Last week, we talked about PPC trick #1 to building your online business for the long-term – using keywords correctly. This week, let’s talk about another “trick of the trade” that will also help on the way to this goal.
Trick #2 – Using Campaigns Correctly
In my last post, I shared using a fishing metaphor to talk about stepping your PPC game up to the point where you know how to use it to build your online business for the long haul. So, let’s start looking at some of the “tricks of the trade” to do just that.
Trick #1 – Use Keywords Correctly
A great misnomer among PPC advertisers is the belief that the foundation to success for an account is found in picking the right keywords. While picking good keywords is important, it’s not the foundation. The foundation is knowing how to use keywords to find search queries that you can use to attract customers to your website. That’s right, keywords are different than search queries. Search queries are the phrases that real users actually type into the search engines. Remember, keywords are like nets that you throw into Search Engine Sea to find the fish (search queries) that you will then use to prepare dinner.
If you manage a PPC account, you know that for several years now AdWords has had three match types: exact, phrase, and broad. You also know what they mean and how your keywords are matched to search queries. Up until a couple of years ago, broad match meant that the keywords in your phrase were matched to queries that had all of your words in any order.
Then, broad match became “expanded broad match” where Google’s algorithm was given free reign to decide if search queries were a close enough match in search intent to show your ad. Many of the results were not even close. Your keyword could be business cards and your ad would show on state ids and business plans.
The overwhelming advantage of broad match of course is that you get more impressions, clicks and conversions; although you most likely would have a lower conversion rate that will make you pay more for each conversion. So for some it works and for some not so much. The major disadvantage is that you have to spend time going through your search queries very often to weed out those that are not applicable to your business because you paid for clicks state ids and business plans.
If you take your PPC campaigns seriously (why wouldn’t you?), you’re always testing. Always. It’s the only way to accomplish long-term growth and gain insights that will translate into all of your other marketing channels. One problem that has been inherent since the beginning of PPC is the inability to do true A/B split-testing with variables like keywords, bids, ad text, ad groups, match types, dynamic keyword insertion, etc.
Yes, you could test them, but only by comparing metrics from different time periods (except for ads). For example, you’d have to run ads at a certain bid price for a while, change it, and run them at the new bid price for a while. Then, you’d have to compare the results from different time periods. The problem? When you would compare the results, you would be likely to assume the differences in those key metrics to be the result of the changes. But fluctuations in demand, shifts in competitor tactics, and uncontrollable circumstances (special events, etc.) can complicate things.
So, you’ve come to realize that there’s a whole Display Network out there through Google AdWords that, if utilized correctly, will take your online business to new heights. But, you’ve also realized that’s a big “if utilized correctly.” You may have been burned by the Display Network before (formerly called the Content Network). Maybe you just jumped right into AdWords because you knew you wanted more traffic for your site. You heard how easy it was to get it by whipping up a few keywords that were relevant to what you were offering and by writing a few ads to entice the searchers to your site. Then, since you were never taught that the Search and Display networks operate by completely different rules, you went ahead and turned them both on and started getting more traffic.
Man, getting traffic can be so easy…. and dangerous to your bottom line. The truth is, there is an art and science to getting traffic just like any other vocation. It takes skill and knowledge to be successful. So, when it comes to utilizing the Display Network, you need to gather the knowledge that is going to enable you to use the tool correctly to accomplish your goals.
We’ve previously looked at Paid Search Advertising Roadmap, Paid Search Rules and Alphabet Soup and PPC. Now let’s start looking at keyword matching. How well do you understand match types?
Each of the three major PPC platforms follow a similar approach, with Google AdWords and MSN adCenter using essentially identical match types and Yahoo! Search Marketing being a little more confusing. If you can get your head around the different terminology in the three platforms then you’re going to be just fine.
(Don't wait for the movie!)
E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing & Marketing Your Website Online
