The Search & Social Blog From Amplify Interactive

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It’s always a fun conversation when I try to explain to people what I do for a living. If they seem interested at all I try to explain the difference between natural and paid results on Google. Every time I get the same response, “I never click those ads”. It seems most people have a natural aversion to ads and being marketed to. I always wonder if most people click the ads and just don’t know. Well, lucky for me a lot of people click the ads and the Diamond post in my playlist is a study from Wordstream that shows just how many people click sponsored ads. I’ve embedded the infographic from Wordstream at the bottom of this post. Check out this and other gems in this edition of my PPC playlist.

Amplified Gold Posts

• How To Write the Best PPC Ad Copy & Beat Your Competitors: I find after you’ve written ads for a client or employer for a period of time that you can run out of ideas. This article is full of creative tactics for ads aimed at your competitors.
• Head vs. Tail – How To Shift Your Priorities For Each Type Of Account: I disagree with accounts being either “Head” or “Tail” as discussed in this article. In my experience paid search strategies are neither one or the other but usually some hybrid. But there are some great tips in the post on ways to leverage “head” or “tail” keywords in your approach.
• Aligning Cross-Functional Marketing Teams: Communication is a challenge at most companies. This post offers ideas to utilize agile methodology in marketing to improve communication across teams.

Amplified Platinum Posts

• Using Visitor Flow and Site Search in GA to Prove You Need PPC Landing Pages: I love this creative and data driven approach from Elizabeth at Portent to make a strong case for unique PPC landing pages. If you’re trying to convince an employer or client the need for dedicated landing pages check out this post.
• How To Manage Big Data With Pivot Tables: I’ll read any Excel tips I can find in my Google Reader. Annie Cushing shares a couple tips on Pivot tables that were new to me, including avoiding blanks and relabeling columns. Read this and level up in your pivot table skills.
• Simpler, more powerful tools to reconnect with your customers—and reach new ones: Google Adwords updated how remarketing works. We’re a big fan of the changes over at Amplify. Most importantly you no longer have to implement multiple remarketing tags, which means reduced fights with web developers.
• 10 Common Mistakes In B2B Paid Search: This is a great read for anybody managing B2B paid search campaigns. Unfortunately these mistakes are far too common in my experience. I’ve yet to see any B2B companies not making at least a few of these mistakes and the result is leaving a lot of money on the table.

Amplified Diamond Posts

• The War on ‘Free’ Clicks: Think Nobody Clicks on Google Ads? Think Again!: Wordstream is one of the best blogs for PPC and I LOVE many of the infographics they’ve been publishing. This one is another one that I’ve saved and am confident I will reference often in the future. Google will only continue to give more real estate in the SERP’s to paid vs organic listings.