Google Quality Score

One of the best explanations of Google Adwords’ Quality Score is delivered by Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist, in a recent YouTube video. He describes how the Adwords auction actually works, how Quality Score affects the price paid for an ad click and why an advertiser with the highest bid doesn’t automatically achieve the top ranking position. Well worth watching!

Marketing Opportunities in a Bad Economy

Current economic conditions have caused less savvy marketers to “go dark”, canceling advertising and promotion until better times appear. Experienced marketers know that it’s imperative to remain visible during bad times. They also know that it’s possible to make incremental gains in share-of-voice when their competitors retrench. If you’re not using Search Marketing, now is a great time to start.

Google recently surveyed 8,675 U.S. consumers about their current buying patterns: 53% said they now use search engines more often to research their purchases. This means there is an opportunity for Search Marketers to expand keyword buys to include “research” and “consideration” terms.

Google’s research also confirmed that people are spending more time online searching for “deals”: 53% of consumers said they now spend more time online searching for the latest promotions and discounts, while 46% spend more time searching for coupons. This means there’s an opportunity for search marketers to leverage promotional language in search ads and an opportunity to build incremental business from coupons. If you aren’t taking advantage of Google Map local listings and coupons (via Google Local Business Center), you should drop what you’re doing and sign-up now! It’s FREE!!

Leverage every opportunity you can find. That’s just Smart Business!

Maximizing Your Paid Search Program

I have been advising my clients to allocate most if not all of their search funds to Google Adwords for sometime now. It even makes more sense today. Why? Because it will give you the most “bang for the buck”. Google’s share of search continues to grow. As of April, according to ClickZ Network, June 19, 2007, Google controls a whooping 55.2% share of search. Leaving Yahoo with 21.9%, MSN 9.0%, AOL 5.4% and Ask with just 1.8%. With a limited marketing budget, it’s important to maximize its impact. Search share will of course vary, but it’s not likely to change significantly very soon. For more on this take a look at Kevin Gold’s article in Search Marketing Standard, “80/20 Principle Squanders Paid Search“.

Maximize Conversion With Your Landing Page

Landing page selection in a key factor in maximizing conversions via pay-per-click search marketing programs. It’s not always the “home page” that works best. The ideal landing page gives searchers exactly what they are looking for based on the keywords they use to get to your site.

Jacqueline Gill, a paid search specialist at iProspect, describes how to find the best landing page to maximize conversions: “Destination: Landing Page“.

Key Considerations Before Starting a P-P-C Campaign

Research your keywords. There are numerous tools available to help with this critical part of the campaign setup. Include both broad and specific terms. Use negative keywords too. If you’re selling blue widgets and don’t have any other colors available, consider making red, black, white, yellow, etc. negative keywords. That way if someone is searching for a yellow widget, your ad will not show. Save the web searcher some time and save yourself some money.

Carefully select your landing page. Consumers want to click on an ad reflecting their interest. And, they expect the ad to take them to a web page that contains information, products or services relevant to their search. If a consumer has to click through even a few pages trying to find what he or she is looking for, chances are they will leave and may not come back.

Make it easy to buy. Being one click away from the shopping cart is ideal. The less time it takes to purchase and checkout, the better. Look for road-blocks to purchase in your web stats. Smooth-out the rough spots, eliminate the bottle-necks. It will boost your conversion rate.

If you plan on running your ads in “contextual websites” (and you should), be sure to optimize your campaign to take full advantage of this powerful feature. By breaking your campaign into multiple AdGroups, targeted toward specific product or brand features, it enables better placement within targeted/contextual sites.

Think about the purchase cycle. Buying guides, white papers, trial software are all examples of Engagement Devices that can bring you closer to a sale. Capturing a potential customer’s email address in return for something useful gives you an additional chance at conversion. Remember, you’ll be driving a lot of traffic to your site. Those visitors that aren’t quite ready to buy need not go away unsatisfied. Make your P-P-C dollars go further by engaging these people too.