PPC Without Pity

This week, Google announced that they were revamping their search query reports. It’s about time. I don’t know about you, but I was getting awfully sick of seeing that “6,783 Other Unique Queries” field every time I run a report.

It looks like Google finally realized that these enhanced reports are essential to their business model. Smart PPC managers were already using these search query reports, along with detailed keyword filters in Google Analytics. Adding a little more information to the mix will only improve AdWords ROI results and convince advertisers to pump more money into online ads. Advertisers get better results, Google gets more money. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

If you haven’t tried one out already, run one of these reports for yourself and see the difference in accuracy. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results. With this greater detail, you can see what keywords are working and expand on the themes in your keyword lists. If you see that a certain keyword is driving a lot of junk traffic, you can always add in negatives or switch around your match types. I highly recommend that anyone running a serious AdWords account should run a search query report at least once a month and thoroughly analyze the results.

But here’s the best part – you don’t even have to run a report to see the results! The detailed search query report appears within the new interface that Google recently rolled out. Under your “Campaigns” tab, choose “Keywords.” Then, select a date range and choose the “See Search Terms” button. A report will instantly appear with the keywords that triggered your ads without all of that report waiting time.

Yahoo and MSN (not to mention all the third-tier engines) should pay attention to this. Better information and reporting makes it more appealing for PPC managers to optimize accounts. More info equals better ROI results equals more money for the search engines. If anyone is going to beat Google at their own game, they need to learn this valuable lesson.

After you’ve spent painstaking hours researching and refining your keyword list, it can be hard to admit that some of your keywords just aren’t working. Don’t worry – plenty of keywords fail to produce a good ROI, especially in this competitive landscape. Sometimes you just need to let go…

A rookie mistake for a lot of PPC managers is to cut keywords loose before they have even been given a chance to perform. For the newbies, I have an easy formula to determine whether or not a keyword needs to be cut. To use this, you need to know two things: your target ROI, and your total click cost of a keyword over a reasonable amount of time (this could be a month, a week, or a year, or any time frame, really – it all depends on how much traffic you tend to get). If your total cost exceeds your target ROI, cut the keyword. It’s as simple as that. Or, in other words, if you would not return a positive ROI even if your very next click resulted in a conversion, that keyword needs to go.

However, you also need to keep a few other things in mind. First, make sure your conversion tracking is working. If you’re tracking clicks but not conversions, you’re going to get some really screwed up ROI numbers when things aren’t actually that bad. Second, consider changing your match type or adding negative keywords. If one keyword is getting a ton of junk traffic, you might be able to solve your ROI problem through some creative filtering. And third, check your positioning. If you’re showing really high in the search results, your high cost could be a result of chasing an ineffective top position – you might get a better ROI at position four or lower.

Don’t be afraid to make cuts, though – keywords don’t have feelings. And don’t feel like you’ve failed if a keyword you thought would succeed ends up being a dud. Remember, PPC is all about experimentation, and what fun would experimentation be if we all didn’t fail once in a while?

No doubt some of you have heard of Wolfram Alpha, a new search engine set to launch this month. Word on the internet is that it could be a real Google killer – initial demos show that it offers a much more structured and relevant search on some search results. What’s more, the creator of Wolfram Alpha (Stephen Wolfram) has an impeccable resume – creator of groundbreaking software (Mathematica), Ph.D. in particle physics by age 20, etc. Obviously, Wolfram’s a pretty smart dude, but can he kill a search engine whose very name has become synonymous with search? And more importantly for us, will we need to start learning how to do Wolfram Alpha PPC when he decides to monetize it?

While I think that Wolfram Alpha is a pretty cool tool as advertised, I remain skeptical about its ability to displace Google as King Search. Anyone remember Cuil? The constant, fawning buzz that promised that it would deliver us from Google’s monopolistic grasp? Let me ask you this – when was the last time you did a Cuil search?

Despite Wolfram Alpha’s pedigree, I don’t think it will be taking any ad customers from Google any time soon. First, it seems like Wolfram Alpha is geared more toward the academic set. Not a very juicy demographic for advertisers. Do a couple of searches at Google Scholar and see if any ads pop up. Second, Wolfram Alpha isn’t as automated as Google is – Wolfram himself admits that he’ll need a team of at least a thousand people to curate the information that goes into his search engine. That seems to me like a system ripe for collapse, especially considering all the buzz that’s being built up pre-launch. I’m betting that we see a monumental crash on launch day, and intermittent service until interest cools.

Bottom line, Google is not a perfect system. But it’s the best system we have for online advertising for now. Wolfram is focusing on providing better search results, not serving relevant ads to consumers. I wouldn’t let your AdWords Certification expire anytime soon if I were you.

If you want more info on Wolfram Alpha, I suggest you check out this article here.

I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without discussing my favorite PPC management trick: the detailed keyword filter for Google Analytics. You can find simple instructions to set it up at this Semvironment blog post. It only takes a few minutes to set up, and is well worth the small investment of labor.

Once you set up the filter in your Google Analytics account, you’ll be able to view the exact search queries that users are reaching your site on. This is especially helpful if you’re running a lot of broad match keywords in your campaigns. Normally, you’d never be able to tell exactly what users are typing in before Google shows one of your ads. After getting a few weeks of data from this filter, you’ll realize that Google takes a very liberal interpretation of what is relevant to a broad match keyword. After all, more impressions equals more potential clicks and revenue for Big G, so what incentive do they have to make sure your broad match keywords are super relevant?

Now, I should mention that you could get this data out of a Search Query report in AdWords. The Analytics filter method has two advantages, though. One, you never have to worry about that heartbreaking “134345465 unique queries” entry in your report data. Two, you’re able to get detailed keyword data not only for Google, but for your other PPC campaigns that you have hooked into your Google Analytics profile (more on this later).

By using the keyword filter, you’re not only able to weed out ineffective keywords by adding negatives and changing match types, but you’re also able to get a feel for what users are actually searching for on your site. I’ve had a lot of success finding popular terms in the keyword filter, creating an AdWords ad group around them, and raking in the conversions. Not bad for a free web analytics package, huh?

Last week, I talked about some great keyword research tools that should be one of the first steps in any PPC campaign. This week, I want to talk about one of the best keyword research tools that you’re not using: your landing pages.

In any PPC campaign, relevance is key. You need to make sure that there is a strong relationship between the keywords your users are searching for, the ads they see on those searches, and the landing page they see after they click on your ad. The whole point of search engines is to connect people to the information that they need. Provide the right information to a user, and you’ll probably get yourself a customer.

If you have a great landing page but no PPC campaign, I highly recommend that you incorporate your page into your keyword research. This tends to work best for eCommerce websites with very robust product categories. Check your landing pages for brand names, model numbers, specific names for products, whatever. Make sure that your ad groups using these keywords land on the most specific pages relevant to your keywords – don’t be afraid to use keyword-level destination URLs!

This approach has a number of benefits:

1. You’ll be able to ensure that each specific keyword search lands on the specific page related to that keyword.
2. Highly specific keywords (like model numbers/names) tend to have a very low search volume, and bids aren’t very competitive to ensure they show up in top positions. This will save you ad spend money, and likely lower your cost per conversion.
3. You’ll be reaching customers who intend to buy, not just browse. Someone who searches for a keyword like “coffee machine” is probably just looking for prices, or researching different products. Someone who searches for “DeLonghi EC140B Pump Espresso Machine” probably has a good idea of what they want, though, and will likely buy if you have a compelling price or a particularly good offer.

Landing page keyword research isn’t quite as effective for websites that are poorly written and/or organized. But you probably shouldn’t have those kinds of sites on the internet anyway. I’ve seen some incredible success with this method on retail sites, though, so I highly recommend it to any eCommerce retailer starting to dabble in PPC (or to folks like me who have to manage their accounts!).

One of the main advantages of PPC over other methods of online advertising (I’m looking at you, SEO) is that it’s pretty easy to get ad visibility on relevant keywords, providing that you’re willing to pay for it. Of course, this leads to PPC beginners tending to get a little overzealous with their keyword lists as they assume that the sky’s the limit with keywords in an ad group. I’ve seen the same scenario too many times: one campaign, one ad group, one bajillion keywords.

Needless to say, this is a pretty poor strategy if you really want to get results with a pay per click campaign. Sure, you’ll get a lot of traffic to your site, but think of how many of those clicks are totally unfocused. Do you really want to pay for someone to visit your site on a really general keyword that may or may not be relevant to your business?

A little initial keyword research can go a long way in saving headaches (and cost!) further along down the road. Fortunately, there are plenty of free resources out there on the internet to help you get great ideas for your PPC account. Here are just a few:

The SEO Book Keyword Research Tool is a great start for any serious keyword research. It’s a very convenient aggregator of keyword research. Not only does it give you estimated traffic for Google, Yahoo and MSN for each suggested keyword, but it also links to more detailed data from several other free tools. Highly recommended.

Google has some pretty great keyword research tools as well. If I just need some quick keyword data, the first place I go to is the Google Keyword Tool. It’s a good way to estimate what your budgets and bids should be, since it gives pretty reliable data on what your average cost per click will be to get top positions in Google. You can also get info on advertiser competition, approximate historical search volume, and the month when the highest search volume for that particular keyword was recorded. Don’t forget that you can even search by match type – there’s a drop-down menu on the upper right of the results. I use this a lot to get negative keyword ideas for accounts, since your able to analyze results by broad, phrase, exact, and negative match types.

For a wider view of keyword data, consult Google Trends and Google Insights for Search. The tools are pretty similar, but Insights for Search allows for a little better segmentation of data, and is great for determining regional or seasonal interest in keywords. Use these to anticipate when your search volume will peak, or explain why you’ve been seeing lows in search volume. This will help you better prepare for yearly budget expenditures, or look for specific geographical areas where you should be targeting more aggressively.

To get a look at what your competitors are up to, I recommend Spy Fu. It has a subscription service, but most often I find that I can get all the information I need out of the free option. If you analyze keywords, you can see which competitors are bidding on them. If you analyze URLs, you can see which keywords your competitors are placing ads on. It’s incredibly helpful to analzye the competitive field before you enter into a serious PPC campaign, and this is a great tool to get you that information.

Next week, we’ll talk about the best keyword research tool you’re not using: landing pages.

Lately, I’ve been focusing my posts on some pretty basic stuff, so I wanted to throw a bone out to you folks out there who are looking for some more advanced concepts. Today, I want to talk about user intent, and its implications for search engine marketing.

It’s undeniable that the advent of search engine technology has made information more accessible in ways we couldn’t even imagine only a few decades ago. However, it’s easy to forget just how far away we are from a complete search solution. For all of their merits, search engines are unable to look beyond the face-value meaning of an entered search term and probe the actual intent of the user. To do this effectively, we’d need some pretty impressive technology (think Google MentalPlex). Unfortunately, a solution like this seems pretty far off into the future.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that I type in the search term “best pitcher.” Now, I could be looking for the best crystal drink pitcher to buy for my friend’s wedding gift, or I could be looking for stats on the best pitcher in major league baseball. Using this vague term, search engines would only be able to come up with their best guess of what I actually meant, using esoteric search engine algorithms that us mere mortals are not worthy to understand. If I viewed my results and decided that the search engine did not return what I was looking for, I could always go back and add more search terms. Research indicates that about 50% of searches in the English-speaking world are made on only two or three keywords, though (source). As search engine marketers, we need to ensure that we capture as many users as possible on those vague terms, while filtering out searchers who don’t want what we’re offering. If I’m in the business of selling crystal pitchers online, I certainly don’t want to pay for traffic from baseball fans.

Granted, it’s unlikely that a Nolan Ryan aficionado is going to click on an ad for a crystal pitcher anytime soon. However, if they see your ad for crystal pitchers, that’s a valuable impression that could have gone to that wedding guest. So what are we to do about these vague keyphrases?

The easiest solution would be to build out your negative keyword set (these are called “excluded words” in Yahoo, but it’s the same concept). By adding terms that your “undesirable” users might also be using (like “baseball” for our example), you can get the search engines to not show your ads when a user types in the negative keyword along with their search term. Using negative keywords can be tricky, though, and you can run the risk of excluding too much traffic and making your ads invisible to potentially profitable users.

Another strategy involves the effective use of ad text. By being more specific in what you’re offering in your ad text, you can drive away the clicks that you might be attracting with ambiguous phrasing. Compare these two ads:

Ad 1:

Best Pitchers
Looking for the best pitcher?
Find one here today.
www.pitchers.com

Ad 2:
Discount Drink Pitchers
Find the perfect crystal
pitcher. Free shipping.
www.pitchers.com

This is a pretty simplistic example, but you can see where a user might get potentially confused due to the ambiguity of Ad #1. Always be careful when writing ad text, especially when using dynamic keyword insertion in the ad headlines (more on this next week).