Google Adwords campaing and Fine Art America

[niserin]

Hi,

About two months ago I uploaded a part of my portfolio to FFA, you can see it here:
http://michal-bednarek.artistwebsites.com/

I've already got one sale with $74 commision for me, but I am thinking about increasing traffic to my site at FFA by creating the Google Adwords campaign.
What do you think about such move? What should I focus on and what budget would give a noticeable effect ?

Thanks!
Michal

[Poncke]

Interesting question

[steheap]

Michal

I've used Google adwords to promote my eBook about stock, and I can get a reasonable traction for $10 a day - paying maybe 80c per click. Doesn't always convert to a purchase though - sometimes it can be a very low success rate. However, that use is pretty straightforward - I can create an ad that specifically identifies what is on offer - ie a book about stock photography. The issue with FAA is that you don't want generic views from members of the public that see the ad and think - I wonder what that is. You need people who have some level of motivation to buy your specific prints - not any prints, but yours specifically. Hence, your targeting needs to be really tight, and then I'm not sure how well it would find the right people.

You could certainly try a very specific set of keywords - such as "buy print grand arche paris" and see what traction you get. I doubt if that sort of detailed ad is very expensive per click, and hence it could be worth trying.

I'll think about it as well and maybe try a specific link to one of my galleries.

Another idea I thought about was that we could designate a day where the members of this forum (when not consumed by Getty as at present!) would visit one members site and click on/comment on images they like. That may put you higher up the visibility levels among viewers of the site - especially the comments.

Steve

PS - my FAA is http://steven-heap.artistwebsites.com/index.html

[niserin]

A very very useful tip Steve, thanks for this.
With every of my >1000 images there it would be difficult to create a campaing for each though. That is why maybe creating campaigns for specific galleries would be an idea ?
Keywording them with phrases like 'paris canvas prints' is specific enough to grab a motivated buyer, isn't it ?

[steheap]

I think you need to think about the keywords someone would search on. You need someone who has decided to buy a print of Paris for their wall. Hence, "buy" may be important as a keyword. Not sure about "canvas" - that could narrow it, but it is also specific to a type of print. I've never bought a print so I'm not the best person to ask, but I wonder if "beautiful" may fit in there, or panorama for a specific orientation?

I'll waste some money with Google tonight to see if I can get a sale on Kauai prints! It is sometimes better to get customer when they have had a drink in the evening!

Let you know tomorrow!

Steve

[steheap]

OK, it is running. I went with:
Buy fine art prints Kauai
Beautiful artist photographs
Gorgeous Kauai prints for your wall
steven-heap.artistwebsites.com

with a whole set of keywords similar to "beautiful prints of Kauai" and I pointed the URL to my Kauai gallery. I've set my cost per click at $1 max and $10 budget per day.

Steve

[gemmy12]

But how do you guys decide who are your target audience ? Do you select the location where the images is taken from ? But if it is so, then its also possible that the people from that location themselves have access to area/subject..
Like i have images of Indian people, business and farmers, so should i select india for my ad or some distant location as target for ad as distantly located people cant reach to indian real people, business that easliy ?

[niserin]

Steve, can't wait for the outcome of your experiment.
What is also worth pointing out is that the vast majority of buyers at FAA are from the US, so it would make sense to narrow the location down to the US and maybe Canada. We don't want clicks from lets say China where people won't buy the prints as the delivery cost would be too high.

Also, I will exclude keywords like 'services' and 'printing'. They may be confusing as they may mean printing houses/services etc.

Michal

[steheap]

So far, 50 impressions and 1 click for $0.65 and no sales!

I had it worldwide, but changed this morning to US and Canada. I'm sure you are right about the audience for these prints.

I think my ad makes it clear that I am selling prints of Kauai, so I haven't been too restrictive on keywords I don't want. Just tried to get some appropriate ones about prints in kauai etc.

Steve

[niserin]

What is the story behind the price of clicks ?
The click for $2 is any better than a click for $0.39 ?

[steheap]

No - it is more to do with the popularity of the search - the more popular a search (eg "mortgages") the more people are willing to pay to get an advert on the first page of the search results. With my lowly search terms, I don't have to pay much to be noticed

Steve

[niserin]

so with your lowly searched item (Kauai) you would maybe pay even less per click than $0.65 ?
I am thinking what price for a click I should offer for my Paris gallery.

[steheap]

It is set automatically to some extent. I have set the maximum I am willing to pay at $1 with a $10 budget per day. Then Google looks at other people with similar keywords and how much they are willing to pay, and through some magic, decide how much my clicks cost based on where I appear in the search results. I'm not an expert, but it seems that as long as I get appropriate clicks (and I get some sales), then I don't need to pay more than my max of $1.

Steve

[Poncke]

How long are you going to run it? Keep us posted on results.

[steheap]

I'll keep it going until I have wasted $30 or so on ads. If a sale comes along, then it will easily be good value for money and I will probably widen to other topics.

Steve

[Oldhand]

Hi Michael - just dipped into your thread for a read. I do some work with Google Adwords, but am by no means an expert. Are you also trying to promote your site? If you are I'd have a look at the SEO for it - a few tweaks would help a lot.

Born in 1989, Poland, Michal Bednarek is a young, creative professional photographer, specializing in commercial/stock photography. He focuses on highly conceptual photography touching various sides of life. Apart from great technical quality, his works feature true emotions, naturalness, positiveness, and a fresh feeling with an artistic edge.

Michal Bednarek licences a vast number of pictures which have been used by corporations from around the world and include Encyclop�dia Britannica, The Independent, MSN Life and Style, Ferrero Tic Tac, Kinder Maxi King and many, many more.

Maybe you're looking to buy a fine art print of the River Seine in Paris, the city skyline of Prague or it could be a canvas of African wildlife would look great on your office wall? Whatever type of art you are looking for Michal Bednarek will have something in his portfolio which you would love.

Michal has a Bachelor's degree in English, in his free time he loves traveling, practising tennis, reading about psychology and self-development, and sleeping after a long day .

You want to get some text on your news page, post a couple of blogs promoting specific items and regularly update the site. I'm trained to write to current Google standards for SEO; I realise the site is not a stand alone one in itself, but I'd certainly try to promote the pictures you have for sale through it. Without edging into keyword stuffing, there is plenty of scope for getting some nice keywords in there.

Just a thought as a longer term strategy to Google Adwords.

Oldhand

[steheap]

An update. My keywords were of very low search volume and so I was not getting many impressions (ie they were rarely coming up) and zero clicks. I added a new set of keywords: "buy artist prints" which is much more popular in searches and so I got 1600 impressions and 4 clicks at 60c each. No purchases, but presumably among the 1600 people who presumably saw my little ad, 4 of them were tempted to buy prints of Kauai (but not mine  )

I'll keep it running.

Steve

[niserin]

I report myself: 7 clicks at my Paris gallery for about $6 in total. No sales, but awkwardly no visitors reported to my Paris gallery at FAA either. I'll keep it running though.

[gemmy12]

ok. I was asking if you guys are using adwords for your FAA AW. so yes. I think i would also try it. But need to look if there are some high volume low competition searches for my keywords.

[steheap]

"buy artist prints" seems to be the best one I've found - 3000 impressions and 8 clicks on my ad (which is a lot more specific to what I have on offer.)

No sales yet and $5.83 spent!!

Steve

[niserin]

"buy artist prints" seems to be the best one I've found - 3000 impressions and 8 clicks on my ad (which is a lot more specific to what I have on offer.)

No sales yet and $5.83 spent!!

Steve

yeah good one, thanks man.
For me the phrases with "posters" or "poster" seem to get the highest number of impressions, like "paris posters" etc.
It is still too early to judge our ads' efficiency if we spent less than $10

Gonna keep it up.

[luissantos84]

just sold a print for 75$

believe I will buy the membership

[steheap]

Congrats!  My ads seem to be working - just working for other people!!

Which image did you sell?

Steve

PS  - I've expanded my adwords now with a second ad pointing to my Washington DC portfolio. Lets see if there are any big spenders in Washington 

[luissantos84]

Congrats!  My ads seem to be working - just working for other people!!

Which image did you sell?

Steve

PS  - I've expanded my adwords now with a second ad pointing to my Washington DC portfolio. Lets see if there are any big spenders in Washington 

http://fineartamerica.com/saleannouncement.html?id=bdc59df9ab9654054f138586dbffc4c5

[Poncke]

I spent 20 euro but had no sales, I think I did wrong by making it a general link to my FAA account, I need to target specific search terms. Such as pointing towards my city galleries and stuff, nothing too general


Luis, I realised that for FAA you can mess around a bit with your images in photoshop and give them a more arty look. If you look at what is selling its most of the time photos that are heavily processed. Also, I think if you put your yellow petrol pump on a grey background (or another color) it has more potential rather then on white. You can also upload the pump several times with different backgrounds.