The New Year festivities have come and gone, and it's now time to return to the daily grind. To add a little color to the January doldroms, we're pleased to share the newly redesigned Google for Advertisers - the central destination for advertisers and their agency partners to understand what it is Google does for advertising. So what has changed? One big change is the homepage where we now illustrate how Google's tools work together to support the entire value chain of marketing, from insights to creative to media to measurement and optimization . We've been calling these areas of focus the "marketing cycle" and we hope it's a clear and lasting way to help advertisers and agencies make sense of how everything they're working on fits with everything we're working on. Beyond the new homepage, we added fresh content like our video overview of the Google Content Network and ways to stay up-to-date through twitter, trainings and quick videos. Because we work with partners from around the globe, we're working hard to translate the site into additional languages and create locally-relevant content in other parts of the world. To kick off this effort, we're pleased to introduce our first localized site - Google for Advertisers UK . To check out the new sites, please visit Google.com/advertisers or Google.co.uk/advertisers . Happy New Year! Posted by Oliver Deighton, Business Marketing
Kick off 2010 training with ThinkTravel webinar
To kick off the New Year, we're pleased to bring you the next installment in the Think[Industry] webinar series; this webinar will highlight new Google and Compete research on the role the online channel plays in cruise bookers' shopping processes. On Tuesday, January 19, 2010, Google and Compete will present results from their study into how shoppers research and book cruises, as well as when and how cruisers use search as part of their online travel research, using in-depth online behavioral analysis and data from a recent survey of online cruise shoppers. The webinar will cover: Which offline and online resources shoppers use in their cruise research process How much online content cruise shoppers consume before booking How search impacts likelihood to book How queries evolve as shoppers move closer to booking How search engine usage intensifies when shoppers are ready to book Date: Tuesday, January 19th at 10amPST / 12pmCST / 1pmEST Register here Posted by Veronica San Luis, Travel Marketing Manager
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Kick off 2010 training with ThinkTravel webinar
Pay Per Click Advertising – “Must Know” Secrets For Successful PPC
This is the final part of the mini-series on successful PPC campaigns. See my previous two articles on the topic. This article will sum up what is important with your pay per click campaigns and provide a few extra tips. To sum up: 1) Set a daily budget limit. If you don’t do this, it’s very easy for things to get expensive and out of control. 2) Use keywords related to major keywords. This is especially useful in campaigns where you have a lot of competition, such as with annuities or real estate. Find major keywords and “tack on” to them, e.g. “how to find the best real estate deal” is an example if your niche is real estate. 3) Focus on conversions, NOT clicks. Clicks are good only if your conversion rate is worth noting. Forget how many clicks you get and focus on increasing your conversion rates from the clicks. 4) Make sure your ad and landing page match. The ad headline and body should match where you are taking your visitors. If they don’t, you’ll have some ticked off visitors, you’ll waste money and time, and the search engines can penalize your listing with a lower ranking. 5) Test, test, test your ads. The money is in optimization. You optimize by testing dozens, or HUNDREDS of campaigns. Change each piece using the scientific method – one piece at a time. This method takes time but is well worth the investment. One small change can mean the difference between a 1% or 10% conversion. Change the body of the ad, test this as well. You can even test URLs to see if one pulls more than the other. Along the same lines, no PPC campaign can ever be successful without a properly optimized landing page. Your PPC campaign has managed to grab your prospect’s attention, and your landing page’s job is to keep it. Test your landing page against the ppc ad by changing headlines, sub-headlines, the body, even placement of graphics and video. I will go over aspects of a successful landing page in future posts. Other points to consider: 6) Create multiple campaigns and ad groups. This is in line with testing and optimization. When you create ad groups and chunk it down into multiple campaigns, you have more ability to track which ones are yielding the best results. Google and Yahoo both have analytics code you can upload to your website to track conversions and the general flow of traffic through your site. I’ll be more detailed on this aspect later on, but for now, know that the more campaigns, groups and ads you have, the better (generally speaking), because you have much more variety and grounds for testing. 7) Measure your budget and ROI (return on investment) to see if your campaign has been profitable, breaking even or not profitable. Typically, I’ll abandon a campaign if my leads cost more than $12. I will go much more into ROI in another post. There we have it – a nice, basic rundown of PPC mastery. There is much more to it. If you want to learn more, visit the link in the signature section. Wolf Benedict is an established home-based entrepreneur who coaches people on how to make money online. “Want to Start a Business? Do it the RIGHT Way With Training, Support, and Know-how” http://www.30daymarketing.com?t=articlesbasePPC3 Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ppc-advertising-articles/pay-per-click-advertising-must-know-secrets-for-successful-ppc-1688424.html
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Pay Per Click Advertising – “Must Know” Secrets For Successful PPC
New ways to optimize Content Network campaigns
We are often asked about how to maximize the ROI from Content Network campaigns. What type of targeting should I use? How many keywords and ad groups should I have? How can I develop effective creatives? Behind the scenes of many new product introductions this year, we have developed a set of best practices to answer some of these questions for you. Recently introduced as part of a new initiative called Optimization University, these are now available to everyone through a series of 6 videos and the Getting Started guide . The guide and videos provide a conceptual walk-through and product demos of major steps in executing a Content Network campaign. campaign setup best practices creative appropriate ad groups selecting effective keywords developing high impact ad creative bidding strategies conversion tracking and tweaking for ROI Along with simple tips and tricks to improve ROI, we also go over several tools, such as Wonder Wheel , Keyword Tool and Conversion Tracking , that help you be more efficient with the process. The recommendations are based on our analysis of thousands of campaigns, successful and unsuccessful ones, to understand what works and what doesn't. They are easy enough for you to start applying them to your campaigns today. If you're starting a new Content Network campaign, watch the first video below; you may find it to be particularly valuable. ( click here to view video ) And you can always bookmark the playlist or find all the latest videos on our YouTube channel . Posted by Aman Govil, Product Marketing Manager, Google Content Network
Four things agencies should know about site testing
The beginning of the year is a great time to take a step back and to re-evaluate marketing plans for your clients. Of course, one key ingredient in a successful marketing plan is the website. Over the next couple of months, the Google Agency Team will be blogging about how you can work with your clients to review their website and landing page performance for 2010. Today, we'll discuss how site testing can benefit both you and your clients. 1. Testing is good for PPC management agencies Whether you specialize solely in pay-per-click management or you also help your clients with website design, the creation and optimization of landing pages for the best possible user experience will help you achieve your performance goals. We've all seen this situation before: you've already worked exhaustively to ensure that your search marketing efforts are bringing in relevant traffic, but are still not seeing conversion results. The reason? The current format and messaging on the site does little to retain even the most qualified traffic. Remember that doubling your conversion rate is essentially the same as doubling your traffic at your current conversion rate. (click here to view image) If you're a design shop, establishing a strong culture of testing will also bring great benefits. As with PPC campaigns, it's best to consistently monitor current site performance and then optimize based on data. Even if you've designed the site yourself, there's no way to predict exactly how it will perform and as a result, there will always be an opportunity for incremental improvements. Build these expectations in with your design clients. Consider also that market and visitor expectations change frequently (e.g. holidays and the recession). The beauty of testing and re-optimization is that you can address the immediate site issues and help the client adapt to any changing conditions. 2. Testing is good for your clients Often a major concern from clients is the production resources and money necessary to move forward with testing. But it's worth it! We all know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover; but let's face it, first impressions matter, especially on the internet. If users don't like what they see at first glance - even if it's for a superficial reason - they are likely to move on. Explore the possibilities with your client. We have an extensive library of success stories with Google Website Optimizer that showcase some of the increases in conversion rates for businesses that have done landing page testing. Higher conversion rates mean more sales and/or leads at the same cost. If the client already is doing PPC and has an understanding of the opportunities in online marketing, the importance of providing visitors with the right on-site experience for their goals will be easy to demonstrate. Your client will appreciate your expertise in helping to develop this crucial piece of their marketing plan. 3. You likely have the data to identify site problems If your client has web analytics data, you can begin to identify site and landing page weaknesses today. In Google Analytics, the "Content" section houses some of the most useful reports. Start by looking at Top Landing Pages. If the bounce rate of these pages is higher than or close to the site average, you may want to examine possible issues with these pages that would cause a user to leave the client's site. To see if visitors are proceeding down the expected path, set up a funnel if you haven't already to find out if there is kink in the trajectory to conversion (i.e. if visitor volume is dropping off at any point in the process). You can then open your Navigation Summary to see where those visitors are actually exiting out of the funnel. 4. You can test with Google Website Optimizer for free Remember that while Analytics may help identify issues with the site or landing page, a website testing tool can help you find the solution. With Google Website Optimizer, you can quickly set up a A/B or multivariate test. Website Optimizer can work with almost any site infrastructure or type . It's free and easy to get started, and a great way to add value to your existing client services. Be sure to check back soon when we explore more ways to use your Analytics data, industry-specific challenges, and testing strategies. Happy Testing! Posted by Michael Giannotti, Agency Team
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Four things agencies should know about site testing
New resource for display advertisers on the Content Network
In the last 18 months or so we have made significant changes to the Google Content Network to deliver better performance for advertisers and agencies and to simplify the process of serving ads across a range of websites. As we roll out more features, we want to make it easy for you to keep up and understand what best fits your needs. To this effect, we've just launched a new Content Network brand channel on YouTube . The site is stockpiled with videos, links and downloads about the full suite of features and solutions on the Content Network. Structured into four key sections, you can learn about various products across the campaign execution cycle and how they help you achieve your various advertising goals. Case studies and research papers from various industries show what the most successful advertisers on the Content Network are doing. And if you need help getting started, please contact us (response times will vary). And last but not the least, we've also introduced a new creative direction for our videos, to add some color and fun. Enjoy the first 5 videos below, and let us know what you think by sharing your comments on YouTube. ( click here to view videos ) And you can always bookmark the playlist . Posted by Aman Govil, Product Marketing Manager, Google Content Network
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New resource for display advertisers on the Content Network
Upcoming Webinar: Google Site Search
Last month we shared an update with you on Google Site Search , a hosted search solution that brings on-demand indexing, customizable, ad-free search results, and multiple refinement options to any website's search engine. If you'd like to learn more about Google Site Search, register for an upcoming webinar on Wednesday, December 9 at 10:00 am PST. Visit google.com/sitesearch for more information. Hope to see you there! Posted by Anna Bishop, Enterprise Search Team
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Upcoming Webinar: Google Site Search