Paid Search Column
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.
3 ad copy mistakes keeping you from paid search success
Although Google provides data on keywords, bids and other aspects of your paid search campaigns, it tends to leave us hanging when it comes to...
Welcome to the Golden Age of competitive research
One of the largest opportunities we have as PPC marketers is to seize the moment when competitors have stopped paying...
Leveraging data science to illuminate the modern consumer decision journey
When analysis of behavior focuses on query relationships, we find searches are seldom linear and occur in clusters that don’t necessarily...
If you’re not remarketing keywords, you’re missing out
Targeting methods have moved beyond keywords and SMBs should now be interacting with potential customers alongside their entire purchase...
Why set it and forget it doesn’t work with feeds or campaigns
Create a checklist to regularly test and review search terms, manage errors and analyze custom label usage to make sure you're not losing...
Learn how to get better returns from Microsoft Ads
To get started, import a successful Google AdWords campaigns, do your research on keywords and optimize your current bids and budget for...
Google Ads script: How to automatically apply bid modifiers
Here's a bid modifier script for in-market and remarketing audiences, device and location...
New customer acquisition vs. retention: 7 best practices for search
Here’s how retailers should map their audience strategy for new-versus-returning customers to...
Here’s how digital word of mouth and search have converged
Smart companies can shape their reputations and visibility with online word of mouth and careful attention to customer...
Track Quality Score daily with this advanced Adwords script
This script will help you measure the impact of your optimizations on a daily...
SMX Overtime: Starting fresh with new match types and account structures
PPC expert Adam Seybold offers advice on how to use dynamic search ads and why first-party data is critical for SEM in...
Going head to head with Google Smart Bidding: The good, the bad and the weird
The first round of testing revealed Smart Bidding's strength but other tests showed where there is room to grow – and some were just downright...
A case study for delivering performance in a mature Google Ads account
Over the course of a year, 80 experiments tested a wide array of features (like responsive ads, target CPA bidding and others) for a large legal...
Here’s how to use Google Tag Manager’s new Trigger Groups
This update offers a new way to manage how often, and under what circumstances, a tag will fire in...
What the numbers tell us about the current voice search opportunity
Since we can't segment voice from typed interactions in performance reports easily, it's helpful optimization for voice search overlaps with...
How to stop underspending your free ad grant budget with a script
This script emulates standard delivery but allows you to turn certain keywords on or off depending on whether you're on track to hit your...
My top 10 favorite things about the new Google Ads Editor
AdWords Editor has historically been one of Google’s most popular advertising products. Contributor and Googler Matt Lawson lists what makes...
How much martech should PPC marketers actually use?
The categorization of tasks, problems and solutions is key for PPC professionals to make informed...
SMX Overtime: Evaluating and managing your ad options
PPC expert Sean Murphy offers advice on taking advantage of extra ad space, getting clients onboard with responsive ads and finding untapped...
SMX Overtime: How to use customer segmentation to test new value propositions
SEM expert Seth Meisel shares a real-time reason why stakeholder diplomacy is important. He also delves into 'proof of concept' with testing...