March 17th, 2017

I Need to Be #1 for [Keyword]…

I’m on-boarding a new client. I’ve sailed through the introductions and pleasantries. I’ve noted several excellent points to consider while digging into the depths of my new client’s business. My mind is excitedly reeling through all the directions I want to explore with the campaigns. As I’m wrapping up with loose conversation to help learn more about each other to help secure a solid working relationship I’m hit with, “Oh by the way. I need to be #1 for [keyword]”.

It’s at this point I’m always thankful that I’m not sitting directly in front of an audience so no one sees my left eye starting to twitch. Despite the void of a visual I still feel bad because there is this brief period of silence (crickets in the background) while I’m taking a deep breath. How to I put this without unraveling the relationship we’ve just started?

Early on it was fairly easy. There was no Google. There was no Pay Per Click or analytic programs to speak of. Only organic rankings in a handful of Search Engines and directories. The answer was, “Well that is an awfully broad and competitive keyword. I can’t make any promises but I’ll sure do everything I can!”. As more robust, sometimes costly, platforms of marketing and analytic programs have been developed and matured the ‘I need to be #1’ game has changed significantly. Perhaps for the better.I Need to Be #1 for [Keyword]...

Today the simple start of this conversation is, “This is an interesting twist to the conversation we just had. Would you mind sharing with me your history with this keyword?”. Over the years, I’ve heard a myriad of reasons why 1 or 2 particular keyword(s) are so attractive for various clients. All understandable. I’m not one to judge however after listening I’m generally lead to ask following questions:

  1. You mentioned you have X,Y,Z analytics program. Will I be able to look at this keyword’s track record in there or is there another way you measure this keyword?
  2. How about Adwords and Bing Ads statistics? I assume there is information available for this keyword in those interfaces?
  3. Have you had other sources work to achieve #1 position for this keyword for you in the past? If yes, When was this? Did you feel they were successful? If no, Why not?
  4. Your budget is $XXXX per month correct?

In asking these questions I am setting the tone for:

  1. I’m going to be doing my job and vetting out the statistical information revolving around this keyword.
  2. I’m going to specifically be looking into the time frames provided from previous attempts if available.
  3. If this has not worked out before I’ve had the client validate this so IF I need to educate why this isn’t going to work out this time either they won’t be as disappointed. They will at least know why this time.
  4. I’ve validated the budget so that if the budget becomes a barrier in the #1 request we can leverage that in the education process.

I’m not going to finish the conversation today. I really want to take a look now at what is going on with that keyword. Our conversation is then tabled with, “Ok I totally get that this keyword is very important to you. I want to spend a bit of time taking a look into this keyword and then I’ll schedule a time we can discuss how this is going to impact the directions we can successfully take for you and your campaigns”.

Let the data dive begin!

This is where the ‘perhaps for the better’ comes into play. In the early beginning of marketing online there was little in the way of analytics so it was one of those throw it out there and see what happens. But you never really knew for sure if that was what was driving leads or not. It didn’t cost much but it did often take a lot of time. Now with the robust analytics programs available out there it’s much easier to determine if a keyword is productive or not which can quickly alleviate non-productive spend and non-productive optimization time.

There are a variety of things I’m going to look at in conjunction to the productivity, or lack of, for the requested keyword. I might hop in and it’s a total gem for this client. I might find that this keyword does nothing but burn money. But I’m not going to discard my new client’s request. I’m going to compile the information I need to revisit this with my new client. Some things I would look at are:

I Need to Be #1 for [Keyword]...

  1. Overall productivity of the keyword
  2. Location productivity of the keyword
  3. Time of day/week productivity of the keyword
  4. Campaign structure surrounding this keyword
  5. Search phrases surrounding this keyword
  6. Negatives used with this keyword
  7. Keyword Position

And I’ll do this in each channel individually. What works in Google Pay Per Click may not work anywhere near the same in Bing or Yahoo and vice versa. PPC may not work as well as Pay Per Call, etc.

Once all of the data is has been thoroughly reviewed it’s time to revisit the keyword request with the client. This is a great time to use join.me, GoToMeeting or another screen share program so the client can visually see exactly what you’re talking about as you explain why or why not this keyword request is realistic. Often times when information is shared verbally only it leaves room for things to be misinterpreted or construed inadvertently so it’s always a good idea to share visually as well.

It all comes down to what the data demonstrated and it’s important you educate the client thoroughly with the data. Rather than being #1 100% of the time for a certain keyword it makes more sense to be #3 with the exception of Wednesday and Sunday afternoons in Bing only from 1 to 3 PM where being #1 is most productive. Maybe it isn’t the keyword at all that is generating leads. Maybe it’s a search term(s) that has been firing off the keyword and the leads have been really coming via that search term so we turn that search term into a keyword.

There are a wealth of directions the end plan can go. It all comes down to the data, your ability to wade through the information and educate the client so that both you and your new client are productive and hold a successful long relationship.

 

Image Source: Pixabay

September 28th, 2016

Google releases campaign groups in AdWords

Earlier this month Google released a new feature that makes it easier for advertisers to monitor the performance of their campaigns against their advertising goals: campaign groups.

What are campaign groups?

Campaign groups allow advertisers to aggregate data from separate campaigns based on a common theme. It allows them to select campaigns that share a same objective and group them so they have a quick look at performance, what works and what doesn’t.

Let’s say you just created 2 new separate search and display campaigns for the coming Christmas season. It would be interesting to create a campaign group for them as they have the same goal.

How to set up campaign groups?

Campaign groups are available in the AdWords interface, on the left menu:

campaign-groups

 

Once you click on the button to add a campaign group, you are redirected to a page where you can:

  • Name your campaign group.
  • Select the existing campaigns you want to add to this campaign group.
  • Select a performance target: you can choose clicks or conversions.
  • Eventually select a specific date range to view more accurate projections. If you choose this option you can then select the number of clicks or conversions you want to receive, the budget you want to spend, the average CPC or CPA you want to reach.

campaign-groups-set-up

 

You will then have a quick glimpse of your current performance and what you may achieve by the end of the campaign period.

What are the benefits of campaign groups?

  • With campaign groups it is easier to monitor performance across multiple campaigns.
  • You have a quick glimpse of how your campaigns perform relative to your goals. Of course campaign groups are not to be compared to some powerful third party tools but they allow advertisers to have a quick access to that data without having to create pivot tables or export data in separate spreadsheets (therefore saving some time and energy).
  • The set up is simple and you will have access to monitored performance in minutes.

 

Images’ source: Google AdWords interface

July 29th, 2016

Price extensions for mobile ads: AdWords new feature

price-extensions

Google has just released new ad extensions: price extensions.

What are price extensions?

They are new extensions that advertisers can use in their AdWords mobile ads. It allows them to easily and quickly show prices for different services or products.

What are the price extensions’ requirements?

  • They are only available on mobile ads for now (so you need to have a mobile friendly website).
  • You need to set up a minimum of 3 price extensions and a maximum of 8.
  • Your mobile ad needs to appear in the top ad position (otherwise it won’t be eligible for this new extension).
  • They are only available in English at the moment.

How to set up price extensions?

Just as other ad extensions, price extensions are easily set up in AdWords.

They can be set at account, campaign or ad group level.

You will find them in the ad extensions tab, under “Price extensions” in the drop-down menu.

Price extensions set up

To create a price extension you will need to add:

  • A header (clickable title, up to 25 characters).
  • A description (up to 25 characters).
  • The actual price.
  • A final URL (the landing page related to the extension – the same landing page can be used for a set of ad extensions).

Price extensions for mobile ads: AdWords new feature

What are the benefits of price extensions?

  • They give extra information to potential customers with minimal work. You don’t need to include your price in your ad anymore and you can use that extra space to focus on other unique selling points in your ads.
  • They are one click away to conversions: when users click on your price extension, they are redirected to your website straight away.
  • They are easily set up, updated and can be used for special offers.
  • They are flexible and customizable.

 

Images source: Pixabay

June 22nd, 2016

AdWords new expanded ads: how to get prepared for the change – optimization tricks and strategies

expanded-ads

 

Google announced several AdWords changes during their 2016 performance summit last month, the most important one probably being the increase of characters limits with new expanded text ads.

Google has been working on this for years (the side ads removal in February happened for this reason) and this might be the biggest change since the creation of AdWords! Finally marketers will have a bit more space for their creativity and will be less frustrated by the very restrictive characters limit they had to deal with until now. But unfortunately such important changes usually don’t happen smoothly and there is a high price to pay for improvement… If you are part of an agency dealing with several huge AdWords accounts, you might need to cancel your forthcoming holidays and work your whole summer on new ads to be ready for the change. And if you are not an AdWords expert and you only run a campaign for your small local business, you might be lost and not sure where to start. The goal of this post is to give any advertiser tricks to get ready for that huge change as quick as possible so you have your campaigns updated and don’t lose deals when the new ads format rolls out.

But first let’s have a look at what is changing.

What are the new expanded ads characters limits?

The new expanded ads will now contain:

  • Two 30 characters headline (compared to one 25 characters headline before) so 60 characters in total, that’s more than the double amount of characters allowed!
  • One 80 characters description line (compared to two 35 characters description lines before), that’s 10 more characters allowed.

So the new ads will be allowed to contain 140 characters in total, that’s 47% more than the current 95 characters!

What are the benefits of this change for advertisers?

Google has announced that the new expanded ads will work better across screens, especially mobiles, and that this change was designed especially for today’s mobile-first world, where more and more searches are done on mobile devices.

With the number of characters expanded, there is no doubt that advertisers will get more visibility, and you can therefore more than likely expect a higher CTR.

When and how will this change happen?

Google didn’t communicate any exact date yet, they just gave a vague indication of “later this year”. That’s why we advise you to get ready as soon as possible, and we will keep you updated on how and when exactly the change will happen when more information is given.

It would be great if those new expanded ads could be somehow automated, as it was the case for Upgraded URL’s. When that changed happened last year, Google set up an upgrade option in the AdWords interface that helped advertisers along the way, simply copying their current destination URL’s to the final URL’s fields. That made upgrading pretty straightforward and advertisers with small and simple accounts were able to be ready for the update in just a few minutes and clicks through the AdWords interface (it was also very easy to upgrade through AdWords Editor).

However an automated system is unlikely to happen with the new expanded ads, as the changes here have more consequences and the whole ads structure will be changed with now 2 headlines and 1 description line. Things would certainly be easier if there was an automated option in the AdWords interface that could just copy your existing description line 1 and use it as your new second headline, and keep your existing description line 2 and use it as your new description line. But the problem with that would occur with the characters limit: your first headline would remain the same and only contains 25 characters while your second headline would contain up to 35 characters and might exceed the new 30 characters limit if you used them all, and your new description line would only contain the 35 characters of your previous description line 2, instead of the new 80 characters allowed. Besides that, you might not want to use a previous description line as headline, depending on its content. So we just don’t see a way for this change to be automated, and if it is somehow anyway, it won’t be a perfect solution. Extra work will definitely be needed on your side to make sure you take full advantage of the new expanded ads and you are not left aside and losing deals to your competitors that got prepared quickly and have created amazing new expanded ads while you were just waiting for the last minute…

Our only hope is that Google will give enough time to advertisers to get prepared for this update. We assume that as for any AdWords change there will be a transition period during the which you will still be allowed to use your old ads while writing new expanded ads and a deadline date when your old ads won’t be allowed to run anymore, therefore you will start losing deals from that date if you don’t have expanded ads ready.

How to get prepared for the change?

Depending on your ads messaging, we can think of 2 different options for a smooth update. Either you update your current description line 1 to become your new headline 2 (reducing characters to maximum 30 if needed) as outlined in previous paragraph, either your merge your current description lines 1 and 2 to become your new 80 characters description line.

If you are already using extended headlines (where your description line 1 is combined with your headline – your ads need to be eligible to appear at the top of the page and your description line 1 needs to end with proper punctuation) we would advise you to choose option 1. The first and only thing you will absolutely need to do for the update is to reduce your new headline 2 if it exceeds the 30 characters limit.

You will also need to rework your current description line 2 and add extra messaging (filling the at least 45 characters empty space) to take full advantage of the new format, as the limit for the new description line is now 80 characters.

You might also want to rework your new headline 1 to add 5 extra characters, but this is just a small change and it can wait until later as your new ad will still look good without those 5 extra characters.

For those who don’t use extended headlines, we would strongly advise to use option 2 as you will keep the same ad structure and messaging and it will be pretty straightforward. You will just need to merge your current description lines 1 and 2 into the new 80 characters limit description line. Then you will need to think of a new 30 characters headline 2. You might also want to rework your new headline 1 to add 5 extra characters and your new description line to add 10 extra characters, but as stated above it can wait until later as your new ad will still look good without those extra characters.

In order to summarize:

Option 1: make your current description line 1 your new headline 2, and your current description line 2 your new description line:

  • Eventually reduce your new headline 2 so it doesn’t exceed the 30 characters limit.
  • Update your current description line 2 and add 45 extra characters.
  • Optional: add 5 extra characters to your new headline 1.

See with an example:

Current ad:

24/7 Accident Recovery

Reliable & Fast Recovery Service.

24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week!

New extended ad:

24/7 Fast Accident Recovery

Reliable Recovery Service

24 Hours a Day and 7 Days a Week. Call Us at Any Time and We Will Come and Help!

Option 2: merge your current description lines 1 and 2 into your new description line, and create a new headline 2:

  • Create a new 30 characters headline 2.
  • Optional: add 5 extra characters to your new headline 1 and 10 characters to your new description line.

With the same ad example as above:

New extended ad:

24/7 Quick Accident Recovery

Certified Professional Towing

Reliable & Fast Recovery Service. 24 Hours a Day and 7 Days a Week, Call Us Now!

 

Whatever option you choose, you can see that you will still need a bit of extra work to get ready for the update and your new expanded ads won’t be written in 1 hour, unless you only have a very small account with 10 ads. That’s why you need to get prepared for the update as soon as possible, starting today.

Another question that might cross your mind if you are dealing with several huge accounts with thousands of ads is where to start to be ready on time and make sure you don’t lose deals. You need to schedule and prioritize. Start with the top campaigns bringing the most leads/sales. Inside of each campaign select the ad groups bringing the more conversions and start working on them first, so that if you are running out of time and you are not 100% ready for the update, your top ad groups and campaigns will contain expanded ads and only secondary campaigns/ad groups will be left aside and you won’t lose your main deals to competitors. If you don’t have the time to create several expanded ads per ad group now, just create 1 for now, so that your campaigns can still run when the change rolls out.

Once again, don’t wait to get ready for the change, the earlier you start the smoother this huge change will happen for you. Allocate 1 hour of your time today to start thinking about it and elaborate your own plan of actions:

  • Depending on your current ads messaging, choose either to follow update option 1 or 2 stated above.
  • Run reports/download statistics and select your top performing campaigns, and top performing ad groups within them.
  • Select your current top performing ad within those ad groups.
  • Copy that data (the top performing ad, along with the ad group and campaign names containing this ad) in excel and start writing 1 new expanded ad, with the messaging inspired by your current top performing ad. Please make sure you add a formula to calculate the number of characters for each line in order to respect the new characters limit:

30 characters for headline 1

30 characters for headline 2

80 characters for description line

 

 

Images source: Pixabay

February 25th, 2016

Yahoo Gemini Isn’t a PPC Gamechanger. Here’s Why.

yahoo-gemini

In February 2014, Yahoo launched Gemini, a marketplace for mobile and native advertising on the Yahoo network. But while Yahoo has been a big name in tech for years, since its launch two years ago Gemini hasn’t exactly been making waves in the digital advertising industry. Here’s why Yahoo Gemini hasn’t been a game changer to PPC space, and what you should know if you’re considering launching ad campaigns via Gemini.

Yahoo Gemini: What is It?

Gemini is Yahoo’s mobile and search advertising marketplace. It allows advertisers to put brand-sponsored content in front of viewers in a way that’s optimized for mobile devices. Gemini’s focus is on native mobile advertising. Gemini display ads in a format that is more or less seamless with the look and feel of the site the ads appear on. As a result, Gemini isn’t quite a direct competitor with AdWords. Yahoo Gemini doesn’t replicate all of AdWords’ functionality. Instead, it realizes Yahoo’s new mobile-first strategy.

With around 550 million monthly users, Yahoo is an often overlooked advertising platform for reaching prospective customers. And since Yahoo’s advertising partnership with Microsoft (via Bing Ads) has been faltering in the past few years, it would seem that this segment of online traffic is wide open for advertisers. So why hasn’t Yahoo Gemini changed the digital advertising game?

Gemini is Not Integrated with Other Yahoo Advertising Products

While Tumblr and Flurry are somewhat integrated with Gemini, not all of Yahoo’s advertising offerings are accessible through Gemini.  As a result, Gemini doesn’t provide a strong, centralized portal for accessing Yahoo’s overall user base in a variety of formats. This decentralization can pose a problem for smaller businesses with more limited resources for digital ad management, since it requires them to manage ads on the Yahoo network from multiple places. For business owners and smaller companies who don’t have dedicated PPC managers, dedicating extra time to managing multiple advertising channels — especially less sure-fire ones like Gemini — can be a dealbreaker.

Yahoo Has Less Traffic Than Google

At the end of 2014, Google had a whopping 67% of all US web traffic, while Yahoo garnered only about 10%. Lower overall traffic means that Yahoo simply has a smaller audience to offer advertisers. Oftentimes, PPC advertising ends up being a numbers game; serve your ads to a large enough relevant audience, and you’re sure to get a few bites. Unfortunately for Yahoo, their lower traffic translates to a less lucrative advertising space. However, for those advertisers who do end up running ad campaigns on Gemini, the less-competitive space can lead to lower CPCs as well.

Want to Give Gemini a Try Anyway?

Still want to give Yahoo Gemini a shot? We recommend copying existing ad campaign details from an existing AdWords campaign, instead of building them out from scratch in Gemini. You’ll also want to adjust your bids for Gemini, as the platform tends to have a lower average CPC than AdWords. Ultimately, giving Gemini a test drive won’t do any harm, but if you’re working with a tight budget, the biggest risk will be in taking away critical resources from AdWords campaigns that are likely to perform much better.

Diversify Your PPC Campaigns with Webrageous

When all else is said and done, experimenting with different platforms such as Gemini and Bing Ads can be a good way to find untapped audiences and diversify your advertising strategy. But since there’s no centralized ad management platform or service to help you manage all your digital ads from one place, adding a new ad service like Gemini to the mix can be a time-consuming endeavor without a guaranteed payoff. For many companies, the potential for the small bump in business that might be gained from managing Gemini campaigns is likely not worth the effort, especially if they’re managing their own PPC campaigns.

Webrageous has the dedicated resources and the experience needed to run campaigns across multiple advertising platforms. We can run PPC campaigns more efficiently than any individual business could on their own. As a result, we can manage campaigns across multiple outlets for you to ensure that you’re getting the optimal results from your PPC campaigns. With Webrageous, you can explore and experiment with innovative and potentially lucrative PPC channels without feeling like you’re wasting your time. Contact us today for more information about how we can help you optimize your PPC campaigns now.

October 26th, 2015

Ad Blocking Software is on the Rise– Here’s What Advertisers Need to Know

ad block

You’ve identified your audience, researched keywords and written great ad copy — but are your PPC ads really reaching your audience? As advertising space takes up a larger and larger chunk of online real estate, software such as AdBlock and AdBlock Plus, which are designed to block display and search ads from displaying in browsers, is becoming increasingly popular among consumers.

But as you might have guessed, ad blocking comes at a steep price for advertisers. Ad blocking software costs companies that run PPC advertising campaigns up to $21.8 billion a year. With new mobile ad blocking applications on the horizon as well, it’s absolutely critical for advertisers to understand why ad blocking software is becoming so pervasive, how it affects their campaigns and what they can do to minimize its impact on their ad spend.

Why Ad Blocking is Bad for PPC Campaigns

The negative impact of ad blocking software on PPC campaigns is self-evident: if people aren’t seeing your ads, your ads can’t bring you any business. Ad blocking software renders PPC campaigns ineffective because browsers never see you ads.

Fortunately for advertisers, there is a bright side; since ad blocking software prevents the ads from ever being downloaded at all, rather than simply hiding them, advertisers generally do not pay for impressions. Additionally, as of late 2014 only about 5% of all Internet users were using ad blocking software on a regular basis. While this number has continued to grow, the majority of people still see PPC ads regularly. While the popularity of ad blocking should be a serious concern for advertisers, PPC advertising is still a viable and effective way to reach most consumers.

Low-Quality Ad Practices: The Root of the Problem

To understand why ad blocking has become such a popular practice, let’s look at why ad blocking software exists. Consumers opt to block advertisements for a number of reasons. Some simply aren’t interested in the ads they are served and find cluttered, flashy and sometimes noisy ads annoying. In other cases, consumers fear being tracked and targeted by advertisers, and try to find ways to prevent advertisers from following them online. Many consumers also find that web pages load significantly faster when they use ad blocking software, especially on sites glutted with advertisements.

Ultimately, consumers are reacting to a culture of bad advertising practices. They are getting fed up with the low quality of ads they see on many sites, and they’re taking action. In a recent TechCrunch article on the impact and future of ad blocking, CEO Harry Kargman of mobile ad company Kargo, discussed how advertising metrics need to be updated to reflect the reality of how advertisers and consumers behave:

“[How we measure PPC campaigns] really should reflect the quality of the environment the ad runs in, how brand safe it is, the quality of the content on the page, how well the ad is integrated onto the page and, obviously, how much the consumer engages with the ad.”

By making a more concerted effort to serve high-quality, relevant ads, rather than simply trying to optimize for impressions and clicks, advertisers are less likely to experience a backlash from consumers. As an added benefit, consumer-conscious ad display methods are more likely to garner the returns that advertisers are really interested in, such as conversions and sales.

Working with Ad Blocking Software Providers to Find a Solution

Unfortunately, there’s no magic button to unblock your ads for viewers. However, some ad blocking software providers have recognized the fact that advertising is an important part of the digital economy and are working to provide a solution. AdBlock Plus, one of the most popular ad blocking applications, introduced an “Acceptable Ads” program in 2011 for advertisers. By meeting specific criteria for quality with their ads, advertisers can have some of their ads whitelisted so that they will still be displayed to viewers who opt into the Acceptable Ads program.

AdWords users also have some good news — Google is one of the major advertisers working with AdBlock Plus to allow Google search ads to be displayed through this Acceptable Ads program. While it’s not a perfect solution, and browsers who use different ad blocking software are still out of reach for many advertisers, the concessions made by AdBlock Plus in favor of advertisers show that the relationship between consumers and online advertisers is still evolving.

What PPC Advertisers Can Do to Combat Ad Blocking

In truth, there’s not much you can do to reach consumers who are using ad blocking software. In many cases, the best defense against the growing popularity of ad blocking software is a good offense. Committing to high-quality, well-targeted advertising materials isn’t just best practices for PPC advertisers — it’s also an effective way to show consumers that advertising can be interesting, relevant, and relatively unobtrusive. Advertisers need to ensure that they’re doing all they can to provide ads that are useful and relevant, without being annoying to consumers. By sticking to less disruptive ad formats, such as text ads, advertisers can help combat conceptions that ads are annoying, malicious and detrimental to the browsing experience.

Remarketing is another area where advertisers can control audience perceptions of advertising. If you adhere to best practices for remarketing, you’re less likely to come across as annoying or invasive. For example, putting frequency caps on your remarketing campaigns is an important practice that will help keep your campaigns from flooding your viewers with your ads.

Developing High-Quality PPC Campaigns with Webrageous

It can take a good amount of experience and knowledge to develop PPC campaigns that consumers respond well to. By partnering with Webrageous, you’ll be able to leverage our years of PPC advertising expertise to create more nuanced, effective advertising campaigns. While ad blocking software isn’t likely to go away anytime soon, by running high-quality PPC campaigns, you can still see great results from your online advertising endeavors. Contact Webrageous today and we’ll show you how we can help you improve your PPC campaign performance.

Image Source: Pixabay

September 21st, 2015

How to Create Lead Conversions

Inbound marketing is a relatively new term in the marketing community and marketers are still fine-tuning their systems to fully use it to their advantage. The most essential element of the inbound marketing toolkit is the lead conversion process.

The conversion process is the bread and butter of any inbound marketing program. Without a seamless and fully-integrated conversion process you are basically wasting your time and money on efforts that will never convert into revenue. So it is essential that you take the time to convert those leads that you work so hard to bring to your landing pages. Once you get them to the web page that you want them on, this brings them to the conversion process so you can capture those lead conversions.

There are various methods you can utilize to bring your prospects to your desired landing pages prior to getting them to complete the conversion. You will want to subscribe to this blog as I will go in depth on each marketing channel in the weeks to come. For now, let’s make sure you understand how to complete the conversion process so you can capture those leads when they visit your landing page!

  1. Create an offer that is relevant to your contacts. Pay attention to where your contacts are in the funnel. Are they cold contacts? Then an eBook would be good to gain interest. Are they a current customer that you are trying to upsell? A relevant checklist would be good. Have they already showed interest in your product offerings? Offer them a demo or a coupon for enrollment!
  2. Host that offer on a thank you page and/or with a follow-up email. You must deliver the promised content once they submit their information to you. You can host your content on a thank you page or deliver it in a follow-up email. You could also deliver the content upon conversion by including a content link in the associated form in step 3.
  3. Create the landing page with an integrated form. There are many programs that you can create a landing page with, but the most important part is to integrate a form with the landing page that will capture those submissions! This submission form will direct the contact to the content whether it is hosted on a thank you page, delivered automatically through a content link, or delivered in an automated email.
  4. Then you will want to segment your acquired lead lists for email marketing purposes!

Now that you have completed and refined your conversion process you are ready to begin driving traffic to your website to generate those leads you worked so hard to convert. Webrageous can help you maximize campaign performance and avoid wasting your ad spend on ineffective keyword techniques. Our team of search marketing experts stay continually up to date on the latest advancements with both Google AdWords and Bing Ads, so you can be sure that you’re getting the best results possible from your ad campaigns under our management. Contact us today for a consultation to see how you can grow your PPC advertising efforts successfully.

May 28th, 2013

3 ways PPC beats SEO for driving traffic and increasing conversions

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns provide businesses with fresh, engaging and innovative ways to attract consumers they would not otherwise be able to engage.

 

piggy-bank-money-stackThis paid search method requires campaign managers to bid on search phrases called keywords. The keyword with the average highest bid CPC (cost per click) and Quality Score wins the top rank in the Search Network. The Google Display Network gives advertisers opportunities to display their advertisements on hundreds of thousands of websites across the world.

 

SEO involves optimizing the structure and content of websites and is a long-term, time consuming method to achieving high organic search results. Though not without merit, it isn’t as dynamic in driving relevant traffic as PPC advertising campaigns.

Here are three reasons why; (more…)

April 6th, 2013

PPC remarketing campaigns… what are the top three things to consider?

Google Adwords technology offers advertisers the unique opportunity to “remarket” or continue to target individuals who have already visited their website. Skillful remarketing can help your PPC campaign generate more conversions in a number of ways.

4485767292_49723d9f84_oIn the world of Pay Per Click, impressions (or views of your advertisements) are the foundation of any successful conversion rate. Remarketing is an excellent strategy to increase conversions through repeatedly displaying advertisements to someone who demonstrated interest by visiting your website.

The remarketing feature gives you the power to further connect with an individual who, for whatever reason, did not complete a purchase. Remarketing helps you to share special offers and other relevant advertisements even when they have turned to other websites on the Google Display Network. Potentially, you can even remarket to prospective clients while they browse the website of your stiffest competition (granted they are members of the Google Display Network).

A skillful Pay Per Click advertising expert will create a special series of advertisements just for remarketing campaigns. Quite often they include compelling offers and further encouragement to go back to his or her website and make a purchase.

Read the connecting article about ppc remarketing strategies for more information and advice about running a remarketing campaign before you actually go to launch.

 

April 5th, 2013

Local and National Pay Per Click campaigns are different because…

When deciding what kind of Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign is best for your business,  whether local or national, it’s critical that you analyze your  target audience. Where are your customers coming from? What is the best platform  that will enable you to engage them?  Is it best to advertise at the district, state or regional level?

Landing Page ImprovementLocal and national campaigns give paid search experts the room to make these decisions. Local campaigns offer advertisers the option of showing their advertisements  in a narrower geographic area, such as a city.

Where these advertisements are shown is fully determined by the advertisers. National campaigns are PPC campaigns that are shown across the country. These campaigns do not target specific states or regions. Find out more about the differences between local and national pay per click campaigns by reading the article, Important Differences between Local and National PPC Campaigns, on the Webrageous website.

 

March 21st, 2013

3 Ways PPC beats SEO in Increasing Traffic and Conversions

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns provide businesses with fresh, engaging and innovative ways to attract consumers in areas they would otherwise not be able to engage. Yes, SEO has proven to be a more popular approach utilized by a lot of businesses that have a presence online. However, there are different areas where PPC beats SEO, proving that it’s also worth the investment.
 

PPC versus SEO

ppc beats seoThis paid search method requires campaign managers to bid on search phrases called keywords. The keyword with the average highest bid CPC (cost per click) and Quality Score wins the top rank in the Search Network. The Google Display Network gives advertisers opportunities to display their advertisements on hundreds of thousands of websites across the world.
 
As for SEO, it involves optimizing the structure and content of websites. This process is a long-term, time consuming method to achieving high organic search results. Though not without merit, it isn’t as dynamic in driving relevant traffic as PPC advertising campaigns.
 

Where PPC Beats SEO

Here are three areas where PPC beats SEO:
 

1. SEO is restricted to search engines.

Advertisers on the Google Display Network can show their offers to millions of site visitors on different web pages across the internet. A PPC Display Network campaign is superior to SEO efforts because it allows the advertiser to meet the client all the way. PPC campaigns on the Display Network are not a slave to search engine queries. Users do not have to type in a keyword to be shown business information.
 
In the real world, people purchase items on a whim. They walk past a window, something catches their eye and they enter the store to investigate.
 
The Google Display Network is the largest collection of websites that allow people to window shop on the web. Through placement targeting, you can bid for spots on popular websites or websites related to your keywords to further contextualize your traffic.
 

2. SEO offers limited audience targeting.

One of the major drawbacks of relying on an SEO-only digital marketing plan is that it offers little by way of innovation. Through PPC marketing on the Google Display and Search Networks, businesses can be specific about the type of consumers they want to target, making it another clear area where PPC beats SEO.
 
Advertisements can be based on a number of characteristics, including but not limited to geography, user profile and browsing device (desktop, mobile or table campaigns). Campaign managers can also target users according to age and gender.
 
SEO managers can only focus energies on keywords, hoping to attract the right kind of traffic. With targeting, PPC campaigns attract and directly interact with specific customers.  This can lead to more relevant clicks, and ultimately, conversions.
 

3. PPC drives more traffic and conversions for less established or new businesses.

A huge area where PPC beats SEO is in the drive to push less established businesses into the spotlight. In the world of SEO, more established websites with an extensive network of links are given preference on search engines. The present SEO landscape is a difficult one for less established businesses to navigate. In PPC, the advertisement listings at the very top of the page are fair game for everyone, not just the websites with the most links.
 

PPC: A More Dynamic Option

SEO lacks the latitude, scope for growth and refinement that is the cornerstone of PPC marketing. Seeing these areas where PPC beats SEO, it proves to have several benefits especially for less established businesses that want to be more aggressive in their marketing agenda.
 

March 15th, 2013

3 Ways PPC Campaigns are Destroyed Using Unnatural Links

Advertising on the Google Search Network through Google Adwords can help your business to generate traffic and conversions on your website while building brand power. Google uses an algorithm to determine the PageRank of your website which, among other factors, is determined by the quantity, quality and relevance of the links other websites make to yours.
 
unnatural linksRecently Google announced that it would be streamlining activities it deemed as “unnatural links schemes”. Essentially, this is any behavior that manipulates links to your website or outgoing links from your site. It’s a broad definition but the company clarified by giving users a detailed list of these activities.
 
As expected, practices that were considered unfavorable included exchanging money, services or products for links, using excessive link exchanging or “link to me and I’ll link to you”, linking to spammers or unrelated websites to improve PageRank and utilizing automated programmes to create links to your website.
 
If these links are not removed, your company risks being banned from the Google Search Network and paid search with Google Adwords. Though removing these links can be a challenging process, it is a necessary one if you are to safeguard your PPC campaign. (more…)

January 29th, 2013

What are the Two Most Important Online Marketing Strategies for Local Retailers?

PPC Management is full of tricks and ideas and strategies and effective approaches. We cannot cover them all, especially if we are a small, local business, without the time and energy to do so. Therefore, what are the two essential online marketing strategies for local retailers to focus on above all else to ensure online marketing success?

Keep reading to find out… (more…)

January 27th, 2013

Google Says Advertisers Don’t Spend Enough on Mobile Advertising

Google reveals that only 5% of search advertisers are taking full advantage of the benefits of mobile advertising and investing the right amount of cash into their mobile advertising campaigns. This was based on an interesting article recently featured on Search Engine Land about mobile advertising data gathered by the search engine giant.
 
According to the data released by Google, 95% of advertisers are losing out on sales and high ROIs because they continue to manage their mobile advertising campaigns in the same way as their PC and laptop campaigns, and because they refuse to invest more money in this area of online marketing.
 
Author of the article, Greg Sterling, explains that only 55% of online advertisers invest in mobile advertising campaigns and only 5% of this 55% use phone extensions as part of their mobile advertisements. This, according to Google, Wordstream and DataPop, is one of the biggest online marketing errors of 2012.
 

What does Google have to say about mobile advertising?

Google has made it clear on a number of occasions that all advertisers should:

  • invest in mobile advertising campaigns if they want to increase sales
  • separate PC pay per click campaigns from mobile network campaigns
  • use call extensions on all mobile network advertisements

What do internet users want to do when searching on mobile devices?

It’s really important to take into account the different desires and interests of the internet user who sits behind a desk on a PC, and compare it with the user who stands in a busy bus, connecting through their mobile phone.
 
In general, the research that Google sponsored and shared by Sterling on Search Engine Land shows that when using mobile devices, internet users always want to be able to perform the following actions:

  • 76% want to get information on store location or opening hours
  • 61% want to be able to just click to call the store in one swift move
  • 54% want to be able to send an email
  • 53% want to download an app
  • 48% want to be able to click and land on the store’s social networking page
  • 41% want to be able to play video clips

Few people want to actually make a purchase online via a mobile device, but that doesn’t mean that mobile advertising does not drive customers down the conversion path so that they can then convert at a later date.
 

What mistakes are most advertisers making when analyzing mobile network campaigns?

Just because internet users don’t convert that often on mobile devices doesn’t mean investment in mobile advertising should be curtailed.
 
Dave Schwartz from DataPop believes that few marketers “connect a transaction to a mobile click.” He continues to explain that when they cannot link conversions to clicks “they’re not willing to pay as much for mobile clicks.”
 
The lack of clarity in seeing the true advantages of mobile advertising, and how these campaigns generate more conversions on PCs or in stores at a later date than most people give them credit for, will be the downfall of many advertisers in 2013 and the winning trump card for the few advertisers who are seeing things clearly.
 

What kind of damage is caused?

If you make no time for your mobile network campaign because you look at the conversion rates, and you foolishly believe that low conversions mean internet users are not being persuaded to buy via the mobile network, you might be causing terrible damage to your brand’s online reputation without knowing it.
 
Because you see no conversions from your mobile network campaign, you probably reduce the amount of money you spend on it and fewer people see your advertisements. This means that fewer people visit your site to find about your products and services.
 
However, this is not the worst that could happen…
 
You invest little time and energy in mobile advertising too, and this means that you are unaware of problems like slow page loading times, breaks in URL links, or out-of-date copy on your mobile network landing pages. In short, your mobile network campaign and site starts to look like a deserted building, with squatters moving in and interested buyers going elsewhere.
 
The mobile network is HOT and if your mobile pages affect the customer’s user experience, your brand’s image is terribly damaged in an instant.
 
The Google-sponsored research reveals that:

  • 96% of internet users visit sites that aren’t mobile-friendly
  • 74% say that they’re more likely to return to a site if it is mobile-friendly
  • 55% confirm that a frustrating mobile experience damages their opinion of the brand in question

The facts are there. Mobile advertising contributes to online and offline sales, and internet users love to go mobile. High conversions are not the only way of proving the worth of a paid search campaign. Think outside the box a little. Think mobile! Contact us for more information on mobile website design and mobile network pay per click campaign management.
 

August 13th, 2012

Your Online Marketing Budgets: Where to Spend and Where to Save

We all know that you need regular, quality content, relevant links, and quality engagement on social media. Unfortunately the list seems to be growing or, at the very least, mutating with each new social platform or Google update.

Affordability of Pay Per Click AdvertisingGood News: content is still king…

You’ve probably heard this time and time again over the last few years. If anything, it is more true than it was a year ago; unnatural linking now carries a penalty, and the only way to gain quality, natural links is to create content that people want to link to.

Your bounce rate also plays a part in your search ranking so you need to ensure that people engage with your content. It doesn’t make sense to spend and spend to get people to come to your site, only to lose them once they’re actually there.

In short: Invest in your content and keep it fresh so that your prospects have a reason to come back. (more…)

June 5th, 2012

All Online Content is Good Online Content

If you believe that all online content is good online content for your online marketing campaign then you are sadly mistaken. This is just like saying that any type of dish served at a restaurant is a good dish and this is certainly not the case.
 
4485767292_49723d9f84_oWe have all been to a restaurant and never gone back because the food was terrible. We went to the restaurant because we were hungry, but humans are not robots. You cannot just give them any plate of food and expect them to be happy. The quality of the food needs to be good to ensure that they come back.
 
Restaurants need to feed their clients and make them enjoy what they eat. In fact, the objective of eating in order to cure a feeling of hunger is really not the primary reason why people go to restaurants to eat instead of eating at home in the first place. People go to restaurants because they want to taste good food.
(more…)

June 4th, 2012

How to Use PPC Advertising to Determine if Your Product Will Sell

Whether you’re in the process of creating a new product or trying to find a tagline for you next big marketing campaign, testing the waters is a pivotal step. After all, you wouldn’t want to shell out thousands of dollars on developing a product or campaign only to find out that people don’t have a need for it.

4485115401_b49ef383b8_oThere a number of market research methods that you can use to assess the market validity of your prospective product.  Common practices include conducting focus groups, surveys, or in-depth interviews to test ideas. However, while the above-mentioned tactics are effective in gathering data, they can often be time consuming, not to mention expensive.

If you’re someone who doesn’t have the time or budget to conduct elaborate studies, then consider using PPC advertising as your market research tool. Not only is it easy to set up, it’s also very cost-effective, because you’ll be able to control how much you spend on your campaigns.

On to PPC market research

Tim Ferriss, author of the best-selling book The 4 Hour Workweek, was one of the first people to popularize the use of PPC for market research. According to him, when he was choosing the title for his book, he decided to use Google AdWords to A/B test various titles. He created several text ads with different headlines and tracked the CTR of each ad. In the end, the ad with the headline “The 4 Hour Workweek” received the most clicks, and that’s how it ended up being the title of his best-seller. (more…)

May 7th, 2012

Avoiding Pay Per Click Fraud

What can you do if pay per click fraud constantly weighs on your mind? The benefits of pay per click advertising are great but what happens if pay per click fraud was to rear its ugly head? What would you do?
 
Pay Per Click FraudThe good news is that pay per click fraud is not as big a deal as might be suggested. But it does still exist. And as any good business manager will tell you, avoiding the risk before it surfaces is always the best option.
 
So if you are concerned about pay per click fraud or think you might have already seen the beginnings of it in your pay per click campaigns, it might be time to follow these simple steps.
 
Pay per click management company Webrageous is an expert in click fraud prevention and we have come up with a few ways you can stop click fraud from appearing. We have spent years perfecting our click fraud prevention and detection tools and we want to help you avoid the risk of pay per click fraud. (more…)

April 11th, 2012

Online Marketing Fraud and How to Stay Safe!

Online marketing fraud and without any shade of a doubt does exist. There is no getting around this fact.
 
Pay Per Click FailuresThere are people out there who make it their daily business to steal your clicks, or use your advertising budget for other things; they lie to you about the work that they are doing for you (work that you pay them to do), saying that they are getting you the clicks need when they are actually spending their time enjoying a long cup of coffee.
 
These people promise you online marketing results that are simply impossible to achieve. The romance you with stories of online marketing success beyond belief and unfortunately they come very well-informed and know exactly what they have to do to earn your trust.
 
As we know that these people exist and as we know that online marketing fraud is never going to go away and will always be something that we need to keep on top of, the best thing to do is to be prepared, do our own research and find out as much as we can about how to recognize an online marketing fraudster before we give them the opportunity to ruin our online marketing presence / campaigns.
 
To this end, Webrageous recently posted an important press release on online marketing fraud that we would like to share with our readers directly today. Click on the link and get clued up fast about online marketing fraud to make sure that you do not become the victim of such a crime in the future.
 

January 9th, 2012

Getting the Best Online Advertising Analysis and Reports

best online advertising analysisIf you have an online advertising campaign of any kind, you will know that the most fundamental thing that you need is to get the best online advertising analysis and reports that allows you to optimize your campaign as effectively as possible.
 
If you are looking for the best online advertising analysis and online advertising reporting, you must run your online advertising campaign through Google AdWords. Google AdWords´ reporting tools never cease to improve and develop and this means that analyzing the effects of your online advertising campaign continues to become even more effective as a result.
 

How Google AdWords Comes Up with the Best Online Advertising Analysis and Reports

One of the most recent developments to the reporting and analyzing features of Google AdWords campaigns has improved the style and productivity of the Google AdWords landing page report.
 
The recent changes that Google AdWords has made now means that online advertisers are able to gather the following data about their landing pages:

  • Pages per visit
  • Average time on site
  • Percentage of new visitors to the site
  • We can also now view the Google AdWords landing page report by goals and e-commerce

    •  

    The Impact of These Changes to Online Advertisers

    Thanks to the improvements to the Google AdWords landing page report listed above, online advertisers now have a much thorough idea of the impact that their landing pages is having on their advertising campaigns in general.
     
    Online advertisers are now able to see whether or not landing pages are receiving new traffic and whether or not these landing pages are helping to meet advertising goals or in fact preventing us from meeting those targets.
     
    This data is so much more informed and thorough than it was in the past and this is why you only get the best online advertising analysis and reports.
     
    Google AdWords never stops developing and improving its online advertising services for all the people who use its product and this is why its advertisers are some of the most successful online advertisers in the world.
     

    More About Advertising Online via Google AdWords

    The online advertising experts at Webrageous are ready and willing to answer any questions you might have regarding the development of an online advertising campaign via Google AdWords at any time.

     
    Contact one of our Google AdWords experts     today and we will explain how Google AdWords can be used to generate more clients for your business and more traffic for your website within no time. Finally, you can get the best online advertising analysis and reports you deserve.
     

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