In previous installments of this series, we talked about the differences between the pay-per-click advertising channels (Google, Bing, Facebook and LinkedIn) as well as how to determine which PPC is right for you.
Today, we get you started on optimizing your campaigns.
Now that we know the functional differences between pay-per-click advertising on Google/Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook (And if you don’t, go back and read Part 1: Which pay-per-click advertising is right for you?), let’s talk about how to determine where to spend your money.
Even in a perfect world where you have unlimited time and money, you probably would not want to advertise on all three. Why? Because they have different objectives and target audiences.
Which leads to the main question you want to ask before you spend a single dime – Who am I trying to target?
If you answer the question with:
While you may never have the need to advertise on them all, you may want to consider advertising on one search (Google or Bing) and one demographic (Facebook or Linked).
For example, if you manufacture agitation equipment for the chemicals industry you may want to:
Next installment, we will discuss hints and tips for PPC.
There are many ways to spend your money advertising on the web. Display advertising, directories and pay-per-click campaigns are three of the most popular methods.
Today we’ll focus on pay-per-click campaigns, and specifically, the differences between variants of PPC advertising.
PPC functions basically the same across the board, no matter if you are on Google, Bing, Facebook or LinkedIn:
1. Write your ads.
2. Determine your criteria (more on this in a bit).
3. Your ad shows only to potential customers who meet the criteria.
4. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
5. When a person clicks on your ad, they are redirected to a location of your choosing (website, Facebook page, etc). From there they can read up on all the wonderful things your company does/makes and hopefully be persuaded to spend thousands and thousands of dollars with your company.
The most important thing to note is that you can set a budget for your advertising campaign. Basically, when your budget is up, your ads don’t run. Thus, if you set your budget to $100 per day, you can expect to spend no more than $100 per day. (It’s actually a tad more complicated than that, but we’ll save that discussion for another day. But the principle remains the same – no crazy cost overruns)
So that’s the similarities of PPC on Google, Bing, Facebook and LinkedIn. Now, let’s talk about what’s different – criteria.
Google and Bing use query based criteria. They match a user’s search query to your target keyword list. If there is a match, your ad shows. For example, you pre-determine that you want your ad to show for anyone searching for “red shoes”, “red boots” and “red sandals”. Sally Searcher comes along and types in “where to buy red boots” in Google. A match! Your ad displays. Next, Sally Searcher types in “where to buy blue loafers”. Not a match! Your ad does not display. Pretty simple.
Facebook and LinkedIn use demographic based criteria. They match a person’s personal profile with your pre-determined profile criteria. For example, you pre-determine you want your ad to show for anyone who lives in the Midwest and likes pets. Sally Searcher’s profile on Facebook indicates that she lives in Ohio and loves her pet cat Fluffy. A match! Your ad displays.
Facebook allows you to pinpoint demographics based on location, gender, age, interests, college and major among other things. LinkedIn allows you to pinpoint demographics by location, employer, job title, and industry among others.
Next installment we’ll talk about how to determine which method is best for you.
As more and more manufacturing is done overseas, US based industrial and manufacturing companies need to think more globally in their web marketing efforts. Language, cultural and time zone factors are all important considerations when developing your industrial internet marketing strategy.
Here are a few things to consider:
1. Have your homepage professionally translated. Identify the countries you want to target and what language(s) they speak. Have a professional translation done for each language and create multiple versions of your homepage. Allow visitors to pick the appropriate version from your English homepage. If you can’t afford professional translation, try out Google’s Translate tool. Keep in mind, however, that computer based translations tend to perform poorly on technical words and phrases.
2. Translate your Google AdWords too! While you are at it, translate your pay-per-click campaigns. I wrote about this some time ago (Go Global with your Pay-per-click Ads) but the principles remain the same.
3. Include a contact form. I’m not a big fan of contact forms in general. People tend to ignore them, opting for email or phone instead. However, I do like them in cases where a website might have a lot of non-English speaking traffic. With time differences, making contact via phone call is not always feasible. And if someone is not very fluent in English, typing out an email can be daunting. Thus, a simple form can eliminate availability issues and provide an easy way for foreign language speakers to contact you.
4. A picture (and video) is worth a thousand words. On that same note, include pictures and videos to illustrate your product. Images are universal – no language barriers to contend with.
5. List your manufacturer’s reps and/or foreign offices. Do you have a rep in Europe? An office in China? A plant in India? Wherever they are, you should list these locations prominently on your site. It demonstrates your global presence and gives foreign customers additional contacts in their native language and/or time zone.
A couple weeks ago, Google announced its newest feature – Google Instant. The new search enhancement allows logged in Google users to view search results before they have even pressed “Google Search.” The idea behind the update, according to the Google blog, was that “people type slowly, but read quickly. This means you can scan a results page while you type.” The benefits include faster searching (can save 2-5 seconds per search), smart predictions and instant results.
While this seems like an exciting development in the world of search engines, as a web marketer I can’t help but question what affect this will have on Pay Per Click advertisements and Search Engine Optimization.
My first question was, when will ads appear, and how will impressions be affected?
As users search, pay per click ads will appear in their normal locations – at the top and on the right side of the page, highlighted by a light yellow box. However, an impression will only be calculated if the advertisement is displayed for three or more seconds. Although this updated definition will help to regulate the impressions, it is still possible that click-through-rate will be negatively affected. This won’t initially put a dent in advertiser’s budgets, but if quality scores drop advertisers may find themselves with higher bid prices than pre-Instant searching.
Next I wondered how searchers habits would change as a result of the highly suggestive interface.
Many advertisers’ campaigns may be set up to include general phrases or words that have an overarching connection to the advertised site. However, with constantly changing suggestive search options and real time search results, users may opt to continue altering their query until they have landed on a specific phrase. It may be important for advertisers to examine their keywords in coming months to include more detailed words and phrases that are more likely to be searched with Instant than in the past. In the past, singular words had higher search volumes, and therefore were more desirable keywords. However, now advertisers may want to consider adding additional plural terms – for example, pets instead of pet – as the plural is often the first suggested term in Google Instant.
Now, what about Search Engine Optimization?
As users search, Google places paid and universal listings as high as possible on the page, below the suggestive search area. This means that highly optimized search results are still being pushed below the fold of the web browser. Once the user hits “Search” and sticks with a query, all of the listings resume their natural positions, but since that step is no longer necessary it is extremely important for sites to obtain a top ranking of one or two. Most likely, users won’t scroll as they search, making anything below those rankings virtually invisible. In addition, as users scan the listings more quickly, “calls to action” that are commonly placed in the meta description of listings will move to the meta title.
At this stage in the game, it is hard to say exactly how much of an impact Google Instant will have on rankings, especially since it only applies to logged-in Google users, and there is still an option to turn the feature off. It would be wise to keep an eye out for any strange changes after the September 7th launch of Google Instant. These changes, as long as advertisers and optimizers alike are award of them, don’t have to be scary or painful. They simply require attention and tweaks along the way to AdWords campaigns and SEO efforts.
