PPC Paydirt: Check Out Our Top Paid Search Columns Of 2015!

From retargeting tactics to time-saving AdWords scripts, our top SEM columns from the past year covered a diverse range of topics. Check them out!

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The past year has seen many interesting developments in the paid search world. Google released TrueView for Shopping ads, giving advertisers the ability to feature their products alongside their TrueView in-stream video ads. Yahoo’s Gemini platform expanded its reach to Yahoo’s desktop search results this year, giving marketers another platform in which to invest their paid search efforts. AdWords also released a handful of exciting new features in 2015, including Customer Match and Call-Only ads.

Yet despite all these new developments, readers on this site seemed most interested in columns that focused on broader topics related to account and campaign management. Frederick Vallaeys’ piece on how to be successful with AdWords, in which he provided a comprehensive checklist for managing campaigns, was the top paid search column this year.

Tactical pieces that garnered the highest interest were largely focused not on new features, but rather on perfecting the basics (such as retargeting and conversion rate optimization). As the industry as a whole matures, its practitioners are also becoming more advanced — and they’re looking for ways to take their PPC performance to the next level. The fact that AdWords scripts became a hot topic in 2015 is further proof of this.

For more expert insights and practical, actionable advice in the world of PPC, check out our top 10 paid search columns in 2015:

  1. The Secret To AdWords Success, Told By A Former Googler by Frederick Vallaeys, published on 1/21/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 686, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 100
  2. Here’s An AdWords Script That Lets You Optimize Bids Every Hour Of The Day by Daniel Gilbert, published on 1/13/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 622, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 7
  3. How To Track Your AdWords Competitors Over Time Using Auction Insights by Daniel Gilbert, published on 4/8/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 302, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 2
  4. Site Speed & PPC Performance: Why You Can’t Ignore A Slow Site Anymore by Pauline Jakober, published on 1/26/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 608, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 13
  5. 10 Things People Want To Know About AdWords, Direct From Google by Matt Lawson, published on 11/5/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 924, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 12
  6. Most Googled Products On The Planet In One Epic Map by Larry Kim, published on 7/16/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 381, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 11
  7. 3 Crazy PPC CRO Hacks To Boost Conversion Rates Right Now by Larry Kim, published on 5/29/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 367, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 6
  8. The Minimum Quality Score That Can Save You Money In AdWords by Frederick Vallaeys, published on 8/5/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 287, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 4
  9. 10 Top Retargeting Tips For AdWords Users by Rebekah Schelfhout, published on 6/23/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 580, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 100
  10. Why You Should Be Using Google Analytics Smart Lists For Remarketing by Rebekah Schelfhout, published on 5/26/15.
    Social activity: Facebook 395, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 8

Methodology: Columns published in 2015 are ranked in order of pageviews measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2015. Social data provided by SharedCount


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Jessica Thompson
Contributor
Jessica Thompson was Features Editor at Search Engine Land, MarTech and MarTech Today. She is a well-rounded digital media enthusiast with a keen interest in all things Internet marketing. Jessica earned her B.A. in English from Drew University and has since gone on to fill a wide variety of roles over the course of her career, including web designer, copywriter, editor, SEO consultant, online marketing specialist and marketing manager. Most recently, she worked at Advance Digital, where she conducted digital optimization training for journalists and provided high-level SEO and social media recommendations for 12 major regional news websites, including NJ.com.

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