Zero.Zilch.Nada.None.

Optimizing for organic ranking is a long term process. We have all heard how PPC is the end all and be all of answers for instant visibility. But in some industries the competition is still rough. How does a small jewelry web site compete with sites like Zales or Kay?

One of our SEO clients sells high end jewelry and just doesn’t have a solid reputable name in the jewelry industry. To get some business and some of that instant visibility, they have started a PPC campaign with AdWords. Working with a very small budget, I followed all the best practice guidelines for PPC very closely.

Best practice
Looking over their site, I determined the best landing pages I had to work with. This in itself was a challenge because so many of their pages have no product. Having picked the “best” possible categories (I only found four product categories I could work with), I had my four campaign groupings.

Zero

I then created a short list of very specific products they sell carry in those categories. Some of the products could be broken into smaller, more focused categories, so I created separate ad groups at this level.

Zilch

Once I had the ad group level determined, I did some keyword research and made a slightly longer list of keywords for each specific product.

Nada

Because my keyword list was very focused, and very relevant to the landing pages, it was very easy to write very focused and relevant ads for the products.

None

Life is good. Keyword quality scores were are Great. CTR are relatively strong. CPC are in good range. Ad position is good. So what’s the problem?

113 keywords ÷ 16 ad groups ÷ 4 campaigns = how many conversions per month? Zero. Zilch. Nada. None.

Why? What’s missing?
Buyer confidence is missing. The landing pages, over which the client gives us little or no control, just don’t convince the visitor to buy. The pages are missing elements to ensure or instill buyer confidence. There is an icon indicating a C.O.M.O.D.O. secure site, but no link for a visitor to check out the security. Nothing to convince the visitor that they can trust the site.

My ads display up there with Zales and Kay – but because my clients site isn’t reputable in the industry, and there pages don’t encourage trust — the visitor clicks through, and while the site may (and does) offer beautiful, jewelry, the visitor leaves without converting. Opting instead perhaps to visit Zales.