--- title: Are Google AdWords too Expensive? description: Is AdWords Expensive I recently used Google Adwords to generate some traffic to a landing page I created for a personal productI was advertising I' image: https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-14921410-png/images/zaid_small.png --- [![Karen Rubin's Ramblings](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hubfs/Karen_Rubin_June2016_Theme_Images/karen-rubin_logo.jpg "Karen Rubin's Ramblings")](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/) # Karen Rubin's Ramblings # Are Google AdWords too Expensive? Posted by Karen Rubin on Mon, Apr 4, 2011 @ 10:04 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) **Is AdWords Expensive?** I recently used Google Adwords to generate some traffic to a landing page I created for a personal product I was advertising. I've been in the AdWords game since about 2005 and I've worked mostly with B2B companies, using AdWords to generate traffic and leads. I knew that by using AdWords I'd be able togenerate some quick traffic to my landing page without spending too much money. But I learned quickly that this wasn't necessarily the case. **2005 - The Online Gold Rush** What was great about 2005 and the advent of AdWords was affordability. It was a time where opportunity was ripe for businesses of all sizes to generate low cost, qualified traffic using AdWords. At that time, I had proposed to my current CEO to run an AdWords campaign to get us some leads. I remember the days of spending at most $1000/month and receiving Click Through Rates as high as 5%, plus a whole lot of traffic. But since 2005, keyword costs have increased. **Why the Increase?** There are a lot of legitimate reasons for keywords to increase in price. Much of it has to do with competition and new players entering a market. The popularity of AdWords and of using online as a way to advertise means more businesses are putting money into Google. AdWords is Google's primary source of revenue and in 2010 that number is a staggering $28B. And some may even go so far as to wonder if Google has any influence on the pricing of their keywords to increase their bottom line? **How Much Does it Cost?** It's actually hard for me to make a statistical inference that all keyword prices have gone up since 2005, due to my inability to access all of that data. But it is certain that you will find a lot of online sentiment making the case that it is indeed getting expensive. Since I can't speak on the behalf of everyone, I can only give you some personal examples and general observations from campaigns I've worked on since 2005. Let’s take a look at some keyword pricing data: Keyword term: wildflower seeds Keyword Cost in 2005: $0.62* Keyword Cost in 2011: $1.56** Percentage Increase in Cost: 150% **captured from a screenshot printed in Andrew Goodman's book [Winning Results with Google AdWords](http://www.amazon.ca/Winning-Results-Google-AdWords-Second/dp/0071496564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300732660&sr=8-1)* ***keyword cost in 2011 is based on Google's own estimate using their [keyword tool](https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none)* Keyword term: human resources Keyword Cost in 2005: $0.16* Keyword Cost in 2011: $2.29** Percentage Increase in Cost: 1293% **captured from a screenshot printed in Andrew Goodman's book Winning Results with Google AdWords* ***keyword cost in 2011 is based on Google's own estimate using their keyword tool* Keyword term: policy administration Keyword Cost in 2008: $0.66* Keyword Cost in 2011: $3.05** Percentage Increase in Cost: 362% ** based on my own data from an Enterprise Insurance campaign (B2B)* ***keyword cost in 2011 is based on Google's own estimate using their keyword tool* Keyword term: product development software Keyword Cost in 2008: $0.85* Keyword Cost in 2011*: $3.48 Percentage Increase in Cost: 309% ** based on my own data from an Enterprise Insurance campaign (B2B)* ***keyword cost in 2011 is based on Google's own estimate using their keyword tool* **What's Going on Here?** It's discouraging to see such dramatic price increases. If you look at the data above, it means that in 2005 you could run a campaign for the keyword 'human resources' that would cost $160 for 1000 clicks. If you ran that same campaign now it would cost $2,229, based on a single keyword. Add multiple keywords, and you get my point. **So What's the Alternative?** Fortunately, there are still ways to generate qualified traffic to your website. I'm not here to discount AdWords altogether but if you want to setup a campaign, make sure you do it carefully and optimize it well, otherwise you could burn through a lot of money quickly. Consider the other players in the industry as well like Microsoft and Yahoo. And of course, using tools like SEO, blogging and inbound marketing are sure-fire ways to generate more qualified traffic to your site. Most of these methods are affordable and over a period of time the costs eventually diminish (considered an investment). So instead of pulling out your wallet, consider creating amazing and engaging content and getting it out to the masses. I have to say, I didn't think the day would come where I wouldn't be a huge fan of AdWords. Frankly, it'sgetting too expensive and less democratic. The next few years should be interesting for Google. **Additional Resources** If you’re interested in learning more about using inbound marketing to drive your marketing efforts then I highly suggest you check out these resources: [Hubspot](https://www.hubspot.com) – it would be remiss of me to mention the company that pretty much put the term Inbound Marketing into our daily online lexicon. They have a ton of resources on their website and I highly suggest you check out their [blog](http://blog.hubspot.com) to get started. If you do want to give AdWords a go, I would still recommend that you check out Andrew Goodman’s book called [Winning Results with Google AdWords](http://www.amazon.ca/Winning-Results-Google-AdWords-Second/dp/0071496564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300732660&sr=8-1). It’s an intense ready but it still stands the test of time. And here’s an article from the Hubspot blog on Adwords: [How to Maximize PPC Campaigns and Optimize Landing Pages](http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/11074/How-to-Maximize-PPC-Campaigns-and-Optimize-Landing-Pages-with-JoannaLord-InboundNow-13.aspx) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ## ![describe the image](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-14921410-png/images/zaid_small.png) About the author: Zaid Rasid is the founder of the[ internet marketing blog](http://www.zaidrasid.com) **Better Social* Skills**. 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