Pay Per Click Insider TipsBetter Pay-Per-Click Results Start Here – We Guarantee It!

By Heather F. Lutze – review by Mary O’Brien, Founder of PPC Summit

Many small (and larger) businesses put up a website and assume that the “If you build it, they will come” concept applies. Unfortunately, this wasn’t true when the internet started and it’s even less so now. Successful businesses get the fact that your website is now a critical part of your marketing campaign. It needs to be designed to attract search engines AND customers to be successful and Heather does a great job in this book of explaining why.

“Findability” in the title of the book refers to the critical need of every business to be visible on the internet (and particularly in search engines) at that crucial time when their prospect is ready to buy from them. Basically, it’s so competitive now that if you are not on the first page of search engine results you are wasting your time. And -  if you’re NOT there you can be sure your competition will be.

Heather has a great ability to translate quite technical marketing concepts in to terms that beginners and experienced users alike can relate to. I have seen her explain these concepts accepted time and time again, in training she has given at our Pay-Per-Click Summits, and I’m delighted to see that she has used this same relatable quality to get her points across in the book.

Search Engine Marketing can be a complicated subject, particularly for the beginning marketer, and this book does a great job in translating the technical jargon into actionable concepts that you can follow.

Heather describes it as a non-technical guide, but the basics are all covered in an easily readable way that allows a beginner to easily implement a successful Search Engine Marketing campaign. Readers will learn the basics of Pay-Per-Click and also how Pay-Per-Click and Organic Search work together to give you better search engine visibility for your business.

Advanced users might find it a bit basic, but that’s not who this book is designed for. This book is designed for those new to internet marketing who also know that Search Engine Marketing is an important web traffic driver for their business, need to get up to speed fast, and want someone to explain it sequentially.

There are more advanced books out there for those who need to delve into the nitty-gritty, but if you are just getting started, and are a non-technical person who wants easy to follow instructions, then this book is a must read.

You will learn:
•    A complete step-by-step approach to search engine marketing applicable to any product or service, in an easy-to-follow instructional style.
•    How to avoid common search marketing mistakes that cost big money.
•    How to set up campaigns in a smarter way to get better search engine visibility.
•    How search engines work, how search engine marketing works, and how to take advantage of both.
•    The online tools to use that make campaign management easier

By Heather Lutze, Founder Findability Group

As the recession continues, companies are scrambling for new and creative ways to continue marketing while keeping costs down.  That is why, as an Internet marketer, it is exciting to be able to offer Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising as a cost-effective alternative.

In traditional marketing, a business might put up a billboard on Main Avenue, expecting “x number” of people to see it, of that 5% to be in their target audience, and of that to get “x percentage” in leads.  In PPC advertising, businesses now have the option to only show their “billboard” (ad) to interested members of their target audience. It is a revolutionary new way to target, and can save businesses a large amount of capital, in addition to bringing them much higher-qualified leads.

Of course, in order to take advantage of the targeting potential in PPC, entrepreneurs must get in touch with how their target customer searches online.  More specifically, how their target customer searches online when they are ready to buy.

As the Internet continues to play a larger role in consumer’s lives, understanding the buying cycle online is critical to a successfully targeted PPC campaign. The importance of understanding the buying cycle is realizing that a “customer gathering data” and a “customer ready to buy” type in very different search strings.

For example, a person gathering basic information might search “TV” whereas a person serious about making a purchase would type something such as “Plasma, 32 inch televisions in Denver with free delivery.” In this example, the second consumer is a more qualified (and typically much cheaper) click to pay for. For most businesses, you must make a decision of where in the customer’s search process you believe they are ready to buy. Honestly, determining this ideal point in an internet search is the real art behind Internet marketing and PPC targeting. Fortunately, if you don’t have the budget to hire a PPC firm, there are a few tools available to help you get in touch with your ideal keywords:

Tool #1 : Word Tracker (www.wordtracker.com ) – Owned by a private company, Word Tracker generates keyword suggestions based on search volume. In addition, Word Tracker determines how many competing sites are using those keywords and can help businesses take advantage of untapped market niches.

Pros: Generates keywords suggestions and gives strategic recommendations of easy to penetrate online markets.
Cons: Paid service ($59/month).

Tool #2: Keyword Discovery (www.keyworddiscovery.com) – Operated by Trellian, Keyword Discovery also generates keyword suggestions based on search volume. However, Keyword Discovery also offers spelling mistake research, seasonal search trends and keyword density analysis, to help PPC advertisers to really hone in on creating a campaign which maximizes results.

Pros: Generates a very comprehensive list of keyword suggestions, including spelling and seasonal keywords.
Cons: Paid service ($69.95/month).

Tool #3: Google Wonder Wheel (under “show options” when you do a Google search) – If you are new to keyword research and a bit intimated by getting back lists of data in tools like Word Tracker or Keyword Discovery, the Wonder Wheel is a fantastic starting point. Launched in May of this year, the wheel helps advertisers understand the organization of how users search for their product. In addition, the wheel is much easier to grasp, as it uses an easy to read org-chart interface.

Pros: Free, easy to use and great for beginners.
Cons: Strips out a lot of data in order to maintain usability. The Wheel does not include search volume, competitive analysis, or more than a handful of keyword recommendations per “wheel.”

Tool # 4: SpyFu (www.spyfu.com) – Curious how much you are going to pay for each click you receive? It is important to build your keyword list with your budget in mind.  Fortunately, SpyFu offers free analysis on the bid range for keywords. In addition, SpyFu gives great competitive analysis on how many advertisers are competing for that keyword and the ad text they are using.

Pros: Free and gives a lot of great information in just one page.
Cons: The free version only offers limited information (typically only on keywords up to two words long).

Your ultimate goal is to connect with your target customer online and to make sure your paid ads are findable at the best point in that user’s search. Remember, even your ideal target searcher can’t become a customer unless they find you.

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Heather Lutze is the author of the newly released book, “The Findability Formula: The Simple and Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing” (Wiley and Sons). As a nationally recognized speaker and author, she has spent the last 10 years as CEO of Findability Group – a Search Engine Marketing firm that works with companies to attain maximum Internet exposure. Heather is also a lead speaker for Pay Per Click Summit, and previously spent two years speaking for Yahoo! Search Marketing. For more information, visit www.FindabilityGroup.com

By John McPhee, Senior Account Executive, Anvil Media, Inc.

Before the wonderful world of the Internet, most small to medium sized businesses (SMB) were able to rely on good ol’ marketing & promotional efforts through storefront signage and a Yellow Pages listing. Oh my, how things have changed. eCommerce websites are popping up across the Internet and folks are becoming more comfortable purchasing online. This is generating a shift in marketing budgets as dollars are being allocated to focus more on online efforts. Your storefront has now become your website, and it’s imperative your storefront be visible within the search engine rankings.

Given the number of exciting advancements in the search marketing industry over the past several years there are now more opportunities to rank in the search results and track performance than ever before. Take Universal Search, for example. The engines are now including all forms of content (video, image, news, etc) directly within the natural, or organic, results instead of keeping this content secluded to the individual search verticals like Google video, Google blog search or Google news, which is allowing businesses the opportunity to gain more visibility in the organic results for multiple content types. Now with the creation of Google Maps, Yahoo Local and Bing Local (MSN’s new search engine), SMB’s are able to compete at the same level as the giants with multi-million dollar marketing budgets by getting listed in these local engines. The major search engines are incorporating local results into Universal Search, providing the potential for increased online visibility and revenue.

Now that local search has leveled the playing field it’s important to understand what SMB’s need to do in order to optimize their current website and their local business listings to ensure they are visible in the local search results.

Ensure Your Own Website is Optimized
Before you will be able to rank within the local search results, you’ll want to put some time and effort into your current website. Unfortunately, website optimization is a topic deserving of its own article (or several), so I’d recommend reading the 3 C’s of Search Engine Optimization to gain a better understanding of how to optimize your own website. You certainly can’t expect great search results if you haven’t gotten your hands dirty. After you’ve spent time focusing on your own site optimization, implement these three tactics to ensure the engines understand you’re a local business.

1. Be sure to use geo-specific keywords in your title tags, Meta descriptions and content. It’s important to also use cross streets and any additional neighborhood information throughout the site as well. Here’s a good example of utilizing keywords in the title tag and Meta description. Notice this example even includes a phone number, which is always a good idea.

Downtown Portland, Oregon Hotels | Hotel Lucia Portland
Hotel Lucia (866-986-8086) is a hip and trendy Portland, Oregon hotel
located in Portland’s downtown core. Its boutique, contemporary style is unique….
www.hotellucia.com/ – Cached – Similar

2. Local search engine algorithms use address information to identify businesses for relevancy to a specific search query. To help ensure local search engines are able to “match” your website with a search query it is crucial to include your exact business address and your local phone number in your website’s footer (it’s okay to include your 800 number if you have one as well).

3. Another technique used to help the local search engines verify you correct business address is to link to other credible profiles from your Contact Us page. Sites like Yelp, Citysearch, TripAdvisor (if applicable to your business) or even YouTube are all credible sites, so creating profiles with your business information helps the local engines more easily validate this information.

Optimize Your Local Business Listing (LBL)
Now that you’ve worked so hard in getting your own website ready, it’s time to begin work on your actual local listing.

1. The first thing you should do, no matter what, is claim your local listing. In order to do so, take a look at Google Maps, Yahoo Local and Bing Local for information on how to correctly create and submit your listing.  If you don’t claim your listing, someone else might. If that happens, you’re in for a real headache to correct the situation. Once you claim and verify your listing, you can log in to each engine’s local business center and change your information at any time.

2. As you go through the claiming process you’ll have the opportunity to add details about your business, starting with company name (local listing title). There has been debate about how much weight the local search engines put on the title, but David Mihm’s most recent study, where he interviewed 26 local search experts, had “Product/Service keywords in LBL title” ranked the fifth highest. I trust and respect all of these search experts so I still recommend the strategy, but you should avoid keyword stuffing your business name at all costs. Here’s a good example of appropriately using keywords in your business title.

Rack Attack – Vehicle Rack & Hitch Center – www.rackattack.com
1737 SW Morrison Street, Portland – (503) 226-7300)
*****11 reviews, directions, hours and more >>

3. Followed by the business title, you’ll have the opportunity to write a business description, add images, video and additional information, such as products, services, pricing, etc. The more information you provide, the higher the probability you’ll engage visitors and they’ll click through to your website.

4. Choosing the proper category, or categories, for your local listing is extremely important as this is how local search engines determine which search queries your listing may appear for. Don’t be afraid to use both broad and specific categories as Google allows up to five, Yahoo allows four and Bing allows six. Google even allows you to create your own business category if you don’t see one relevant to your business/industry.

5. Finally, Google Maps allows you to create special coupons that will appear in your local listing. It is unclear how effective they are in increasing local search rankings, but it’s a great way to provide value to those who have clicked through to your listing. Unfortunately the other engines don’t allow for this tactic.

Optimization Off-Site and Outside of the Local Business Center (LBC)

Google, and the other engines, don’t just use the local listing you created as the only source of information when determining your local search rank. They use everything from your local listing to business listings on directories and a number of other local sites.

1. The big data providers that you need to be concerned with are InfoUSA, Localeze and Axciom. InfoUSA and Localeze allow you to add or update your business listing, which I would recommend doing. In addition to the big three, the local search engines also look at IYP’s (Internet Yellow Pages) and other local sites like Citysearch, Yelp and MapQuest. The best way to ensure your data is updated and accurate is to use UniversalBusinessListing.org (UBL). It carries a yearly cost of $30. The service allows you to input your information using one interface and UBL will update all of the major engines, directories and data providers for you. Very slick.

2. Citations, also known as “references” or “web pages,” are listings on other websites that cite your business name, address, phone number and sometimes a URL. Citations, comparable to inbound links for SEO, play a large role in your local search ranking. The main difference between citations and inbound links, citations don’t have to contain a link to your website like an inbound link does. As long as the business information contained on a website matches what the local search engines are seeing across the other sites mentioned above, they will count it as a citation. If you are seeing your business information differ across sites, this is where UBL comes into play and can help clean up all of your listings. If your competition has more citations than you, do some research to see where they are getting theirs from, and then work to get your business listed on the same sites or directories. The more citations you have, the more trusted your local search listing will be.

So, there you have it. I hope you feel armed with enough ammo to begin establishing rankings and visibility in the local search results. Remember that your website is your new storefront. You must make it visible and user-friendly to ensure your site visitors return. There is a huge opportunity for SMB’s as many have not even claimed their local listings, which is highly surprising considering the potential for increased revenues. With how difficult it is to rank in the natural search results, local businesses should be jumping all over this strategy. Of the roughly 15-20 million businesses in the US, only a few hundred thousand have actually claimed their listings. This is astonishing, but also provides a huge opportunity to gain a competitive advantage and increase your market share and the awareness of your business.

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John McPhee began his professional career in Internet Marketing at Conseco Finance in 1999 before moving to Portland, from Minneapolis, in 2003. Upon his arrival in Portland, McPhee found employment with BetterManagement.com, where he immediately began managing their PPC efforts, and researching/studying SEO. McPhee began work at Anvil in 2005, working with travel/tourism clients, as well as on the B2B side.  Now in his 4th year at Anvil, McPhee is a senior account executive in charge of client strategy for PPC, SEO and Social Media Marketing.

By Bill Leake, CEO and founder of Apogee Search

Do you have a paid search campaign that is on its last legs?  Perhaps your spending has spiraled out of control and your conversions haven’t budged.  Or, like many of us, maybe your performance is fine but your budgets have been slashed, forcing you to produce the same results with less spend.  Before you scrap everything and start from scratch, take these three easy steps to save your paid search campaigns.

Step One: Eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
When you are paying per click, you only want relevant traffic.  Many campaigns are mired down in irrelevant traffic. Step one on the road to recovery – cut it out of the picture.

Do this by identifying and blocking negative keywords. This will ensure that your ad doesn’t come up in search results under irrelevant terms.  Find irrelevant search terms in Google’s Search Query report and use as negative keywords across all search engines.  Since every campaign is different, the best way to find negative keywords is to look at a search query report and get rid of anything that doesn’t belong.

“Free” is often a good negative keyword to start with. ”Cheap” and “Discount” are tricky, but could be relevant if your products are high end.  Also keep in mind that there is something “X-rated” out there for more keywords than you probably want to think about. If that is not your industry, add some negative keywords in that regard.

Testing different keyword match types is another way to trim down keywords that are inflating your impressions, dropping your click through rate and lowering your quality score. In Google, try testing multiple match types.  In Yahoo!, adjust advanced match settings.  If you are overwhelmed, you can try starting with just the keywords that have the most spend and those with the most impressions.

Also, see if your analytics program provides you with a query report.  That will fill in the gaps that the Google report leaves with, “108 other unique queries.”  If you have general terms on broad match, it is an uphill battle to weed out irrelevant traffic with negatives. That might be a battle you want to fight, but if not, consider switching your more general, lower converting terms to phrase match. Best idea – test different match types, with the more specific types often warranting higher bids.

Some people rush to delete keywords when dealing with out of control spend, but in fact, most keywords are salvageable. If possible, see how they work with refined match types and negative keywords.  In many cases, you can reduce irrelevant traffic by 50% or more with negative keywords and match type adjustments.

Step Two: Optimize Ad Copy

Are your ads responsive and coherent?  Do they truly represent your product or services?  Are they specific and precise?Sometimes we encounter ads that are too general to say anything about the company. The age-old advertising battle cry, “benefits, not features,” is a good rule of thumb.  However, with limited characters, make sure you don’t forget to properly identify the product or service.

In order to keep out unqualified traffic, you have to be specific.  If your target audience is companies with 50 employees or more, say so.  For e-commerce, consider listing prices.  Words like, “luxury” might weed out bargain shoppers.

“But shouldn’t I be trying to grab people’s attention?” you ask.  Of course, in some cases you should, but if you are suffering from low ROI, your problem might be that you are trying to grab everyone’s attention.  If the majority of your traffic is irrelevant, it doesn’t help you – it only costs you money.

Calls to action are an excellent tool, but only if they are specific.  We have performed plenty of testing, and we rarely see success with general calls to action like, “download free white paper,” or, “buy now.”  Create a specific, compelling call to action by preparing the searcher for the end conversion.  For example, “Sale on widgets – 20% off,” can be changed to, “Buy widgets today and save 20%.”  Similarly, “Free white paper on how to save your paid search campaign,” can be changed to, “Learn 3 easy steps to save your paid search campaign.”

Step Three: Improve Your Landing Pages
A good landing page can make all the difference in your campaign. After you clear out unnecessary spend with the prior two steps, take that budget and invest in proper landing page creation.

Look at your various keywords.  Are there phrases that searchers would use while they are in the research stage versus when they are in buying mode?  If so, create different landing pages for each group.  It might be a good idea to interview salespeople, or customers if possible, to find out which key points to focus on in landing pages.

Most importantly, have consistency between your ad and the landing page.  This is the simplest fix, and yet it is often overlooked. Make your shopping cart easy to use and goals easy to achieve.  You will begin to lose people after one or two steps, max.

Of course, don’t forget to test!   That means everything – all offers, calls to action, forms, design, landing pages, new ideas – everything.

Yes, your campaign can recover, and in some cases even be brought back from the dead, if you follow the Road to Recovery: reduce irrelevant impressions; reduce unqualified clicks; increase conversion rate.  In doing so, you are tackling all three levels of your paid search funnel.

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Bill Leake draws on a deep expertise in both business and marketing to help increase revenues for a wide range of clients. He has been involved in driving provable revenues through Internet marketing techniques since the early 1990s when, as part of the management team at Power Computing.  As CEO and founder of Apogee Search, he has guided the company from inception to its current position as the largest search engine marketing firm in the Southwest, one of the 20 largest in North America and one of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 500 list. In addition to leading Apogee Search, Bill also serves as the president of the Austin Interactive Marketing Association, and as the chairman of the SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) committee.

By Nate Sandford, Director of Search Marketing, Ionic Media and Mo Derakhshanian, PPC Manager, Ionic Media

Google has recently made significant changes to the AdWords interface, with the stated goals of improving the platform and the advertiser experience, by closely following three key principles:

1. Speed – Helping advertisers make adjustments to the accounts quicker with less time spent trying to navigate the interface
2. Clarity – Quick insight to account, campaign, ad group, and ad performance
3. Intuitiveness – Create a more logical structure for the AdWords interface.  Give advertisers the tools they need right where they need them

What more could a search marketer ask for?  Speed, Clarity, and Intuitiveness are laudable goals. Being able to quickly and clearly identify problems and opportunities, act on them immediately, and easily see the resulting changes is the dream of any search marketer.

Here at Ionic Media, we have been working with the beta version of the new interface.  We are already enjoying the new features, some of which include:
• Performance Summary Graphs
• In-line Editing
• Performance Filters
• Content Network Statistics and Placements
• Match Type Changes
• Fast Access to Search Query Reports

Let’s look at each of these in more detail:

Performance Summary Graphs
For those of us who are more visual, Google has now included performance graphs at every level of the account.   This gives you the opportunity to see trending at a glance rather than having to pull a report and charting what you need in Excel.  The performance graphs also allows you to select the metrics you want to graph and view them individually or select more than one and view them simultaneously.

In-Line Editing
Simply click on the item you would like to edit, it’s that easy! You can edit everything from bids and keywords to content placements.  The antiquated days of having to load a new page every time you need to make a simple change are long gone.

Performance Filters
The days of being able to sort only from high to low and alphabetical order are long gone.  With the new filter lists you can restrict your view to only the keywords, ads or placements that meet criteria you specify.  For example, look at just the keywords which have spent over $500 or have a click-through rate greater than 10%.  You can use multiple filters, and even filter by content network placements with conversion rates below 2% and spend greater than $100.

Content Network Statistics and Placements
If we could only use one new feature of the interface, it would be the Content Network Statistics and Placements.  As Google’s content network grows, so do your campaigns, and optimizing content placements is vital to the success of the campaign.  AdWords now allows you to optimize placements, bids, and domains all within the interface.  This is a quantum shift from the previous method of running placement reports, blocking placements and increasing placement bids, adding negative keywords, and changing ad group bids, all via Excel and AdWords Editor.   In the new interface, review your placement, exclude placements, and bid by placement all within the same view, removing the need to use multiple programs to complete the task.

Match Type Changes
This is yet another example of how campaign management is more intuitive in the new AdWords interface.   In the past, adding various match types to campaigns was not an easy task.  You had to set keyword match types using a free-form “Edit Keywords” box to set a keyword as phrase match or exact match.  Now, changing match types is as easy as clicking the keyword and selecting the new match type.

Search Query Reports
A Search Query Report can be a very helpful tool in optimizing and growing your account, but with the hassle of running and analyzing the report, these vital optimizations are sometimes overlooked.  With the new changes, the Search Query Report is no longer just another line in your report center.  Now, instead of running a search query report for an entire campaign or ad group, you can select the keywords you want to see in more detail.  Select the keywords and click “show query report” to load a report for just those keywords.  As if that is not great enough, the report is actionable now as well.  From within the report you can select a query and either add it as a keyword to your ad group, or add it as a negative keyword.

Speed, Clarity, and Intuitiveness – we think Google got it right.  Advertisers have made many suggestions over the years and it seems as if Google has been listening.  Being able to more quickly identify problems & opportunities, act on them, and clearly see the results of the changes make our jobs easier. The best part is, it’s still in beta, which means there should be even more improvements coming.

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Nate Sandford is the Director of Search Marketing at Ionic Media and has spent years managing millions of dollars in PPC campaigns. He has consulted for companies in Pay-Per-Click technology, fashion design, ecommerce retail, lead generation, publishing & literature, web analytics, and market research.  He has a BA in Marketing with an emphasis in Market Research & Statistical Analysis and a minor in Spanish from Western Washington University.

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Mo Derakhshanian is a seasoned PPC Manager with deep experience in blending traditional and search engine marketing.  Mo has direct experience managing retail, healthcare, insurance, finance, gaming and food & beverage PPC accounts.  Before joining Ionic Media, he was a manager at The Search Agency.  Mo has a B.S. in Marketing from Pepperdine, and an Associate Degree in Information Technology.

By Kelly Larsen, Director of Marketing PPC Summit

Advertisers continue to shine a bright light on Paid Search marketing. In fact, the Internet Advertising industry was recently named the only advertising medium that is expected to grow this year, according to Zenith Optimedia.

As more and more companies leverage the search engines and Paid Search to grow their business, it’s no surprise that Internet ad spend is expected to grow 10.1% globally this year, and Paid Search boasts an even stronger 20.0% growth projection*. Paid Search has literally stomped on the other advertising mediums, and has become the fastest growing advertising channel because it delivers more targeted traffic, greater budget control, more accountability and can generate immediate revenue–of course, when done right.

If you take a look at the Search Marketing industry advertising spend in the last 12 months, you’ll see advertisers are getting more creative with their Paid Search spending. The Marketing Sherpa chart below shows recent results for a search marketing ad spend study where nearly 70% of respondents use Google search ads, 32.6% use Google contextual ads, 27.6% use Yahoo search ads and Facebook advertising is now becoming a valid option with over 3% of advertisers now using it. The industry is now being fueled with advertising through new publishers and social sites that offer display ads on a CPM basis or Pay Per Click.

Zenith Optimedia reports the search advertising increases are attributed to Microsoft’s new Bing search engine, “…a welcome competition to Google and should spur further innovation in search.” Bing is worth watching and is surprisingly competitive with Google. The report also adds that new search technologies are reducing entry costs, providing a lot of new competition for established advertisers. The competition to attract search engine users–and your potential customers, will only get more intense. Savvy Marketers will spend their ad dollars on Search to ensure higher ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend).

Staying current on industry trends and innovations is a must in order to compete in the over maximized online advertising space. Even though there are many online resources that Internet Marketers can access (BtoB Online , MarketingProfs , Search Engine Watch , iMedia Connection , eMarketer , Marketing Experiments and Search Engine Land), many of us simply don’t have the time or resources it takes to do the necessary research.

If you don’t have enough time in the day, training may be a better option. And it can also be worth its weight in gold when you learn those little nuggets that turn under performing campaigns into profits. Whether it’s online or in-person training, justifying training costs becomes easier when it means the difference between successful or failing campaigns.

We’re getting ready for upcoming Pay Per Click Summit’s in Los Angeles and Chicago where Search Marketing’s brightest and most experienced will teach cutting-edge Search Advertising techniques that focus on how to do more with less.

We hope to see you there!

Kelly Larsen
Director of Marketing, PPC Summit

*Source: Zenith Optimedia, July  2009 Ad Spend Projections.