AdWords Tips: Search and Display Networks

  Running a Google Adwords campaign can be quite tedious. If you have reached the point where you are  proficient enough to start, design and track a campaign, I'll first say congratulations! This is no easy feat! Many  of my clients tell me that they resorted to us as a last effort before they went insane. But, if you're one of the  patient and resilient few with enough time on your hands to figure this tricky world of Google out, then this  one's for you. This brief article will help you take your Google AdWords game to the next level. I will suggest a  few changes which are not really hinted at in the "How to Adwords" intro courses offered by Google. Check  them out, and leave a few comments if you find these tips helpful.

1. Separate the Search and Display Networks

In case you're not aware, display ads are the banner-type designs which are placed within Google's  partner network sites for the purposes of display clicks. These Ads are set up for static viewship, as they  remain on a single page and are clicked on by the viewers on that page only. Search ads are more  dynamic, as they appear according to a users query in Google. The fundamentals of search and display are  so different that they disrupt the algorithms involved in delivering your targeted ads. Without getting into  too much detail, it has to do with the difference in calculating quality score  on each site. Optimally, you  should create separate categories for networks and categories… here is a great article from Google in case  you're still confused.   What you want to do is separate these to allow for the most accurate and efficient delivery of your ads. To  do this, simply do the following:

Enter your campaign and select SETTINGS 

   Next, SCROLL DOWN to the NETWORKS section, and select EDIT. You will see this  box, and deselect the already selected checkbox. Then hit save. 

3 Simple Tips for Small Business Landing Pages

  

 Landing pages by far the most talked about aspect of online marketing, and by far the most misunderstood. I just read an article on Wordstream which discussed the results of a 1000-landing-page experiment. Since this is a straightforward, time-saving advice blog, I'll spare you the details and list the top three takeaways which I found to be most helpful for SB owners. The top 3 takeaways were:

• OFFER SOMETHING OFTEN - Always, always experiment with offers. Many are convinced of the need to experiment with colors, designs, music, etc... but if you're the average Joe business owner, you don't have time for all of that, so just go straight to the offer experimentation. Try to think outside of the box. For instance, if you're an attorney, don't just offer "free consultations", write an advice manual or create a helpful video aimed at your clients burning/popular questions, then offer it for lead generation. This can be translated for almost any industry, as discounts are only monetary forms of value, whereas advice/insight are much more appreciated and in demand.
• KEEP THEM SHORT AND UNCLUTTERED - This almost goes without saying, but your landing pages need to be warm, welcoming and uncluttered. But sometimes, you just need to convey lots of necessary info that doesn't afford you the convenience of tidy landing pages. If that's the case, separate the information into different pages as apart of a signup process. This way, you'll be able to keep the visitors remarkably short attention span while gaining insight into which pages offer useless or unwanted info.
• GET PROFESSIONAL HELP - The good thing is that landing pages are not that difficult to make if you know what you're doing. But the learning curve is steep, so if you are a designer/financier/engineer/dancer/DaVinciProtege type of person who wears many hats, it's probably best to put your parascope  perspective aside and let someone on ODesk handle it. It's only about $10-50 to have someone design and create the page, and it's well worth the investment if you have an AdWords campaign or are an eCommerce store.

If you have a landing page and want to test it, you can always visit a site like this to gain a bit more insight on your live webpages. Also, if you use wordpress, I highly recommend using the "LandingPages" plugin for testing purposes. It automates and tracks conversion rates for different pages, which will allow you to experiment with offers without having to mess with any code.