Think Outside the (Search) Box

• By: JC
• Categories: Search Engine Optimization
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

Where are your ads showing? Are your pay per click campaigns made up of text ads that run only on the search networks? If so, you are probably missing out on a large portion of your target audience as part of your search engine optimization.

Recently, I was on Facebook and saw an ad for a surfing glove. The ad was relevant to what I was interested in at the time (illustrating the importance of social media) and it had a very engaging picture and call to action. As a result, I bought a pair of gloves. After telling my friends on Facebook about how much I liked them, I realized how effective that ad was. First, there was absolutely no way I would have looked for the gloves on a search engine because I didn’t even know they existed. Second, I rarely click on display ads. This one really spoke to me. And finally, I enjoyed the experience and product enough that I shared it with friends.

Google Announces New Adwords Certification

• By: JC
• Categories: Search Engine News
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

Not sure if your in-house pay per click department is giving you the ROI that you need as part of your search engine optimization? Well good news! Today I read that Google is replacing their Advertising Professionals exam with a new Adwords certification exam. This new program will “provides agencies with comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts.”

The new program introduces preferred Adwords API (Application Programming Interface) pricing so an advertiser can chose an agency that fits his or her business model. These changes will allow agencies to compete with companies who have in-house pay per click departments. Changes are also being made in the spend criteria to become qualified.

PPC Management is like a Potato Farm

• By: JC
• Categories: Pay Per Click
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

Pay Per Click marketing is as simple as choosing some keywords, creating a few ads, and letting the campaign run, right? Not quite; efficient paid search marketing campaigns require constant upkeep as well as ad and keyword testing.

I read an article on Search Engine Land this morning about crucial steps in building a PPC campaign and completely agree with the “one best piece of advice” that was given. “Once the account is live, it will need to be robust enough to test many different types of targeting, various keywords, ad messages and so on.,

When I create an account, I plan on it growing in the near future. I structure it so that there are many different segments that can be easily and quickly modify or paused without disturbing the rest of the account.

Why Social Media Helps PPC Conversions

• By: JC
• Categories: Pay Per Click
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

If you haven’t already realized it from reading anything that John has written on here, Social Media is critical and extremely helpful when it comes to search engine optimization. As a Paid Search Manager, my focus has been more on pay-per-click campaigns on the major search engines rather than on social media sites. However, after reading a report on Gigya that said that nearly 20% of social consumers are now using social networks as their core navigation tool, I’ve been thinking of how to successfully combine paid search campaigns and social networking strategies.

Social media is, naturally, going to strengthen brand awareness. Because of this, consumers are more likely to click on paid search ads because they are more familiar with your company. So, with a strong social media based brand campaign, people are going convert on your ad when searching for your product or service, which will improve your click through rate and improve your quality score.

Is Google AdWords Losing it’s Edge?

• By: JC
• Categories: Search Engine News
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

Let’s forget about organic search engine optimization for a moment and talk about Pay Per Click marketing. When you think Pay Per Click management, your mind probably thinks of the sponsored links on a Google search page. Mine does. After all, Google has been my preferred search engine for years now and my first online marketing class in college focused on setting up Google Adwords accounts. It makes sense to use Google for your paid search engine marketing needs. 80% of search traffic comes from there. However, most successful campaigns learn to optimize for the big three search engines: Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

I’ve been surprised by the amount of conversions that can come through Yahoo and MSN. Because everyone is competing for words on Google, bids are almost always lower on the other two. Neither receives the amount of impressions, clicks, or conversions that Google does, but you would be surprised at how high the conversion rate can be, especially when comparing it to how little you have spent.

Paid Search Marketing and Search Engine Optimization: A Perfect Pair

• By: JC
• Categories: Pay Per Click
• Comments: 0

Share Tweet

Paid Search Marketing is an often overlooked and misunderstood method of search engine marketing. Many companies ask “why should we pay for sponsored links when we are showing up in the organic results?”

There are several reasons why paid search marketing methods like pay per click (PPC) are not only beneficial, but crucial to your search engine optimization strategy.

• First, you are dominating more real estate on the search page. People are more willing to purchase from companies they are more familiar with, so the more your company’s name shows up the more that will be reinforced.
• Studies have shown paid search has the highest ROI of all advertising/marketing vehicles (SEMPO Survey February 2007).