1 Introduction to Paid Search Dave Chaffey, Insights Director Presented at Search Engine Strategies, London 17 th February 2010
Sep 14, 2014
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Introduction to Paid SearchDave Chaffey, Insights Director
Presented at Search Engine Strategies, London17th February 2010
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About Dave Chaffey
Best practice
Qualifications
Books
Search &Conversion
Strategy & Intelligence
Strategyconsulting
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Let’s Connect! Questions & discussion welcome
Blogwww.smartinsights.com/blog
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EmailNewsletterwww.smartinsights.com
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www.facebook.com/davechaffey
www.twitter.com/DaveChaffey
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Q. How much will paid search deliver?
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Introducing Search Engine MarketingSEM = SEO + PPC
Paid listings - Pay Per Click (PPC)
Natural or organic listings -Search engine optimisation (SEO)
http://www.google.com/search?q=emarketing+training
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Clickthrough to “Landing Pages”
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Q. How easy is it to get started?
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Agenda – 8 areas of Paid Search strategy
Introduction to paid search.Your search network options.Goals and tracking.Keyphrase research.Getting Started: structure.Targeting: Match types.Bidding and bid management.Ad creative and copywriting.
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1. Introduction to Paid SearchWhy Quality Score is King
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Start with your website goalsand how to create value for your customers
Research your onlineMarketplace to define themost appropriate marketingmix for your digital strategy
Integrate web analytics, on and offline conversion trackingand optimization so thatcampaign performance can betracked and optimized.
Implement the tactics that fityour goals best. Be flexible. Be agile!
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Q. Where does paid search fit within the digital marketing mix?
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Q. Why paid search, not ‘PPC’Two main options for paid search marketing to be aware of when
media buying within search engines.1. Advertising in search engines (direct search) = CPC.2. Contextual or content matched advertising on the content
network, e.g. Google Adsense:– CPC = Cost per Click (default)– CPM = Cost per 1000 impressions – an option for ‘placement targeting’Pay per Click options now common in display ad network
Each of the main search engines has it’s own ad programme:
– Google Adwords (http://adwords.google.com)– Yahoo! Search Marketing (http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com, formerly
Overture) – Microsoft adCenter (http://adcenter.microsoft.com)
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Two main options for paid search marketing to be aware of when media buying within search engines.
Each of the main search engines has it’s own ad programme:
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Understanding influence of Quality Score is ESSENTIAL
Tip: Check a selection of your Quality scores and relevance for keywords within AdWords Ad Groups
Glossary:CTR = Clickthrough rate
Ad text relevance = Match of headline and description to search term
Keyword relevance = Match of triggering keyword to search term
Landing page relevance = Match <title>, <h1..n> headings, copy
c. 2006 – formula no longer published. For latest see:https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=10215
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Tip: Check performance with Google Webmaster Tools
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Remember to check for click fraud
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2. Search ad network optionsWhich search engines and partner sites should we use?
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Q. Which networks should we use?
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Volume doesn’t give the whole story
For Eurostar “the click-to-sale ratio was 35% higher on Bing than the other engines, and the cost-of-sale rate was 16% lower.
In addition, the click-through rategrew to nearly 5 times the average from allsearch advertising”
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Q. Where will our ads appear?
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Beware of the content network?
An example of the difference in paid search metrics for content network and direct search ads
Impressions Clicks CTR Avg. CPC Position
50,000 2,500 5% £0.60 6
10,000,000 6,000 0.06% £0.30 2
10,050,000 8,500 0.08% £0.35 2.5
Direct Keyword Search
Content network
Overall
OptionsIgnore (default)Switch offTreat separately
Own CampaignsIsolate best QSDifferent bidsSpecial brand copyUse during campaigns only Placement targeting
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Content network CN options
Direct searchCPC
Content networkCPC or cPM
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Google placement targeting options on content networkWith Google placementtargeting (formerly sitetargeting), agencies can:
– Select sites for CPM or CPC ads– Find sites to exclude– Determine performance
of third party sites – Use Pay Per Action (soon)
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Vertical search targeting option:Geo-targeting through Google maps
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3. Goals and trackingWhat do you hope to achieve?How will you know you have?
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What are we trying to achieve with PPC?Are we clear on our objectives for each search and visit?
Prominent Unique phone number for
tracking
IncentivisedLead generation
form
Conversion goals+ OVP
Answer customers’ concerns
SEO Relevance headings0
Key brand messages
1 Generate sale or lead (on &
offline)– Visit conversion rate– Lead – E-mail address– Call back
2 Engage audience– Reduce bounce rate– Increase value events– Increase return rate
3 Answer the visitors’ questions:– Entry or subsequent page – New to company– Customer or prospect – Targeted segments
4 Showcase range of products (cross-sell)5 Reinforce key brand messages (99% won’t convert in single session)6 Attract visitors = SEO
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Using Excel VLOOKUP() to integrate data sourcesLearn from conversion rates, CPA and ROI stats.
Identifying potential from in-depth analysis
Identifying customer demand
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Create a budget model to identify breakeven
What are you optimising on?•CTR•CPA (CPS)•Profitability
See www.davechaffey.com/Spreadsheets
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Call track! or watch out for… Click to Call
31 Source: Efficient Frontier Insights, http://tinyurl.com/search-display
Q. How do search and display integrate?
30-40% of all conversions arriving from a display impression, or click, are preceded with a paid search click.
10-15% of conversions that had a prior display impression had the last event as a paid search click.
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Example of an integrated media campaign leveraging search behaviour
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Integrating with offline campaigns
1. Ensure continuous SEM activities are updated to reflect marketing campaign activity.
2. Consider increasing bid prices during offline campaigns to ensure you achieve visibility and reinforcement of offline campaigns.
3. Consider using dayparting to coincide with your offline TV campaigns.
4. Include campaign messages within Ad headline and body copy.
5. Include specific details on promotions such as discounts, prices and closing dates.
6. Advertise on phrases specific to the campaign, for example, if the campaign is ‘Quote Me Happy’ or ‘Sleep Tomorrow’.
7. Include reference to campaign in creative for brand searches.
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4 Keyphrase researchGetting inside the mind ofyour customer
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Understanding online search behaviours
‘Tracker’
Completing
‘Hunter’
Researching
‘Explorer’
Browsing
Directed goal-orientedUndirected, exploratory
Select supplier
(enquire)
Destination purchase
(buy)
Definerequirements
Assess supplier
capabilities‘Inspire
me’
‘What’s outthere’
www.davechaffey.com/SEO-Best-Practice/Using-the-AOL-data-leak-for-SEOwww.youtube.com/watch?v=hb0ef6NhY74
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http://analyticsvisualizations.appspot.com/juicekit/AnalyticsVisualization.html
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Q. Are we taking advantage of the reliable insight tools?
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Use the Google Keyword tool & traffic estimator
Free search tools www.davechaffey.com/seo-keyword-tools
This gives the cost and volume of clicks on top position ad. Multiply by 20 to give approximate number of searches.
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How good is your keyphrase-level gap analysis reporting?
Should show:• Potential performance from keyphrase estimators• Your actual performance (position, clicks, conversion, sales, value):– Paid – absolute and relative–Natural – absolute and relative
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Identifying common qualifiers – how long is tail?
<Product name> or <category name> or <brand>
What is your strategy for targeting:
Generic:– <category name> + synonyms
Qualifiers:– compare + <product name>– review + <product name>– cheap + <product name>
– Brand + <category name> This is called “Navigational search”
– <category name> + UK
Tip: Use difference between broad or phrase match and exact match in Traffic Estimator to estimate how long the tail is.
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Analyse keyword type mix & contribution
Source: Google UK
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Q. Which terms are really driving success?
Tip: Use a weighted attribution model
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Q. How important are brand searches?
User
Multiple Brand Click
Multiple Generic Click
Brand Conversions
Generic conversion
Brand Click
Generic Click
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389
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101758
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Single Brand Click
Single Generic Click
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805
959
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Source: Agency.com presented at AdTech London
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New Google Ad Extensions > Ad Site Links
Navigational / Brand search ad examples
Examples: Pure brand, Brand plus, Misspellings, URLs
Navigational / Brand search ad examples
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Q. Are we subject to brand hijacking?
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Technique: Using affiliates to protect your brand on broad matches
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Trademarks - Competitor brands NOT allowed in Ad Text (but depends whether Google has trademark on their checklist)
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5 Campaign structure
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Good campaign structure leads to good quality score
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How is an Ad Group Structured?
https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6106
Q. What are my controls?
Daily budgetWhere, when ads displayedGoogle Network
Triggering keywordsKeyword match typeMax CPC bidsCopy
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Example
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Google Ad Group campaign management
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6 TargetingStructure, match types, vertical search
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How do you target message and offers through keywords?
Generic
Specific
Brand
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Bidding on generic vs. specific vs. brand terms
Generic terms • Drive volume• Occur at the early part of the
buying cycle• Develop brand awareness• COST MORE & CONVERT LESS.
Specific terms
• Individually lower volume • Later in consideration• COST LESS & CONVERT MORE
Brand terms • Volume depends on brand awareness…• COST LESS & CONVERT MORE.• Should we use them?
Generic terms Specific terms
Brand terms
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Match type targeting
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Tip: Check for negative keywords to use
Source: Google UK
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Dayparting
Source: Atlas Onepoint
Target best performing times
Keep budget for later in day or month
Decrease in evenings / weekends
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7 Bidding and bid management
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Determining optimal position
Tip: Use Google Analytics Position Reporting to test effectiveness of different positions.
Source: Google UK
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Budgeting and biddingAm I missing out due to insufficient budgets?
– “Impression Share (IS): The percentage of times your ads were shown out of the total available impressions in the market you were targeting. This metric is available at the campaign and account level for search.
– Lost IS (Rank): The percentage of impressions lost due to low Ad Rank (cost-per-click bid x Quality Score).
– Lost IS (Budget): The percentage of impressions lost due to daily budget constraints.”
Things to remember:
– Highest positions not always best, e.g. Target position 4-8. – Higher positions cost more (of course) and
conversion quality tends to be lower– Working hard on quality score will reduce fees– Using match types gives you more control
Am I missing out due to insufficient budgets?
Things to remember:
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Bid management tools = Central place to manage keywords across engines
Examples: Searchware, Atlas One point, Makemetop, Efficient Frontier, Omniture, etc. Google conversion optimiser
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8 Creative and copywritingIncluding landing page tips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXaDKSC_qKw http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-search-ad-formats.html
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Delivering relevance
Source: Google UK
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Ad creative – techniques for achieving standout
1. Deliver relevance - include search term keywords in headline and body.2. Be specific.3. Include specific benefits e.g. Free delivery, costs.4. Differentiate – what is unique?5. Numbers are scannable.6. Use CAPS (sensibly).7. Space can be good.8. Use characters (sensibly): !, ?, :, & 9. Be quirky!10. Use distinctive words.
See: www.google.com/adpreview
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Ad creative techniques - Headlines
Ad Headlines:– Include main search terms (+ benefit?)– Use capitals for each main word in your headline? – Include brand name?– Restrict low-intent clickers?– Use dynamic headlines? E.g. {Keyword:Bottled Gas} Delivery
Site doesn’t haveseparate Ad Group for different terms
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Other ad creative technique tips
Descriptions:– Include the most common keywords in the ad group which triggers ad– Emphasise your proposition inc key benefits
• Other key benefits– Use synonyms – good for quality score– Try to squeeze in a call-to-action
Display URLs:– Use directories – Capitalise– Show benefits
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Automated insertion of price info using Google AdWords API
Use of APIto insert latest prices
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B2C and B2B Landing page examplesGoals = Engagement, Direct response, branding
http://www.norgrencatalogue.com/uk/
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Not landing pages but conversion pathways! Segmented landing pages
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Source: http://tinyurl.com/two-step-landing-pages and http://tinyurl.com/landing-page-myths
Practical Tip – Scent Trails and Conversion PathwaysConsider options for providing alternative “conversion
pathways” for different audiences
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Paid search – avoiding the most common mistakes1. Not enough Keyphrase analysis
2. The importance of Quality Score not recognised
3. Ad copy not optimised (dynamic headline not used wisely)
4. Ad Groups not sufficiently targeted (aim for 10-15 keywords max)
5. Landing pages not sufficiently relevant (AdsBot-Google checks)
6. Matching options not used:
• Broad : pr jobs, Phrase : “pr jobs”, Exact: [pr jobs], Negative: [graduate]
7. The content network not treated separately
8. Insufficient targeting by Day Part, Geography
9. Under-budgeting
10. Fake clicks not checked
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Pay Per Click Marketing: Best Practice Book
At the end of March ClickThrough will be publishing our second Marketers Checklist book.
This will explore current best practice in PPC, and address the most recent changes to the AdWords interface.
If you are interested in receiving a copy of this book then please speak to me afterwards.
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Any Questions?