John W. Ellis

Say No to AdWords “improved” Phrase and Match Types … for now

John W Ellis — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:55:12 +0000

It’s been quite a busy week for Google AdWords. There have been lots of PPC changes. Most for good, but then there is the “improvements” to match types.

Google announced new matching behavior for phrase and exact match keywords on April 17th. According to the announcement:

“This will change soon. Starting in mid-May, phrase and exact match keywords will match close variants, including misspellings, singular/plural forms, stemmings, accents and abbreviations. Based on our research and testing, we believe these changes will be broadly beneficial for users and advertisers.”

This sounds like a great idea, from a novice point of few, but once you dig deeper it’s covered with potential problems.

1. Who asked for this? – I do not know of a single PPC professional who wished that phrase and exact match would be more “broader”. Through great tools, like #ppcchat, many paid search experts chat frequently about issues and features in this strange profession we chose. However, this was not a problem. And trust me, we have a long list of issues and features we want. This is not one.

2. It’s not Exact match anymore – By definition exact means … well exact. For Google to dictate what they think we mean is counter-productive. When we choose Exact match on a keyword it’s for very good reason. It means we want to match, and only match, that keyword.

3. What are “Close Variants”?- This phrase was used in Google’s description of this new feature. However, it’s a concerning two words. That’s too broad of a statement to me. What is a close variant? There is too much opportunity here for Google to miss the mark on this one. Every missed keyword is money spent. I do not want a close variation, especially if I am bidding exact (see problem 2).

Opt out
The bright side of this is Google is allowing users to opt out of this match type. For most PPC professionals, that’s a no-brainer.

Could this work?

Let’s be clear. I am not saying this may not work in some instances. It very well may. However, I do know it won’t work for ALL. And as a default setting, that’s what Google is telling us. For us that are deeply into AdWords hours a day, we will try it. We test, test, then test again. That’s what we do. If we opt-in, it will be a slow process.

However, the real problem is Google is once again taking advantage of the PPC “ignorant”. They will assume that most marketers will not be aware of this change and thus not opt out. It’s another chance for Google to grab that extra nickel and dime from thousands of accounts. That adds up.

Target Marketing: Brilliant or Creepy?

John W Ellis — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:06:09 +0000

I am no stranger to speaking on remarketing. In fact, it’s one of my favorite features that Google has introduced over the past several years. It’s powerful, selective, and … yet, to some, slightly creepy marketing.

Over the past weekend I spoke about remarketing at PodCamp Nashville. Below is my presentation. I would love to know your thoughts. Brilliant or Creepy?

Target Marketing: Brilliant or Creepy? – PodCamp Nashville 2012

Here are a few of tips I highlighted on being less creepy with remarketing:

Use a Variety of Images – In many cases, image ads perform better than text ads. These image ads perform even better when a variety is used. Be sure to create multiple banners of colors, messages, and sizes. The bigger the variety the higher the return will be. Plus, multiple banners allow marketers to perform A/B testing to use for future campaigns.
Change the Message – Remember remarketing customers are seeing the company for the 2nd time. This is not a first impression. At this stage, they already know who you are. Now, you have to sell them. Change the message to something more enticing to get them back, i.e.: Exclusive Discounts.
Landing Page Synchronization – There is probably nothing consumers hate worse than being lied to. Yet, when marketers make promises on ads and not deliver on landing pages that is exactly what they are doing. It is important for all ads to have a matching landing page that syncs with the ad the user clicked.
Target Specific – Too many mistakes are made when advertisers try to retarget anyone and everyone who visits their site. Not only is this bad marketing, it pisses people off. These are the ads that annoy people. Have a game plan of whom and how to remarket. For example, only target users who have placed items in their shopping cart with a discount code to complete their order.
Use Frequency Capping – Google’s Frequency Capping allows marketers to limit the number of times an ad appears to the same user. This is the give-up moment. There is a certain point where it’s okay to move on to the next customer. After a few views, that customer is not biting. Give up. Don’t be annoying.

Site Review: Nashville Symphony

John W Ellis — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:21:57 +0000

I have another volunteer for my series of site reviews. These series have turned out to be quite a hit. The real gems are in the comments. So please leave your nuggets of information below.

Nancy VanReece, Social Media Strategist and Website Manager for the Nashville Symphony, has asked that “we” take a look at their site. The Nashville Symphony is a big presence in Nashville with a dedication to the musical arts and education. Please visit their site and check out a great performance, led by Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero.

However, as great as they are in music, can we say the same about their website?

As always, I will get the conversation started with a few items.

Title Tags

Titles are the single most important thing for search engine optimization. All optimization starts here. The site has the right idea with title tags, but some subtle changes can make a big difference. Because keywords in these title tags have a big impact on search, it’s best to make the most of them. In this case, I recommend moving the page title in front of “Nashville Symphony”.

For example, instead of a page title of “Nashville Symphony: Dining at the Schermerhorn”. It’s recommended to use “Dining at the Schermerhorn – Nashville Symphony”. Will it make a huge difference? Probably not. However, with SEO it’s all about the little things. The little things add up to major changes.

Nashville Symphony in Google results

Low Quality Links

The quality of backlinks is low. Influential external links adds more weight to the site’s overall value. Educational and government sites are considered high reputation sites, thus a link from those sites are valuable to the web presence of any site. It’s recommended to reach out to other sites for links. With an organization like this, there is ample opportunity to reach out to the community for links.

Internal Linking

Other than the navigation and menu, the site does very little linking between pages. Linking your content within the site helps Google find your pages quicker. Contextual linking especially is strong. Google not only looks at the links, but it associates the content around the link to determine relevant keywords. You want to use keyword phrases as anchor text within the paragraphs.

Social Search

Like it or not, Google+ is having a big affect on search results. Social signals in search are becoming more prominent. With Google’s new personalized results, the affect is seen in results below. Of course, as Nancy is a friend of mine on Google+, I see her profile more. Expanding into more Google Circles as much as possible makes a big difference.

Personalized Google Results

As always, we just touched the surface. It’s time to add more. Nancy and the Nashville Symphony were brave enough to open up to critics. It’s never easy to hear negative comments, but often honesty is the best policy.

New AdWords Enhancements

John W Ellis — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:31:51 +0000

There have been quite a few changes to Google AdWords over the past month, below is a brief summary. As always, let me know if you have any questions.

New Display Network Tab

On March 22, Google announced a new area within the AdWords interface to manage display campaigns. For years, the Display Network was always managed together with search campaigns. As seen by the image below, a unique tab just for the Display Network will soon be available to all.

The details on this new tab can be found here: https://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2456531

Next-Gen Keyword Contextual Targeting

Along with the new Display Network tab, Google announced an enhancement to the contextual targeting that the Display Network uses. This new feature, Next-Gen Keyword Contextual Targeting, combines “the reach of display with the precision of search.” This new integration of keywords and display advertising is still new to me, so I am trying to learn more. However, I am excited about any prospect of display becoming more targeted. On May 15th, Google will host a webinar on Next-Gen Keyword Contextual Targeting. Let me know if you need details on this webinar.

Ad Diagnostic Tool

Google is providing more insights into the approval status of search ads. This will aid in the diagnosis of potential policy problems or restriction limitations. This new update will also indicated if the ad is displaying for the default keyword and geographic location displayed, when hovering over.

PodCamp Nashville: Let the Tour Begin

John W Ellis — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 04:15:08 +0000

PodCamp Nashville is April 14th. If you are not familiar with the event, check out the details here: www.PodCampNashville.org.

With the first post in the Blog Tour, I wanted to start off with some basic answer to common questions about PodCamp Nashville.

What is PodCamp?
PodCamp is a free “unconference” hosted by volunteers. It’s the one of the largest online marketing conferences in the South and a great event for the city of Nashville. PodCamp Nashville welcomes digital enthusiasts of various backgrounds and industries.

Who Attends?
In 2011, PodCamp had over 700 registered attendees. This is a BIG deal. The audience includes bloggers, designers, marketers, content creators, podcasters, and much more.

How is this difference than BarCamp Nashville?
First, PodCamp is much larger than BarCamp Nashville. BarCamp is targeted towards developers. BarCamp sessions have words like “JQuery”, “Python”, “Drupal”, “Framework”, and “Architecture.” Although, BarCamp is a great conference, it’s not the same content as “PodCamp”. Learn more about the PodCamp Nashville sessions.

Register
The initial step is to register to attend PodCamp Nashville. That process will provide attendees with regular emails that will keep them updated on all the news leading up to the event.

If you need more reasons to attend, here is a quick list.

Network – It’s the best event in Middle Tennessee to meet new and old friends.
Free – Did I mention it was free?
Casual – It’s a very casual event. Attendees are welcomed, and encouraged, to bounce around from room to room.
Beer Friendly – It’s at a bar. There is Beer.
Great Content – The content never fails. It always has great speakers, with no BS. Plus, remember if you don’t like a session, refer back to #3.

See you on April 14th!

AdWords Ad Extensions: Location Extensions

John W Ellis — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:56:59 +0000

As mentioned previously, the addition of AdWords Ad Extensions has been a game-changer in the world of PPC.

One of those Ad Extensions is Location Extensions. Location Extensions allows advertisers to add an address and business details to the ad. At minimal, this extension allows for more real estate in the search engine results. It also provides a physical address and a phone number to the searcher.

Once these extensions are set up, Google matches the location to a searcher’s location or search terms. If the user’s location or “location intent” is undetermined, then no address is shown.

Setting up a location can be done multiple ways.

1. Manually entered Addresses
2. Addresses from Google Places

Manually entered Addresses

Addresses from Google Places

For smaller businesses, just looking to get an address listed in ads. The shortest path is probably through Google’s AdWords Express.

Google Privacy Changes Discussed on Local News

John W Ellis — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:16:59 +0000

As a follow-up to the recent posts on Google privacy changes, I wanted to share with you a local story. I was asked a few questions on Google for a Nashville’s WKRN, below is the video.

For more details on the story, you can find the complete online article here: http://www.wkrn.com/story/16611111/whats-behind-googles-new-privacy-policy

Google Privacy Changes: What you will see

John W Ellis — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:06:20 +0000

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Google has made a significant change to their privacy policy. The end-result is all of your information will be shared across all Google platforms, including Calendar, Gmail, and YouTube.

Below are a few things you will see over the next few weeks, if you have not already.

Policy Interruption
When signing on to Google you will get the following message that will confirm this new change. There really is nothing you, as a user, can do about this. It’s forced upon us. This is just an indication that it is happening to you now.

Google Email Notification
You will also receive an email notification alerting you of the policy change. Here is an excerpt from the email:

Dear Google user,

We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

We believe this stuff matters, so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies. These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.

If you see any other notifications of these changes, please share them with me.

Google Privacy Changes: For the better?

John W Ellis — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:59:06 +0000

Google announced a new update to its privacy policy recently that may (or may not) be an improvement. The new change “allows” Google to combine our information and history across one large channel, effective March 1.

Google’s new policy combines 60 different policies across multiple Google avenues into one main privacy policy. To the average user this means, instead of signing-up and agreeing to the various terms for different products (Calendar, YouTube, Gmail, etc.), users just have sign-up with “Google” as a whole.

As they often do Google created a meaningless, but fun video to summarize the new changes.

“What does this mean in practice? The main change is for users with Google Accounts. Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.” – http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/updating-our-privacy-policies-and-terms.html

With the recent release of “Search Plus Your World”, this announcement of combining information is not that big of a surprise. The up-side is that Google can target your search, visits, and trends even more, thus, showing you even more relevant ads and search results.

The technology media community is quick to point out this is against Google’s “No Evil” philosophy. However, that’s coming from an industry eager to watch Google fall. TechCrunch.com points out the problems with the “no evil” argument.

“What specifically is evil about this particular action? What is happening is a consolidation of privacy policies across most of the services Google offers. Other companies and services do this already rather than maintain separate documents, agreements, and records across several related sites. This way there is a single privacy policy that applies across Google products. That is a good thing: it’s simpler for users to understand, they don’t have to sign multiple documents, they know that certain things are and aren’t private across multiple services, and now something like removing demographic data from yourself applies universally, not just on one service. Why shouldn’t it be that way?” – http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/you-call-that-evil/

What are your concerns with this combination of data?

AdWords Ad Extensions

John W Ellis — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:59:34 +0000

Over the past two years, I have been a big fan of what Google has done with AdWords Ad Extensions. These extensions allow advertisers to expand the standard text ad with additional lines and details.

Google Adwords Ad Extensions help searchers learn even more about product details and services. There is not an additional charge to create these ad extensions, except for the standard click rate that the ad generates. In some cases, there is very little charge at all, if any.

Over the next few weeks, I will dive into each Google AdWords Ad Extensions in more detail. In the meantime, here is a general overview.

Google Ad Extensions

1.Location Extensions – Adds local business address and phone number to ads. This extension allows for multiple addresses to be included in campaigns. As well as often showing up in traditional Google search results, these extensions will also show in mobile searches. It’s a great tool for local, brick-and mortar, stores.
2.Call Extensions – Adding a clickable phone number to the ad, allows users to click and call directly from search. This is another great value to advertiser to mobile searchers. Through call metrics, which is still in limited availability, ROI can be tracked to phone calls.
3.Sitelinks Extensions - Sitelinks allow advertisers to include additional links within their text ads. This is a great opportunity to deliver searchers to temporary specials, new landing pages, or additional details on a product.
4.Product Extensions – This extension allows advertisers to integrate products from Google Merchant Center into their text ads. This ads great value and a visual presence to search engine results that really allows a product to stand out among other text ads.
5.Social Extensions – It should be no surprise that Google is integrating social into paid search. By including +1 in ads, it allows advertisers to gain additional social recommendations.

Are you using Google AdWords Ad Extensions? What has your experience been?