Paid Search looks at search advertising programs and how to most effectively use them. Columnists cover topics such as bid management, managing multiple campaigns, search ad copy tips and landing page quality issues and other subjects.

High-Priced Talent Letting You Down? PPC Moneyball Revisited

Jun 17, 2013 at 9:31am ET by Andrew Goodman

As the summer weather haltingly makes its appearance in my neck of the woods, thoughts turn to on-base averages, fielding percentages and all of that Moneyball stuff. My theme for this column is the woeful underperformance of the team known as the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite a wave of off-season signings and by far the highest payroll in their history, the Jays are sitting dead last in their division, playing .435 baseball. In a couple of ways, baseball underperformers and paid search underperformers tend to exhibit similar characteristics. They try to run before they've proven they ca [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search | SEM Industry

Hey, PPC Managers: Stop Being So Lazy!

Jun 13, 2013 at 9:30am ET by Larry Kim

When I do PPC webinars, I always like to open with a quick poll. In a recent webinar, I asked attendees to fess up to how much time they spend working on their AdWords account every week. The results were very promising: Almost 9 out of 10 (87%) of respondents said they do at least some work in their account every week. Sounds pretty good, right? Everyone is diligently working in their PPC accounts! Not so fast – it doesn't take a genius to realize that self-reported activity isn’t always reliable. Few people exercise as much or eat as little as they claim to. I wondered if PPC marke [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Paid Search

Should You Create Ad Group Sitelinks in Enhanced Campaigns?

Jun 10, 2013 at 9:05am ET by Brad Geddes

One of the nicest things about AdWords Enhanced Campaigns is that you can now control sitelinks at the campaign or the ad group level. From a feature standpoint, this sounds great. However, when you start considering the execution phase of creating sitelinks for every single ad group, the task can suddenly seem quite daunting. First, we'll cover how sitelinks work. Then, we'll need to determine whether or not we should upgrade our ad groups; and if so, create a priority order. About Sitelinks Sitelinks allow you to add additional information below the ad. Each sitelink can also be cu [...]

Fifty Shades Of Full Value

Jun 3, 2013 at 10:15am ET by David Rodnitzky

[caption id="attachment_137102" align="alignright" width="300"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] I recently saw an incredible presentation by Google Analytics guru/evangelist Avinash Kaushik on "understanding the full value of mobile." The concept – at least on its face – is simple: to understand the value of a mobile click, you have to look beyond immediate conversions and give credit to all the other ways a customer might interact with your business via their mobile device. This could include any number of things: downloading your mobile app, calling your store, looking up directio [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | How To: Analytics | Paid Search

SEM-Like Control For Successful PLA Campaigns

May 30, 2013 at 10:47am ET by Dan Morrison

There are notable similarities between keyword and PLA campaigns that, when leveraged properly, will give retailers greater control of their campaign management. Let’s evaluate how retailers can leverage best practices from their keyword campaigns and apply them to their PLA campaigns for maximum efficiency and control over their budgets. In SEM, search engines decide which ads are shown for which queries based on keywords; but, advertisers don’t have to yield control of their spend to the search engine. Instead, they can institute a proper campaign setup that allows for control at a gr [...]

Getting Away From Our PPC Campaigns This Summer

May 28, 2013 at 1:44pm ET by Matt Van Wagner

Having just finished marching in three parades and playing Taps at Memorial Day observances to honor our deceased veterans, I find myself looking forward to the more relaxed days of summer, and wondering how in the heck I can get away from my PPC campaigns this summer. [caption id="attachment_161017" align="aligncenter" width="439"] Wouldn't it be nice to take the whole summer away from PPC campaign management? (iStockphoto used under license.)[/caption] It’s a pipe dream, I know, because PPC campaigns know no rest and take no vacations. They have a remarkable power to command some sl [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Paid Search

Didn’t Win The Powerball Or Mega Millions Jackpot? Try Your Luck At The AdWords Jackpot!

May 20, 2013 at 10:27am ET by Larry Kim

[caption id="attachment_160187" align="alignright" width="300"] Image provided by the Multi-State Lottery Association.[/caption] Chances are you didn’t win this past Friday's $190 million Mega Millions drawing or Saturday’s $600 million Powerball jackpot. However, the great news is that if you’re an SEM account manager, you can still try your luck at winning the AdWords Jackpot! What’s An AdWords Jackpot? An AdWords Jackpot happens when all of the paid search ads for a search query are the same or are pretty similar. In this case, of course, having an ad that's like all the rest i [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Paid Search

How To Conduct Ad Tests In Enhanced Campaigns

May 13, 2013 at 9:19am ET by Brad Geddes

Enhanced campaigns have brought about many changes to AdWords. One of the biggest changes yet to be discussed is the fact that your ad testing methods will have to change. One of the “features” of enhanced campaigns is that your campaign can now run on desktops and mobile devices with different CPCs that are controlled by bid modifiers. However, since your ads can be run on multiple devices at the same time, you need to test your ad metrics by device. This can easily be accomplished with device preference and Excel filters. First, let’s discuss why this change needs to occur, and t [...]

Targeting: AdWords Vs. Google Display Network Vs. Programmatic Display

May 6, 2013 at 8:55am ET by David Rodnitzky

Search engine marketing’s meteoric rise over the last decade is due, in large part, to the superiority of query-level targeting as compared to other online advertising channels. The targeting edge that SEM once held, however, may be slipping. Indeed, for many advertisers and many verticals, SEM may no longer be the best channel for laser-focused advertising. In this article, I look at five types of online targeting and compare the functionality of SEM versus two other popular marketing channels – self-serve display advertising (Google Display Network) and programmatic display advertisin [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

The Enhanced Campaigns Waiting Game

Apr 29, 2013 at 9:15am ET by Matt Van Wagner

Like many of my fellow PPC colleagues, I feel uneasy about the impending move to Enhanced Campaigns and the lurking cutover deadline of July 22nd. Should we convert now and get it over with? Should we run a few tests with our smaller, simpler accounts? Should we abandon tightly-crafted, geo-segmented campaigns in favor of the new geo-bidding options within Enhanced Campaigns? Or, do we wait? Do we keep reading articles like this one, hoping to find guidance, when what we really want to find is some secret AdWords hack that lets us keep targeting tablets and bidding on mobile keywords [...]

7 Landing Page Tests You Can Run Tomorrow!

Apr 22, 2013 at 10:15am ET by Mona Elesseily

For many years, I've been participating in sessions/panels in which I critique PPC landing pages volunteered by audience members. As crowds go wild for this type of session, I've decided to use this space to focus on effective landing page elements and provide several examples thereof. #1 Use Credibility Indicators Include credibility indicators on your landing page such as testimonials, reviews, awards, social media information (Facebook likes, number of tweets, etc.), and seller ratings (on Google, this info is pulled from Bizrate and other rating sites). Here are some specific ideas [...]

4 Simple Lessons To Make CPA Bidding Work For You

Apr 15, 2013 at 9:30am ET by Brad Geddes

I’m a huge fan of Google’s CPA bidding system. Setting bids is necessary; but merely setting them only leads to short-term progress. Your bidding work is only useful until the data changes, and then you have to set bids again. The maxim, "your data are only good until the data changes," can be applied to ads, landing pages, placements and any data point within your PPC campaign. The issue that needs to be examined, here, is the frequency of data changes and how that affects your strategy. Typically, ads do not need to be changed every few days. An ad or a landing page can perform wel [...]

Where To Begin With SEM Benchmarking

Apr 8, 2013 at 9:00am ET by David Rodnitzky

I love benchmarking. I measure the progress of my diet (not going well), the MPG of my car, how my stock portfolio is doing against the market, whether my favorite football team is better than it was last year, and so forth. And, since everyone reading this is a search engine marketer, you are probably just like me – a benchmarking fiend. Indeed, when it comes to SEM, benchmarking seemingly plays a big role. It’s hard to go through any SEM conversation without the mention of “deltas” and “year-over-year” data being discussed. I’ve noticed, however, that many SEMs only take [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search | Search Marketing: General

How To Manage PPC Closely To A Budget

Apr 1, 2013 at 2:48pm ET by Matt Van Wagner

A few weeks ago, at SMX West in San Jose, George Michie of RKG, was talking about the challenges of managing enterprise-level PPC campaigns, and he made the interesting observation that you can either manage to ROI or to budgets, but not both at the same time. The context of George’s remarks was setting expectations with client C-Level executives and educating them about what is and what is not possible with online marketing campaigns. [caption id="attachment_153754" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Maximizing PPC ad spend and managing to best ROI are usually conflicting goals.[/captio [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | How To | How To: PPC | Intermediate | Paid Search

Google Shopping Ads: What We’ve Learned So Far

Mar 25, 2013 at 10:21am ET by Mona Elesseily

In October 2012, Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) became Google Shopping. With this, Google removed the Google Shopping listings from the organic side of the equation and made them a purely PPC play. Many people, including Danny Sullivan, have noted that Google has now embraced a paid inclusion model. Things have certainly changed, and advertisers need to stay on top of their game to take advantage of new opportunities. In this article, I’ll share some tips we’ve learned related to Google Shopping ads. Before getting started, a few notes on Google Shopping: It’s a feed-based p [...]

Geographic Targeting In An Enhanced Campaign World

Mar 18, 2013 at 9:10am ET by Brad Geddes

AdWords enhanced campaigns will force many advertisers to change their campaign structures. One of the benefits that have been touted for enhanced campaigns is that you will need fewer campaigns, thus making AdWords easier to manage. For mobile targeting, this is true, as the ability to target mobile devices is now gone. However, for the targeting features that are left, such as location targeting, you might not want to consolidate your campaigns just for easier management. In today’s column, we will examine how locations affect your campaign structure and if you should change your s [...]

Enhanced Campaigns: Google’s Grand Unification Theory

Mar 11, 2013 at 11:01am ET by Matt Van Wagner

Early last century, Albert Einstein turned the world of established physics upside down when he introduced his theories of special and general relativity. Newton's Laws, which had successfully driven the work of physicists for hundreds of years, were usurped by Einstein's new theories. At the heart of Einstein's FIELD theories, which describe space-time, was his famous formula: Okay, maybe you’ve never seen that before, but it is famous among theoretical physicists and cosmologists. The lambda, (Λ) is the cosmological constant, which we'll touch on later in this article. Einstein’s [...]

How Adwords Enhanced Campaigns Can Be Used To Promote Your Mobile App

Mar 4, 2013 at 12:21pm ET by Larry Kim

There’s been a lot of confusion among paid search marketers upset about the lack of device targeting in Enhanced Campaigns. This article will tell you how to advertise your mobile app using AdWords while checking out the new app promotion ad format in AdWords. One of the most common hypothetical use cases for device targeting in AdWords has to do with mobile apps. For example, a mobile app developer who doesn’t want to target desktops because their app only works on say, iOS tablets – it would make no sense for these ads to show up on Windows desktop computer searches. One Search E [...]

3 Neuromarketing Considerations For Landing Page Optimization

Feb 25, 2013 at 11:39am ET by Mona Elesseily

Last month, I attended a webinar by Tim Ash called “Understanding the Brain’s Need for Novelty & Shortcuts.” This made me think and realize that many of our PPC landing page strategies are “shortcuts” and relate directly to the field of neuromarketing. Neuromarketing is a relatively new field of marketing research that studies consumers' cognitive and emotional responses to marketing stimuli. It seeks to learn why consumers make the decisions they do and what part of the brain our decisions stem from. In this article, I’ll cover several brain “shortcuts” and discuss w [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

Should You Upgrade To AdWords Enhanced Campaigns?

Feb 18, 2013 at 11:17am ET by Brad Geddes

Google made a huge splash last week when they announced Enhanced Campaigns. There have been both positive and negative reactions to the announcement. If you haven’t heard about the changes, here is the quick, bullet-point list: The ability to set mobile-specific bids will be removed (you can do bid adjustments at the campaign level) The ability to target specific mobile devices and carriers will be removed The ability to specifically target tablets will be removed and bundled with desktop campaigns You can now control ad extensions by ad group You can now use ad scheduling for [...]

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