PPC-Advice.com

I totally realize it’s already July 12th, however I’ve been so wrapped-up in writing and presenting great content elsewhere that I let my own blog slip.  Apologies to my loyal readers, more content is on it’s way, but for now I’m catching up on some much-needed link-loving for the month that was June 2010.  A lot went on in June, including Search Engine Strategies Toronto. Read more…

At first, I thought it was curious that my paid search campaigns would show relatively consistent patterns on a monthly and yearly basis.  Trends that I blogged about before some 2 years ago, still hold true today while others have become even more obvious.  Needless to say, knowing about these trends gives you a significant leg up on the competition, and verifying which patterns exist for your industry is as easy as tuning your campaign reporting to historical dates in the past. Read more…

Every now and then I like to run a check-up on my contextual match content network campaigns, to make sure Google is doing it’s job in keeping Adsense partners in check.  I’m happy to report that recent screening and higher scrutiny has gone a long way to clean up the Google Adwords Content Network.  The whole point of contextual match campaigns is to find areas advertisers can generate impressions, and hopefully cheap clicks. Read more…

Day two started right where Day one left off, with tons of more informative sessions.  Unfortunately, we only have two people from PPC-Advice.com covering the conference, which means we can only cover 2 of a possible 5 simultaneous tracks, hopefully next year we can get more people to come along.

Speaking of next year, the organizers of the show have already scheduled next year’s Silicon Valley show for outside of the valley, but within the bay Area.  Next year, SES will be coming from San Francisco, and no one could be happier about that than me.  Apparently, organizers, sponsors, speakers, and the engines themselves have all agreed – San Jose is hard to get to, has zero night-life, and is about the same distance from the major engine’s HQ’s in the valley.  Sweeeeeet. Read more…

Whoa, didn’t see this one coming.  In a surprising move yesterday, Google announced that advertisers would be allowed to use trademarked terms in their search ads, making for quite the conversation piece admidst legal uncertainty surrounding rights-holders.  The older rule allowed advertisers to request Google remove trademark and brand names from ad text, thereby providing some protection for owners.  Is this good or bad?  Depends which side of the fence you’re sitting on. Read more…

In marketing, vendor and partner transparency is king; more transparency equals better client relations.  In the online marketing world, there’s the tendency for vendor relations to languish or stagnate by maintaining the status quo. After watching Google as an advertising vendor for many years, they simply aren’t that kind of company.  With the web being what it is today, clients and agencies that use Google Adwords are very vocal about improvements they’d like to see made, including the improvement of transparency.  Google’s new Search Based Keyword Tool is one such improvement: more better. Read more…

I received an interesting plea for help recently via e-mail regarding tracking paid versus organic keywords in Omniture SiteCatalyst.  Although many functions are available within vanilla installations of SiteCatalyst, and several settings can be added to implementations after the fact – the little guy is often left holding the stick.  It’s easier for Omniture to say, just buy Search Center, because well, 9 times out of 10, they make money that way.  For simple keyword tracking without incurring any residual fees, get ready to roll-up your sleeves. Read more…

Picking a winner can be hard.

No doubt, an internet marketer’s toughest job is finding the right mix of advertising cost, overall brand value for ad placements, and conveying value proposition to drive conversion.  We can collect all kinds of valuable information through web analytics including visitor pathways, conversion funnels, top content driving revenue, and even cool stuff like demographics and socio-economic indicators.  But finding sites that can supply us with our most valuable prospects can be tough.  Enter Behavioral Targeting from Google Adwords. Read more…

Are you a business owner, or indirectly responsible for your online advertising conversion funnel?  Have you ever wondered why your business might be getting decent traffic through online channels and programs such as Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing, but it doesn’t make an impact on your bottom line?  Position might be great, clicks coming through steadily each week and month, success events are pouring in but revenues are stagnant.  You might be turning your online ads into Amish Furniture… no finish! Read more…

It pains me to have to write this post, because anyone who’s willing to throw their money at online marketing shouldn’t have to bear the cross of sitting through boldface lies.  Unfortunately, I’m brought into meeting after meeting to consult for my clients in an effort to qualify online marketing vendors that promise the world.  Fortunately, I’m always up for a good show, and don’t mind playing the naive web analyst. Read more…