Using the Adwords Broad Match Modifier

Have you started using the Broad match modifier in Adwords? This summer Google globally rolled out an additional option to help you with your Adwords campaigns. The new Broad Match modifier is an excellent option for those who want more visibility then is offered through Phrase and Exact match but still want keywords which are more targeted then standard Broad Match.

We've all heard stories of how using Broad match can sometimes be a bit of adventure. Sure using Broad Match is going to get you greater visibility, but you're putting a lot of faith in Google's hands and are going to spend a lot of time with negative keywords. How often have you spent in front of a search query report shaking your head at irrelevant keywords that Google thinks are related?

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Adwords for Mobile Devices

Using your phone for only actual calls or texts is a thing of the past. With faster connections and better screens, the amount of people surfing the web on their mobile device is increasing every year. Because so many people are using their phones to go online, maybe its time to take a look at how you can incorporate mobile into your current Adwords campaigns.

Advertising specifically for mobile devices is still a relatively new area for many companies and most have yet to take advantage. While this might be the case today, it won't be for long. In the months and years to come the amount of advertisers is going to dramatically increase. It makes sense to start testing and refining your campaigns today.

Want to move forward with a mobile campaign? A few things to consider:

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Remarketing with Adwords


reuse your adwords

Google continues to improve Adwords by giving advertisers more options to better target customers. One of these options is the Remarketing feature available through the Content Network. If you're unfamiliar with this relatively new feature, it allows you to reach out to users who have previously visited your website. As an advertiser, this gives you the ability to show specialized ads which better speaks to what your visitor has previously been researching.

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Making use of Adwords Search Funnels

When someone decides to buy something online there is usually some research done on the different options available. Not everyone knows precisely what they want, so in many instances people aren't going to type into Google exactly what they are planning to buy. At least not right away. This is a good reason why you don't want to completely ignore top of the funnel keywords within your PPC campaigns.

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10 Ways to Cut Costs and Save Money Inside Your Adwords Account


save your pennies

Many advertisers are losing money or significantly hindering their performance when it comes to using Adwords, leading some companies to abandon Adwords completely. An Adwords account can be tough to manage but there are here are a few ways to keep your campaigns profitable and the cash rolling in. Here are ten ways to cut costs and quickly get back up and making money.

1) Focus only on relevant keywords

When advertisers first start in Adwords they are told to do keyword research and bid on every term that could potentially result in a sale. This is a good strategy when you have a bigger budget and can afford to test a large set of keywords but if you're a budget conscious advertiser you will first want to focus strictly on highly relevant keywords and leave out anything you're not sure about, even if it has potential. Once your highly relevant keywords are converting and making money then you can go back and expand your list and add all the keywords that you weren't sure about.

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Google Analytics Traps #6:Subdomain tracking robs AdWords. Blame _setDomainName() or _initData()?


Who gets credit for the Goal

You're getting AdWords traffic. You're sure that some of those visitors are converting. But Google Analytics is not giving your Campaigns the credit they are due. Could Sub-domain tracking be the problem?

All sub-domain tracking problems lead to _setDomainName() and _initData(). _initData()? Just when you thought it was deprecated, dropped, kaput, gone and forgotten !!!

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Tips Tricks, Traps and Tools: #4.1 of many: Understanding Direct Visits in GA & Web Analytics : UDVs


Direct Traffic - Top of the List

Direct visitors may be your most valuable. Keeping track of them makes sense. Advertisers, for example, may be more interested in your direct traffic than your paid traffic. And then there are the New Direct Visitors. That requires some expensive advertising or valuable word-of-mouth. If you are doing any off-line marketing, direct traffic KPIs rule (along with some fellow megalomaniacs).

So it makes sense to identify direct visits, to segment direct visitors and to track conversions within that segment.

Post #4, GA User Defined Variables (UDVs) Revisited described the Scenario "Improved Attribution" requiring that direct visitors status be recorded so as not to be overwritten by subsequent traffic sources. We delve more deeply here, distinguishing between direct and "external" visits and between direct visits and direct visitors. We also provide two code snippets below.

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The Top 3 Pay-Per-Click Tips from SMX Advanced

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Seattle and attend SMX Advanced. I sat in on all the PPC sessions and couldn't wait to learn something new. Unfortunately there were only a few bits of information worth blogging about, the rest was general knowledge, ranting or shameless promotion. That being said, listed here are the top 3 PPC tips from SMX Advanced: how you can control ad copy impression share; reset your quality score; and use dynamic keyword insertions for all-caps titles.

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Improve Your ROI with the new Google AdWords Interface


new great changes to Google Adwords

The new AdWords interface has been in the works for some time and is now available to advertisers (optional right now). At first I was hesitant about switching over to a new "beta"—interface especially since I've become so comfortable with the old interface—but once I switched I noticed that this wasn't just a simple graphical update, it was a new interface with a bunch of new and improved features.

The features include things like "rollup tabs" (for easier navigation between tabs), quicker editing of bids, quicker editing of ad copy, a bunch of minor updates, and most importantly: the search query performance and placement performance displays.

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Yahoo Panama Doesn't Get It


Yahoo still misses on many points

Yahoo Panama (the pay-per-click platform) has recently released some updates to their system. Some of the changes include day time parting, demographic bidding and a "new" and updated content network. If you've been using AdWords then you know these features are not exactly revolutionary.

On the surface this may seem great. Yahoo Panama has been in need of updates, but this update hasn't done much for Yahoo advertisers and the major problems that plague their paid search marketing platform still exist.

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