Multi-dollar CPC's for almost any keyword = doing it wrong right?

[TripleT]

Because I want to get started ASAP I decided to try a direct linking campaign. Signed up for Adwords, asked my AM for a suitable offer, wrote an ad, selected some keywords, look at the traffic estimator thing aaaand... even the ones that are 'Not Enough Data' cost like three bucks. I did not start the campaign and read up on QS.

So I guess THIS is why people write landing pages..

The thing that concerned me was Google's explanation of the QS. It says it considers the ad and account history. Does this mean that for the time being, I will get a high CPC no matter what I put up? Ergo, I might as well just start this campaign?

Second Q: the link goes through prosper domain. Just checking, but that can't be the reason Google seems to choke on it right?

 

[papajohn56]

You're doing it wrong

You will always get a poor QS with direct linking. Google likes "real" sites (LPs) with content, a privacy policy, terms of service, and "About Us" page usually.

Either try MSN/Yahoo for your direct campaigns, or you'll have to design a landing page.

 

[HarveyJ]

Your problem here is that you're using Google.
Just because Google's got the most traffic doesn't mean it's the only game in town, or even the best one for what you're doing.

Various other search engines and social networks have a range of advertising options. Who knows, you might find Bing or LinkedIn is the most appropriate for your traffic needs.

 

[aeisn]

You're doing it wrong

You will always get a poor QS with direct linking. Google likes "real" sites (LPs) with content, a privacy policy, terms of service, and "About Us" page usually.

Either try MSN/Yahoo for your direct campaigns, or you'll have to design a landing page.

So an About page would noticeable difference? Do they factor those in manually, or just crawl and look for privacy policies and the like?

 

[S M W]

get to keywordspy.com and use their free trial to search keywords. see what sites are #1-#5 for a keyword and look at what those sites are doing. don't copy their work but copy how they setup content, etc.

try to find lower cpc keywords maybe so you can beat the competition.

you could try semrush.com too - that's what i've been using.

 

[S M W]

You will always get a poor QS with direct linking.

not true.

 

[papajohn56]

So an About page would noticeable difference? Do they factor those in manually, or just crawl and look for privacy policies and the like?

it would appear they crawl first, then possibly check later. Having all of those pages would help.