adwords

[koddos]

Does anybody here still use adwords to advertise their hosting services? Hosting related keywords have got so expensive in recent times. Is anyone still finding it cost effective?

 

[handsonhosting]

Yep- I still use it in our marketing campaigns. We've locked down a few niche areas which allows us to offer hosting in those areas at a much lower rate than just going after "dedicated server" or "web hosting" - if you string the words and know your target market, you can do just fine with adwords - we do.

 

[HostOX]

Personally I think it is a total rip, the cost of keywords sometimes is ridiculous.

It does bring good results for some I know, but some do not, I prefer just to do some SEO often and build a long term free solution, works much better!

 

[HostLeet]

Yes, I think you're losing clients if you don't (IMO). You just have to be very careful as it requires a lot of trial and error and some fine tuning of your campaigns. As Conor mentioned, know your market and you will experience better results as well.

 

[raindog308]

Everybody and their mother is giving away $100 coupons, so you could try it. Usually the advice is to get your keywords as focused as possible. "web hosting" is very expensive, but adding geographic, specialty, or other limiting words might help to bring down the cost.

 

[Westpoint]

I think Adwords can be effective and cost efficient, depending on the way you choose your keywords. Be as specific as possible, and avoid using generic keywords. It would bring down the cost as well as get more targeted visitors.

 

[HostOX]

Everybody and their mother is giving away $100 coupons, so you could try it. Usually the advice is to get your keywords as focused as possible. "web hosting" is very expensive, but adding geographic, specialty, or other limiting words might help to bring down the cost.

Indeed, not only that, they cost next to nothing to buy vouchers on ebay!

 

[Zagor]

I've used AdSense for years but I have never used AdWords. I'm always planning how and when to start but I think I'm never going to.

 

[Westpoint]

I've used AdSense for years but I have never used AdWords. I'm always planning how and when to start but I think I'm never going to.

I think Google offers free ad credits worth $100 for new Adwords users. You can take advantage of the offer to give Adwords a try. It wouldn't hurt as it's free.

 

[MGBH]

Adwords is still useful, you'll get targeted clients from that campaign

 

[tshah]

It is very useful to bring in quality traffic, if you target the right keyword you will see better conversion rate from adwords than any other form of advertisements.

 

[Mdowdy]

I have had good luck by using very specific keywords or terms like hosting for FreeBSD for example.

 

[HC-Ro]

I would focus on local targets,

If your business is in Washington I would create campaigns targeting locals

"buy local, blah blah blah for $10"

Then create local campaigns for other major city's.

The market is too flooded and too high dollar for broad search marketing, almost no way to compete with branding plays by the big guns.

 

[petergm]

I have tried adwords. It did not work out for me. It is simply too costly. It might work for some companys though.

 

[yesjack]

I try to use long tail keywords to avoid high bidding competition. Even though the traffic volume is low, ROI looks good to me.

 

[SenseiSteve]

There is no doubt that Google AdWords works if it's managed properly. I do believe some industries benefit more just by means of what their products or services are.