How I reduced AdWords cost per click from $4.47 to $1.55 in two weeks

by Josiah Mackenzie on May 14, 2009

Occasionally a business outside the hospitality industry contacts me to optimize their pay per click campaign. A few weeks ago West Chester Vacation Rentals – an Anchorage, Alaska-based firm that rents furnished apartments on a short-term basis hired me to fix up their campaign.

Following the optimization, we were able to reduce their average cost per click from $4.47 to $1.55. My fee quickly paid for itself, and now the company has a much more efficient advertising system for bringing in new business.

I’d like to share the steps I used to accomplish this, so you can avoid paying more than you have to for pay-per-click visitors:

I performed extensive keyword research to find hundreds of 3-5 word “long tail” phrases that cost less than generic terms.

I added very specific keywords to only display ads to people likely to reserve an apartment.

I targeted ad positions 2-4 instead of trying to always be at the top of results. Research shows ads in the top position give less ROI.

I split the campaign into separate ad groups for more control and flexibility.

I achieved strong clickthrough rates (CTR) – by writing benefits-oriented ad copy and using dynamic keyword insertion (DKI). With some ads earning over 7% CTR (up from 0.09%), this improved our quality score and dropped the cost per click.

If you decide to use PPC as part of your marketing strategy, it’s important to optimize your campaign for best results. A few basic changes like the ones above can save you thousands each month.

For more information on pay per click marketing for hotels, see:

To hire us for Adwords PPC campaign management, call 1 (800) 737-5817 ext. 2 or email josiah[at]gradigio.com.

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Article by Josiah Mackenzie // May 14, 2009 Josiah helps hospitality organizations use technology and the social web to provide better service and generate more profits.