I Love It When I Increase Paid Search or Organic Conversions

October 24th, 2008

by Laura Thieme
October 24, 2008

The best part of my day is when I review trend reports, using Bizwatch 2.0, our new paid search and organic trending tool, and I can see I’ve helped my client to increase conversions and/or conversion rate, and possibly even lower conversion cost (even better).

Today, one of my clients asked on our weekly phone call, if a high click-thru rate but much lower conversion rate was okay on a particular Google Ad Group. In the past two weeks, twice, I’ve seen two separate cases where CTR (click-thru rate) was very high (nearing 10%) and conversions rates were either non-existent or less than 2% (average).

So, to answer the question, should you be concerned about low conversions if you have click-thru rates of nearly 10%, there are some things I am going to want to know before I answer the question.

As in all research, the answer depends on your situation, which is more than I know in the beginning of the conversation, guaranteed. I pull up the Ad campaign into Bizwatch and review now 10 months of data for the client. I review the trend reports for all the major paid search KPIs (key performance indicators). I review the ad campaign as a whole, the ad groups, and suspect keywords that have high CTR but low CVR (conversion rate to lead or sale).

High CTR but low CVR could be a number of things:

Great ad copy that encourages people to click, along with great average position of 3 or better (1-3) for an extended period of time (months hopefully)

The ad copy is competitive and encourages people to click on your ad

You are then rewarded as a campaign, potentially for a good quality score, if your keywords within the ad group all perform similarly

So what’s causing you to have a poor CVR, if so many people are interested in your product or service?

Click fraud, maybe - always a possibility

Maybe your landing page sucks - sorry - but it could be true

Maybe your conversion is a phone number and you’re not tracking that accurately or at all

Maybe your online conversions are not being tracked at all, or accurately either

Maybe you stopped marketing when you designed your landing page, or you confused the offer in your checkout process

Maybe you are simply too close to the problem - and you need an outside opinion, someone who is looking at the data analytically over time, using trend analysis

Be willing to be competitive in your ad copy to increase CTR, but only if you’re willing to pay for leads or sales - and thus, your landing page must be just as competitive in content, offer, process, etc.

It’s always easier on the outside to review and analyze this - than it is to be on the inside of the problem.

Call Bizresearch at 614-846-7560 or email me using contact form to learn more about how we can help you increase conversions, and/or conversion rate, and if we’re lucky lower that conversion cost, which is indeed possible with a good working client relationship who is willing to try new things on their site and in their online marketing campaign.

Posted in Paid Search Tools. No Comments »

 

Why You Need a Paid Search Audit on Your Google Advertising Campaign

October 11th, 2008

by Laura Thieme
October 11, 2008

I am in the middle of a new paid search audit for a client returning to Bizresearch. We used to focus on solely organic for this company, but lost them during the Florida “hurricane” of 2003? Remember Black Friday, the Florida Shuffle which was often referred to as a hurricane in 2003? I reported to CBS Marketwatch in an interview with Bambi Francisco that select clients who were doing paid search and organic, lost key organic rankings on the day after Thanksgiving for nearly two months. It caused them to bid more on paid search in Google, which was good for guess who? The client? No. The client regained their rankings in January of 2004, and have maintained them ever since for those same keyword phrases. They have the exact same page title and content that we prepared for them back in 2003, ironically.

Ever since that time, we began to do more with paid, realizing that you should never focus all your search marketing efforts on organic alone. However, I’m often amazed at the scrutiny by which organic is measured and the little budget it receives relative to paid search, despite the fact that it can bring measurable profitable income. Having said that, I’m more amazed at the lack of scrutiny by which we measure paid search in 2008. We have the tools - why aren’t we using them to do more with paid search services?

Many companies have paid search on auto-pilot. They often have no access to their paid search accounts at Google, Yahoo or MSN. They completely rely on their paid search consultants or advertising agencies to manage their CPC campaigns in good faith. What’s scary is when I get into a paid search account, usually Google gets the first go-around, and discover all keywords on broad match types, campaign settings that run campaigns 24/7, and have no lead or sale or other conversion tracking in place.

What’s even more shocking is when a client refuses to pay 1/3 of this amount of money on organic, yet hasn’t got a clue of what they’re doing in paid search - spending often three times as much. But they trust Google, right? Ultimately, that’s what search advertising in Google is about. Despite the fact that an ad campaign might run out of money, despite the fact that the average position showing their ad is below the fold, despite the fact that the client has never tracked one conversion and could have spent over $100,000 - and simply believes “it’s working because I get phone calls”.

When conversion tracking is added, it becomes a little more clear about which campaigns, ad groups and keywords are in fact sending conversions. It’s often a surprise to the client that so many keywords are not working, and have never worked, despite ka-ching, ka-ching on the Google Ad register. You should be putting more money to the ads that work, that pay off, not to the terms that never pay off.

What about keywords that are on broad match? What do I mean by broad match? Let me give you an example:

Herbal supplements - broad match
“Herbal supplements” - phrase match
[Herbal Supplements] - exact match

You should combine tactics on all three of these match types, depending on the data received on their corresponding paid search KPIs (key performance indicators). I can’t recommend which match type you should use until I see your data, over trended period of time using our Bizwatch 2.0 tracking system and paid search platform, but once we review the data - we will make recommendations on the following:

Match types
Keyword selection
Ad campaign structure - are all your ad groups lumped into one massive campaign?
Ad copy
Landing page design and content
How it relates to your organic strategy
When paid search should be used over organic
When paid search should be used alongside organic rankings

In a bad economy, if you aren’t being affected yet, you likely will be in the very near future in some way. If you don’t know how to run a targeted paid search campaign, I strongly suggest you consider tracking conversions to the keyword level, get access to your campaign settings, and order a 3rd party paid search campaign audit from Bizresearch.

You might be shocked to discover what has been going on, but more importantly we can work with you on how to increase:

Targeted ad campaigns which deliver more qualified traffic, increase conversion rates and lower cost per conversion

Talk to Bizresearch today about your paid search campaign. Order a paid search audit today. We focus initially on Google, as it’s usually where our clients are spending the most money.

Posted in Paid Search Tools. No Comments »

 

OSU Students Weigh in On Search Marketing 754 (Principles of Electronic Marketing)

June 13th, 2008

Ohio State (OSU) Students Weigh in On the Challenges of Using Web Analytics for Search Engine Marketing
by Laura Thieme

As you’ll see the blog posts below, several of the OSU students taking my course on Search Engine Marketing & Analytics struggled with web analytics. I noticed a big difference this year in the students. The biggest challenge was learning nine tools: NetTracker (the old fashioned log file analysis software), Google Analytics, WordTracker, Google Adwords, Flickr, Wordpress blog software, WebPosition ranking software, Bizresearch’s Bizwatch, and improving their Excel and Powerpoint skills.

If search marketers counted the tools they have to use on a near weekly basis, they might be surprised to learn they are using over 38 technology tools to do their job. That’s a problem in itself. However, the ability to learn technology tools and adapt to an ever-changing tool industry at an uber-hyper pace is crucial. Knowledge of these tools makes you as an employee far more valuable. Rarely do employers train on all of these tools, thus there is an employment requirement to easily and efficiently adapt to new tech tools as they come out on the market. If you think you’re going to get training on how to use Wordpress, or Flickr, or WebPosition in your first week on the job - that’s unlikely. You might get training on a company’s proprietary tool that they own - but unlikely they’ll train on every new tool that is introduced on the market. If anything, they’ll be looking to you kiddo, to figure it out and quick!

Why is web analytics so hard for search marketing students at OSU? For one, they’ve never had a course anything like this in business school. This is taught at Fisher College of Business, it is not taught at the multimedia school of design or some similar curriculum. I’m also not an easy professor. I don’t grade on a “curve” basis. I don’t do multiple choice until the final exam, and only select questions are multiple choice. I don’t like multiple choice as a professor - you like to guess, and if you had a review session the way students want these days - you get the answers in your review session. Short answer is best. You either know web analytics and search marketing or you don’t. Essays - people bull-shit too much.

One more professional opinion - it’s amazing how cocky some kids can be these days. I watched a 60 Minutes episode a few weeks ago about hiring and retaining today’s younger generation (the younger 20-somethings) - today’s student is likely to walk up to the professor with cell phone in hand and request they talk to their mother about that C you gave them on the mid-term. I had a few students go to the chairperson because they didn’t like their mid-term grades, and they thought I should be more lenient. One student told me he clearly got the “gist” of it all, so isn’t that enough? He asked me six times to change his grade. Six times! I later learned that is actually considered “stalking a professor” and not ethically permitted. Good to know!

Another student actually contacted a client of mine in a spiteful way because he was upset about his mid-term. I caught him in the act, and we are now going through Judicial Affairs and Academic Misconduct. This is not what I want to do teach search marketers how to be better at this topic - at the 20-something or 30-something business school level. I want to teach however, not put up with 5-year olds. I know teachers who do this, and they are to be admired, respected and honored at the highest level. Not all college students are like this type of person mentioned above, just about 10% of the class and that’s enough to make you wonder why you’re taking the time out of your business day at a high consulting rate to teach 21-25 year olds. Perhaps the business level course at a master’s level is better? I’m talking to OSU about offering such a course, perhaps an executive level MBA course on the evenings and weekends where direct application is strongly desired and college course credit is available.

I admit I’m a tough professor, but I want the students to learn more in my class that they can apply to the real world than most any other course they’ve ever taken in a business school. Theory is great - but practical experience where you log in and view, report, and possibly strategize on various ad accounts is best for truly learning topics that can be used in a job. My reputation is on the line, and I don’t want companies who are already recruiting from my class to get students who understand search marketing concepts but have no clue on how to engage in search engine marketing.

Students who check emails during the two hour computer lab, sit in the back of the classroom, or do not engage in frequent correspondence with the professor and course material are likely to really struggle. But those students who really worked at it, improved significantly by the end of the 10 week 4-credit hour challenge 754-level course. I used most of their blog posts below, and will continue to post a few others in the OSU section over the summer.

Having taught search engine marketing at the college/university level at the business school for two years now, with approximately 60 students, I have seen what works and doesn’t. Today’s students expect you to give them Powerpoint notes, review sessions of what’s going to be on the text (like the specific questions not the topics), constant access to you via email, and by phone when possible. They think if you don’t do this, they won’t get an A, and then a few might take their complaints all the way to the head of the department. Strangely enough, they are some of the same students not paying attention in course, and rarely doing a good job on their homework. Plainly, bluntly put - if you’re lazy - don’t get into search engine marketing or web analytics. If you’re really smart, a little geeked up on technology and are fascinated with learning new things, often teaching yourself - if you watch the news a lot, if you pay attention to trends big and small - and you’re fascinated with the Web - you’re probably going to be interested with this - but not necessarily good at it. Ah - but you know what they say - practice makes perfect - years of practice makes better is more like it.

I’d like to hear from you if you’ve taken a college level search engine marketing course, or if you’ve taught at the college level, undergrad or MBA. What has your experience been like?

Posted in Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, Web Analytics. No Comments »

 

Search Marketing, Why So Much Work?

May 29th, 2008

crimsoncup logoSearch Marketing, Why So Much Work?

By: Dan Gruenberg

OSU MKTG 754 Student

Guest Blog Post

One of the things I pride myself on is my work ethic.  I do not slack off and put forth the effort on any project, well except for when senioritis hits of course.  That is a completely different story though and luckily it has not hit yet.  It is a good thing because the amount of work in this class has shocked me.  To be completely honest, when I came into this class, I expected it to be a breeze.  My exact words went something like this: “What?  Marketing over the internet?  That sounds awesome.  Is that actually a class?  It sounds like an easy A.”  Then I walked into class (jaw drops). 

I was expecting to do landing pages and such but the amount of work that deals with various statistics bizresearch pagewhen determining conversions and impressions was something completely unexpected.  What I thought I knew turned out to not even touch the surface of the material taught in Marketing 754.  From analyzing real campaigns, looking at Crimsoncup and Bizresearch, I have learned so many things.  As great as that is, the amount of work has taken up all of my time, where I have been unable to even get to some of my other classes.  When I came into this class, I thought it would be my easiest, but it has turned out to be my hardest by far.  The amount of work that it takes to be a search marketer is completely overwhelming.  I came in thinking this might be a “fun” job to have; now, I think that I was completely wrong in that assessment.  It does have its perks: making a difference in someone’s company.  Other than that, you really do lose hours of your life. 

So how much time does search marketing leave you in the end?  Relaxing time?  Don’t even think about it.  Going out with friends?  Yeah right!  Notice the sarcasm.  Sleep?  Maybe.  Just don’t get used to it.  From one quarter, I feel incredibly stressed out and I can’t even imagine doing this for your permanent job.  One of the reasons is that I would have a hard time dealing with clients that just simply do not understand what it takes to do that job.  They would not appreciate the work that is being done and would have no clue on the effort that is being put forth.  This class was a great lesson on the tools needed but showed me one thing: search marketing is something I definitely don’t want to get myself into.  For those able to do it, great job!  It takes a lot of courage to be successful when it comes to search marketing.

Posted in Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

For me, SEO…not so

May 27th, 2008

 

For me, SEO…not so

Hattie Dietrich, OSU Mktg 754 Student, Guest Post 

When the time came to choose a marketing elective for my last quarter at OSU, I knew I wanted something different; something more intellectually stimulating than retail management or international business (the other options offered). So, on a whim I enrolled in search engine marketing 754. I was in for a big surprise. Sure enough, the class has proved to be a challenge. The first day I was overwhelmed with new terminology and internet marketing lingo. I had always considered myself computer savvy, but it was clear this class was going to be a learning experience.

          SEO confusion

  The first surprise of the class was finding out how much work was put into advertising on Google and other search engines. Having not really given much thought to the topic, I‘d always assumed that companies paid Google and BAM! - their ad appeared on my computer screen. I was completely ignorant of the bidding process and the campaign settings that effected the advertisements. I also found it amazing how Google’s engineers can develop such complex programs and algorithms that lead the searcher where they want to go.

One frustrating thing about the class so far has been getting through several very dry reading assignments. The text at times is somewhat hard to read and uninteresting. Another frustration is that I consider myself a very active thinker and creative person. A lot of the work surrounding SEO seems very formulaic and is trial and error based. Overall, I’ve realized that as much as SEO and SEO campaign management is a crucial part of any company, I’d prefer not to be the one in charge of it. It’s obvious the importance and impact internet marketing has on the company, however I don’t think I would excel in a career based on managing search engine marketing. However, I am sure that the knowledge I’m gaining from the class will be an asset no matter what field I enter.

Posted in Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

Enjoy the “Gooooogle” Roller Coaster Ride

May 18th, 2008

May 18th 2008

Enjoy the “Gooooogle” Roller Coaster Ride

By Gerry Joeng

OSU MKTG 754 Student

Guest Blog Post

Roller CoasterFor me, to take this “Principle of Electronic Marketing” class is like a roller coaster ride. You do not know what lies ahead of you, be it a corkscrew, a loop or a turn. This is exactly what I feel about this class, it is full of surprises. Surprises that make you want to scream, surprises that excite you and also surprises that you wish you never had.

First of all, I have no idea what this class is about. When I registered for this class, I was thinking about internet advertising or how internet can be useful for marketers. It really surprised me when I saw the words “search engine”, “web analytics” and “organic search” on the syllabus. Well, this was not like what I had in mind. Thus, for the first several classes, I was struggling and cramping my head with all these new concepts and terms.

As I went through the first couple of weeks, I was again, surprised at how complicated search marketing is. It had never occurred to me that there were some people who were actually getting and losing money every time I click on paid advertisements. I never knew that there were people who actually competed for the top 10 results that I got from Google (www.google.com). And I was even more startled with the fact that there were such things as robots which actively indexed web pages. Google

However, above all of those, what surprised me the most is what I have learned so far from this class. It is true that the class is challenging and I am lying if I say it is not. There were times when I scratched my head for hours trying to figure out how to analyze the traffic and content of one particular webpage using Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics/). That was the time when the roller coaster was going through the 360 degree loop and I was screaming helplessly and praying to God for deliverance.

However, looking at where I am right now, I can proudly say that within the last eight weeks, this class has given me a lot of new information and knowledge. I can stand up and explain to people who ask how Google gains profit, how to create an ad in Google and even how many characters each line can has.

So, as how each roller coaster ride always ends with excitement, relieve and smile, I am also hoping that I can finish this class with a smile. I might not get an A, but at least I can walk out confidently, knowing that I am actually more knowledgeable about the principle of electronic marketing. Find it hard to believe? Dare me and ask me questions!

Posted in Blogging, Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

The “Inexact Science” of Web Analytics

May 17th, 2008

The “Inexact Science” of Web Analytics

By Michelle Marty

OSUMKTG754 Student

Guest Blog Post

Growing up I was always partial to mathematics in grade school. I believe this was because you were, under all circumstances, guaranteedSimple Math one of two possibilities. Your answer was going to be right….. Or it was going to be wrong. Two plus two always equaled four, the square root of nine was always three, and the cosine of zero inevitably equaled one.

I have found this is, and never will be, the case when it comes to web analytics. There is no set formula or algorithm you can resort to when attempting to arrive at a final answer. There are innumerable techniques to go about a problem in analytics and in the end there is no universal Frustrationacceptance to tell you whether your conclusion is right, or for that matter, even close. The answers are not found in the back of a book nor are they listed in Wikipedia. As Andrew Goodman states in his book, Winning Results with Google AdWords, “You can’t assume there are hard-and-fast rules” because in the end analytics is “an inexact science.” This is what I find most frustrating when it comes to web analytics.

Not only is it impossible to deduce if your assumptions are correct or not, they are continually going to be different. The solutions to analytics problems look different for different companies. This is because the factors presented to you are constantly changing and are different in every corporation, every business, and in every market. Also, trends in customer behavior vary within these elements as well. Causes for these variances could link from aCycle number of factors such as the time of year, the value of the good being marketed, and the demographic which is being marketed to.

Having infinite probable situations can be frustrating enough. On top of that, analytics also has infinite improvement opportunities. This is because, as Goodman states, “it is not always possible to pinpoint exactly an absolute measure of success.” Your work in this field is never finished and you can always improve your overall performance. After coming to understand the field of web analytics, I have never so literally meant, “your work is never done.”

Posted in Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

Max: The dog often mistaken for a pony

April 1st, 2008

Max: The dog often mistaken for a pony

By Andrew White

OSU MKTG 754 Student

Guest Blog Post

Superbowl Sunday. On this Holy American day, most families park themselves in front of the big screen to watch the big game and/or catch the (usually) funny commercials. My family, however, ventured to the Oregon Humane Society to pick out a puppy.

We settled on Max, a shy, “gentle giant” Great Dane/Black Lab mix who, for the first three weeks, refused to venture out of our laundry room. However, with a little coaxing, he would soon become the most lovable creature I’ve met.

Max was huge. As an adult, he weighed 130 pounds and when standing on all fours, his height was nearly up to my hips. He towered over other dogs and occasionally even stepped on smaller animals accidentally. However, his burly, intimidating appearance was all for show - one scratch behind his ears or on his belly proved it.

When children are first introduced to Max, their instinct is to treat him like a pony and attempt to saddle up on his back. In fact, my family had a running joke that if we bought a saddle and strapped it to his back, we could charge little kids for rides. In all honesty though, Max was calm and gentle with all children - even when they tugged on his ears and pulled his tail.

Sadly, Max passed away several years ago. We have since added two new dogs to our family - Sammy, a Golden Retriever, and Snickers, a Chocolate Lab, whose combined weights are equivalent to Max’s. Although Sammy and Snickers currently reside with my parents in Centerville, OH, I still look forward to seeing them when I make weekend trips home.

Posted in Blogging, Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

Fantasy Football

March 31st, 2008

Fantasy Football

By Patrick Meenan

OSU MKTG 754 Student

Guest Blog Post

In what league are bragging rights more important than winning $180? The WooCrew fantasy football league. That’s right, my friends and I have been playing fantasy football each year since my freshman year in high school and it has turned into my favorite hobby. Each year it seems as if the stakes get higher and higher, and yet it has nothing to do with money. There is more smack talking in my fantasy football league than in the NFL. Being a super competitive person, I love every second of the smack talking, especially because my team is “usually” one of the best. Finding new ways to let your friends know they lost could be a hobby of mine all in itself.

However, there is a lot more to fantasy football than just the smack talking. I love the preparation for each season. It usually starts around mid-July when fantasy football magazines start to come out. These rank each player for their position as well as overall. I take time to read these magazines, and then make my own rankings. Once the preparation is complete, it is time to move onto the draft.

My friends and I go always have our draft on the back porch of my friend Rob’s house. I look forward to this as much as I do Christmas. We all dress up in our unique outfits (see the pic below), and bring in our preparation materials. There is always a good amount of bickering, but overall it is a great time to hang with my friends.

Once the season starts, I check the fantasy football website at least two times a day. I look up all the info on my players so I know which players to start each week. I watch nearly every NFL game I can, with my laptop resting on my lap to know my team’s score.

Sure it maybe a little creepy that I feel like I have these NFL players on “my” team, but fantasy football is a very exciting hobby. I enjoy the preparation, decision making, and smack talking. But, probably the best part of this hobby is that though most of my friends have been scattered around to different colleges across the nation, the WooCrew fantasy football league has kept us all in touch with each other.

Posted in Blogging, Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

Moe Szyslak, cartoon bartender and man’s best friend?

March 26th, 2008

My Favorite Pet

By Ross Webb

OSU MKTG 754 Student

Guest Blog Post

My favorite pet would be my dog, Moe Szslak, who is a 110 pound purebred German Shepherd owned by my father and I. I got Moe when I was in the eighth grade following the passing of my previous German Shepherd, Molly. Moe was a puppy attempting to fill in some big shoes as far as dogs go, Molly was a great dog.

I still remember going to the farm near Marysville to pick him out. When my father and I entered the small barn where the puppies were with their mother feeding. Of the seven or eight puppies none of the dogs even glanced up from their feeding, except for Moe. He came running over, jumped on my leg, and I had a dog. The seller mentioned to us that it was his favorite puppy and the pick of the litter as well.

He has certainly lived up to the hype and filled the shoes of the Shepherds that preceded him. Moe is a big dog, some have described him as scary, but has a very friendly personality to those he does not perceive as a threat to his family. As he enters his eighth year on this earth he has to his credit, fought off a group of 3 intruders attempting to come into our house, chewed up my motorcycle helmet, is a world champion digger (see photo below for visual proof on his nose), and has just been a good friend.

016(2)

I have had three Shepherds in my life and Moe is certainly the best. He is a cherished part of our family, and although I currently live in Columbus, OH and he lives in Antwerp, OH, he is still one of my best friends and I always look forward to seeing him when home.

Posted in Blogging, Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. No Comments »

 

« Previous Entries