Google Will Let You Improve Your Clickthrough Rate and Lower Your Ad Cost For Free.

If you are at all involved in using Google Adwords to drive traffic to your web site then you know that a few clicks from non targeted users can turn a profitable day into a loser.

Adding negative keywords to your ad campaigns is something you probably know all about and use right now. But imagine if you could filter out 25-50% more of those ill targeted clickthroughs from people who just stumbled upon your ad or were clicked by the curious? You can by simply adding more negative keywords. But you thought you had all the negative keywords there were for your ads?

There is something called 'server logs' that you may never have heard off. They are records of the your website's activity that logs information about your visitors, including what keyword brought the user to your site! You can access your logs by logging into your web hosting account's control panel where there should be an option to download or view your server logs.

Download those data logs and analyze the data using a log analyzer. You can pay for these or you can use a free analyzer called Funnel Web. Import the log, analyze it and view the report.

Take the report and copy and paste the results in a spreadsheet where you can view the keywords used to refer visitors to your site. Take some time to look at what keywords brought users to your site. Are there any keywords that brought users but are obviously not your intended audience? You can make some startling observations about which keyword or keyword phrases are causing your ads to appear and therefore causing you money.

For instance, you sell umbrellas and have the negative keyword of -insurance inside your campaigns to filter out people looking for personal insurance. But you may be suprised to see that your ad is appearing and getting clicks from someone searching for 'umbrella coverage'. It's a simple example, but it should convey the what I mean.

By analzing your logs you can improve your clickthrough rate by filtering out 'bad' visitors. Google rewards advertisers who have higher clickthrough rates by lowering the cost per click they charge you, and therefor lowering your ad costs and can make a significant improvement in your profits, especially if Adwords is a major source of your site's traffic.