September 2008

The Archives

• Affiliate Marketing, Online Marketing, Paid SearchHow To Take Advantage of a Bad Economy

  09.29.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Each day there seems to be more and more negative news about the economy - I guess it helps sell papers (or maybe increases CPMs?).  Either way, as more negativity spreads throughout the country, there will be increased fear of businesses closing up and people losing their jobs.  If you’re an affiliate marketer or entrepreneur [...]

• Paid SearchFast & Easy Way To Improve Your Adwords Quality Score

  09.24.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Using AdWords Editor, it is easy to identify low CTR keywords and
  pause/delete them in one fell swoop (it doesn’t matter if you pause or
  delete them- the effect is the same). In my experience, accounts with
  a high percentage of ‘Poor’ Quality keywords see a noticeable lift in
  Quality Score for the remaining keywords after a good scrub.
  Search [...]

• Paid Search“More Sponsored Links »” Now Using 3 Column Format

  09.22.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Google is now using a 3 column format to display ads if you click “More Sponsored Links »” on the bottom right side of the paid search results.  I’m not sure if this is a new change or an old one that I just haven’t noticed - either way, new to me and thought I’d [...]

• Online MarketingHow a Downturn in the Economy Will Affect Online Marketing

  09.22.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Over the weekend, I was thinking of writing a post about what has been happening with the credit markets, Wall Street, the economy, etc. and their affects on online marketing.  Today, I saw a post by Andrew Goodman titled, Wall Street Meltdown: 11 Ways It Affects Digital Marketers, on SearchEngineLand. 
  Out of all the blogs, articles, [...]

• Paid SearchWhy Being #1 Still Counts

  09.19.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  There has been a shift in thinking in search, SEO and PPC, that being #1 shouldn’t be your goal, but instead, it should all be about conversions and hitting your metrics.  While I agree that the metrics should usually come first, there is also a lot of value in being in the first position, specifically [...]

• Paid Search4th Place Is Okay - Microsoft Now Shows 4 Ads Above Organic

  09.15.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  The Microsoft adCenter Blog announced on Friday that they will now be displaying a fourth paid advertisement above the organic results.  They say that they’ve made the change in response to feedback from advertisers asking for more clicks.  From previous conversations with account reps, they told me that almost all of the clicks received on [...]

• Paid SearchPPC Tips: 15 Simple Tips for Writing Effective Ad Copy

  09.12.08 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  Good copy can get you clicks. Great copy can get you customers.
  A good click through rate (CTR) does not mean that you have a good creative. A good CTR can help with your quality score and shouldnt’ be completely left out of the equation, but that is a much more advanced discussion. Generally, when writing your creatives, [...]

• Paid Search, Social MediaIs Headline Bait Bad for Your Ad’s Health?

  09.12.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  It’s happening more and more on social news sites like Digg and even Sphinn.  People are using sensationalized or completely misleading headlines just to get people to click on their links (or just to get votes).   I’ve seen it on Digg, Fox is notorious for using it, and CNN is even doing it today.  It’s gotten [...]

• Paid SearchClickEquations PPC Software Overview

  09.09.08 | Permalink | 2 Comments

  Today, I was able to preview ClickEquations, a PPC Tool developed by Commerce360 to be used by agencies and companies managing search campaigns with budgets of at least $10k per month.  The tool focuses on providing advanced reporting and analytical functionality to a PPC campaign.  It features a web based interface along with integrated Excel [...]

• Paid SearchComparative Advertising & Brand Term Bidding

  09.09.08 | Permalink | Comment?

  Bidding on brand terms is usually a grey area for search marketers.  They can convert well and usually will have a positve ROI, but bidding on a competitors brand name or displaying their brand on your website can get you keep you from running ads on the engines or into legal trouble with the competitor.
  Each [...]

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