I thought I’d pass on a little bonus to my readers. You can save $200 on Conversion Conference East by using coupon code CCE132. Additionally, if you sign up before the 2nd of September you’ll also save $500 off the 2-day pass with the early-bird discount.
I attended Conversion Conference West last year and got a lot of valuable information out of the speakers and panelists. You can read my recap post about high-level conversion trends here and it has links to other recaps. However, I felt like I got the most value from the face-to-face discussions I had with speakers, panelists and participants. These people are passionate about conversion, user experience and just plain awesome. I definitely recommend it.
Conversion Conference East 2011 Coupon Code
August 17, 2011 By
iSpionage Review
July 29, 2011 By
Today I’m going to be reviewing iSpionage, which says you can “Uncover competitors’ SEO & PPC keywords and strategies” as well as “Build effective PPC campaign under 20 min”. I’ve got my cup of hot cocoa (even though it’s July, I know), some Tchaikovsky playing on Spotify and I’m going to tackle this almost like a product unboxing. I’ll give you my impressions on the fly as I login and start poking around.
Getting Started
Immediately upon login in I see 3 main options: Keyword & Domain Research, Keyword Monitor and PPC Campaign Builder.
I’m a left to right kind of guy, so let’s take a look at Keyword & Domain Research.
My dad raises grass-fed beef in Idaho, so I help him with his internet marketing. One of his competitors is Alderspring.com so I threw that in the search bar to see what information they give me. I immediately zone in on the SEO Keywords tab where I see a list of keywords where they’re ranking on the 1st page. The thoroughness is impressive and I can quickly see that my competitors are making a concerted effort to rank for organic terms in addition to grass-fed beef terms. Interesting.
Next I go to the competitors tab to see if my dad is there. Yep, there he is, 16th on the list. I go ahead and click on his name and it looks like the site just ran the same report for my dad’s website, BradysBeef.com. We’ll see how accurate they are now. Hmm. Not as impressed here since it only shows 6 SEO keywords with rankings (my Google Analytics shows many terms garnering organic traffic that aren’t showing here) and at least one of the terms has an incorrect ranking (I checked it against an Incognito Chrome window and AuthorityLabs). I’ll give them a break since my dad’s site is pretty small, but it might be something for them to look into.
Keyword Monitor
Okay, moving on I went to look at the Keyword Monitor feature. Looks like I have to pick between SEO tracking and PPC tracking. I’ll go a different direction here and use a keyword for one of my larger national clients. Looks like you name the project, give it a description and then drop in your keywords. The message says it will take 24 hours to get me data, so I’ll create a couple more projects and come back to it (I do have 150 keywords after all).
Okay, it only took like 4 hours to get the data, but the SEO Rankings look accurate and the PPC keyword monitoring is interesting. With only 1 day of monitoring I can only get so much benefit, but having this data being recorded over a longer time frame would provide great historical data.
To monitor local PPC keywords it looks like you need to install a proxy on your machine so iSpionage can check your local PPC results. I was hoping to be able to set the geographic area for a campaign I’m managing in another state, but I guess I’ll hold off on that for now.
PPC Campaign Builder
I’m always a bit leery of automated PPC building tools because of how important intuition is, but I’ll give this a shake. It looks like the default Step 1 is keyword research, so I’ll throw it a bone. I get a spinner while it processes, which takes about 30 seconds or so. Looking through the research list, most keywords are good fits. A few are a little off. I selected a few and threw them in the keyword bag (not sure what that means yet, but we’ll find out).
I choose the next tab, Keyword Clean Up, and look around. I think the next step is the small “Clean >>” link (and it is) but it took me quite a bit of looking to figure that out. Maybe a bigger button there? I save the keyword list and move to the Keyword Grouping tab. This tool is formatted pretty much the same and I eventually figure out what’s going on. You select a common root word or phrase and you can pull all those over into an ad group. Once in an ad group you can then export them to the 4th tab, Campaign Builder, where you put the finishing touches on your new campaign such as bids and ad copy. After filling in the blanks you get a nice output that you could copy/paste into AdWords Editor.
It was a little rocky the first time through (upon further review, I see that like a typical guy I ignored the bright orange “Page Tutorial” button that has a video explaining how to do each step. Nice touch and I recommend you watch them before using the tool. You know, do as I say, not as I do) but I could definitely go much faster the next time through and see how this would be a nice time saver if you’re doing a lot of build out tasks.
Summary
- Keyword monitoring is accurate and easy to read
- Solid domain research
- Great way to get a fast, high-level picture of what your competitors are doing
- Campaign builder could save you a lot of time on account build out
3 Landing Page Conversion Killers – Guest Post
July 22, 2011 By
No matter what type of business you run online, your main goal is to sell. But, many businesses online become their own worst enemy by creating conversion killers on their landing pages. Your landing page is typically the first page a visitor sees on your site, meaning it is the page that will make or break their experience. If your landing page does not sell your products, services, and brand, then it is not doing its job.
Conversion Rates
Your conversion rate, which means conversions from visitors to customers, is crucial when designing and redesigning your site. One of the ways you can measure success on your site is by analyzing conversion rate data. Everything from repeat visitor stats to completed transaction stats can help you to gauge what is working and what is not working on your site. However, before you begin to tally up the data, there are a few typical conversation rate killers you need to be aware of.
Get Rid of Clutter
First and foremost, do not clutter up your landing page with too much data. If you try to cram everything into one page, there isn’t much point in even having a website. You want the visitor to see a few key things: what you offer, why they should purchase it, and how they can make a purchase. Those three key elements are really the only things your landing page has to offer in the way of making money. Avoid pointless ads and links, as well as images, video players, and Flash animations that truly serve no purpose. While the internet allows you to add a bunch of sparkling eye candy to your site, it does not mean you need to use it.
Make Products Visible
Also, ensure that you have a clear link to your product page. Again, you started your site to sell products and services. If a customer cannot find a clear link to your product page, then your site is useless and visitors will look elsewhere. If you have products on your landing page, ensure that they have a clear and concise name labeling scheme, as well as a clear way to make a purchase. You may be using a cart system, or you may simply have a buy now option; regardless, if the customer cannot figure out how to make a purchase, they will often become frustrated and leave, thus not becoming a conversion.
Under-promise, Over-deliver
Finally, make sure you can deliver on your promises. If you advertise that you offer support, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a visitor calls your telephone number and no one answers, chances are, they will not be back to your site, let alone be making any purchases. Always under-promise and over-deliver.
Eric Wyatt writes on internet marketing and social media, specifically on conversion rate optimization and landing page design.
It’s Client Reporting, Not Training
July 18, 2011 By
Last week the topic of #PPCchat (a weekly Twitter chat about pay-per-click marketing hosted by Matt Umbro) was client reporting. There were some pretty basic questions like “How often do you speak to clients to review reports?”, “Do you have a time limit as to how long an individual report should take?” and “How detailed are your PPC reports?” The answers were great and there was a lot of back and forth from a very smart and accomplished group of PPC managers. Then on the fifth question “When reviewing reports w/ clients discuss how you provide PPC education in order for them to understand what they are reviewing” I felt like my response really hit a nerve.
Keep it high level. You’re not training them, you’re reporting – Robert Brady
That was retweeted 11 times. Here’s why I think it resonated with this group of extremely smart and talented PPC managers.
You Hired An Expert, Now Trust Them
Just like professional sports athletes or concert musicians, professional PPC managers have put a lot of time and effort into honing their skills. Expertise in online marketing requires constant self-education and hands-on experience. Clients may only pay for the time spent on their actual accounts, but the results achieved from those efforts relies heavily on this investment of time and experience.
During the process of selecting a PPC manager, it is understandable that clients want references and examples of previous work. That’s part of performing your due diligence and we’ll gladly provide you the information. We also understand that reporting is a key element of client service and contracts should include a provision for how often client reporting will occur. And here is where PPC managers can get a little fired up.
Reporting = Time Not Spend Optimizing & Managing Your Account
Take a second to read that again. PPC managers are astute, data-driven business people. We know that unless we provide value in excess of our fees we’ll get cut/fired/dropped/whatever. We also know that we have to communicate that value effectively or we’ll suffer the same fate. Therefore, we will report our results.
What we don’t want to do is explain every little tactic we’re using to achieve those results. We don’t want to give you reports so frequently that you panic on a small downtrend and and expect the moon on a small uptrend (even when the overall average trend is upward). We don’t want to argue with you over 1 or 2 keywords. We don’t want you reading one blog post about Tactic X (which made the tactic sound like the best thing since King Midas got his touch) and calling us to ask if we’re utilizing it.
In short, we work hard on your account(s) and will give you regular reporting. Just remember that time spent reporting is time NOT spent on your account(s).
Photo courtesy of Sybren Stuvel
AdWords Ad Review Takes a Week?
April 27, 2011 By
Warning: This is a rant! (exclamation point added for emphasis)
Last week (April 20, 2011 at 2:45:17 PM according to the change history) I moved some ad groups from one campaign into another campaign via the AdWords Editor tool and updated it live. The ads were flagged as “Under review” and didn’t start accruing impressions immediately. That’s okay, I understand it’s a non-family product and that someone needs to do a quick glance. No big deal.
According to AdWords guidelines:
We work to review all ads in our program as quickly as possible, usually within 1 to 3 business days or sooner. Our Support team isn’t able to expedite this review process.
Therefore, I was a little concerned that the ads still weren’t approved on Friday, so I called 866-2-GOOGLE. The cheerful rep told me that it takes up to 3 days and that because it was the weekend it might take until Monday for someone to approve them. Not ideal, but fine. I will wait over the weekend.
Monday afternoon (when the mythical 3 business days would be up) I was busy and didn’t get a chance to call Google about the ads still being “Under review”. I hoped someone would have it taken care of by Tuesday. Alas, the ads were still not running Tuesday so I called AGAIN! Another cheerful rep (Tommy I believe) who told me that he would escalate it to a “specialist” (I guess you have to be a specialist to actually fix a customer issue and basic phone support is just a bunch of gatekeepers who make sure that no specialist ever wastes their time with an actual customer). He told me that I could expect an answer by tomorrow.
Hooray! The ads were approved this morning. Wednesday. Nearly a full week from when I made the change.
Am I Being Unreasonable?
Okay, I know that I’m a bit peeved by this whole process, but am I really asking too much here?
- These ads were already approved and had been running. I just moved them into a new campaign.
- The policy says 1-3 business days or sooner. Not 5 business days and a weekend. Google makes billions in profit but can’t hire enough staff to cover basic functions?
- I spoke with 2 customer service reps, neither of which had the ability to solve my problem. How many of those stupid post-call surveys do I have to complete before they figure out that I’m not happy because the rep I’m talking with never seems to be able to actually fix anything.
Come on Google!
Talking About the Weather – 2011 State of Search Marketing
April 19, 2011 By
Growing up on a farm, I would often hear my dad or grandpa talking to a neighboring farmer about the weather. I know it’s somewhat of a joke, but it’s true for good reason. The weather plays an integral part in the success or failure of crops. If you plant too early you run the risk of your seeds molding in the muddy ground without sprouting or the young plants freezing once they have sprouted. Plant too late and you don’t get the crop harvested before it freezes or is damaged in the fall. If you don’t get enough rain, crop yield can be decreased. If you get too much rain, crop yield can be decreased.
Farmers talk about the weather so they can make the best possible decisions. If the summer is going to be dry, you might plant more drought-resistant crops. If spring came late, you can switch to a variety that matures more quickly. Understanding the climate is critical to success.
The Current Climate of PPC
I recently received the SEMPO State of Search Marketing Report in my email and it contains a lot of insight into the “weather” that the PPC world is going to be experiencing in the coming year. Below are a few of my observations and how I think they might impact your paid search efforts:
- Companies are spending more on search engine marketing – You thought the $16.6 billion spent in 2010 was a lot? In 2011 spend will go up 16% to $19.3 billion. This most likely means higher CPCs so you’ll need to get more revenue from every customer or convert your clicks better just to keep your head above water.
- Facebook definitely has a seat at the grown-up table – 74% of agencies say their clients run PPC campaigns on Facebook and with over 500 million users you can’t blame them. Have you tried Facebook advertising?
- Even the big boys need outside help – Last year 47% of companies were managing paid search in-house. In 2011 that number is down to 38%. I’ve talked about how complex PPC has become, and the big boys are no exception. I know plenty of companies that insist on having an in-house resource, but you might be hamstringing your efforts.
So how would a farmer summarize the PPC climate?
Looks like it’s gonna be a bit stormy and lots of these young bucks are gonna have a rough ride.
What do you think about the weather?
PPC – An Acquired Taste (Guest Post)
March 18, 2011 By
Pay per click (PPC), when it first came on the market, was hailed as exactly what everybody wanted – A great way of making money without actually doing anything. At that time, online advertising, SEO, and the realities of online business were lost in a hazy, feelgood hype. Not unlike the current market frenzy, which seems to believe that social network marketing will save the world, PPC started off in a blaze of glory and then hit a brick wall in terms of performance.
In fairness, PPC is on balance a reasonable working methodology. It does provide the mechanisms for effective online advertising. Flat rate and bid-based PPC are actually pretty straightforward commercial propositions for advertisers. PPC is also a transparent methodology, and advertisers do have the ability to choose how they approach using it.
That said, the internet is definitely and irrefutably the most fickle advertising environment in history. One of the original bases for determining cost per click (CPC) was the possible value of a click to the advertiser. That means the bid based PPC ads, in which the highest bidder on a search engine results page is on top of the ad listings have the potential to be highly expensive. Given that statistically, of all the actual clicks, only a certain percentage are likely to result in a sale, the value of PPC has to be measured in relation to cost-effectiveness.
PPC and Marketing
Commercial indications are that PPC has a direct relationship to the market values of search engine optimization. The fact is that what people search, when they search it, and the search terms used vary over time. These search methodologies are also strongly affected by market perceptions and consumer usage.
The name of a movie, for instance, or a character in a movie are highly probable search terms. PPC ads related to the movie for things like merchandising will do well while these search terms are in vogue. For other products, things like brand names are the most likely search terms. In either case, advertisers using PPC can expect stiff competition on search engine results pages. The commercial returns however may be quite low in such a highly competitive market.
You can see the problem – PPC imposes an ongoing cost on an indefinite commercial outcome. This is far from satisfactory for many businesses, and at best is sometimes is just a nuisance.
PPC is definitely far more effective using distinct terminology and keywords for SEO. This is the PPC version of “branding”, effectively creating higher value out of the combination of search terms and ads. This is a very basic marketing principle, but it seems to have taken forever to catch on in PPC-land.
Perhaps more disturbingly, the association between product identity, PPC and marketing best practice doesn’t seem to have registered with the market at all. Keywords can only reasonably be expected to do so much. When associated with good strong brand identities, keywords can be extremely effective. When associated with bland, low-grade search terms, they’re practically useless.
PPC has several strengths, but many weaknesses. It is naive to assume that PPC advertising is effective without comprehensive support from SEO values and good marketing practices. What’s obvious is that the market needs to understand PPC much better to use it effectively.
Author Bio: Tim Millett is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He’s published more than 500 articles about various topics, including SEO and Search engine optimization.
Would You Let Your Web Designer Manage Your AdWords?
March 3, 2011 By
Warning: This is going to be somewhat of a rant. The other day I was reading an interesting blog post and noticed the following PPC ad:
Let’s do a quick analysis of this ad to see what Google’s motivation might be:
- Who are they targeting? Web designers. Specifically web designers that might be interested in giving their clients a coupon (but I’m guessing those same web designers, after going through training, would probably try to get a few extra bucks by managing their AdWords for them).
- What is the offer? AdWords coupons for your clients after completing Google AdWords training. I’m sure the altruistic web designers of the world have nothing better to do with their time than AdWords training to get coupons.
- WIIFG (What’s In It For Google?) – If you haven’t noticed, Google hands out AdWords coupons more liberally than AOL handed out CDs. This is their #1 customer acquisition strategy and having web designers pushing PPC is a great move because you know they a) have websites and b) are spending money on their websites. Well played Google. Well played.
Just last month I wrote a post on SmallBizTrends.com about the growing complexity of AdWords. Comments generally shared the same sentiment. Basically, the complexity of AdWords is becoming a problem for entry to AdWords.
I can almost see some mid-twenties marketing MBA at Google sitting in his/her office and having a Eureka! moment when he/she thinks “Why not give some training and coupons to web designers so they’ll sell AdWords for us? I’m a genius.” Does anyone else see the flaw in this thinking?
7Search PPC – Initial Impressions
March 1, 2011 By
Last Monday Paul Broomfield sent out a tweet asking if anyone had any experience with 7Search as a PPC engine. I just happened to be experimenting with it myself, so I sent out the following reply:
After this little exchange I had a few others chime in asking about 7Search. It seems that quite a few PPC managers are aware of the platform, but most seem to still be wondering if they should try it. I think that Roger Sikes summed it up best with the following tweet, which I will answer with this post:
Initial Impressions of 7Search
- Interface – It has a distinctly AdCenter feel to it. Gridlines everywhere and it’s laid out like an Excel spreadsheet. Very utilitarian.
- Keywords – The keyword research tool is pretty basic. It give you search estimates that (so far) have been pretty accurate and tells you what the top 3 placements are bidding. A little Overture-esque. However, there are a lot of really weird keywords that show up. I’m not sure where they come from, but they even show some volume.
- Ads – As far as I can tell, you can only run one ad in a campaign (ad groups don’t seem to exist). If someone knows how to get a 2nd ad rotating, drop a comment.
- Bids – Roger was right, the clicks are cheap. Most of them you can get top placement for under $0.10 and for many keywords it doesn’t look like anyone is bidding at all.
- Conversions – Two points for Roger because there haven’t been a lot of conversions. On the other side of the coin though, we HAVE seen conversions.
Verdict?
The jury is still out.
The clicks are cheap and the conversions are low, but I’m not going to throw the bathwater out yet. A few minutes here and there to tweak bids and edit/update keywords and I will report back to everyone once I reach a final decision.
PS If you were good at the click arbitrage game back in the early days of AdWords, this might be the engine for you.
New Google Promotion Ads
February 16, 2011 By
No one is surprised when Google products show up as the top result for searches involving Google branded keywords. For example, here is the SERP for a search on the keyword “google adwords”:
As you can see, Google grants itself the top paid ad (with 4 sitelinks as an added bonus) for this search and relegates other advertisers to the right sidebar. No big deal. Run searches for other Google tools and you’ll see similar placement, but they always show up in the barely visible, highlighted box that reads “Ad” in the upper right hand corner. However, I spotted an interesting result yesterday while searching.
Google Promotion – A New Class of Ad?
I was doing some research and using the “site:” search functionality in Google. First of all, I was surprised to see an ad at all because I couldn’t imagine a PPC manager in his right mind that would be bidding on “site:www.realestateproarticles.com”. However, if you look in the upper right corner of the highlighted box you’ll see the “Google promotion” text:
Obviously this is a different class of ad. But does Google pay for the click like everyone else? Would another advertiser actually show up if they were to bid on this extremely specific phrase? What do you make of it?
