Web marketers using Google AdWords would agree that to get the maximum ROI, monitoring your PPC campaign constantly is a must requirement. PPC specialists spend hours monitoring keyword performances, clicks and conversions and have to tweak keywords and bids so that their campaign delivers the maximum output. People opt to rely on PPC management tools because it can be quite tough to keep track of multiple project campaigns running on hundreds of keywords. There are a number of PPC management tools available on the Internet and one of them is WordWatch.
WordWatch is a PPC management tool that promises a cost effective and easy to use solution to manage your AdWords accounts. They have a free plan on offer too and we at PageTraffic thought of testing the tool for you. And for the same we chose one of the trial packages they have created- the one for SMB Advertisers.
The Sign Up Process:
The site allows for a free sign up but at registration and all, they will take your credit card details, like normal practices. Once you are in, they tell you that they will run and manage your accounts once you sync it with WordWatch MCC account. You need to register your campaign with AdWords. Set up your account for manual bidding. Then you have to define goals & CPC & conversion rates strategies for every goal. This setting up is a time taking process because you have to download data from your account and then the actual work starts.
You have to choose the way you want your accounts optimized: based on conversions or on clicks (after few days of running it with them). After you set up the way you want the tool to work, you may feel relaxed and free from the pressure of manually monitoring keywords and resetting bids. But this relaxation doesn’t last long.
WordWatch promises that they will create strategies based on the goals you configured and the budget you have specified. But in our case we didn’t see that happening. The PPC management solution randomly assigns your budget amounts based on the conversion optimizer. So, technically the budget of high priced keywords will be increased further if they show higher conversion rates on a day. This is what we expected to happen as well only it didn’t because in the trial package, the conversion optimizer strategy option did not open for us only. All we could access was the Click Maximizer strategy. We went to the chat support too, but it was not enabled. The ‘Access to Conversion Optimizer granted’ mail that we were waiting for never did come.
How the PPC Management is undertaken: WordWatch Review as tested by PageTraffic
The interface has four tabs for you to explore and manage your account. These are: the dashboard, details, strategies and my WordWatch. To begin with their dashboard leaves much to be desired. The interface is not up to the mark. Let us first tell you what the dashboard does have. Well, it is also the home page and you can see and you can see numbers which show your AdWords Accounts status with your present conversion rate and CPC rate. The numerical data can be viewed for a 14-30 days customized time-period. You can set up and define your goals and strategies from the dashboard but there is one major hiccup we discovered: you cannot get to see what changes they have made in your account.
See, when they take up analyzing the keywords, there is an initial relaxation as you may feel you have saved 2-3 hours of analytical work. The time is saved because the tool makes changes according the data gathered and recommendations on its own from your account.
Here comes in the problem. You cannot see the changes they have made from the dashboard as there is no link on the dashboard taking you to the changes made report. There is no such functionality and you are left with no other choice than to log in to your AdWords account and see for yourself what changes they made. At this stage, you will notice that apart from their negative keyword recommendations, they would also have added a number of long tail keywords to your account.
Be cautious if you are using the trial package:
The trial package allows you to see the functioning of the tool for free. But be warned that in case you are even a day late in announcing to them that you don’t want the package renewed, your account will be charged. Yes, the charge of the package you were on a trial of will be taken from your credit card, the details of which are taken at the sign up stage of the entire process.
The Verdict: Should you take it or leave it?
The choice would ultimately be yours but please make a note of our final observations:
- Their PPC support is lacking sorely
- There was no great impact on the account
- The system seems suitable for smaller/simpler campaigns
- The Onsite chat/call support never really helps
- You have to be proactive in cancelling the free trials as well or your account could be charged with a package subscription account, the one you did not sign up for.
So, our final word on this review would be that WordWatch will require your constant monitoring. You will need to keep logging into your AdWords account and see the history of changes made. And don’t be surprised if you feel no major impact after their management takes over your campaign. Have you tried the tool yet? Do share your experiences with us. It will make this review more meaningful for the other visitors.