Why Cheap PPC Advertising Is Not All That It Seems

Low Average Position For Your Ads

The first problem of cheap PPC advertising is the average position you’ll receive. This is a huge problem and will be the basis for many of the other problems that come with cheap PPC advertising.

If you understand how PPC networks like Google Ads work, then you should know about the bidding system. It’s relatively simple, whoever bids the most gets the golden number 1 spot (and most of the clicks) while everyone else gets the spots below.

If you want really cheap PPC advertising, then the chances are you’ll only be bidding a few cents or pence per click.

The downside of this is that you basically go to the back of the queue when it comes to your adverts. If someone is bidding a little bit more than you, then they’ll overtake you.

To put this into perspective take a look at the picture below.

As you can see, we’ve set it up so you only pay an incredibly low cost per click of 3p! Amazing right? Just imagine how many super high quality targeted clicks you can get for just 2p per click! Or not…

From looking at the statistics at the bottom, you should be able to see the average ad position. In this example, it’s actually 7.5, and since lower is always better, 7.5 is a long way away from 1.

So what does this mean?

Yes, you might only be playing 3p per click for your ad, but you’ll be lucky if people see it. Usually, most keywords on Google have 3 to 4 adverts at the top of page 1 and then some also at the bottom.

Depending on how many ads there are these will continue for several pages. Take a look at the picture below.

Any guesses as to where your ad will be displayed with a position of 7?

Page 2!

And what does every internet marketer say about page 2?

Likely to Get Impressions But No Clicks

Now you know the main reason why cheap PPC advertising is bad, there are also plenty of other reasons. If you still don’t think being on page 2 will have an effect on your campaign, then think again.

Since your ad will most likely be on page 2, it’s only natural that your ad will get fewer impressions and clicks.

It’s pretty common for most people search the first page and then give up. According to an article by Search Engine Watch, the average PPC ad in position 1 gets a click-through rate of 12.5%.

Another important point from the article is the click-through rate for ads in position 4 and below.

As you can see, anything less than position 4 and the click-through rate massively drops off. If that was your ad then you could be waiting WEEKS before anyone gives it a click.

What’s interesting is this is actually a much lower click-through rate than the organic number 1 position in Google. Probably because most ad blockers actually block Google ads from appearing at all.

Having your advert show up on page 2 is almost the same as not running an ad at all!

According to data from Advanced Web Rankings who monitor thousands of different SERPs across the web, the top organic result on desktop gets around 37% of all clicks.

Cheap PPC Advertising Won’t Get You Enough Traffic

Having a low ad position and a non-existent click-through rate equals one thing = not getting any traffic.

Depending on how much you spend, most PPC campaigns will bring in a few hundred clicks a month. If you’re spending over £1 a click to bring in hundreds of visitors, then imagine how many visitors you’ll get for 3p a click.

Hint: it’s practically no traffic.

If you do happen to rank in the top 4 positions for a cheap keyword, then it’s probably too good to be true. The chances are the search volume for the keyword will be so low (no matter what Google keyword planner says) it won’t be worth your time.

Think about it. If you’re number 2 for a keyword that gets 100 searches a month then how many clicks are you likely to get?

Referencing the click-through rate table we looked at earlier, you’d get around 4 clicks. 4 clicks a month is very very little, and if you’re relying on your PPC campaign to make you money, that won’t work.

Instead, you’ll need a secondary form of advertising that will cost you even more money. Then you need to decide if it’s worth carrying on with the campaign if you’ll get more traffic from other sources.

It Takes Ages To Get a Conversion

To summarise all the main points of cheap PPC advertising, it would be this: cheap PPC advertising takes a long time to get conversions.

A low position advert on page 2 of a low searched keyword results in almost no traffic.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t use cheap PPC advertising. In theory, it does sound like a great way to get lots of cheap traffic. However, in reality, it’s far from it. The chances are you’ll be pushed down to the bottom of the search results, and no one will ever see, let alone click your ad.

In the unlikely event that you do you manage to find a keyword where you can get a good position, it’s still bad news. These keywords are often so low search volume that you can expect a few hundred searches a month and almost zero clicks.

If you want good PPC advertising results, then you need to invest the money. If you’re not in the first 4 positions on page 1 then you might as well not run an advert at all.

Protect Your Expensive Keywords

Transitioning to expensive keywords can be scary. Will you get clicks? Is it worth the money? Will you see a return?

Although we can’t run your PPC campaign for you, we can help you get a higher return from your campaigns. By eliminating click fraud from your adverts you can save money and also have an advantage over your competitors.

Click fraud is a big problem in the PPC industry and often results in thousands being spent fraudulently. Every time your competitor clicks on your PPC ad they waste your PPC budget. This means no sale for you, but you still have to pay!

To find out how you can eliminate this unnecessary cost from your PPC campaign, visit our website below for a free trial of Lunio.