Spend It All On PPC?

[sfoley]

Hi

I'm trying to generate interest for my website http://www.bountybox.net. The trick for this site (like any social networking/dating site) is to get over the critical mass.

Using mainly google adwords now, but at around 80c per click and a conversion rate (to registered users) of around 5% I will never reach an acceptable mass (+10000 I estimate) without being ruined.
PPC advertising does not seem to be my best solution. How would you guys go about doing this?

Regards,
Steffen

[torka]

Do some keyword research to find search terms you can target that cost less than $.80 per click.

Use Google Website Optimizer to test and tune your landing pages to get higher conversion rates.

Investigate other marketing and advertising channels. Bad to have all your eggs in one basket, anyway. Maybe buy ads on buses and in train stations (depending on your budget you may need to go with smaller cities, but start where you can and build from there) or in newspapers/magazines often read by commuters.

Check in to buying ad space on sites like Classmates.com or Reunion.com, maybe?

Make clever use of classified ads, either in newspapers or on sites such as Craigslist, to pique interest in your service.

Come up with a tie-in with some "national (fill-in-the-blank) day" or holiday (Valentine's Day would have been good - plan now for next February). Pitch this tie-in as a human interest story to local journalists or freelance writers, or a blogger or two who cover related topics. At the very least, schedule one or two well-written press releases during the run-up to the chosen holiday.

There are a lot of different channels and tactics you can pursue. What specifically you can do depends on your overall budget and how much time you're willing to devote to it.

My

--Torka

[sfoley]

Hi Torka, thanks for good advice!

I've tried optimizing my keywords on google, but the system keeps suggesting 80-90c as "optimized" max bid. Don't know if I should set it lower anyway or search for other keywords.

The tie-in is a great idea. My PR writing skills are suboptimal, so I used an agency (pressdispensary) for a recent press release in the UK. Cost 500$ (copywriting and distribution), landed me a radio interview but no significant extra traffic. I guess you have to have a bit of luck before journalists pick your story up..

[tobias77]

Press releases are a good idea, but they are not working very well when just being sent one time. Consider to send out a press release every two weeks or so about an other topic (you may use your existing press release as template, so you haven't to spend $500 again :-)

[Mindy]

Wow...500 for a press release sounds a little steep, but we wrote our own a while back, so I don't know what the going rate for that kind of thing is. I agree that sending out a press release periodically does much better good than a one time event. We only sent ours out once and didn't really get any bites.

I took a look at your website. Very, very interesting concept. I saw a story on tv a while back about someone hooking up with a girl he saw on the metro through posting a drawing of what she looked like online. Pretty cool that you are adapting that concept. As far as pay-per-click advertising, make sure that your ad is VERY specific in its description. Otherwise you'll get lots of clicks of people who are just curious and aren't really sure of what you offer. By making your ad specific and clear, you are more likely to get sales conversions by those who click on your site.

Good luck!

[PressureProsInc]

Originally Posted by sfoley

Hi Torka, thanks for good advice!

I've tried optimizing my keywords on google, but the system keeps suggesting 80-90c as "optimized" max bid. Don't know if I should set it lower anyway or search for other keywords.

The tie-in is a great idea. My PR writing skills are suboptimal, so I used an agency (pressdispensary) for a recent press release in the UK. Cost 500$ (copywriting and distribution), landed me a radio interview but no significant extra traffic. I guess you have to have a bit of luck before journalists pick your story up..

Try bidding half of that and see where you fall. You don't have to be number one to get clicks. Start working on your organic SEO. You'll find that in the long run you will spend much less getting to he top of the search engines naturally and you'll get ten times the hits.

[torka]

From what I hear, the "optimized" part of an "optimized" bid is intended to optimize Google's revenue, not necessarily yours.

I'm with Ken. Try bidding less. You may not be #1 in the PPC listings, but many advertisers report getting better ROI with lower positions. Experiment. Test. Check ROI. Adjust. Lather, rinse, repeat.

--Torka

[pete]

Maybe go the Yahoo and give their paid search a try. I did very well with GoTo and Overture over the years.

Go for the long-tail keywords.

No research at all, just offthe top of head - Golf amy get a billion hits a $2 each, Golf Accessories maybe 1 million at $ 1 each, Golf Tees maybe 100,000 at 50 cents and Orange Golf Tees maybe 20,000 at a quarter with wholesale orange golf tees getting 5,000 at a dime.

Go with the dime, you'll still get plenty of hits.
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