Conversion Metrics

Many Per Click versus One Per Click

Google Adwords — with the new interface, as well as in reports, you can now evaluate conversion results according to Many Per Click or One Per Click.  Over the past couple weeks, the issue of which metric is most important has come up repeatedly.  Here we define the terms and clarify the usefulness of the metrics.

Google’s new “Diagnose Keywords” tool gives us new information regarding the traffic potential of keywords; using it to cull Long Tail Duds can significantly improve the performance of a new account.

We have some policies about writing ads which we follow as a company, based mostly on my own research, experience, personal bias, and stick in the mud opinions.  Even so, as a company, we continuously search for ways to improve ad text.  Last week we took the opportunity to run some of our own standards by some experts at Google.  Some of their replies were enlightening . . .

Last week I was speaking with a smart guy at Google, and he advised me that one of our accounts included keywords with zero impressions.  At first this didn’t make much of an impression on me . . .

Integrate Landing Pages

What’s up with Agencies advising clients to create special landing pages for PPC?  When we find a gap in an existing website, in almost all cases, the deficiency applies to the website and should be corrected for the website, not just for PPC.   We advise clients to integrate landing pages into their existing sites.

Keyword Selection

The success of a new Adwords account depends significantly on decisions about keyword selection. Choosing the right keywords and negative keywords, understanding the traffic potential of the keywords you select, and making the right choices, during the selection process, about ad groups and campaigns are all critical factors for the successful launch of any pay per click advertising campaign.

Especially for new SEM Analysts, I’m often asked about how to develop keyword lists. This post is for you.

Yahoo’s Jambalaya SER

One of the things I love about Yahoo is that they aren’t afraid to trash the reputation of their search engine by turning their organic search results into spicy jambalaya. Yahoo Paid Inclusion (also called Yahoo Search Submit, and Yahoo Search Submit Pro) allow almost anyone to purchase listings in Yahoo organic search results.

Hot Debates About Hot Keywords

Yesterday I was involved in another debate about whether Amazon should be buying hot keywords, like its own name, and the word, “books.”

Introducing Keyword Adequacy Quotient

Adwords’ Search Query Performance Report could be significantly improved. However, if you’re using Broad or Phrase Match Keywords, run the report in order to identify ways to improve performance, and calculate your Keyword Adequacy Quotient. Track your Keyword Adequacy Quotient over time, and you’ll find that your account performance will improve as your Score improves.

Adwords Manager

Our system for managing Adwords is designed for use by professional Adwords Managers.  If you’re an experienced Adwords Manager, then many of the concepts we illuminate will make intuitive sense to you.  If you’re not an experienced Adwords Manager, and you find yourself lost, then drop us some questions in this Blog Post.

Framework for PPC Management

We’ve just published our framework for managing Pay Per Click Advertising. We’ve used this framework for the past several years to manage Adwords pay per click accounts (and Yahoo accounts too) and find that it is particularly helpful for our PPC Analysts.