When it comes to search, a keyword should only ever show up once in an account. Having keywords in different places eligible to show ads for the same search query can lead to two key things. First off, the advertiser is bidding against themselves in the bid auction, increasing the amount they are paying per …
Lesson #22: Remove All Duplicate Keywords From Search Campaigns! Read More »
Yesterday, we discussed bid rules. But while bid rules can carry out a logic indefinitely, they do not regulate themselves. As a result, it is important to keep an eye on bid rules, and actively manage them. They are not “set it and forget it.” For example, many an advertiser has accidentally competed against themselves …
Lesson #21: Bid Rules Are Not Set It And Forget It Read More »
As we continue this week’s foray into keywords, it is important not to forget about long tail keywords. Long tail keywords are keywords, generally 3-5 words long, that a user would encounter when looking for a more specific query. While “shoes,” or even “red shoes,” are not long tail keywords, “red steve madden pumps” is …
Earlier this week, we discussed the four different types of keywords: brand, non-brand/generic, competitive and long-tail. Since long-tail keywords can fall under any of the other three categories though, for today’s discussion, we will only refer to the three main keyword types: brand, non-brand/generic and competitive. When it comes to these types of keywords, never …
Lesson #19: Never Put More Than One Keyword Type In the Same Ad Group or Campaign Read More »
To bid or not to bid? That is the question. Bidding on an advertiser’s own brand keywords is a very contentious topic within the SEM community. However, from every test I’ve seen, bidding on your own brand keywords is not only the best practice – it makes a significant difference when it comes to ROI. …
An advertiser has a beautiful expensive landing page or homepage that shows off the large array of products available on their site. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right page to send paid traffic to. Always send paid traffic to the most relevant page possible on the site. It may be a search results page, it …
Lesson #17: Send Customers To The Most Relevant Landing Page Read More »
The good digital marketers all know one big secret – they test, test, and test some more. Testing is digital marketing’s largest advantage when it comes to the advertising space. Because the field is quantitatively driven and user controlled, it is possible, especially in transparent systems like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, to measure the results …
Earlier we discussed how important it is for an advertiser to run more than one ad at a time. But if an advertiser is running 3-5 ads per campaign at a time, how can they be sure which ad is performing the best? Google AdWords currently provides the advertiser with three options when it comes …
Lesson #15: Rotate Ads Evenly (Or Auto-Optimize Ad Rotation) Read More »
Conquesting Keywords refer to keywords that are competitor’s brand names or terms. Advertising on competitor’s keywords is a very contentious topic in the industry, but here are some words of wisdom: 1. Do NOT expect strong performance from a conquesting campaign. You won’t get it. Quality scores will be low, CTRs will be low, and …
One of the key factors that determines whether an ad shows up for a particular search query is how relevant the algorithm determines the ad to be to the query. At the same time, by providing users with ads that contain the keywords in their search queries, it’s more likely the user will find the …
Lesson #14: When Possible, Use The Ad Group’s Keywords in Its Ad Copy Read More »
