Pay Per Click Ads- Including Your Price to Deter Untargeted Clicks

The continued quest in the Pay Per Click world of writing a good and targeted ad within the allotted 70 characters is not an easy one. It is widely practiced concept of writing an ad not only to attract searchers to your business/web site, but also to deter those that are not targeted to your desired audience- keeping in mind clicks are far from free. I have written in the past, not all traffic is good traffic in the PPC world.

Recently a client of mine was getting a substantial amount of clicks and responses to the call to action of his site- phone call traffic- but those phone calls were mostly of poor quality. A tactic was chosen to modify the ad to let the searcher know up front the minimum cost of the service at hand, as to confront that searcher (potentially) before the per click charge was realized. This made a significant difference in the quality of caller, because we were able to educate the searcher to what he/she was getting into with the facility at hand.

That is, the ad itself, not the landing page, stated what the minimum cost was as to get in the door. This promotion of up front facts supports the no nonsense approach that works more times than not. We are looking to promote clicks for those not scared by the 'sticker shock' of the price- a way to potentially modify behavior in our favor and lower costs at the same time. In this instance the time of taking that un-targeted phone call traffic was also costing money.

It may make sense and work for you in your marketplace. Use this idea particularly with any competitive advantages you may hold and highlight those things. You can reach the searcher before they take money out of your wallet and put it into Google or Yahoo's.

Let Webconsuls reduce your spend with tools and methods like this. We'll put it into practice for your businesses unique needs.

Tailoring Ads To the Specificity of the Keyword

Marketing at the keyword level defines 2 basic types of keywords- general and specific.  General marketplace keywords are expensive because competition is high due to high search volumes, but these keywords are expensive because their ROI tends to be poor.  A general search query means the seacher is not very far along in the buying process and at this point is educating themselves on the market; even if this education is just comparative pricing.  Specific keywords are those further along this buying process where it is evident in the search query that the searcher knows what he or she is looking for.  In extremely specific cases, product numbers are searched for goods and area codes for services.

So along the process of educating, comparing and buying a good or service it also makes sense then, to tailor your ads to each point along that graph too.  I would even argue in many cases that you don't want to be found along the 1st two points of the graph, but nevertheless, let the data speak for itself-- i.e. track everything.

To put this into practice it makes most sense to have ad groups within a given campaign differentiated by keyword specificity as it relates to the buying process.  Therefore it is a clear     path to writing for the different targets.  Ad group 1 is written for the uneducated searcher, ad group 2 to the price comparer and 3 (if different than step 2) is for the buyer with credit card in hand.  Again, the keywords are making the distinctions for all 3 steps.

Confused about how this relates to your web site or online marketing?  Let us know and we'll make it make sense customized to your business needs.

Does PPC Help Branding?

New Research suggests that Pay Per Click campaigns can positively affect branding.  In the words of the linked article, 'Turns out that search lifts brand metrics, particularly when paired with other media. Better yet, post-click lift in search metrics is off the charts, perhaps finally validating my branding effectiveness '.

Get you name out there as a goal, while simulanteously achieving your Web Site goals- whether it be defined as sales, leads or phone call traffic.  Brand awarness, especially in your targeted and/or local community can be a significant source of traffic (of all kinds, including walk-in and referral).

The article by Payperclickuniverse, adds that 'brand lift' occurs after the click is made, sending the searcher to your web site- according to their research.  And this makes sense in our experience.  How are you catering to your niche, market and locality?  What differentiation is made, and how are you marketing and identifying that to you client base?

If these questions are difficult to answer- visit the one stop shop of all things internet marketing, Webconsuls.com

http://www.payperclickuniverse.com/search-engine-latest-news.php?v=more&id=3402

Google AdWords- Local Business Ad

The Google AdWords 'local business ad' is one of the forms you may choose to create for your keyword listings. If your business is localized to any extent, this is probably very helpful. To take it a step further, if your business takes 'walk-in' traffic and/or has a brick and mortar presence, then this functionality is a must.

If you have ever done a Google keyword search where your query included a location, you may have seen this type of ad appear. Underneath the sponsored results but before the organic results, a google map will appear with points on the map representing local results for your query. An easy example would be local pizza restaurants- a business-person is traveling and doesn't know the area well. He or she is looking for a good pizza for dinner, but wants one in walking distant to the hotel. That person can look at the map to see the closest match and how to get there.

The ad itself as has a description for a tag line like normal PPC ads. The business web site, physical address and phone number can all be included, making this a very useful tool for businesses in a community.

Need help setting up and creating a local business ad for your Google AdWords account? Don't even have an AdWords account? Either way Webconsuls can help, its what we do.

Pay Per Click Landing Pages

In pay per click marketing, in most cases I find myself defining the typical internet user/searcher/customer in very specific terms. I must assume that the potential customer is looking only for the particular item/service searched-- nothing more nothing less. Therefore, specific landing pages corresponding to that search term are a must, while sending a searcher to your homepage is not optimal.

To quote the linked article, "The first and most important objective of the landing page is to convince the visitor that they've come to the right place." In my opinion this must be done, clearly, simply, and above the 'fold' or without making the searcher scroll. The Szetela article uses the metaphor of going to a Sears department store. When you know the specific item you are looking to purchase, you can go directly to it by parking and entering the store in the door leading to that particular department. You then find, purchase and leave the store creating as efficient and seemless an experience as possible.

If the searcher then stays to browse or comes back later for similar items, it is all gravy. But the conservative, strict approach assumes this is not the case and in my experience, it is not. Secure the immediate sale- any other objectives cannot be campaigned for with statistical confidence.

The browser or the type of person who enjoys shopping and spending time do so is not the person we are concerned with as previous topics have covered. In short, the browsing shopper will either find the product regardless of what 'department door' they arrive in or aren't looking to buy in the 1st place. They are simply browsing.

Please read the article for another point of view and as always- share your experiences, tips and tricks by replying and helping out the rest of the viewership.

http://searchenginewatch.com/3631984

Google AdWords- Analyze Your Ad Performance

Analyze Your Ad Performance
-Ads Diagnostic Tool Are your ads showing for a particular search? Find out with this tool.
- Ads Preview Tool See your ad on Google without accruing extra impressions, and preview your ad as it appears to users in other geographic locations.
- Disapproved Ads Find out which ads have been disapproved and why, (editorial status).
- Conversion Tracking Define campaign goals and then pull data to determine which ads are the best at helping you reach those goals.
- My Change History Browse changes you've made to your account since January 1, 2006.

When it is all said and done, your ad performance is what determines your minimum bids for keywords for positioning, or in other words- the above analysis is how to make your campaign as cheap as possible by being efficient and relative according to Google.

Contact us at Webconsuls for more information and feel free to add to this topic if you have additional notes.