This morning we received an email with a number of questions on PPC tracking. Our resident PPC expert, Aaron Rosenthal, wrote a lengthy reply which you’ll see below.
Question: I have read many of your research reports on PPC. It seems to me that the single most important thing is keeping detailed records as to what has been done so you can analyze and tweak, etc. I want to create a spreadsheet for this purpose.
Answer: Yes, keeping detailed records is extremely important. Keeping historic records of what has been tested and what shows to work the best saves helps mould future tests and refinement. The trick with PPC is to always be refining and working to squeeze the best ROI out of your ads.
Question: What elements should I include in this sheet?
Answer: You should definitely keep good data on the details of your ads:
Keyword
Title
Body 1
Body 2
Display URL
Some of the most important data you can track is:
CPC
Click-Through-Rate
Conversion
ROI
Depending upon how advanced your tracking is, you may also want to track:
Average position
Conversions by Time of Day
Conversions by Day of the week
Performance – Content vs. Search
Return Orders – Lifetime-Value
Question: Do you have a template I could make use of for this purpose?
Answer: I am sorry we don’t at this time.
Question: My company gets almost no traffic at this point and we are trying to get off the ground using PPC, which leads me to my second question-How much money do you have to spend each month to expect positive results?
Answer: This is completely set by your business and your definition of “positive results”. We worked with a company that spends no more than $30 a day on local traffic, because they cannot handle more than the 2-3 leads it drives them a day. Those companies would tell you unequivocally that the results of their campaigns are positive.
