Broad/phrase/exact in one adgroup... what to do next?

[howlusa]

I've set up my keywords so that I have all three match types in the same group, and my bids are tiered according to match, broad being the lowest bid and exact the highest. I've had this going for about 3 months and I'm wondering what I'm supposed to do next.

On several keywords the phrase/exact are getting very, very little impressions and no clicks and the broad is getting a ton of impressions and a good amount of clicks. Should I stop bidding on phrase and/or exact and focus on broad? There are other keywords where it's the opposite, the phrase or the broad are way ahead. Should I stop any of the keywords or raise/lower bids on all three when making adjustments?

[GregB123]

Have you looked at your Keywords / Details / Search Terms reports for the different campaigns? They will list actual search queries that triggered the displaying of your ads.

It is a great place to find out what is really happening. Look for search queries that never convert because they are not really pertaining to your goods, and see if you can put in some Negative Keywords to avoid them. Also a good place to look for more Phrase match and Exact match opportunities. I find that they convert better and cost less than the Broad matches.

Focus less on clicks. Instead really focus on the "Cost" and "Cost/Conversion" columns. Pause (not delete) the ones that have really have too high a "Cost/Conversion" and look for any with a ZERO Cost/Conversion and a high Cost (those are gaining you nothing)

[howlusa]

The thing is my business is a bar/nightclub. We do have forms that I track conversions  for table reservations, but most of the traffic I'm going after will just come into the bar. So frustrating that I can't track their conversions..

[GregB123]

That is a bit more tricky. But not impossible...

You just need to get the ones who are interested in coming to your place SOON to click something. Couple of ideas....

Make a special secret landing page for your PPC ads (it can look much like your current homepage or where ever your ads have been going so far) and do either #1 or #2...

1. leave off something important (like your Hours, or your Specials, or the Nightly Schedule) and put a big obvious button like "Click here for our hours" to goes to a hidden Hours page (which is only accessible from the PPC ad's special secret landing page) which becomes your conversion page (where the PPC conversion success code goes). The assumption here is that only those who are serious about coming to you place will click the link. It's not perfect, but better than nothing.

2. create a limited time offer (like "Get a Coupon for free bar nuts - good for the next 2 days only!" or maybe "Get a Coupon for a half-price cover - good for next 24 hours only") and put a big obvious button going to a hidden page like in #1 above. This is perhaps more accurate, but also could be a pain in the neck because of dealing with the coupons and because the possibility your regular patrons will learn about it and go click you PPC ad just to get coupons.

The "special secret" and the "hidden" pages should not be listed in your sitemap should probably be tagged like this:    The "noindex" hides them, while the "follow" lets your PPC and Analytics track people to the conversion page.

What do you think?

[howlusa]

Thanks for the response Gregory. I like the first idea. We are about to go through a redesign so perhaps I'll try implementing your idea