our industries.
As you can see, the click through rates for Google Search Pay Per Click ads is significantly higher than Google Display ads. It’s also interesting that internet and telecom had the highest conversion rate across the industries they analyzed. You can see the rest of the infographic here on Marketing Profs.
If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into the performance of your campaigns, WordStream also has a free PPC Analysis tool. By giving them access to your AdWords account, they will grade the effectiveness of your campaign looking at things like keywords, Quality Score and targeting. If you’re willing to share your AdWords credentials, you can access the tool at http://www.wordstream.com/google-adwords. They also have some free keyword tools on their site at http://www.wordstream.com/.
Another tool that can help you optimize your ad spend, without actually spending any money to do it, is to try the Taguchi method on a handy little (free) tool at: http://www.adcomparator.com/
Multivariable testing is a basic element of the marketer’s tool bag. You want to find out, say, what combination of headline, copy and price information delivers the most response from an ad. You could find out by trying thousands of combinations, but each ad will cost money if clicked. One method of multivariate used extensively in industry is the Taguchi method. Well, this website applies the Taguchi method to ads. You can experiment with different ads layouts and the tool will, in theory, point you to the best performing combination by allowing you to compare many ad elements against campaign response rates online.