we recently ran some tests dissecting some campaigns and creating 8 Google AdWords campaigns from one. We wanted to see whether traffic would be decreased or increased.  Our test confirm breaking down campaigns and getting as granular as you can definitely pays off. It’s better to organize multiple keywords under various campaign groups.

Use the [Exact Match] if possible

Google AdWords lets you set the following phrase-matching options when you are entering the keywords you want to bid on:

• Broad match: This is the default option, and I’d say, the most inefficient way of selecting the search options. Here, if you enter content management software it will show your ad for all possible combinations of the three words, plus, if they are used in conjunction with some other word. So whether it is management software or content software or buy content or something else, your ad will appear for all of them, attracting tons of unwanted clicks and hence, expense.
• Phrase match: In this phrase match option your ad appears for the phrase match plus for any other word appearing with the phrase. So if you use “content management software” (with double quotes) it will not only show your ad for content management software but also for free content management software, download content management software, download content management software, content management software in php, etc.
• Exact match: This is the best way of entering your keywords and it can get you the highest conversion rate (although fewer links). For exact match you enclose your keywords within [ and ]. Hence, if you enter [buy content management software] your ad will only show up for this search term and nothing else. This drastically reduces the clicks you get but since people come to your website through the exact search term the conversion rate is quite high.
• Negative match: Suppose you don’t want to appear for the word free If you use -free content management software your ad won’t appear for the search terms containing the string free. Use this option to mark for all the keywords and phrases you don’t want to appear for.

We analyzed and checked the numbers for the same keywords in generic (r7168) and specific (r9100) ad groups. Below is what we have found. Specific ad groups actually get a bit more impressions.

Month	Keyword		Data	r7168	r9100
January	“diapers coupon”		Sum of Impressions	133	5
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	“diapers coupons”		Sum of Impressions	508	335
			Sum of Clicks	3	2
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	[diapers coupon]		Sum of Impressions	85	5
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	[diapers coupons]		Sum of Impressions	21	159
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	diapers coupon		Sum of Impressions	134	100
			Sum of Clicks	1	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	diapers coupons		Sum of Impressions	10	318
			Sum of Clicks	0	2
			Sum of Conversions	0	1
January Sum of Impressions				891	922
January Sum of Clicks				4	4
January Sum of Conversions				0	1
December	“diapers coupon”		Sum of Impressions	42	7
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	“diapers coupons”		Sum of Impressions	171	893
			Sum of Clicks	2	7
			Sum of Conversions	1	0
	[diapers coupon]		Sum of Impressions	18	3
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	[diapers coupons]		Sum of Impressions	16	65
			Sum of Clicks	0	1
			Sum of Conversions	0	1
	diapers coupon		Sum of Impressions	85	180
			Sum of Clicks	0	0
			Sum of Conversions	0	0
	diapers coupons		Sum of Impressions	20	198
			Sum of Clicks	1	3
			Sum of Conversions	1	0
December Sum of Impressions				352	1346
December Sum of Clicks				3	11
December Sum of Conversions				2	1

Adword Advisor Launches

Don’t Put Your All Your Advertising Eggs In One Basket

If you have spent any time promoting a Website online, you have no doubt encountered Google Adwords, Yahoo (formerly Overture) Search Marketing and MSN Ad center. I have been advertising products and services using their networks successfully, for many years.

If familiar with these pay per click advertising networks, you are probably thinking to yourself  there is no reason to advertise on second-tier networks,  you get all the traffic you need from the top tier. There is nothing that a smaller PPC ad network can offer me that the services I currently use cannot.  However, why be satisfied with 80 percent of the market, second and third tier ad networks and portals  such as Miva, ABC Search and 7Search provide a vast array of opportunities for your advertisements.

Most small and medium sized business (SMB) advertisers often do not realize these networks exist and provide a comparable if not better return on investment (ROI) than either Yahoo! or Google Adwords. I am currently testing AdKnowledge and am pleased to report we are having positive ROI results. Up until two weeks ago I was not even familiar with them.

It’s All About the ROI
Essentially, more traffic in no way correlates to a better return on investment (ROI). I have had several firms look into our current setup wondering why traffic is down by 50% from a year ago. I explain that traffic does not equate to ROI and then they get it.  These are professional search firms looking to get our business and no one ever asks about ROI. If smaller pay per click advertising networks provide an equal return on investment (and in some business verticals they do) these companies can not only survive but thrive in the competitive online advertising landscape.

I personally do not like RON or run of network. This approach may work for some people but I prefer a self serve network where I can fine tune either GEO targeting or partners-websites my ads will show up on. By tracking the referrers I am able to acurately trace the click through (we use fired pixel tracking).

It is important to note that popular keywords performed very poorly for some second tier networks. A popular keyword is one that is searched for very frequently by consumers and, hence, sought after by advertisers.  Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, 7Search, and MIVA have excellent ROI for even the most competitive keywords.

While the benefits provided by both Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing are large, it is important for pay per click  advertisers to utilize second tier networks to supplement traffic generated from the larger networks, as long as those second and third tier networks can provide a positive  ROI.

There will always be do it yourselfers succeeding at web promotion and search engine optimization. Many established businesses offering web services today came from humble beginnings. The Web evolves as the result of the innovation and experimentation of individuals. The sharing of knowledge. The do it yourself attitude.



As text link brokers and mass link networking decrease in value and use in social media increases, it becomes more important for companies to have an internal approach and awareness of search engine marketing. Outsourcing to SEO firms is still a smart option. Making the most out of Web 2.0 usually requires some level of cooperation between SEO firm and site owner. You don’t need to be an expert to know the basics of good SEO practices, and that added knowledge will be a great advantage whether you’re working along side an SEO team, or promoting your own site in your spare time.

So if you’re on a “need to know” basis with SEO, the following points should show what a plan should include:

1. Create Original Search Engine Friendly Content

Original web content is your most valuable asset, and ensuring search engines can read it is very important. Text embedded in images or Flash cannot be read, so make sure you use important keywords, headings, and hyperlinks in plain text form. Instead of using images as navigation links, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) makes it easy to format those links to look more like ‘buttons’, thus creating powerful anchor text as well as making it visually appealing. Use heading tags properly and don’t try to hide keywords or text by making it the same color as the page background or shrinking it so it can’t be seen. Make sure the keywords you wish to rank high for are used frequently in the page copy but within reason.

Copy and paste a page’s URL into a search engine to see if it has been indexed. If you’ve just created the page, it may take a few days (weeks) to show up. Aside from age, many factors can lead to web pages not being indexed by search engines, such as duplicate content (ie. a printer-friendly version of a page might be indexed and the normal version not, or vice versa); links generated by JavaScript instead of HTML; poor site architecture (ie. using too many sub-directories); lengthy, dynamically generated URLs using special characters; and orphaned pages.

2. Choose Keywords Wisely

One of the first steps of SEO, this needs to be done properly the first time or all your future efforts and promotion could end up being wasted. Start by writing down general terms that describe your products, services or web content. Use keyword research services to investigate word and phrase variations. Wordtracker, KeywordDiscovery, and the Google AdWords suggestion tool are good starting points. The goal is to find those niche phrases that your target market uses to find sites just like yours and optimize your site for them. If the phrases do not get enough use by searchers, your profits from ranking for them will be low. At the same time, stay away from general terms that are tougher to rank for (ie. like “Apartments”, “Computers”, “Business”, etc.) as a great portion of the traffic will be irrelevant and you’ll break the bank attaining such competitive phrases.

3. Get Others to Link to Your Site

In theory there are countless ways, some traditional and some quite innovative, to get other web sites to link to yours. In practice, it can be easier said than done. Google defines a link as it pertains to rankings and SEO as a “vote” from one site to another. The more quality votes your site receives, the greater chance you have of rankings well. If a well established site links to yours, that link carries more weight than one would less reputable page.

If your site has useful content and is doing something unique, you’re already ahead of much of the competition. People need a reason to link to your site, as very few will do it out of the goodness of their heart. Trading links can work, but link exchange networks have decreased in value and won’t be of much use in competitive fields. Buying links, if you haven’t heard, is a big Google no-no. While entire articles could be written on this topic, here are a few popular methods of acquiring incoming links:

- issuing company press releases with a link back to your site
- submitting to reputable business directories such as Yahoo! and Business.com
- be active on related blogs by commenting and exchanging ideas
- if you have clients with web sites, ask if they would mind adding your link in a “partners” section
- participate in relevant forums and discussion boards with a link in your signature
- write and submit original articles to web publications in your field with a link in your bio
- get involved in social media and bookmarking

4. Social Media Revolution

The collaboration between Internet users and the development of online communities is at an all-time high. Social bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Furl, Reddit, and Technorati offer users a way to store their favorite pages and media online, and share it with others. These services also provide a way to promote your own content or create a buzz over a product or service. Creating a Myspace page or Squidoo “lens” is also a way to network and share information.

However, if your goal is to generate sales then you must offer something without the promotional hype. The reality of social media is that popularity is based almost entirely on public interest. If your information or media isn’t unique or of interest to anyone, you cannot force success using social media communities.

The key to using social media and bookmarking sites to your advantage is to not be shy. Network with other users, bookmark and share useful content, create eye-catching titles for your entries, and tell your friends and co-workers to vote on content you have on these sites.

These four points are a general guideline to follow for SEO. Search engine optimization experts and firms are a good outsourcing option in competitive markets, while the DIY attitude can yield great results for web site owners with smaller marketing budgets. If you’re in the latter group, hopefully this helps get you started.

Millions of searches are conducted each day on popular search engines by people all around the world. What are they looking for? A number of major search engines provide a way to glimpse into the web’s query stream to discover the most popular search keywords or topics. These are:

• AOL Hot Searches: Top current queries, or see those in the last hour, last day and within particular categories.
• Ask IQ: See top searches at Ask.
• Dogpile SearchSpy: Choose to see either a filtered or non-filtered sample of top, real-time search terms from this popular meta search service. Sister site MetaCrawler offers a similar MetaCrawler MetaSpy service.
• Google Trends: Allows you to tap into Google’s database of searches, to determine what’s popular. View the volume of queries over time, by city, regions, languages and so on. Compare multiple terms, as well. See our review: Google Trends: Peer Into Google’s Database Of Searches.
• Google Zeitgeist: What people are searching for at Google and its associated specialty services in a variety of categories. There are versions for various countries, as well.
• Lycos 50: Long-standing service showing top searches at Lycos each week.
• MSN Search Insider: Top 200 queries on MSN Search (annoyingly in random order), top “movers” in TV, sports and music, and a “duels” feature pitting top queries in a race against each other.
• Yahoo Buzz Index: Shows you what’s hot and what’s not in terms of search topics at Yahoo.

Also see:

• dWoz Search Phrase Lists: Great directory of services like those above, for search engines large and small, across the web. Also see the Search Spies & Voyuers category.
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool: Enter a term or terms, the use the drop-down box to see the popularity of terms and popularity over time.
• Yahoo Keyword Selector Tool: Formerly called the Overture Keyword Selector Tool and the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool before that, this free service is primarily designed to help advertisers who wish to select terms to target with ads on the Yahoo network. But you can use it to see how popular particular terms are.
• Researching Keywords: For Search Engine Watch members, this provides an annotated rundown on key tools useful for search marketers needing to perform search research for their campaigns.
• Search Term Research and Search Behavior: These categories of Search Engine Watch’s Search Topics area compile articles on the subject of how people search from across the web and stretching back to 1997. Available only to Search Engine Watch members.