Righteous Marketing

Tucked away in the Google AdWords interface you will find a very important area that many people never even think to look at, let alone actually optimize: the Campaign Settings.

Campaign Settings

Below you will see a screenshot of the campaign settings area in the new Google AdWords interface.

Audience

Locations in AdWords can be set at the national, state, and/or city level. If you’re a plumber in Omaha, you can show your ads only within a 50 mile radius of your offices.

Languages are pretty self explanatory.

Demographics are more of an advanced feature that I wouldn’t recommend for most small businesses. These settings apply only to the content network (a beast in its own right) and the system Google uses to determine demographics isn’t perfect. Leave a comment if you have questions about this area and I’ll help you one-on-one.

Networks, Devices and Extensions

You have the options of serving ads on any combination of Google search, search partners (other sites that have their search powered by Google), the content network and mobile phones. Unless you have experience and are confident in your knowledge of AdWords, I recommend you start with just Google search and search partners.

Bidding and Budget

There are a lot of options here, but I’ll keep it simple: set the daily budget you’re willing to spend and then leave these settings alone.

Advanced Settings

First, you can schedule your ads to run during a period of time (say you run your ads from June 25th to July 3rd for your fireworks site) or “dayparting”, which is showing ads only during certain parts of the day (if your product is a pure B2B play it might be wise to only show your ads during business hours on weekdays). Dayparting is most effective when used to weed out less productive times and should be based on web analytics or sales data that shows which times of day aren’t profitable.

Second, you can change the ad rotation. The default is for Google to optimize. Optimize = Google serving the ad with better click-through-rate (CTR) to maximize their revenue. Therefore I recommend you change from the default to “Rotate”. This will serve the ads more evenly and let’s you effectively conduct simple A/B tests on ad copy and landing pages.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Be smart!

You set up your AdWords account. You made a couple campaigns with a couple of ad groups. Your keywords are tightly themed in each keyword and you have two different ads running in each. Now you can just sit back and watch the traffic (and sales) come 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Right?

Not really.

Where Is The Traffic Going?

So far you’ve done a great job. However, there is an important factor you MUST consider if you want AdWords traffic to perform at the highest level and that means landing pages. A landing page is any page where you are sending traffic from an outside source. Your home page might be a landing page (though I don’t recommend this) or you may have specially designed a page for your PPC clicks (I do recommend this, actually I recommend more than one specially designed landing page).

The most important exercise in marketing is to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and think like they would think. Let’s say you are a beef rancher in Idaho looking to sell your grass-finished Idaho beef. Here is what your potential customer might be thinking:

• Grass-fed beef sure is expensive at Whole Foods. I wonder if it would be cheaper online? [They search grass-fed beef in Google]
• Hey, this guy says his farm is just a few miles from here and he sells direct. [Since they are within the geographic area where our rancher has ads running, they see an ad for just what they want. And it's from a local guy to boot]
• These prices are way lower than Whole Foods. I’m going to call these guys and buy some beef. [Customer picks up the phone and calls]

What the customer doesn’t realize is that the PPC ad sent them directly to the pricing page (here), not the home page (here). Because you bid on keywords, you have a good idea what the user is looking for and your objective should be to deliver a web page that meets that expectation. This customer was looking for grass-fed beef and clicked an ad about grass-fed beef. Therefore, we go to step 2 in their thought process, which is likely the question “How much does it cost?” Different industries have different customers with different thought processes, but you need to make sure that you do one thing with your landing pages:

Give them the right information, right away, and make it obvious what the next step is (call to action).

Custom PPC Landing Pages

Initially you’ll probably do what our rancher did and simply use a specific sub-page as your landing page (ie pricing page, contact page, etc.) but as you get the hang of things you’ll realize that you can do better. The pricing page may not have a clear call to action. The contact page, though it has a contact form or phone number, doesn’t tell them about the product or service you provide. Now you should consider a custom landing page that combines those elements.

The simplest way to do this is to look at your existing site structure (likely a two-column or three-column layout) and see what space you have to work with. Keep in mind that users look at web pages left to right, top to bottom. The most important information should be below the navigation along the left side of the page (with the best stuff in the first couple paragraphs). Then I would put a call to action on the right of this content or just below this content. Then test this simple landing page. In most situations a simple landing page with only a small amount of quality content and a clear call to action will outperform any current page of your website.

Have you tried different landing pages already? What worked best for you? Leave your experiences in the comments.

The most apparent difference between a small business PPC campaign and the PPC campaign of a large company is the budget. Large companies tell their PPC manager to capture all the available clicks, many times with no real cap on spending. The small business usually can set aside a certain amount each month, say $1000, and then has to squeeze every last drop from that budget. Here is where the rules change for small business PPC campaigns.

Focus, Like a Laser Beam!

I once had a friend who had difficulty studying. He would get distracted by the cool car on the street or more interesting reading material. We developed a saying for whenever he would get distracted to help him get back on topic: “Focus! Like a laser beam!”

Lasers on a fundamental level are just really powerful lights. However, a laser is able to cut through metal because that light is being focused into a single, small beam (think of a magnifying glass and ants). When focused appropriately, even a small laser can be extremely powerful. This is how you need to run your small business.

How Do I Focus?

Remember from our last post that budgets are set on the campaign level. Therefore, if you have $1000 to spend this month and 2 campaigns, each will have a budget of $16.67/day. Seems easy enough right? Actually, this is where you need to look at your own industry to determine the best course of action. Basically you need to see where your PPC fits in these 3 categories:

• Not Competitive - Lucky you, your niche isn’t a feeding frenzy of competition. You are able to get clicks for under $0.25 on very targeted keywords that will produce excellent leads. There probably isn’t a ton of search volume, but this fits your budget perfectly. You can set a campaign with a $5.00/day budget and capture all the clicks available. Welcome to PPC nirvana.
• Mildly Competitive - Your main “head” terms are pretty competitive and cost your around $1.00/click. However, you find there are quite a few “tail” terms (pocatello idaho wedding photographer instead of wedding photographer) that have much more reasonable prices and will produce highly qualified traffic. Try to separate your tail terms from your head terms. Make sure your budgets capture all the tail term traffic possible, then use the rest for the more competitive head terms.
• Very Competitive - All the terms you want to target are highly competitive. Over $1.00/click and sometimes over $5.00/click. You face an uphill battle my friend. If you can’t identify tail terms to target first, you will likely have to consolidate your budget into a single campaign with a limited keyword list. This will allow you to run effective tests in reasonable time frames. When fighting in a melee, keep your forces concentrated. Remember the movie Gladiator? Think of the first fight in the Coliseum where Maximus is taking on the chariots with just shields and spears. Stick together.

Okay, so you’ve ascertained how competitive your industry is, now the next step will be setting your keyword-level bids to match. And that is the topic of our next post, so tune back in on Thursday or subscribe to the RSS in the upper right. As usual, I would love to hear from you in the comments.

I have been informed that even though my last two posts on PPC keyword selection and writing PPC ad copy were good, I was making the assumption that small business owners already understood the structure of PPC accounts. Therefore I will repent, go back to the beginning, and explain how basic account structure affects your PPC performance.

Account -> Campaign -> Ad Group

PPC accounts have 3 main organizational levels (courtesy of Google’s AdWords product) each with distinct characteristics. I will start at the top and work down:

1. Account - All your campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads are in one, single account. Billing, reporting and conversion tracking operate at the account level.
2. Campaign - Campaigns contain one or more ad groups. Geotargeting (having your ads show only in specified geographies), daily/monthly budgets, ad serving, demographic targeting, dayparting (only showing ads at specified hours of the day) and negative keywords all operate on a campaign level.
3. Ad Group - Ad groups consist of one or more keywords with one or more ads. Negative keywords, keyword match types, keyword bids and destination URLs all operate at the ad group level. You will spend most of your time and effort.

When constructing your campaigns and ad groups you want to keep ad groups tightly themed, meaning that all the keywords in the ad group should match with the ads you are showing. While Nike basketball shoes are related to Doc Martens because they are both footwear, you would want to show different ads for each. The key is to start with the most relevant keywords for your business and then expand outward as you see success. As a professional PPC manager I have accounts with hundreds of ad groups, but your small business may only need 3-5 at first to deliver impressive results.

Poll: How many ad groups does your PPC account have? Leave your answers in the comments.

While having the right keywords in your ad group is important, writing compelling ad copy is even more crucial so your ad stands out from the crowd and gets clicked. First, let’s discuss the basics:

• Title - 25 characters
• Line 1 - 35 characters
• Line 2 - 35 characters
• Display URL - 35 characters, must be the same root domain as the destination URL
• Destination URL - 1024 characters, users don’t see this

Titles Are The Key

The title, though only 25 characters, is the most important. Since you chose keywords that followed a theme, you want to write a title that follows that theme. Ideally you also want your title to include your keywords because if the users search term is contained in your ad, Google will make those words bold, helping your ad to stand out. In the example above you’ll see the title is “I Mess With Texas T-shirt”. This ad is shown for searches on “mess with texas” and “texas t-shirt” where the keyword would be bolded.

Focus on Benefits in Line 1 & 2

You have a few more characters in Line 1 and Line 2, but you still need to be focused. Search users, whether explicitly or implicitly, are trying to determine which of the 10 organic and up to 10 paid links to click. You need to tell them exactly what they’ll get if they click on yours. Focus on the benefits of your product. For my t-shirts, the benefit is that you get to mess with Texas and you get to do it quickly because the shirts are in stock and I have fast shipping. Not to mention that 49 out of 50 states agree that Texas needs to be messed with.

Don’t Neglect the URLs

There are two different URL boxes. The first is the display URL that is shown with your ad. While the root domain must match the destination URL, you can fudge a bit for a little extra benefit. Say your landing page is www.mysite.com/contact.html. That would be an okay URL, but I suggest you spice up the display URL to say www.mysite.com/Keyword. Again, this will help your ad stand out by showing people that you actually have a page for their keyword (even though they just go to www.mysite.com/contact.html). Don’t be fooled into thinking that you just put your homepage URL in the display URL field.

Run 2 Ads at a Time

One last point. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS run at least 2 ads in each ad group. Use a little bit different title or different copy in Lines 1 and 2. Then you can compare the two ads later to determine which is working better.

Okay, you’re almost there. Now you have a keyword list and 2 ads written for your first ad group. Next we’ll show you how to take care of billing, budgets and bids.

As a small business owner or employee, you’re always looking for ways to expand your business. Most likely you have a website and you’re heard about Pay-Per-Click(PPC) advertising on Google or Yahoo. You decide that it would be great if you could put your advertising in front of internet users right when they are searching for your product. But what are your potential customers searching for?

Do Some Keyword Research

The key is to find keywords that are related to your business AND that are being searched regularly. A great tool to find out how much your keywords are searched each month is the Google Keyword Tool. You can type in a few sample keywords that you think are related to your business, or, if you choose the 2nd radio button, you can put your own URL in the box and Google will tell you what keywords it thinks your website is related to.

As an example we’ll pretend I’m an Idaho florist, so I think it makes sense that people might be searching for “Idaho florists”. So I type it in.




And I get some results, but I want to see all the data Google has. I select Show All from the drop down:



And now we see some good information:

So What Does This Mean?

First we notice that there are over 2,000 local searches for idaho florists. That’s 67 potential customers every day. Then we notice that a lot of searches include the name of a city (ie rexburg idaho florist or nampa idaho florist). Hmm. We probably should look for cities close to my mom’s florist shop or this isn’t going to work. “Florists in Pocatello Idaho” only gets 12 searches/month, but someone I can help this person. Write this one down. Actually, what if we run the search for Pocatello florist instead?



As you can see, now I’ve found some terms that get more searches AND these are people looking for a florist in the area. BAM! Take some time and run a few of these searches. Write down the best terms because these are one of the primary ingredients for our small business PPC campaign.

Whenever I see a blog post, article or book about PPC (usually Google AdWords) two facts are inevitably mentioned. First, PPC lets you advertise to millions of people right now and second, just $5 gets you started in the next few minutes. The idea is alluring, but is it just a siren’s song?

Why PPC May Not Be For You

PPC is a tool, and like most tools not everyone should use it. Just like you wouldn’t start your riding lawn mower, put it in gear and then jump off to go do the trimming you don’t want to start using PPC, set the budgets and then go do something else. Ask yourself a couple of simple questions:

• Do I have the expertise to install the conversion tracking code?
• Am I willing to monitor my account at least weekly?
• Is there a simple page, with a clear call to action, on my website where I can direct this traffic?

If you can answer yes to all three of these questions I recommend you set up a Google AdWords account and get started. If you answered no to any of these questions, you will need help. Most internet marketing agencies offer PPC management services (the agency I work for, Vizad, can start you for as low as $250/month) and Google has a ton of resources in their AdWords Help Center.

This provides a good starting point to our discussion on PPC for the small business, but I will be spending the next couple weeks blogging about how small businesses can modify their strategy and tactics to compete with the big boys in the PPC game. Please subscribe to my RSS feed here so you don’t miss out.

Disclaimer: I am extremely anti-iPod (really it’s more anti-iTunes because of the DRM) and am the proud owner of a 1st gen, brown, Zune 30GB.

Ever since its introduction the Zune has been the subject of ridicule from most of the world because it was made by the ultimately uncool Microsoft. Many viewed the device as another Microsoft attempt to buy their way into a profitable market (mp3 players) and crush everyone in their path. Of course that wasn’t going to work since Apple had already achieved a Windows-like monopoly on the industry, but despite what most would consider a failure slow moving effort Microsoft has continued to update and launch new versions of the device.

Why Won’t Microsoft Just Give Up?

First, Microsoft is extremely well-funded thanks to Windows and their software. Therefore they can shrug off the hits like a heavyweight champ. Second, the Zune is actually a pretty damn good device. Most won’t remember this, but when the original Zune launched, Apple got a case of big-screen envy that really pushed the iPhone/iPod touch development up a notch. Watching video on my 1st gen Zune 30GB is still a very pleasant experience made all the more pleasant thanks to the price tag.

Now for the real reason the Zune won’t die (drumroll please) — the Xbox.

Yes, that’s right, the Xbox. Sony has fallen on its face with the PS3 and while the Wii has sold millions of units (I enjoy playing Wii as much as anyone), for serious gamers and techies, the Xbox is the gaming system of choice. Add in the Xbox Live feature and you have a pretty sweet gaming setup. If you doubt, just check out the recent numbers: 30 million Xbox 360s sold and 20 million Xbox Live subscribers. But how does that save the Zune? Say hello to the Zune HD.

Zune HD

The Zune HD, as described on Yahoo, will include a 3.3 inch OLED touchscreen, output in HD, HD radio receiver, built-in Wi-Fi, full-screen web browser and FULL INTEGRATION WITH XBOX. This isn’t just a sissy product tie-in. Xbox users will be able to stream Xbox Live content right onto their Zune HD. You may as well call it the Xbox handheld because that is effectively what you’ll have. Watch out Apple, the Zune will see your bet and is raising all in.

A few months ago people believed that Google would be immune from the recession. Not only has that been totally wrong, but Google has been taking various steps to increase their ad revenues (broadening broad match, putting ads in Google Finance and News, etc.) and keep investors happy. Yesterday Google took it to another level.

Get Expert Advice From Google

I came across this new offering at Search Engine Land, but didn’t believe them until I saw this screenshot. As you can see, the Google is offering expert advice on AdWords for new users in the US and Canada with a budget over $250/month.

As far as I can tell the service is being offered free of charge (typical Google style), but don’t mistake this for altruism. I’ve worked with Google optimization specialists and they are masters of creating tons of ad groups (all very tightly themed of course) with fairly generic ad copy (helps CTR) to “help” you get better traffic (read “spend more money with AdWords”). In the end Google just wants to get more of your money by helping you find more keywords, get more impressions, buy more clicks, and boost their revenues.

Are PPC Mgmt. Agencies in Trouble?

Some will try and make this seem like Google is cutting out PPC management agencies to line their pockets. While I recognize their argument, I’m not too worried. I’ve seen what Google optimization specialists crank out and it’s average at best. Good management agencies will continue to outperform this type of service. Your cousin doing PPC management in his mom’s basement? He might be in trouble. In the end this is just another “free service” to keep Google making bank.

Today Google AdWords announced a small change in their Search Query Performance report that will turn into a gold mine for long tail search terms. Let me explain.

Search Query Performance Reports

Since AdWords began offering this report I have always felt cheated. I would run the report and see the terms that triggered a lot of traffic (which were usually already keywords in my accounts) and then the mysterious line item titled “Other unique queries”. This line item usually included a majority of my conversions and had exceptionally high CTR, so I was understandably frustrated when I couldn’t view it.

What’s New?

Today’s post on the Google AdWords blog announces that Google has done away with the “Other unique queries” and will show all terms. This is made much easier with their new user interface (which I quite like actually) and gives the user greater insight into the exact search terms triggering ads and converting. No more hopping back and forth between your Google Analytics and AdWords account to add new keywords.

As a small caveat I would like to take partial credit for this announcement. It was just a couple weeks ago that I was telling a friendly Googler my frustration about this very thing and, Voila!, it’s fixed. Hey Google, if you’re listening, I’ve got more good ideas where that came from. You know my number (and probably a whole lot more).