Google AdWords™ For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Spending Too Little in the Beginning

Other advertisers are so hesitant that they set daily and monthly budgets far too low to generate enough traffic. They don't get enough impressions to split-test and improve their ads and keywords, and they give up in frustration. Without enough statistically significant data, they don't know how to improve their campaigns and quit in frustration. That's like learning to drive by never going faster than five miles per hour. The experience of going 55 mph (or 85, which Joel wouldn't know about, especially not on I-70 in Colorado just east of Glenwood Springs, he swears) is qualitatively and quantitatively different from inching along in an empty parking lot. The super-slow experience just doesn't transfer to the real thing.

The happy medium involves setting a “learning budget” and sticking with it. Do your homework (see Chapter 4) to estimate the amount of traffic you can expect. Your advertising spend (as well as the daily or weekly attention you'll need to give your account) depends on the velocity of that traffic. At first, don't expect to make money, or even come close to breaking even. You're not advertising to earn it back; instead, you're running market tests so you can come out swinging when you open up your wallet and your traffic. Your goal is to get your ROI into the black within a few months.