I was testing out a pay per click ad. The first one I made, day 1 had approx 70,000 impressions and 5 clicks. My CTR% being .007%(aveage price per click was 1.56) This didn't feel high enough so I changed the picture of the ad and left the wording the same for a new add. So now I'm running both adds. The new add has approx 128,000 impressions and 32 clicks for a CTR% of .025% and average price is 1.60 per click.

Obviously I like the second ad better, but I'm wondering if my CTR% of .025% is high, low or average? And if anyone has advice they'd like to share on the subject.

I wish I could tell you the I recieved some the leads from those 32 clicks but my site contact form was sending info to an email address I no longer have. Yeah I was sour. I do expect most responses to come via the form. Yet, I also didn't receive calls on it.

When I was doing PPC I didn't look at the CTR%. I looked at the leads generated per $ spent.

When they click on your ad they expect to see houses for sale. If they don't see houses for sale or an obvious link to your IDX they just go away.

Change the landing page to your IDX and set up your IDX to capture their contact info after they look at 2 or 3 houses.

I am going to get blasted for suggesting this by those who haven't done it yet. I have done it and know many other agents who have and know for a fact that it works.

At $1.60 a click you need to see results or you will give it up.

Good luck.

Optimize your site, gradually move away from pricey PPC campaigns and be found organically. Of course, your contact form must work regardless.

I tried PPC for awhile via Google Adwords, and my CTR% was about as low. Obviously a higher CTR is more desirable, but I'd much rather focus on getting those people who clicked to get in touch with me.

Even using Bigtoe's recommendation, you shouldn't be expecting to have an especially high conversion rate. Remember that these people are probably clicking on dozens of other links as well, and that many of them aren't ready to buy anytime in the foreseeable future.

Well Bigtoe, I just changed the site to require login before searching Properties and a link to sign up to future properties.
I'll try this for another 50 clicks and then switch to your recommendation if I don't see positive results.

FYI I use this site only for PPC advertising it's fully functional but geared only toward sellers. All my PPC ads are geared to appeal to sellers.

I think if you require people to sign in before they see your properties, they will just hit the back button and find a site they don't need to sign up for.

I used to think the same thing. Then I tried it and found out I was wrong. If 90% of them go away you still end up with more than you had before. 90% of them do not go away.

I was afraid I would lose the serious buyers who look around the site and then call but they didn't go away either.

The best thing is to let them see 2 or 3 full property details and then require login.

Not as many sellers use the web as buyers do, probably because they are already being constantly hounded by agents.

I am developing a VOW right now that will let them search through the sold and under contract listings. Hopefully the sold search will be enough of an enticement to get them to sign up.

I plan on advertising this site to make sure it gets to the right clientele.

Does anyone know what the "real" return is on the type of advertising ?

I understand it will vary from market to market but it seems like a ton of work and expense.

Dave

I tried it out. Got a call from a buyer the first day my ads started running on Google Adwords (we're still hunting for the right place). Then a long stretch of nothing. Will it pay off? It certainly will if we ever close on a place.

I don't think it's a ton of work; it was actually quite easy to set up. It definitely is not cheap...but neither is a bus bench.

Try Facebook ads as well. They are cheap and it worked for many of our clients.

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PPC can be an expensive tool, especially if you are on a limited budget and do not have experience in targeting, selecting, and monitoring your keyword's effectiveness. Although PPC campaigns can be extremely effective, for real estate I think you are best served by optimizing your organic SERP; due to the nature of the business, you expect to see a lot of window-shoppers, which can get expensive fast when you are paying for each individual click, and haven't established an effective system/campaign. That being said, with enough practice, you can make PPC work great for you - just not for beginners.

You're right Kristi, PPC expenses add up quick. I tested four ads to see what type of response I would get. Two of the ads had a great response rate the other two were "crap." I'll be using these ads to get sellers from the net. I know, like bigtoe said, usually get buyers from the net. I know that there are tons of potiential sellers there too. Probably more than buyers atm! (My opinion not fact!) They're just harder to locate.
As for the window-shoppers, yeah got lots of those. They serve a purpose too in moving your site up the ranks. Agreed though not the most cost effective way. So far, this approach of both organtic and PPC/PPM have gotten me 3rd rank for my keywords on Yahoo. My goal was just to make atleast 2nd page. But like I said it's for sellers not buyers so my keywords could be wrong.
I do have a site geared toward buyers as well but I couldn't afford doing PPC on that because I'm sure the expense would be very high.

As of right now I've got one solid lead I can trace back to the ad. That's after 1.2M impressions and 179 clicks. Considering this is December, these adds might be best used in Jan - Mar?

Thanks for this insightful info, Bigtoe. Like many that have commented on this topic, I feel like forcing a user to sign in after viewing 2-3 detail listings would force many away. In fact it may force many away, but if you don't force users to log in, they are rarely ever to sign in. Hmmm...this is food for thought. Also, I agree...if your homepage is not a property search, one must create obvious links to their property search. This is 99.5% of the reason the user clicked on your site. Thanks again for the great info!

Consider using craig's list. It has tons of traffic in the real estate section. I was told that it is the second largest group that uses that website.

Keep in mind that landing page optimization is critical if you want a good conversion rate. For example, if running a PPC campaign targeting a high-end sub-division/condo, then send those people who click on the ad directly to your page devoted to that property (NOT to your homepage). I would also change the forced registration. Instead of signing up BEFORE they can browse, force it after 3 views (that way they know the information you provide is of value). Something else you can try is registration for additional info (i.e. photos). Best of luck.