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Christian wrote another article for AboutUs’s Learn section called Create A Cost-Effective AdWords Campaign. The article is written for professionals with a very small budget who may be interested in learning how to properly configure a Google AdWords campaign to get the best bang for their buck.
Christian had an article published on AboutUs.org about “Writing Good PPC Ads”. The article discusses the fundamentals for writing good PPC ad copy and gives a few specific pointers and factors to consider in writing ads for PPC campaigns. He even provided a spreadsheet that you can download to help you write ad copy within the Google AdWords character limits. You can download the PPC Ad Copy Spreadsheet on our SEM Resources page.
Great work Christian!
This is part of our series of posts that we are putting together about how we approach PPC campaign management for our clients.
Previous PPC Campaign Domination topics:
This is a follow up to the part 1 cliff hanger, PPC Campaign Domination: Google AdWords Ad Extensions: What They Are & How They Work. I know all of our rabid fans have been losing sleep about the results. In fact, I personally have received dozens and dozens of emails, DM’s and even, yes, snail mail begging and pleading with me to release the results and insights from our client test.
Like any good test, we determined a few questions that needed to be answered before the test started.
Google sets certain requirements for the landing environment for a product ad extension to be eligible. They require a fixed price to be listed, a secure click-to-buy option and a photo of the product on said landing page. Our client has none of these, but we didn’t let that stop us from trying.
-Table Saw Product Extension Ad Result With Plus Box Collapsed-
-Table Saw Product Extension Ad Result With Plus Box Expanded-
Answer: I guess this is a ‘yes’ with a shazam!
-Look At All of That Real Estate! Combine These Extensions With Some SEO & Utterly Dominate The First Page of Search Results-
Answer: An emphatic YES! Now that is what I call Total PPC Campaign Domination.
-Contrary to Popular Opinion, SiteLinks Ad Extensions Do Serve For Non-branded Searches. Also, Our PPC Campaign Rocks!-
Answer: No…with a but. Once again, a high quality score is a prerequisite for this ad extension. Meaning every term is game, but to have a high quality score your campaign has to rock. This is usually the case with your own branded terms. Landing page relevancy and CTR will be high with those terms, but creating an excellent landing environment for non branded or category terms can trigger this extension. Just don’t expect to have a SiteLinks ad extension serve for competitor terms or terms with low quality scores.
Answer: Yes…with a duh. Obviously, Google isn’t going to unveil something in AdWords, which is their bread and butter ($15.7 billion worth of it), without the ability to report on it. These extensions may also be an attempt to increase clicks on paid search results (Google claims relevance) because clicks mean dollars for them and possibly for advertisers too (note: there is also a reporting option for local or map ad extensions).
When designing this test we hypothesized that this would increase click through rate for our Google PPC ads. We also thought that our conversion rate for category level terms would drop due to an increase in traffic and customers getting to the page and not either A.) not seeing what they thought they were going to see, or B.) realizing there is no way to buy the product directly from the manufacturer. Finally, we wondered if Google would catch us, and stop running our product extensions.
Here are the results of our ad extensions test:
-With Google Ad Extensions Enabled, The Targeted User Was 65% More Likely To Click.-
-PPC Ads With Ad Extensions Posted Higher CTR In Every Eligible Campaign.-
Observations:
Click through rate was 65% better when Google served an ad with an extension.
Overall account conversion still remains over 20%. This is a huge bonus, as we half expected conversion rate to drop significantly. It did drop slightly, but not by 65%, so it is a winner, and winner in paid search language means keeper.
Google did not catch us. However, the caveat is still there because there will be oversight, soon, as unscrupulous advertisers start exploiting this weakness.
-Call Me Nerd, But Ad Extensions Are Cooler Than Hair Extensions.-
Testing new and cool technology and techniques is part of why working in this industry is both fascinating and rewarding. Success like this is always great. However, even if this test hadn’t produced positive results, we still would have won in the end because as our previous campaign domination posts indicate, Amplify Interactive is big on testing.We take a measured and methodical approach to our PPC management, and this means testing new toys in our bag of SEM tricks. Finding out what doesn’t work is almost as big of a win as finding out what does work.
I provided a guest post NWSEM’s blog where I talk about how we use the concept of building authority to shape how we work on clients & campaigns. The article highlights how this approach applies to the interplay between SEO, PPC & Social Media and features some interesting stats.
“The driving principles of SEO have always been content & authority (in the form of links). Since Google came around – this principle has never changed even as the tactics have. As the search results page has gotten more competitive, and social media has started shedding light on a brand’s strengths and flaws – it has become more important and difficult to cut through the noise and capture attention. Improving the perception of your brand as an authority can help you do this.”
Read the rest of the article on the NWSEM Blog
This is part of our series of posts that we putting together about how we approach PPC campaign management for our clients.
Our Other PPC Campaign Domination topics:
Today’s topic is:
In November, Google rolled out new ad formats, now known as Google Adwords ad extensions, just in time for the big holiday push known as Cyber Monday. Those in the know and or those who read the Official Google Blog will remember a post detailing the release of these new ad formats. In the months since this release, Google has expanded the ability to utilize these formats to every AdWords advertiser who is willing to jump through the hoops.
These new extensions that you can add to your Google AdWords campaigns include:
1.) SiteLinks
2.) Product Extensions
3.) Click to Call
4.) Map Extensions
Google AdWords Map Extensions - Collapsed
Google AdWords Map Extensions - Expanded
For the extensions to appear, you must enable each extension at the campaign level. These are clearly marked as “Ad extensions”. Once each format is enabled, you must fill out the required information or link the corresponding Google Account, such as your Local Business Center or Merchant Account.
-SiteLinks: Add up to 10 extra links with 35 characters of text.
-Product Extensions: You must link Google Merchant (formerly Google Base) with Google AdWords. Read this guide to linking your accounts.
-Click to Call: Your phone number (duh).
-Map Extensions: Must link your Local Business Center with AdWords.
Keep in mind these extensions do not get served every time time. For example, the SiteLinks extension will only be served when your ad ‘meets certain criteria’, or being number 1 with a high quality score (see our post Quality Score and You).
The other extensions seem be served at Google’s discretion, and feature a ‘plus box’ as AdWords reporting calls it. This plus box must be expanded for the non-SiteLinks extensions to show.
1.) Right now, there is very little oversight when it comes to enforcing the terms of service requirements (shhh). For example, in the Merchant Center, Google states your landing page must have a fixed price listed and the user must be able to buy from the website. Don’t let that silly little detail deter you. This is not true, or no one seems to be checking, so ‘if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’’. Just know that this extension could disappear without warning when Google gets around to enforcing their own policies.
2.) The SiteLinks copy also appears to have very little editorial oversight. So be sure to make any claims you and or your client feel comfortable making. Just make sure you adhere to the FTC’s Truth In Advertising Standards. Again, know that you may have to rewrite some of these in the future.
3.) Google already has video ad extensions. It is just not open to all AdWords advertisers, but one can imagine that soon you will have the capability to insert a product demo, testimonial or even a short tv-like spot.
Video Ad Extension - Collapsed
Google AdWords Video Ad Extensions - Expanded
4.) Remember you have to manage your feeds in the Merchant Center. This requires a spreadsheet being manually uploaded monthly, or an xml feed.
5.) Remember to test. These ad extensions may only serve to drive up clicks. If those clicks don’t convert or they bounce, you may be wasting money. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s better.
With the guides, a loose strategy and our Award-Winning PPC Client’s approval in hand, we set out to test relevant extensions (note I left out the comparison extension). These are now percolating. Results and analysis to follow in Part 2….
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