Google Ad Words versus everything else
Independent author / publishers face a constant uphill struggle to even get their books noticed. The ALA mostly doesn't pay attention to you (there are exceptions to every rule) unless you're published through one of big 5, the same thing applies to major national book reviews. Amazon seems to do everything it can to siphon people away form the page describing your book and discourage people from buying your non-Kindle versions.
Ads placed on Twitter seem to mostly garner clicks to look at your profile—I don't think I've ever made a sale from Twitter, Facebook ads occasionally (once in a blue moon) get someone to at least look at your web site—mostly you get a lot of "like" clicks.
Blogs work pretty well to get attention, but not necessarily for sales.
Google Ads has been the only reliable method I've tried thus far that seem to generate sales. The ratio of sales to ad clicks is (at best) 10:1 and usually more like 20 or even 50 to 1 on a not so good day, and you may even get 100 clicks with no sales. But at least it seems to have some impact.
A couple of things I've found with Google Ads is that:
1) display ads don't work. They get clicks but no buys and many 100% bounces on your site. 2) You DON'T want a very low position. It's a waste of money to seek out an ad position of #1. The ad money goes out fast and you get a 100% bounce rate. For me, its been better to be a little over #3 in position. People who actually have the patience to get to the third page are more serious and will actually read your web site. If they seem to like what you've written, they may buy. But even with Google, you need to be patient. You may have to experiment with keywords and ad wording to get results. It may take months, so be prepared to invest.
Ads placed on Twitter seem to mostly garner clicks to look at your profile—I don't think I've ever made a sale from Twitter, Facebook ads occasionally (once in a blue moon) get someone to at least look at your web site—mostly you get a lot of "like" clicks.
Blogs work pretty well to get attention, but not necessarily for sales.
Google Ads has been the only reliable method I've tried thus far that seem to generate sales. The ratio of sales to ad clicks is (at best) 10:1 and usually more like 20 or even 50 to 1 on a not so good day, and you may even get 100 clicks with no sales. But at least it seems to have some impact.
A couple of things I've found with Google Ads is that:
1) display ads don't work. They get clicks but no buys and many 100% bounces on your site. 2) You DON'T want a very low position. It's a waste of money to seek out an ad position of #1. The ad money goes out fast and you get a 100% bounce rate. For me, its been better to be a little over #3 in position. People who actually have the patience to get to the third page are more serious and will actually read your web site. If they seem to like what you've written, they may buy. But even with Google, you need to be patient. You may have to experiment with keywords and ad wording to get results. It may take months, so be prepared to invest.
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