google adwords

[Joelrunner]

Adwords can be successful only if you get cheap and extremely targeted keywords. If not you will blow your budget. The popular keywords are expensive and so you will need to find "buying" keywords - where the user is ready to take a buying decision, and that way you can minimize your cost and get higher conversions at the same time.

Regarding finding "buying keywords", you are absolutely right. Neighborhood level keywords are an excellent example - however it's rare that Adwords allows those types of keywords because the search volume on them is so low. The good news is that neighborhood keywords are a piece of cake to rank organically for.

In terms of blowing your budget - I wouldn't attribute buying high-volume competititve keywords to that as much as having a website that doesn't convert. You can always set daily budget limits to make sure you don't spend more than you're comfortable with.

[samsonthomas]

@Joelrunner

I am not sure about whether adwords disallows neighbourhood keywords. However, I have seen people bidding on city specific and zip code specific keywords. If you could do that, I think they should allow neighbourhood keywords and the conversion ratio would be mind blowing.

Of course, it won't help if you do not have a good landing page.

[Mitch]

As most of you know, I'm a big user and believer in Homegain's BuyerLink program over Adwords. For me it was half the cost with double the traffic from when I did Google and Yahoo. The best part is there is no bidding against other Agents that don't understand how to actually use Adwords and therefore jump up the costs.

[RickDuranddotCom]

Hi Mitch,

I was not aware of the BuyerLink program so thank you for restating. I visited their site and the BuyerLink program looks pretty solid. Do they offer co-branding with the program or are they blind display/text ads only?

Also, what do you think of their AgentEvaluator & AIMS programs? Homegain seems pretty involved within affiliate networks and they also seem to be generating leads on the mega cheap. Have you tested their buyer/seller leads? If so, how would you grade their leads as far as quality, delivery and exclusivity?

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it.

[Mitch]

Hi Rick!

Buyerlink is simple. When a person comes to their site, they select the area they want to look at a home and then click on the link. That link takes them to your IDX page. It's awesome!

I have heard a lot of great things about the Agent Evaluator program. We implemented it in our office about 6 months ago and have had a couple of sales from it. However, my agent assigned to the program is swamped with our leads program and really doesn't have the time to put into it right now. I recently spoke at Homegain Nation in San Fran and talked to a ton of people doing extremely well with it.

As far as leads from Buyerlink, there is no competition when they click on the link. Unlike google and yahoo where 20 other Agents pop up, when they click on the link for Homegain it comes to you.

I haven't really tested their leads through their systems as I do extremely well converting my own traffice (at an average of 15% these days) and we are to busy to really concentrate on much more right now. Feel free to contact me if you need any other advice.

Remember, it's not about how many leads you get, it's how many leads you convert to sales. I know lots of people on here who get a ton of leads and convert less than 1%. We are converting around 4% right now.

[RickDuranddotCom]

Hi Mitch,

Sounds like the program has worked out really well for you. I'm thankful for your valuable input. I'll definitely keep them in mind moving forward. Congrats on your 15% conversion rates as of late by the way, that's excellent!

Thanks again!

[homes for sale anchorage]

I used Google Adwords in getting keywords idea, knowing the search volume and how much competition it has is important.

[abcharlton]

hello all,

i've been doing the google adwords.

does anyone know how to turn off the content network campain?

thanks,
michael

Such a good idea. Content network is a rip-off!

[RickDuranddotCom]

I disagree... The content network is a great testing tool for your display/textual ads. You have to monitor conversions and determine which site you may want to contact directly to scale impressions.

You could stumble on a blog/site with great conversions and pay out much less than your average Google CPC...

Just my opinion...