Stay Up to Date with the Latest PPC Resources

Stop Bidding on These Brand Keywords in PPC

By: Kirk Williams

A controversial topic in pay-per-click advertising over the years has been whether or not it is appropriate/effective to bid on brand keywords. On one hand, bidding on branded keywords can help increase your quality score and help convert searchers who are ready to make a purchase. Alternatively, this strategy has been described as ineffective since you are essentially paying for traffic that could be acquired for free. Plenty has been written supporting both sides of the argument, and Kirk takes the middle road in this post as he outlines the pros and cons of bidding on brand keywords. Learn more about when and when not to use the brand strategies outlined over at Moz.

58 Experts Reveal Best Tools For Keyword Research

By: Robbie Richards

I am typically not a fan of these massive round-ups as I feel a lot of quality information can be buried with the vast amount of experts that typically participate. However, over the past year Robbie Richards has put together some phenomenal industry round-ups. And the best part is he always includes the most frequent responses at the top of the post, which is helpful if you don’t have time to comb through responses from 58 different people. This particular post is not solely related to PPC, but keyword research is an integral aspect of managing PPC campaigns, so I thought its usefulness was justified. Robbie reached out to 58 industry experts and asked which tools were essential for keyword research. Without giving too much away, the top 3 are: SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Keyword Tool.io. Make sure to read the full post over at his blog!

How Relevant is Relevant? | Does Google Live Up to its Philosophy For PPC?

By: Trenton Greener

Learn to use search operators is massively important for a multitude of reasons. It makes your own search queries better and can help you find what you’re looking for more quickly, and more importantly, it helps you learn how the search network works in more detail. While the point of the post was to look at whether or not Google is living up to their corporate philosophies, Trenton put together all kinds of useful information about search operators, so please do yourself a favor and check it out

Yahoo-Bing Reach New Search Deal; Yahoo Gains Right To Serve Search Ads On The PC

By: Greg Sterling

This week Yahoo and Microsoft reached a new deal surrounding their ongoing relationship with paid search. Here are the need-to-know notes from the release:

• 51% of its desktop search traffic has to carry Bing ads
• Yahoo can choose what to do with the other 49%
• Google is a potential partner, but Yahoo has remained quiet on that front
• Each company will handle their own ad sales
• Bing will continue to provide the underlying non-paid search results and technology for Yahoo
• The official release is available here

Read all of Greg’s analysis over at Search Engine Land

Google’s New Keyword Competitor Tools and SEMrush

By: Phillip Brooks

Google recently announced changes to their keyword planner tool, including competitor data and new metrics you can use to review relative ad impression share. While these new tools and metrics do serve a purpose (think finding where keyword expansions can be most impactful), they also do have their limitations. Phillip breaks down the pros and cons in this post at SEMrush. Make sure to check it out and try the new tools in the keyword planner.

Programmatic Beyond RTB: A Primer

By: Matt Ackley

In recent years, the Real Time Bidding (RTB) auction has changed the game for the display advertising network. This can be broken down two ways – Is the inventory reserved or unreserved (pre-sold vs. not pre-sold)? And is the pricing fixed or auction-based (how it’s priced)?  In this article, Matt breaks down these two categories and explains in detail. Here is a brief overview of what you will find:

Fixed-Pricing Programmatic

1. Automated Guaranteed

2. Unreserved Fixed Rate

Auction-Based Programmatic

3. Invitation-Only Auction

4. Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Does One Programmatic Channel Perform Better Than Another?

 

 

 

 

Strategies for RLSA Success

By: Lindsay Walker

AdWords Remarketing for Search Lists Ads is a feature that allows for advertisers to serve search ads to people who have already visited their website. Utilizing this specific tactic comes with its own dependencies and strategies independent of traditional PPC advertising. Lindsay covers five strategies that you can use today to maximize success with remarketing for search list ads. These strategies include:

1. Leverage Brand Loyalty
2. Push New Products
3. Cross-Sell
4. Maximize Niche Promotions
5. Squeeze More from DSA Campaigns

The RSLA also do have their own challenges and limitations, but Lindsay has you covered with explanations on how to address these issues.

6 AdWords Optimizations Using Dimensions Reports

By: Frederick Vallaeys

This post takes a look at some unconventional ways to use Dimensions reports to optimize and manage your AdWords campaigns. The six tips are as follows:

1. Optimizing Bids And Extensions With The Campaign Details Report
2. Optimizing Bids And Account Structure With The Ad Group Details Report
3. Check AdWords Account Health With The Top Movers Report
4. Optimizing With The Paid & Organic Report
5. Optimizations With The Destination URL Report
6. Shopping Ad Optimization With The Search Terms Report

The great thing about these reports is it forces you to think outside the box in what we usually look to measure and diagnose issues surrounding our campaigns. Make sure to head over to Search Engine Land to read all the details!

5 Steps to Plan Your PPC Account Restructure

By: Joseph Kerschbaum

To preface this post, I would like to direct you to the article that lead to the action plan laid out in Joseph’s post today: 55 Questions to Ask Before Restructuring a PPC Account. The fist article covers tons of good points concerning questions we all need to ask ourselves when put in charge of an existing account – for whatever reason. Sometimes, a full blown account restructure is not appropriate. This follow-up post lays out a plan of action to follow if and when an account restructure is needed. Here are the steps:

1. Define Specific Goals for the SEM Program
2. Delineate the Core Issues of the PPC Campaigns
3. Determine the Appropriate Optimization Tactics
4. Create the Restructure/Optimization Schedule
5. Establish Performance Parameters and Notifications

Account restructures should not be taken lightly, especially for larger, more complex accounts. however, sometimes this is precisely what needs to happen for the client to be happy at the end of the day. be sure to check out Joseph’s post in detail.

[Discussion] What makes an effective ad?

By: Kathleen Garrity

As much as I love lengthy posts, guides, and articles, sometimes the most useful information comes to light in conversations between other professionals. This is why I recommended checking out the community over at Inbound.org last week. Forums, communities, and social networks are a great place to learn and engage other experts in discussion revolving around a multitude of PPC related topics. We discovered an interesting series of discussions in the AdWords Community and wanted to share with our readers. Check out the conversations around effective ads and all the other great threads courtesy of AdWords!

AdWords Innovations – May 5th

By: AdWords

We also wanted to pass along the announcement for a special live event at the AdWords blog from Google! The focus of the event is mobile, with timing lining up perfectly with the massive Google mobile algorithm update slated for April 21st. Read the official release from Google and register for the live stream here.

Machine Learning With AdWords Scripts And Google Prediction API

By: Russell Savage

If you are into Science Fiction then you may love this post – except fantasy is really becoming reality with Google Prediction API. We are going way beyond simply extracting data into excel and building models around the data to predict future performance. Now, we can use the power of automated scripts to analyze data sets that used to take PhDs months to extract and build models around. I would consider this an intermediate to advanced technique, but even those with no programming knowledge should find the instructions pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Check out how it’s done and let us know how it works for you.

3 Ways To Decrease CPA Without Tanking Volume

By: Daniel Friscia

In this post, Daniel tackles the tough topic of decreasing your cost per acquisition. In PPC, we often get stuck on the CPC and CTR numbers, when in reality all that really matters at the end of the day is ROI and profit. Best way to maximize profit? Find different ways to lower your cost per acquisition. Daniel’s three recommended ways to help reduce CPA are:

1. Custom ad scheduling: Test and identify how CPS fluctuates by the time of day or day of the week
2. Landing page optimization: Consider A/B testing different landing pages to find the best performing pages for your specific ads
3. Device bid modifiers: Segment performance based on device category and make adjustments as need to your bid strategy

Make sure to check out the full post over at PPC Hero.

Pay-per-click and its potential to shape the future of digital marketing

By: Brian Matthews

Now is as good of a time as ever to dive head first into your career in digital marketing. Spend on digital alone has been trending upwards for years and shows no signs of slowing in the near future. With the increase in demand for digital marketing services come a demand for professionals who can create, manage, optimize, and measure digital marketing campaigns has increased tremendously. One huge chunk of this business is pay-per-click advertising. In this article, Brian Matthews lays out some very intriguing statistics and key points on the future of digital marketing that any current or prospecting digital marketing professional needs to check out. Additionally, more resources concerning digital marketing training and career advice can be found at Knowledge Land.

IgnitionOne: Q1 US Paid Search Growth Strongest In 3 Years

By: GinnyMarvin

The results are in – 26% year-over-year increase in the U.S. paid search market! This was the key finding in IgnitionOne’s most recent release of information. Other key points of interest include:

• Ad spend on Bing rose 26.9%
• Google’s CPC rose 23% year-over-year
• Impressions for the Google Partner Network as advertiser withdraw
• Three consecutive quarters of growth for Bing ads.

Make sure to check out Ginny’s article here as well as the full report, which is available here.

AdWords: Show The Ads You Want With Desired Keywords

By: Adam Lundquist

I love how Adam begins this article: “AdWords isn’t easy.” He then goes on to explain a very common scenario many of us have faced while dealing with campaign management and the frustrations that go into dealing with those issues along the way. While it is true that AdWords and other PPC campaigns can be difficult and even frustrating at times, it is possible to improve both you skill set and your campaigns with the right training and resources. That is precisely why Jeff created the PPC Course – to provide the right training, direction, and resources for those just getting started in PPC and those who become frustrated with the complexity of it.

I wanted to share Adam’s monster post because there are so many solid tips here that i think a lot of people could benefit from this resource. To summarize, here are some things to expect in the article:

• You see your AdWords account differently than Google
• Stop competing against yourself by sculpting your account (so true)
• How to sculpt your AdWords account to ensure the correct ad shows appears for the correct keyword

This is a post you don’t want to miss this week!

Does this AdWords ‘glitch’ leave any Quality Score clues?

By: Aaron Dicks

This.Is.Amazing. One of the PPC managers over at Impression managed to catch a few strings of data from an AdWords glitch in the Keywords tab. While not all of Google’s secrets were discovered, they did manage to extract a few lines of JavaScript that may give some hints on how Google finds and measure Quality Score. I don’t want to ruin the surprises, so make sure to check out the post and subsequent discussion over at Impression.

The Inbound Marketer’s PPC Budget Management Playbook

By: Andrew Nguyen

If you have not yet checked out the community at Inbound.org, make sure to do so immediately. They have tons of good resources and valuable discussion are had on a daily basis. This piece of user submitted content covers a lot of information regarding PPC budget management and how to keep your budget healthy. Andrew walks us through how to stay on top of your competitors, focus on your highest performing campaigns, and turning off the average/mediocre ads. Make sure to check out his post and explore the community.

Improving targeting options in AdWords Express

By: Jade Wang

As we discussed in the course, beware of AdWords Express because it may lead you in an inefficient direction. But at least now they are allowing you to remove keywords that you don’t feel are relevant to the business. While this new feature is a step in the right direction, it is still important for AdWords managers to control as many of the advertising variables as possible. This is exactly why we spend so much time learning about campaign setup and management in the course. More information concerning this update is available in the article.

5 PPC Testing Myths & Mistakes: How To Avoid Them!

By: Mona Elesseily

Since paid search advertising is such a highly saturated and competitive advertising channel, PPC specialists need to ensure that they do everything possible to deliver the most value to their clients. A big part of this is testing ad copy, images, extensions, and calls-to-action. However, there have been a lot of false claims floating around concerning testing for PPC campaigns. In this article, Mona sets the record straight and busts these 5 common myths:

1. You should test everything all the time
2. A large majority of tests kill it
3. Move along from loser tests quickly
4. Boring pages don;t convert
5. But so-and-so ran the test and it worked

Bing Ads Unified Device Targeting Is Here: Explicit Smartphone Campaigns End This Week

By: Ginny Marvin

Last week, Bing announced that they would be no longer supporting device targeting at the campaign level (Google has already been doing this for a while now). The changes were made throughout last week, and if you are managing Bing campaigns, you need to make sure that you do not have duplicate keywords after this migration. Check out Ginny’s article as well as these resources over at Bing Ads.

Hacking the Google Display Network for Insanely Low CPC

By: Larry Kim

Over the years, the Google Display Network has gone from the “less desired” option for advertisers to an extremely effective and legitimate tool for marketers to reach the public. While Google keeps us in the dark on how they determine Quality Score and CPC, Larry Kim offers five hacks to help you improve CTR and improve Quality Score on the Google Display Network. Here is an overview:

1. Get to know display ad builder
2. Exclude mobile apps
3. Use Google Web Designer for HTML5 ads
4. Target in-market audiences and specific demographics
5. Tap into the power of remarketing

Make sure to check out all the details over at Search Engine Watch.

Google’s Steady Gains In Paid Search Location Tracking A Win-Win

By: Andy Taylor

During the course of the past year, Google has greatly improved its ability to track user locations at ever more granular levels. There is no shortage of metrics for advertisers to utilize to hyper-target users based on location. This is a win-win for users and Google alike, and Andy does a great job explaining what’s been going on in his post this week. Here are the essential details covered in the post:

• Share of AdWords traffic  tracked to ZIP code climbing
• Better tracking = better bidding for advertisers
• Improved local ad serving
• Some in-store tracking is geo-reliant

 

The Inside Scoop On AdWords Ad Rotation

By: Matt Lawson

Ad rotation is a powerful campaign setting in AdWords. Columnist and Googler Matt Lawson explains why you might want to rethink your current strategy. Optimizing ad copy, calls-to-action, and bidding strategy is very important for long-term PPC management and optimization. There is no shortage of options for managers to pursue to continue to turn a positive ROI on their advertising campaigns. However, sometimes less is more when it comes to testing different ad rotations. If you want to learn more about the best way to to implement ad testing and different rotations, then this article is for you.

Setting Clear PPC Expectations From The Beginning

By: Sarah Stemen

The pay-per-click advertising landscape has changed dramatically over the course of the last decade. With more and more companies utilizing paid search, combined with higher average CPC, managers are being challenged more and more to exceed client’s expectations. In this article, Sarah walks through the problems we face today as a result of the changes in PPC management, including exactly how things have been changing during the last few years. Next, Sarah lays out a five-step process to addressing these issues and continuing to deliver exceptional results for your clients. Here are her outlined solutions:

1. Understand the client’s business
2. Understand the flow of the site and the competitive landscape
3. Determine optimal spend across the whole account
4. Measure results
5. Create a timeline

Make sure to check out Sarah’s article as she provides clear, concise steps to setting better expectations.

The Essential In-Depth Overview Of PPC Bid Management

By: Frederick Vallaeys

Many people just getting started with AdWords (and even those with years of experience), struggle with the process of bid management. Unfortunately, bid management does not have a “one size fits all” solution. It is highly variable across different industries and campaign types, among other factors. Thankfully, Frederick has put together an awesome, in-depth resource concerning bid management perfect for beginners and experts alike. This is a long one, but it is well worth the read! I bet you’ll walk away with knowledge you did not previously have prior to reading this guide. Here are the topics covered in the article:

• Bid Management Goals
• Choosing A Lookback Window For Bid ManagementManaging Bids With Little Data
• Managing Bids With Little Data
• Portfolio BiddingRule-Based Bidding
• Rule-Based Bidding
• Bidding For Maximum Profit With Incremental Cost Per ClickAutomated Bidding Enables Better Account Structures
• Automated Bidding Enables Better Account StructuresGoogle Bid Strategies
• Google Bid StrategiesHow To Apply Bid Strategies
• How To Apply Bid Strategies
• Bid Management Pitfalls

PPC Budget Strategy 101

By: John Gagnon

As a part of the PPC Training here at PPC Course, members have access to a number of bonus materials – including an AdWords spend analysis tool that you can use in Excel to play around with numbers to find the optimal ad spend for your goals. In John’s post, he gives a very high-level overview for beginners just getting into budget strategy. Check out the different ways to look at ad spend, CPC, conversions, and how to bring it all together.

Stay on Schedule with AdWords Management Calendar

By: Stephen Kapusta

Prioritizing your day-to-day PPC management tasks is a massive undertaking. Those who manage multiple accounts, and even those just starting out,  can relate to the extensive list of priorities that need to be performed on a regular basis to manage and optimize every campaign. Fortunately for everyone reading this, Stephen has assembled an extensive guide and calendar for taking care of these priorities. He has daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and quarterly tasks to streamline this process for you. Additionally, you have access to an itemized list, a downloadable PDF, and even an interactive management schedule that you can add to your own Google calendar. You do not want to miss this one!

How to Bulk Upload Labels to Google AdWords

By: Ben Harper

This article is best suited for advanced users only, but I think just knowing the process exists can be beneficial to beginner’s who may rely on advanced techniques down the line. Ben’s post goes into the technical details of adding labels in bulk to your AdWords accounts via certain scripts. This one delved deep into Xcel spreadsheets and JavaScript, but it is well worth the read.

Looking For More Revenue? 7 Ways To Profitably Expand PPC Reach

By: Cassie Oumedian

Trying to maximize reach and profitability with paid search? At some point as  a PPC manager, many will face a point of diminishing returns with larger accounts – sometimes simply running Google AdWords campaigns doesn’t provide enough ROI to justify such large ad spends. However, there are ways to expand reach without throwing more money at simple text ads on Google’s Search Network. It’s time to get creative and find other ways to reach more people and increase revenue. Here is an overview of what Cassie covers in her post this week:

1. Adwords
2. Bing
3. Google Display Network
4. Facebook Ads
5. Retargeting Platforms
6. Yahoo Gemini
7. Amazon Product Ads

4 Super Smart Rising Stars In PPC Marketing To Read & Follow

By: Larry Kim

Many of us are familiar with the big names in SEM, but columnist Larry Kim has called out four relative newcomers that you should be keeping an eye on: Luke Alley, Erin Sagin, Maddie Cary and Keri Boerner. Learn more about these four rising stars in the SEM world. Maybe you will make the list one day in the near future?!

Report: Brands May Lose 10K to 60K Visitors Per Month To PPC Trademark Bidding

By: Ginny Marvin

An extremely intriguing study was released recently concerning branded search across a variety of search networks. Monitoring firm BrandVerity studied 250 big name B2C companies across a number of industries throughout Q4 of 2014. They found a large variance in trademark restriction rules between the search networks included in the study. Make sure to check out Ginny’s article covering the study here and the full study is also available here.

3 AdWords Ad Extensions Every Account Needs (And 4 Business-Specific Extensions Too!)

By: Michael Bartholow

Ad extensions are one the coolest features offered by Google since the AdWords editor was first released so many years ago. These various extensions can give your ad more real estate on the search results page, improve click-thru rate, and even help improve your quality score. Google now offers a multitude of different extensions, so every type of business should be able to utilize one or several extensions. From callouts and review extensions to sitelinks and seller ratings, Michaels has all your ad extensions covered in this post. Check it out!

3 Tactics To Ensure Your PPC Reports Matter

By: Matt Umbro

One of the most difficult tasks for any PPC manager is the often dreaded monthly reporting. The seemingly endless process of gathering, formatting, and analyzing data doesn’t have to be the worst part of your month, however. In this article, Matt dives into three different tactics you can use to beef up your reporting and provide more depth to your analysis without spending hours upon hours putting together reports. This is a must read for anyone in charge of creating and delivering client reports.

5 Profitable Bidding Strategies for Google Shopping Campaigns

By: Rocco Alberto Baldassarre

Maximizing volume is key for many e-commerce stores, and the same rings true for those e-commerce retailers who utilize paid search in hopes of moving more units. With the relatively low profit margins for many of these companies, having a strong, well thought out strategy is key to have in place prior to running any paid search campaigns. In the article, Rocco covers some key points for anyone considering a shopping campaign on Google:

1. Bid Higher on Products that Perform Well Elsewhere
2. Bid Higher Where You Can Get Volume
3. Exclude Unprofitable Item IDs
4. Raise Bids During Promotions
5. Custom Bids for Bestsellers

Spring Cleaning: A Quarterly PPC Checklist

By: Pauline Jakober

As Q1 draws to a close, Pauline covers some essential tasks all PPC managers should be implementing on a quarterly basis for account review and management. Here are the cliff notes:

1. Mobile Opportunities – Since ads served on mobile devices are different from those on desktop, it is important to audit the mobile ads separately to ensure your ad copy, keywords, and bidding strategies are all in alignment.
2. Extension Reviews – The ad extensions you use are a factor for “Ad Rank,” thus it is important to periodically review your extensions, their usefulness, and any opportunities to implement new callouts.
3. Duplicate Keyword Review – Use the AdWords editor at least every quarter to reduce duplicate keyword bid. Simple enough.
4. Page Speed – Given that slow load time can affect your landing page, and your landing page having issues can affect your ad score, it is important to make sure the site speed is efficient.

Check out Pauline’s post for all the details.