AdWords Tips Posts from the Internet Marketing Blog
How to Improve Low Google AdWords Quality Scores with WordStream
There is a lot of high-quality material available on how Quality Score works and on how to analyze it – for example, we created a Quality Score toolkit with a variety of content on the subject of Quality Score, and we talk frequently about how to better understand the metric, but as with anything else the most useful information on the subject of AdWords Quality Scores is how you can actually impact yours to generate more profits for your business.
As a result, in this post we’ll walk through some specific methods you can leverage to actually improve on low Quality Scores.Identifying Why Your Quality Scores Are LowBefore you can improve your Quality Scores, you need to better understand why they’re low and which knobs to turn to improve them. There might be a few specific things that... > Read more
RIP Ad Rotation in AdWords
Ad text testing and optimization constitute a key element of PPC optimization and as such, they're a big part of the 20-Minute PPC Work Week, our guided workflow for AdWords advertisers.AdWords currently offers three ad delivery methods – the ad rotation settings are illustrated here:Optimize For Clicks - AdWords automatically picks the ad that appears to be generating the most clicksOptimize For Conversions - AdWords automatically picks the ad that appears to be generating the most conversionsRotate Ads Evenly - AdWords will distribute your ad impressions equally among the ads in your Ad GroupUsing the "rotate" setting for Ad Rotation is helpful for A/B testing of ads – especially because the automated "optimize for clicks" and "optimize for conversions" ad delivery options have a ten... > Read more
Should You Raise Bids on Keywords with High Quality Scores?
Recently a customer asked us, “Why should I raise bids on keywords that already have high quality scores?”I answered this question via email, but I thought I’d post the answer here too so everyone can benefit from this bid management best practice. Here’s my response:We’ve analyzed thousands of AdWords accounts and found a strong correlation between Quality Score and cost per conversion.
Meaning, if you were to look at the cost per conversion across the different keywords in your account, comparing the CPA of the keywords with a Quality Score of 1 to the CPA of Quality Score 2 keywords, Quality Score 3 keywords, and so on, you would see that on average, the lower your Quality Scores, the higher your average cost per conversion. (We compared these findings with our partners at Goog... > Read more
Quick Guide to Google AdWords Traffic Estimator: How to Estimate Traffic With Google
This is the fifth post in a series that focuses on using the various tools located within the Google AdWords tools and analysis tab. Previous posts have focused on:The Google AdWords change history toolThe AdWords conversion tabGoogle Analytics Reporting within the AdWords InterfaceGoogle Website OptimizerThe Google AdWords Keyword ToolIn this post we’ll walk through how to get the most out of the Google AdWords Traffic Estimator.
What is the AdWords Traffic Estimator?Not unlike the Google keyword tool, the AdWords Traffic Estimator is a tool designed by Google to give advertisers information about specific keywords before they create an AdWords campaign. Unlike the Google tool, the traffic estimator is giving more specific data points focused around not only expected traffic, but also ex... > Read more
How to Use the Google AdWords Keyword Tool in Your PPC Campaigns
This is the fifth post in a series that focuses on using the various tools located within the Google AdWords tools and analysis tab. Previous posts have focused on:The change history toolThe AdWords conversion tabGoogle Analytics Reporting within the AdWords InterfaceGoogle Website OptimizerIn this post we’ll walk through how to get the most out of the Google Keyword Tool within your AdWords campaigns.
What Is the Google Keyword Tool?Google’s keyword tool is designed to give advertisers information about which keywords they can add to their campaigns. The Google Keyword Tool has some important advantages and disadvantages to understand before acting on the data.ProsIt Leverages Google’s Own Data – One of the big advantages to using Google’s keyword tool is you have access to Googl... > Read more
RIP Exact Match & Phrase Match: Google AdWords Announces Big Changes to Keyword Match Type Options
AdWords has announced changes to how the Exact Match and Phrase Match keyword match type options works. Previously, a keyword set to exact match in your AdWords account would only trigger ads for user search queries that exactly matched the keyword you specified (hence the name: exact match), and similarly, a phrase matched keyword would be triggered by search queries containing the phrase that you specified.
Soon, Google will be changing the definition of these keyword match types to behave more like Modified Broad Match. It will serve up ads for a far more diverse set of search queries, including:keyword misspellingssingular/plural formsstemmings (word endings such as "ing", "ed", etc.)accentsabbreviationsAs is always the case, Google claims that the motivation for the change is user bene... > Read more
AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 15
This is the latest in a series of interviews we're conducting with AdWords advertisers who got unusually high scores using our AdWords Performance Grader. We're reaching out to high scorers to find out what strategies contribute to their strong AdWords performance. For more in this series, see:AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 1AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 2AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 3AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 4AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 5AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 6AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 7AdWords Experts Share the Secrets of Their PPC Success, Part 8AdWords E... > Read more
Google Website Optimizer: How to Use the Website Optimizer Tool in AdWords
This is the fourth post in a series that focuses on using the various tools located within the Google AdWords tools and analysis tab. Previous posts have focused on:The Google AdWords change history toolThe AdWords conversion tabGoogle Analytics Reporting within the AdWords InterfaceAnd in this post we’ll be walking through how to leverage Google Website Optimizer within your AdWords account.
How You Can Use Website Optimizer within Your AdWords AccountWebsite Optimizer allows you to set up split tests and multivariate tests to measure the impact of different landing page designs within your AdWords campaigns. Implementing Website Optimizer requires adding some code to the pages you’re including in your test.The first (and most important) step in making use of the tool is, of cours... > Read more
Split Testing Ideas for PPC Advertising [Infographic]
We're often on about the importance of AB testing multiple versions of your ads as a means of seeing what messaging really works with your audience and thereby maximizing your clicks and conversions. It's one thing to acknowledge the importance of testing, but it's another to implement that strategy if you're not sure what to test.
The folks at AdChop have put together an infographic with a bunch of ideas for things to test in your ads, including text ads and image ads (these principles also apply to landing pages, your home page and anywhere else you're looking to drive conversions and engagement). Check it out!AdChop – More Profitable Ad Campaigns... > Read more
7 Simple Things You Might Be Overlooking in Your AdWords Account
In recent months we’ve put together a series of posts to help provide small to mid-sized AdWords advertisers with easy-to-implement, impactful tweaks they can make to their campaigns, even if they have limited experience managing accounts and limited time to make these updates. These include:Google AdWords Quick Wins Volume 1Google AdWords Quick Wins Volume 2The Overworked Advertiser’s Guide to AdWords Bid ManagementThe Overworked Advertiser’s Guide to Google AdWords Bid Management: Volume 2Google AdWords Basics: 5 Things to Get Right FirstIn this post we’ll offer seven quick, simple things to keep in mind in optimizing your accounts.
These are common mistakes that new and smaller AdWords advertisers frequently overlook that can help transform underperforming AdWords accounts.1. Ma... > Read more
