Our accounts got better during March (or at least we all got better at understanding them). In addition to the glories of spring having sprung (see details below), the staff of PPC Hero reveled in some new tips and techniques this past month and we wanted to pass them along to you.
Take Assisted Clicks into Consideration in Your Optimizations
The biggest changes I made in my account last month all came from using Google’s new search funnel data in AdWords. I have one particular account where something like 39% of all our conversions come via assisted clicks. In the past this was fairly chaotic to make bid changes in, as you were never sure if the non-converting KWs you were bidding down were going to have an impact on your sales. Now that I can see the data to prevent bidding down on these valuable assisting keywords I can make changes that have a greater positive impact on the account.
Pump Up Your Competitor Research
We had a refresher on our monthly research and development day about competitor research, and I realized I am really lacking on this subject. So, I haven’t done anything big and impressive just yet, but I am for sure stepping my game up and including it in regular maintenance, probably quarterly. This really adds value to the client and makes my work seem real impressive!
Geo-targeting in Enhanced Campaigns Makes Optimizing Locations Easy
I created a new Enhanced Campaign for one of my accounts, with targeting set for 3 countries for which my client had reported backend success. I let all three countries run at 100% for the past few weeks and then was able to come in and periodically shift the bid adjustments. One country has been dominating the spend, but with few conversions. I then pushed up my bids on the other countries, hoping they’d get a fighting chance for impressions and clicks. If they don’t end up having the volume I’m hoping for, I know that dominant country will pull through to ensure my budget gets used to its fullest. I’ve really loved having the bid adjustment slider in this case, as I can push or pull on certain countries without stressing about a drastic change in overall spend.
Stop Waiting on Your Design Team, Just Create Your Own Display Ads
I learned all about making image assets with the Display Ad Builder. I’d been waiting on some image ads for a particular account for quite some time, so finally making use of this surprisingly robust tool was a great way to expand the account. They look pretty great for what they are, and they allow you some ability to test your buttons, copy, and layout without badgering your design team over and over and over. Give it a shot!
Start by Checking the Basics if Your Conversion Tracking Breaks
I would say I re-learned this month that sometimes the simplest things are the places to check when conversion codes aren’t working correctly. I was trying to place new Event Tracking code for Analytics and couldn’t get the goal to trigger. Turns out, we were using old Analytics code that supported all our all goals, but not the new Event Tracking codes. Couple quick fixes and it was all handled, but it took a while to realize it was so simple!
Take a Different Approach to Your Keyword Research
- Christina Hall (ed. note – Welcome to the Blog!)
I was doing some research on how to effectively do keyword research and come up with keyword ideas that are less competitive. I stumbled upon this article. When I use keyword tools to do keyword research, most of the time they all show me very similar keywords. So I like the idea of this different approach to find new terms and I will certainly try to use it more in my accounts to find some niche keywords.
Stay on Top of Google Betas & Impress Your Clients
Betas have always been a cool thing, but this month I found out the value of staying on top of them. One of my clients attended LeadsCon last week and she came back with some cool stuff and exciting things that she wanted to try out. She explained that another vendor that she was talking to was using this great, new technique that was generating all sorts of leads for them. She explained the methodology, then right as she was about to ask if we could look into doing that for her account I stepped in and said, “Oh, yeah. We’ve been doing that for months” (trying my hardest to put a lid on my smugness). If we hadn’t been in close contact with our Google reps and willing to try out anything they’ll let us into we would have been behind the curve. For those of you without Google reps I can understand your frustration and could feel left out in the cold, but for those of us with them it’s really imperative that we get in early. If only for that one call where you can look like a total know-it-all.
