Internet Marketing Blog » Google Adwords

The Google Keyword Tool – Keyword Identification And Selection

Steffi — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:00:22 +0000

Different Search Engine Marketing companies vary their approaches to keyword research, it is therefore beneficial to learn about the most common tool used to perform this along with the basic process of how a keyword is identified and selected.

Keyword research is the core of any SEO campaign, the first stage of the process is ensuring you know exactly about the page you are optimising. Have you used a variety of sources to pick the initial keywords? And are the keywords you are searching relevant to the content the website offers?

After grouping a selection of relevant keywords together you will find it favourable to use the most talked about tool to assist the keyword research process – The Google Keyword Tool. The keyword tool allows you to input these search terms and receive an estimated yet accurate amount of monthly search volumes per keyword. Not only does the tool provide statistical data on your keywords that you have searched it also offers a wide and varied selection of phrases real people have searched for across the last month related to your initial keywords.

Furthermore, keyword competition volumes will also help decipher what keywords to select. Targeting the competitive keywords should realistically be used for sites that are established in the market and have been operating for over two years. However, these keywords for new websites can still be kept in mind for later additions.

It is important that when performing keyword research on the Google Keyword Tool that keywords should be set to exact match type so that it is not missing or adding on any words or figures to the original phrase. Additionally, using exact match will point traffic to the most relevant page on your website.

Obviously only those keywords that are relevant to your website with reasonable search volume and competitiveness should be selected to drive potential customers to your website. Considering the tips above you can make sure that your company is targeting the most relevant keywords that generate increased traffic to your site which consequently produces a higher ranking on Google.

It is therefore no wonder that the practice of keyword research is one of the most worthwhile, constructive and profit yielding activities in Search Engine Marketing – a simplistic process with outstanding results.

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Tablets and Mobile Devices Split Out in AdWords

Alan — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:05:36 +0000

Good news – Google have changed the device targeting settings in AdWords so there is now a Tablets option. This is much better than what we have had before, where iPad was just an operating system under Mobile devices. It would have been nice for Google to let us internet marketing professionals know though rather than just change the targeting of our PPC campaigns.

We had our campaigns split out to target devices with the following 3 ways:

1. Computers – by checking ‘Desktop and laptop computers’ only

2. iPads – by checking ‘iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers’ then selecting ‘Target only selected mobile devices’ and checking ‘iPad’ under ‘Advanced device and operator options’

3. Mobile - by checking iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers’ then selecting ‘Target only selected mobile devices’ and checking ‘Android’, ‘iPhone/iPod Touch’ and ‘Palm webOS’ under ‘Advanced device and operator options’

We generally do not target WAP Phones in most campaigns so this has been left out of the above.

However we noticed that Google had started to roll out the new device targeting options in the image, and we saw that our Computers campaigns were suddenly targeting Computers and Tablets! So we had 2 campaigns targeting duplicate keywords on Tablets, thanks Google.

This has not been fully rolled out yet so not all AdWords accounts will have the options in the image above but beware if you currently target iPads in a separate campaign, when Google do roll this out to your account you will need to change your targeting.

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Google Tests Yet Another Ad Format

Marc — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:36:31 +0000

We recently caught wind that Google were about to test a new Ad format whereby the domain relative to an ad appears in the headlines of PPC ads. Sure enough, yesterday it was officially announced that this was being rolled out.

In recent months Google have been testing various methods of increasing the width of their ads after extensive research revealed this led to higher click through rates. These tests have included the concatenation of description lines one and two, or more recently that of the Headline and Description Line 1. This newest version of search ads will display the Headline text and Domain of your site at headline level, divided by a vertical bar. However, there are a few things to remember. If your Headline already contains your domain we are assured that the domain will not appear a second time. Also, this will not work if the total length of your Headline (including your domain) is above the 68 character limit (something to consider when designing headlines for brand related ads). Finally, if your ads are already heavy in brand related terms, this will free up space for more promotional ad text and stronger calls to action.

So, what does this mean for our ads? Well, this will mean that URL exposure is doubled, allowing for easier identification from the searcher as to which companies Ad they are clicking on. It seems that as a branding exercise this will favour better-known brands that have already built up trust levels, as their visual prominence further increases beyond those of their relatively unknown competitors.

Keep checking back in the coming weeks as we publish our findings on this and other new ad formats that we are currently in discussions with Google about.

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Document Your Changes

Laura — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:00:21 +0000

Most PPC managers will feel busy every day of the week. You may not be able to recall a time when you could sit back and have a break. Pay per click is fast moving and most of us thrive on that. However if you move too quickly, you can overlook what you’ve just done. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the day you may be tempted to make a change to your PPC account and simply move onto the next pressing task. One tiny change won’t matter, will it?

This can become a nasty habit that will eventually come back to haunt you, and if several people work on one PPC account it can be dangerous. There are always times when you need to look back and identify what changes were made at a particular time. If you do not keep records of your changes you will hit problems quickly. There are tools available to help:

AdWords Change History

You can refer to Google’s ‘change history’ for some instances, but it does have flaws. It will tell you that you deleted an ad but not which one, for example. However it will indicate which person made a change, which will help you to manage the work of your colleagues.

Basecamp

If you have joint projects, this is a must. It allows you to set up shared timelines, upload files, set up to-do lists and send messages to team members.

At Click Consult we offer professional PPC account management and can work as an extension of your internet marketing team.

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Freshen Up Your PPC Campaigns

Alan — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:10:31 +0000

To keep your PPC campaigns fresh and up to date it’s important to keep updating and adding keywords. This will keep you ahead of the game in your market place but a word of warning – it sounds easier to do than it actually is and maintaining momentum can be a challenge. Very quickly you can find that you are duplicating keywords and losing focus on your services and products. It's easy to wander away from relevant keywords so here are some ways you can maintain concentration:

Google’s Keyword Suggestion Tool

The Keyword Suggestion Tool can be found in the AdWords Tool section.

The suggested keywords are generated from data that has been built up from past Google searches. They are just suggestions so keep your website and its products and services in mind at all times so you don’t include something needlessly. The aim should be converting leads so needless amounts of traffic with low conversion rates should be avoided.

Search Query Reports in Adwords

A search query report shows which searches led to a minimum of one click on an advert. If your campaign is heavy in broad matching they can be useful. Aim to have your top keywords exactly matched to reduce the CPC and increase the Quality Score. You can also identify irrelevant traffic and also reduce irrelevant impressions.

Google Insights

This tool allows you to examine trends in your keywords and also provides extra information such as breakout keywords and the percentage number of searches carried out over a month.

At Click Consult, we help keep our client’s pay per click campaigns ahead of the competition.

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How A New Website Will Affect Your PPC Campaign

Laura — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:08:44 +0000

If you are launching a new website, this will have a major impact on your PPC account. In truth it can break your pay per click campaign. Launching a new website is a global change that has huge repercussions.

Over time you will naturally learn more about your audience, what engages them, how to provide a better user experience and how to maximize your conversion rates. With this your website will evolve. There may also come a time when your website needs to change its name or take a new URL. If you have looked into everything thoroughly and have an experienced PPC team to support you then this decision is likely to be a good one. Yet no matter how well prepared you are, there will be some bumps along the way.

The launch of a new website is a global change and will affect your performance quite severely.

Every PPC ad will need the display and destination URLs updating. This requires you to pause all your existing ads and launch new ones with the updated website information. Google AdWords will view these new ads as new submissions which means your Quality Score needs rebuilding.

Google AdWords then evaluates the website site or landing page. It can take time for this to happen.

Any global changes to a PPC campaign are flagged up. Search engines like to see slow, gradual changes which increase performance over time. By changing all the ads at once you can shock the system.

To get expert advice on how to manage global changes to PPC campaigns such as launching a new website contact us at Click Consult.

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The Right Questions to Ask

Laura — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:13:37 +0000

You may think that by managing your pay per click campaign alone you are saving money on management fees. However, it may be time to think again as hiring an agency can increase your PPC campaign’s performance and save your budget in the long term.

If you’re new to working with a PPC agency you may find the prospect daunting, and feel unsure of what you should be asking and how to identify whether their quotation is inline with their service offering. Here are some basic questions to ask any potential PPC agencies:

1. How is the Google Quality Score Managed?

This is based on ad text, keywords and landing page relevance. They should be aiming to provide you with smaller, targeted ad groups requiring fewer keywords. This then enables the agency to write specific ad text which will in turn increase your click-through rates. Keywords should be contained in the landing pages to ensure relevancy and ultimately increase conversions to sale.

2. What will the agency do first when the account is taken over?

The best response would be to carry out an account restructure or fix incorrect settings.

3. What reporting do they offer?

As a standard, you should be getting reports to outline completed work and also provide you with a concise analysis of the account.

4. Will the agency provide access to Adwords and Google Analytics?

A good agency will set up a Google Analytics account on your behalf and provide access to Adwords. However this should only be to view. Leave changes to the agency.

If you are looking for help with your pay per click campaigns contact us at Click Consult.

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