Ran into this amazing graphic today. I often hear from therapists how they think paying $1, $2 or $3 for a hot lead.
Well hold on to your hats. You could be in the insurance, loans, or mortage businesses, who pay OVER FORTY DOLLARS PER CLICK. Sorry for the all-caps yelling. But GEEZ, $40 a click! Whoa!
There is a local private practice business that has it just as bad. Attorneys come in at over $47/click. Yowch.
Anyway, here's the info:
http://ppbh.com/how-much-do-ads-on-google-cost
Best, Peter
Showing posts with label adwords. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adwords. Show all posts
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Google Adwords ads - some now appearing at the bottom of the page
Hi fellow therapists,
If you are already an Adwords customer, you may have been looking at the Google search results lately going "where is my ad?" You may want to scroll down and look for it at the bottom of the page.
According to this November 2nd post on Google's Inside Adwords blog Google has decided to move ads for some searches (seems like local service searches, mostly) from the right side to the bottom. It appears ads that were able to have a high enough CTR/bid for that keyword will still show at the top of the page. This will only impact the ads that were showing on the right side of the screen.
They claim this will often result in an INCREASE in click-thru rate. I don't know that I believe that will be true, but I don't have any data yet to back it up.
I do believe it will cause an increase in worried emails to Your Google Guy :-)
I'll be watching this to see what the impact of this change is.
Best, Peter
If you are already an Adwords customer, you may have been looking at the Google search results lately going "where is my ad?" You may want to scroll down and look for it at the bottom of the page.
According to this November 2nd post on Google's Inside Adwords blog Google has decided to move ads for some searches (seems like local service searches, mostly) from the right side to the bottom. It appears ads that were able to have a high enough CTR/bid for that keyword will still show at the top of the page. This will only impact the ads that were showing on the right side of the screen.
They claim this will often result in an INCREASE in click-thru rate. I don't know that I believe that will be true, but I don't have any data yet to back it up.
I do believe it will cause an increase in worried emails to Your Google Guy :-)
I'll be watching this to see what the impact of this change is.
Best, Peter
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Announcing My New Google Places SEO Service
Hi everyone,
I'm excited to announce a new, exciting SEO service for the therapy community. It's goal is simple - to get you on Page 1 of Google, in the Places section (that Pushpin section which used to be called Google Local or Google Maps) for multiple phrases in your city.
It's simple - we do all the work. There's no long-term commitment, and you don't pay until we get you to Page 1! I don't know how you can get any lower-risk than that.
Here's the web page for the new SEO service as well as a brief video to describe it.
I'm doing this in partnership with the amazing Michael Borgelt, an SEO wizard who has been quietly working with me for a few years now. With my Adwords and his SEO, we make a heckuva 1-2 punch!
Please feel free to email me with any questions - or to get a quote for your city!
Best, Peter
I'm excited to announce a new, exciting SEO service for the therapy community. It's goal is simple - to get you on Page 1 of Google, in the Places section (that Pushpin section which used to be called Google Local or Google Maps) for multiple phrases in your city.
It's simple - we do all the work. There's no long-term commitment, and you don't pay until we get you to Page 1! I don't know how you can get any lower-risk than that.
Here's the web page for the new SEO service as well as a brief video to describe it.
I'm doing this in partnership with the amazing Michael Borgelt, an SEO wizard who has been quietly working with me for a few years now. With my Adwords and his SEO, we make a heckuva 1-2 punch!
Please feel free to email me with any questions - or to get a quote for your city!
Best, Peter
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Yowza! Google Local Search Results Show Big Change!
Hi folks,
If you've Googled any local business in the last 3 days, you've seen a RADICALLY different results page on Google. This has all of us in the SEO & SEM (Search Engine Marketing) field in reaction mode, trying to figure out exactly how Google is figuring its new results, and what it means to our clients, both in terms of Organic rankings, as well as Google Adwords pay-per-click.
What I can tell you in the simplest terms is that Google has *combined* the old map results (known as the "7-pack" or "3-pack" depending on how dense an area you searched) with the organic search listings that were below the map.
This has a big impact on Adwords, too. Ads that are not in the top 3 results (showing in the lightly colored box on top), now get pushed down by the map, which is on the right side at the top of the screen now. Not only that, but the map stays in its place as you scroll down, blocking the view of ads on the right side of the screen. Google has, perhaps on purpose and in a not-very-nice way, made it so people will REALLY try to bid to be top 3 in the ads now.
I'll have more on this as my colleagues and I gauge the impacts on all of our efforts. In the meantime, fellow therapists, hold on to your hats!
Happy Halloween, Peter
If you've Googled any local business in the last 3 days, you've seen a RADICALLY different results page on Google. This has all of us in the SEO & SEM (Search Engine Marketing) field in reaction mode, trying to figure out exactly how Google is figuring its new results, and what it means to our clients, both in terms of Organic rankings, as well as Google Adwords pay-per-click.
What I can tell you in the simplest terms is that Google has *combined* the old map results (known as the "7-pack" or "3-pack" depending on how dense an area you searched) with the organic search listings that were below the map.
This has a big impact on Adwords, too. Ads that are not in the top 3 results (showing in the lightly colored box on top), now get pushed down by the map, which is on the right side at the top of the screen now. Not only that, but the map stays in its place as you scroll down, blocking the view of ads on the right side of the screen. Google has, perhaps on purpose and in a not-very-nice way, made it so people will REALLY try to bid to be top 3 in the ads now.
I'll have more on this as my colleagues and I gauge the impacts on all of our efforts. In the meantime, fellow therapists, hold on to your hats!
Happy Halloween, Peter
Friday, January 29, 2010
Something to Ponder If You're Trying Adwords Alone
Oh folks, Google changes so often. It gets more complex, and less transparent as we go along. Both on the Adwords and SEO side.
Right now, I am embroiled a handful of accounts where the people had tried (either alone or with another Google-Person) to do Adwords. And here's the rub - the results from the old campaigns are making trouble for the new campaigns I am creating. The problem stems from something called "Quality Score".
Now, Quality Score used to be rather straightforward, and it was about "relevance". Is *this* website and *this* ad really relevant to this search term? Makes sense, doesn't it! A good thing to weed out people who are mistakenly advertising at the wrong crowd, or whose ad doesn't really match the website's content.
But now it ALSO get's affected by the history of the account. Basically, if you start out crappy, it is an uphill battle to get back in Google's good graces. The end result is *much* higher click costs, and sometimes your ad not being seen for various keywords. It's a pain in the neck.
So, before you think "I'll try this first, THEN call Peter".....well, I'd really prefer you just call me first. Oh yeah, here's Google's official list of items that make up Quality Score....(the whole page can be seen here)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
While we continue to refine our Quality Score formulas for Google and the Search Network, the core components remain more or less the same:
*The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword and the matched ad on Google; note that *CTR on the Google Network only ever impacts Quality Score on the Google Network -- not on Google
*Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
*The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
*The quality of your landing page
*The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
*The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query
*Your account's performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown
*Other relevance factors
Right now, I am embroiled a handful of accounts where the people had tried (either alone or with another Google-Person) to do Adwords. And here's the rub - the results from the old campaigns are making trouble for the new campaigns I am creating. The problem stems from something called "Quality Score".
Now, Quality Score used to be rather straightforward, and it was about "relevance". Is *this* website and *this* ad really relevant to this search term? Makes sense, doesn't it! A good thing to weed out people who are mistakenly advertising at the wrong crowd, or whose ad doesn't really match the website's content.
But now it ALSO get's affected by the history of the account. Basically, if you start out crappy, it is an uphill battle to get back in Google's good graces. The end result is *much* higher click costs, and sometimes your ad not being seen for various keywords. It's a pain in the neck.
So, before you think "I'll try this first, THEN call Peter".....well, I'd really prefer you just call me first. Oh yeah, here's Google's official list of items that make up Quality Score....(the whole page can be seen here)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
While we continue to refine our Quality Score formulas for Google and the Search Network, the core components remain more or less the same:
*The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the keyword and the matched ad on Google; note that *CTR on the Google Network only ever impacts Quality Score on the Google Network -- not on Google
*Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
*The historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
*The quality of your landing page
*The relevance of the keyword to the ads in its ad group
*The relevance of the keyword and the matched ad to the search query
*Your account's performance in the geographical region where the ad will be shown
*Other relevance factors
Sunday, April 26, 2009
2 New Negative Keywords on a Sunday Night
Hi folks,
I haven't logged into my Statcounter account in a little while, but I did tonight, and as always there was some interesting information.
While I do not share my negative keyword file (it's a secret sauce thing, ya know?) I'll share a new addition to it from tonight - ftm.
I found a search for an ftm counselor in seattle. My ad appeared. They clicked. Guess what? I am not a female-to-male transexual, nor am I likely the appropriate counselor for that person.
And thus is born two new negative keywords (mtf is the other).
Happy Sunday! Peter
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
When Bad Adwords Strike!
OK, folks, I just sometimes see web marketing done badly and it ticks me off. And I want to save you from it. Of course I'd love you to use my services, but even more, I'd love you to use me or someone else good, not crappy services. Too many therapists pay too much money for bad web marketing services!
Today, it is DexKnows that has my goat. I've seen their ads up before - horribly written, crazy long and ugly domain names. I saw one of these the other night, while Googling "seattle counseling" (I do my own competitive analysis quite often).
Today, it is DexKnows that has my goat. I've seen their ads up before - horribly written, crazy long and ugly domain names. I saw one of these the other night, while Googling "seattle counseling" (I do my own competitive analysis quite often).
I found it again today (actually when I first saw it, the headline just said "counseling". For those not familiar with my area, Seattle is a good hour plus drive from Olympia and Lacey. The URL just looked weird, so I did my usual (I visited it, but didn't click on the ad and cost them $, that would just be rude). Where did I end up? Take a look for yourself.
Ah yes, a DexKnows page. The silly thing about these DexKnows pages is that most of the people have good websites already. This Marston center has a very nicely done website. I think they really get who they are across in it, in a quick manner. But for some dumb reason, their Adwords $ gets you to a yellow pages ad. Ugh.
OK, my spleen is vented. Time for some coffee.
Best to you, Your Google Guy
Monday, March 16, 2009
Don't Call Yourself Something You Are Not
So I just got a worried message from a Google Adwords client. She's a psychotherapist.
Apparently a psychologist friend of hers is part of the state association and they are going to try to take legal action against non-psychologists who advertise against the keyword "psychologist" on Google. Mind you, I don't think the ad is mentioning psychologist anywhere, it's just showing for that search.
Hmmmmmm, I think. This is not something I tend to do with my clients - I don't believe we should advertise when people are looking for something that we aren't. But I do think legal action is bit of a stretch, though. But maybe that's just my spiritual beliefs coming through (being for something, and against nothing).
Ah well, nothing I need to worry about at midnight on a Monday. But something to keep in mind for all you out there if you've got this going on.
Apparently a psychologist friend of hers is part of the state association and they are going to try to take legal action against non-psychologists who advertise against the keyword "psychologist" on Google. Mind you, I don't think the ad is mentioning psychologist anywhere, it's just showing for that search.
Hmmmmmm, I think. This is not something I tend to do with my clients - I don't believe we should advertise when people are looking for something that we aren't. But I do think legal action is bit of a stretch, though. But maybe that's just my spiritual beliefs coming through (being for something, and against nothing).
Ah well, nothing I need to worry about at midnight on a Monday. But something to keep in mind for all you out there if you've got this going on.
Reminds me of a guy out here in Seattle who had a witch-hunt against people using MA ABS on their sites (ABS = Applied Behavioral Science). But that is a story best left in the past.
I hope this finds you well, yours, Your Google Guy
PS - if you ever use dynamic keyword insertion, this kind of thing could be sticky, though.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Why Your Adwords Might Not Be Working Like It Used To
I've been setting up Google Adwords campaigns for therapists for over 2 years now. In the last couple of months, I've had some people come back and say "hey, my ads aren't working like they once were." And it's true. Google has made the whole Adwords business a lot more complex - and the main cause is an innocuous phrase - Quality Score.
Back in the old days, where your ad showed up was based on only two things: your bid ($) and how often your ad got clicked (click-thru-rate, or CTR). But during 2008 Google started adding in more and more criteria for whether your ad showed, how high it showed, and what the minimum bid was. For some people, they found that their minimum bid had gone from 25 cents to $5 or $10! (That's what is known in the biz as a "Google Slap").
Google is as mysterious as the Wizard of Oz, so while they do point and describe some of the things that go into Quality Score, they never come out and tell you exactly what it is based on. So, as usual, cottage industries have been born to figure it out and read the tea-leaves. It's really quite similar to SEO.
That said, dear reader, do not panic. This is all based on relevancy (as seen by Google's computer). If your ads are relevant to the search, and the site is relevant to the ads, then it'll all work fine. But there are times when it goes haywire.
The hardest times for me have been telling people who just invested in a gorgeous Flash-based site, or a frames-based site, that Adwords was going to be a nightmare for them, because the spiders couldn't see their content. Then there is the issue of getting out of a hole, because Google includes your history as part of the Quality Score.
This is not meant to dissuade you from pursuing Adwords, I still think it's the best mechanism I know for marketing. It is meant to explain the growing complexity of it, and why what you did in 2006 and 2007 might not work as we enter 2009.
But if you need a consultant, I know this one guy....... :-)
Best, Peter
Your Google Guy - Web Marketing for Therapists
Back in the old days, where your ad showed up was based on only two things: your bid ($) and how often your ad got clicked (click-thru-rate, or CTR). But during 2008 Google started adding in more and more criteria for whether your ad showed, how high it showed, and what the minimum bid was. For some people, they found that their minimum bid had gone from 25 cents to $5 or $10! (That's what is known in the biz as a "Google Slap").
Google is as mysterious as the Wizard of Oz, so while they do point and describe some of the things that go into Quality Score, they never come out and tell you exactly what it is based on. So, as usual, cottage industries have been born to figure it out and read the tea-leaves. It's really quite similar to SEO.
That said, dear reader, do not panic. This is all based on relevancy (as seen by Google's computer). If your ads are relevant to the search, and the site is relevant to the ads, then it'll all work fine. But there are times when it goes haywire.
The hardest times for me have been telling people who just invested in a gorgeous Flash-based site, or a frames-based site, that Adwords was going to be a nightmare for them, because the spiders couldn't see their content. Then there is the issue of getting out of a hole, because Google includes your history as part of the Quality Score.
This is not meant to dissuade you from pursuing Adwords, I still think it's the best mechanism I know for marketing. It is meant to explain the growing complexity of it, and why what you did in 2006 and 2007 might not work as we enter 2009.
But if you need a consultant, I know this one guy....... :-)
Best, Peter
Your Google Guy - Web Marketing for Therapists
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Watch out for Adwords Phishing Email
Friends,
While I have often gotten phishing emails (ones that try to look legit, to get your userid info - but are fraudulent), some "from" banks, many more "from" eBay. Yesterday I got one "from" Google.
This email was very well crafted, but I have seen enough of them, so I hovered over the link in the email and it was something meant to look like the Adwords URL of course.
So, please remember, always, ALWAYS just go straight to a site (eBay, Adwords, your bank) from a fresh browser window if you get an unsolicited email from them. Never click the link in the email.
Save surfing! Peace, Peter
While I have often gotten phishing emails (ones that try to look legit, to get your userid info - but are fraudulent), some "from" banks, many more "from" eBay. Yesterday I got one "from" Google.
This email was very well crafted, but I have seen enough of them, so I hovered over the link in the email and it was something meant to look like the Adwords URL of course.
So, please remember, always, ALWAYS just go straight to a site (eBay, Adwords, your bank) from a fresh browser window if you get an unsolicited email from them. Never click the link in the email.
Save surfing! Peace, Peter
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
New Report on % of People Clicking Ads
I hear the question sometime - "do people really click on those little Google Adwords ads?". The answer has always been "Yes" but some now research gives me some numbers to back that up.
According to a new iPerceptions report, 25% of consumers are likely to click on simple text ads (such as Adwords ads). This is higher than banner ads and video ads, no matter the format and the placement.
Good news for people using Adwords!
Best, Peter
Your Google Guy
Get Clicks, Get Clients
According to a new iPerceptions report, 25% of consumers are likely to click on simple text ads (such as Adwords ads). This is higher than banner ads and video ads, no matter the format and the placement.
Good news for people using Adwords!
Best, Peter
Your Google Guy
Get Clicks, Get Clients
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Welcome to the Google for Therapists Blog!
Hi folks,
Many therapists around the US know me as "Your Google Guy", because of my site YourGoogleGuy.com. I'm a busy guy, having helped well over 100 therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and coaches around the country with their web marketing.
I'm launching this blog to help you understand a bit more about this whole web marketing business. It gets more and more complex each day (really, and I was a computer guy before I was a therapist).
To launch this, I wanted to link to a video from the man at Google named Matt Cutts. He's Google's chief "Spam fighter". You might think of Spam as that annoying bunch of unwanted email you get. It is, but it also now means tricks people try to do to get their website listed higher on search engines.
I know there are do-it-yourselfers out there. If you're not one of them, give me a call - 206-799-6566.
Best, Peter Hannah
Your Google Guy
Get Clicks, Get Clients
Many therapists around the US know me as "Your Google Guy", because of my site YourGoogleGuy.com. I'm a busy guy, having helped well over 100 therapists, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and coaches around the country with their web marketing.
I'm launching this blog to help you understand a bit more about this whole web marketing business. It gets more and more complex each day (really, and I was a computer guy before I was a therapist).
To launch this, I wanted to link to a video from the man at Google named Matt Cutts. He's Google's chief "Spam fighter". You might think of Spam as that annoying bunch of unwanted email you get. It is, but it also now means tricks people try to do to get their website listed higher on search engines.
I know there are do-it-yourselfers out there. If you're not one of them, give me a call - 206-799-6566.
Best, Peter Hannah
Your Google Guy
Get Clicks, Get Clients
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