Convince me I need a professional PPC service provider
-
Very new to SEO and somewhat new to PPC but I have managed a few campaigns before for an old website. I am very good with numbers, calculating ratios, conversions, etc. I have a strong analytical and business mind and the theory behind PPC makes sense to me.
I know my target audience very well. I am an expert in the that field but I am not an expert in PPC. I am just starting out with a very small website advertising myself as a professional consultant in my field. The thought of spending extra money on a PPC guru when that money could go into my site or pay for visitors is a little scary.
Do you think I can learn and teach myself all the tricks of PPC or is this an area where it really makes sense to hire an expert to do the work for me? My budget would be small at first ($500 or less per month) so every little dollar helps.
Thanks.
-
Yes, I'm the same way. If I am passionate about something then I will usually do it myself. Although, it may not always be the best way to go about it, because sometimes it ends up pushing the higher priority things I should be attentive to behind.
Unfortunately for us passion doesn't always = priority
-
I agree.
I pay to have a lot of jobs done and do a lot of jobs that I could easily pay someone else to do who is already on my staff.
Part of the decision has to do with which jobs I enjoy.
We sell a product that I am fascinated with. All of my employees know how to prepare that product for sale and they do that work part of the time. They do an excellent job. It's honestly boring work. However, I spend more time on that task than they do - because I enjoy doing that job.
-
EGOL's point is valid
Pashmina's point is valid
At the end of the day, one or the other is only valid after knowing your full situation. What do I mean by that?
Nobody can give you the right answer because we don't have all the information needed to make an accurate decision.
We don't know how much time you have to teach yourself, spend on setting up your campaigns and, monitoring your campaigns.
Don't forget that quote "Time Is Money"
It's like asking if you should hire a lawyer, handyman, painter, mechanic, movers and etc...
A lot of things that these professionals can do, you maybe able to do better for yourself but:
You need to determine how much time you have to put aside on it, how quickly you need it done and etc..
In other words based on everything that people have answered, only you can make the final decision.
-
While I agree with EGOL, that no one will be able to do it as well as you given your depth of knowledge on your business and audience, I still think it makes sense to hire an expert.
(I'm over generalizing in a preachy dramatic way to make a point, so take it for what it is.) Smart capable people; we all have the same problem. We think: "Well, no one else can do it better than I can, so I'll just do it myself." But if we don't learn to accept support, and play to our strengths, we can only go so far in our ambitions to build something big.
One of the best decisions I made at 26, was to outsource my house cleaning. Seriously. It's a blessing. And now I just embrace it in every aspect of life, and business. Hiring others to do services, has given me space and capacity to build a better, and bigger business. I can build my own website, do my own taxes, and etc. I can probably build a really good website. But I don't want to be a good web designer. I want to be a PPC expert, and continue to develop that strength more deeply. So I outsource my website and taxes to a professional.
In that same vein, you need a professional PPC manager. Let it be their focus to maximize your campaign's effectiveness, and stay on top of the ever-changing PPC landscape. And you focus on being more you. I bet if we look at the numbers, then just one more extra conversion/sale/client per month would more than pay for the expertise, (not to mention the time you would save).
-
I'm with Egol, you seem to be clued up, and no one is going to care as much as yourself. so start learning.
i would look into your SEO as a more long term solution PPC does not work for every one.
-
I'll second EGOL's recommendation on several fronts.
Even if you decide to turn it over to a PPC pro in the future I'd recommend managing your PPC campaigns at the beginning. If you decide to turn the management of the campaign over to an agency later, you will be much better equipped to make that decision.
Definitely read Brian Gedde's Advanced Google Adwords. Brian Geddes provides tremendous insights and very clear instructions and methodologies. I had been managing my own campaigns for years and changed everything after reading this book.
The only caveat is time. It can be time consuming to manage, especially at first, or if you aren't seeing the results you expect. Honing in on your best results may include trying different ads, A/B testing, geo-targeting and as you already mentioned, a good bit of data analysis. If you have a handful of pages or products that may not take too long. And you're going to burn through some Adwords dollars during this phase.
Good luck - it's a great tool and it's brought plenty of business my way.
-
Thanks Egol. I don't mind paying people if they can provide a valuable service but I am often let down by the so-called "experts" in various fields. I think PPC consultants make sense if you have a large site with hundreds of products but I only have one site and am just selling one thing (myself). Cheers.
-
After reading your question... I came to the conclusion that you are the type of person who should bet on himself. You know your biz, know your audience, embrace numbers, know how to calculate and enjoy it, maybe you enjoy a little competition.
If that is the case and if you can spare a few days up front for learning and a few hours per month at first (which may decrease over time), then I encourage you to consider doing the PPC yourself.
Not trying to bash the PPC pros... but for doing the PPC for your business, I would put my money on you. You have the analytical skills and the biz knowledge plus you are the one with skin in the game.
I suggest that you do what I did....
First, start practicing a bit with PPC..... then read Advanced Google AdWords by Brad Geddes... then attend one of his Adwords Seminars. http://certifiedknowledge.org/adwords-seminars/
If you do that your competitors will be in trouble.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
PPC click-through rate by position
Hey Mozzers, I'm trying to find an average CTR by position in the SERPs for paid search ads, but I can't find a reliable source. Does anybody have this information, or can anybody share their own thoughts based on experience? Thanks!
Paid Search Marketing | | Zoope0 -
Gap in Google PPC Ads & Organic search results - New test by Google?
Hi All, Just noticed an unusual gap in PPC ads and organic search results in google NZ. while searched the same term in Google AU, it wasn't the same. Did anyone here see something similar? Is this a new test by Google to get more clicks on PPC ads and pushing down organic results? Looking forward to hear from the community. Cheers, Rattan wcB6DL1.jpg
Paid Search Marketing | | FRL0 -
PPC seems to have had a seriously negative impact on organic rankings?!?
We've been targeting a keyword on behalf of a client for the last few months. The page had good content and had been steadily climbing the rankings. It reached a position of #12 and then suddenly dropped off. Within 2 weeks it was out of the top 50 and is now around the 10th or 11th page (useless). This drop off matched exactly with the cleint switching on a low level PPC campaign, driving traffic from this specific keyword. The stats on this have shown a really high bounce rate (so we'll need to ask some other questions about content) - but could this be the reason that organic stats have taken a hammering? If Google associated people landing n that page from that keyword (even though its paid) as not finding relevant content, I'm assuming this could have a negative impact on the organic rank? Any Thoughts Welcome....!!!
Paid Search Marketing | | Purestone0 -
Google Analytics CPC and PPC not Matching
Hi Why do our CPC in Google Analytic not match our PPC in Adword, surely they should be identical? We have Auto-tagging switched on and data in our history is wrong so it is not a timing issue. Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | Studio330 -
Does sitewide SEO affect PPC Quality Score?
When evaluating a PPC landing page for Quality Score, does Google evaluate the other pages that the landing page is linked to? For example, if we have a well optimized page on the site for "Widgets", can it outscore a well optimized PPC landing page that is isolated in a "disallow" directory with no links into or out of the page? I'm not sure if I am making myself clear...
Paid Search Marketing | | CsmBill0 -
Is ppc becoming more influential than organic search with consumers?
Simply put, are consumers clicking on ppc in lieu of organic search. In the past, people use to say that ppc accounted between 30-40% of traffic with organic accounting for majority of activity. My question is whether those numbers have changed, and if so, where are we now? A friend in Boston in does SEO, remarked that many of her 'sophisticated' friends didn't know the difference between ppc and organic. Seems odd, but with the move to place ppc results from the right hand sidebar to the top left hand column, certainly gives it more presence and makes the separation between ppc vs. organic less distinct. I certainly understand the value of doing both, but depending on the answer, it begs the question... is the expense of moving up a position or two in organic worth the effort and monies, if ppc is becoming the dominant raffic tdriver? Anybody have any recent statistics on ppc vs. organic? Thanks.
Paid Search Marketing | | ahw0 -
PPC Billing
I'd like to add PPC as a service for my company. However I'm at a loss as to how to charge for it. I've received cold calls from those "SEO guys" charging $200 for PPC services. But I doubt that they're very profitable or even ethical. For you PPC guys, are you billing hourly on top of the campaign, and how are you outlining this for your customers? Thanks!
Paid Search Marketing | | WilliamBay0 -
PPC Campaign Setup Fee - Fair?
We already do our PPC campaigns with an agency and we're looking to create another campaign. They told us that the amount of traffic around our campaign would allow for about $2-3k spend per month, possibly with some additional funds placed into display ads. For this campaign, they have proposed a setup fee of $2k and an increased management fee of $750 -- is this a reasonable price?
Paid Search Marketing | | kylesuss0