I forgot where I read it, but I saw a few days ago a statistic that leapt out to me like a frog in a mossy pond. Google reported that 24% of its search queries are first time or unique queries. That’s a lot higher than I expected. But it makes me ask, How does that relate to pay per click management?
For starters, pay per click ads appear on the SERPs for queries that use a specific keyword. What I think this statistic means is that there is an element of unpredictability with regard to PPC CTRs that is uncontrollable. If 24% of the search queries are first time queries then that means an equal percentage of PPC ads will appear for queries that were unintentional on the part of the advertiser. There may be a fudge factor in there somewhere, but I’d imagine that this number is at least 20%.
Let’s just say that 20% of your PPC ads show up for first time queries. They are search queries that you didn’t expect to happen and didn’t target your ad to. How many of those queries will result in click throughs and how many of those click throughs will never result in a sale due to unqualified click status?
Here’s the point: No matter how well you plan and manage your PPC campaigns, there will always be an element of unmanageability with regard to your click through rate resulting in a less-than-desirable ROI. It is best just to stick with the things that you can control and not worry or fret about those you can’t.
