the PPC Book|Pay Per Click Blog | Long Tail Thoughts in a Short Tail World

Google Adwords has just added another layer of sophistication to the Adwords platform. Prior to this step, the only way you could manage an Adwords campaign with CPA based rules was to invest in a rather expensive bid management platform. Even then, what I’ve found in the past several years is that this type of system needs larger data sets to work properly. Google confirms this:

In order to accurately predict your conversion rate and optimize your bids, the Conversion Optimizer requires that your campaign currently uses AdWords Conversion Tracking and has at least 300 conversions in the last 30 days. The Conversion Optimizer tries to keep the cost of each conversion below your CPA bid. However, if the actual conversion rate is lower than we predict, your CPA may exceed your CPA bid.

If you are operating a site that meets this basic requirement you would definitely want to give this a go.

To get started:

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
2. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate keyword-targeted campaign or campaigns.
3. Click Edit Settings.
4. Under the Advanced Options section, click View and edit bidding options.
5. On the Bidding Options page, select the radio button next to Conversion Optimizer.
6. Click Continue.
7. Specify your ad group maximum cost-per-acquisition (CPA) bids. If a recommended bid is displayed, we suggest you use that amount.
8. Click Save and Activate.

More details here…

If you have any feedback from your testing please let me know. I’m interested to hear how it works in a live setting.

Disclaimer**

End Disclaimer**

I’m an avid user of various online radio stations that help me pass my day with a steady stream of handsfree background music. I’m not sure I could make it through a day without it. Some of my favorites:

Slacker
LastFM
Yahoo Radio

Since I’m completely exhausted I needed a switch up in my normal channels. Something to keep me on my toes. What did I find on Yahoo Radio?

Old School Rap Radio

Talk about guilty pleasures…

Kurtis Blow
Run DMC
LL Cool J
Eric B. & Rakim
Public Enemy

Wow…

It just reminds me that Yahoo does content well, but their search marketing is still frustrating me on a daily basis. This morning I was under a tight deadline to have a Yahoo account ready to launch. I was totally counting on being able to use the import and convert function to expedite the launch. Well, what did I find?

No import link.

*The Import subtab will only appear if the Import Campaign feature is supported by your account.

Argh!

Apparently this is an arbitrary decision on their part whether they include this option or not. Every account I’ve built recently had this enabled. For some reason, this client account didn’t have it. What’s the logic here? I don’t understand.

That little glitch cost me 45 minutes of manual labor to get this campaign implemented. For a services based business this is not helpful.

OK, this Rap is getting old. Back to my regularly scheduled programming.

In our last episode we saw an example of effective ad copy that was supported with landing page query reinforcement. Today we will look at an example of how to waste a perfectly good dollar. For simplicity-sake, I will use the exact same query I did in the last post.

LCD Monitors

At the time of my search, the following ad was shown:

Note the Buy.com ad quoting a 22″ LCD from $219 with free shipping. Sure, sounds like a good price, I’ll check it out. Ring up a dollar for Adwords (I have no idea what this click cost, $1 is just a guestimate)

Now let’s click on to the landing page and see what this thing looks like.

Hmmm…let’s see.

After rebate the price of this monitor is $279.95. Considerably more than $219. Not interested. I hit the backbutton and continue my search.

Not only did Buy.com waste a dollar on my click, I’m unlikely to bookmark them for future purchase considerations. Of course, I won’t lose any sleep over this, but I will surely on some subconscious level remember this and it will affect my perception of Buy.com.

Yes, I’m being hard on them. A generally very nice website, but in this case, you have to call it like you see it. Maybe they’ll do better next time.

Here’s an article from Jonathan Mendez who covers this subject in more detail...

Here’s a great example of how you can learn from the 800 lb gorillas in your industry. When I’m pointing out examples of best practices within our industry to client, I always encourage them to learn from those who are spending the most money, companies like Best Buy, Amazon, Orbitz, etc. Sure, they do things that make me scratch my head (ebay’s paid search), but more often than not, they are doing things well. Better than most of us can afford to. Example?

Today I was searching for a 19′ monitor. What I found was the usual assortment of ultra-competitive retailers hawking their prices on various stock for an approximately 1.5% margin. No one stood out to me in particular, save for one. I guarantee you almost no consumers notice this one thing that stood out to me, at least consciously. We, as marketers, should watch and learn, however. What thing am I talking about?

Query and Message Reinforcement -

Search marketing is composed of many things. 2 of the most important elements are QUERY and MESSAGE. First comes the query and then respond with the message that you won the right to display. You need to be consistent with your initial messaging. It has to be relevant to the query, and then reinforced throughout the sales cycle. Ideally you are repeating your message on the landing page. Almost no one does this because it’s too much work. When it is done, the results are self evident.

Here’s the example I found today.

Notice the ad copy:

And on the landing page, a beautifully relevant and consistent reinforcement:

What is impressive to me is the consistency in model/pricing between the ad and the landing page. Consider for a moment the size of the campaign they are managing with all Best Buy SKUs, and then multiply that by the ad copies they are responsible for. To actually pull this off cleanly is really labor intensive. I don’t know what agency is managing the PPC here, but hats off to a job well done. Not many of the other ads on this query did this as well as they have.

Here’s a great rundown of basic domain monetization tools from domainersgazette.com - this site is moving it’s way up my bookmarks.

I’m a small business person in the Internet Marketing industry. I don’t work for a ‘company’ or other people for 2 reasons:

1. Corporate ceilings - If you aren’t one of the first 2 or 3 people at a company, you aren’t going anywhere.
2. I’m a bad manager. I’ve got none of the qualities of an effective corporate shmoe. I’m impatient, will tell you exactly what I think, I’m relatively nice, I trust everyone, don’t like to hurt people’s feelings, and worst of all, I’m terrible at politics and am often very frank (especially with a couple beers in me).

As a result, I really enjoy working on my own. I set my own hours, my own clients, and can generally make as much money as I feel like working for. (not bad, huh?). What’s the downside? I can’t scale unless I get help.

For the past couple years I’ve managed quite a bit of outsourcing on web development and SEM-related projects. Let me tell you, it doesn’t always go smoothly. In fact, at times it can be quite frustrating. Flaky programmers (my dog died), inept service providers (you didn’t get my email?), bad code (can you take a screenshot of that error?), and poor execution (duh) are just a few of the problems one can encounter. If you are a small startup, there are a handful of reasons you may want to reconsider handing out important pieces of your project.

1. You get what you pay for - If you’re outsourcing for financial reasons, it’s best you take a hard look at the quality of work being done by your vendors. Ask for examples, testimonials, portfolios, and whatever else is relevant to your project before starting work.

2. Communication gaps - Outsourcing overseas can create challenges in relation to timezone coverage. Many of my programmers are sleeping during the great majority of my day. Sometimes I wonder if they are ever ‘awake’. When sourcing your project, it may be beneficial to pay a little more for companies that operate during your business hours. Communication via IM and email is difficult enough, much less having 2 or 3 day conversations because you can’t hash out an issue right away.

3. It’s just too important - Many people outsource the very lifeblood of their business, marketing. If you plan on outsourcing this key component - in our world it’s Search Engine Marketing, you best know who you are dealing with how exactly they plan on achieving your goals. Get references and case studies where available. General rule of thumb:

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

There are no guarantees in search marketing. Period.

Define your most important metric (revenue per visitor?) and make them accountable.

Lesson for the day:

Last night as I crawled into bed mumbling an unholy rant against “the inept people I have surrounded myself with”, my wife asked what is wrong. I replied, I can’t get anything done with “these people”. My wife reminded me, in the most diplomatically gentle way, that I chose these people, and I’m free to hire whomever I please.

Bottom line: Today I start defining expectations more clearly and outline project details at the beginning, and I start holding people accountable.

Here are some resources I’ve had success with, primarily because they allow for some degree of measurement. Pay close attention to the vendor ratings and reviews:

Elance
Scriptlance
Joomlancer (for joomla opensource)
Sitepoint Marketplace