February 10th, 2009 by Stephanie Chan
Boot Camp: Paid Search Fundamentals – SMX West 2009
Speakers/Panelists:
Mona Elesseily, Director of Marketing Strategy, Page Zero
Matt Van Wagner, President, Find Me Faster
Conference Notes/Description:
The basics of how to purchase ad placement, usually on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) basis, from major search engines including best practices.
Paid Search Flow Chart:
Campaign -> Ad Group(s) -> Keywords -> Ads -> Landing Pages
Note: Don’t forget the landing page
Ask.com:
Displays own ads as well as fill its extra space with Google Ads resulting in possible double display of your ads.
Additional Features:
- Geographic Targeting
- Time of Day, Day of Week
- Demographic Targeting
- MSN: Available but when used does not mean the ad is exclusive within the area. Those targeted sites will have the Bid Boost.
- Google: Available but only within the Content Network.
Use Ad Targeting Preview Tool for testing preview of your ads so to not count as an impression and skew the metrics.
Keyword Tools:
- www.compete.com
- Wordtracker
- www.spyfu.com
Tips for Ad Text:
- Stick to 2 to 3 words keywords
- Use 1 word keyword conservatively
- Test phone numbers on Ads (phone numbers give a sense of authority)
- Include keywords and Call to Actions (CTA)
- Lead generation sites does well for Content Ads
- People do not like acronyms
- Filter clicks by targeting specific audience
- Use appropriate tone
Test:
- Price
- Reassurance (official site or 24/7 phone support)
- Deals (offer ending soon)
- Free Multivariate Testing Tool: www.adcomparator.com
- At least 100 clicks for sufficient data
Multivariate Testing:
Buy Cycle:
Different Ad Copy during beginning or end of buy cycle.