Advanced Google AdWords

AdWords expert Brad Geddes is an Internet marketing consultant and the first and only Advanced AdWords Seminar leader that Google selected to conduct seminars for top businesses. He has advised companies such as Amazon, Red Lobster, Encyclopedia Britannica, and other Fortune 500 companies.

Foreword xxxi Introduction xxxiii Chapter 1 Understanding Search Theory 1 The Origins of Google AdWords 2 Google Enters the Arena 5 Google AdWords Select Revolutionizes PPC 6 The Psychology of Search 7 Turning Concepts into Words 8 Understanding Search Results 10 The Purpose of Ad Copy 11 Landing Pages Lead to New Customers 12 Advertising Is Not Advertising When It Is Information 14 Goal Alignment: Google vs You vs the Searcher 15 Best Practices for Applying Search Theory 17 Chapter 2 Performing Keyword Research 19 Understanding the Buying Funnel 20 Examining the Buying Funnel Phases 21 How Do Consumers Flow Through Your Buying Funnel? 22 Understanding Keywords 23 Types of Commercial Keywords 24 Finding Keyword Ideas 26 How Many Keywords Should You Have in Your Account? 29 Creating Keyword Lists 31 Using Long-Tail Keywords 33 Wide vs Deep Keywords 35 Discerning Keyword Match Types 36 Broad Match 37 Modified Broad Match 38 When Should You Use Broad Match? 40 Phrase Match 40 Exact Match 42 Variation Match 43 Which Match Type Is Best? 44 Using Negative Match 46 Implementing Negative Keywords 46 Negative Broad Match 49 Negative Phrase Match 50 Negative Exact Match 51 Putting Negative and Positive Keywords Together 52 Researching Negative Keywords 53 Using Advanced Organizational Techniques 55 Adding Multiple Match Types to the Same Ad Group 55 Restricting Match Types by Ad Group 56 Restricting Match Types by Campaign 56 Taking Control of Your Ad Display 57 Best Practices for Conducting Keyword Research 58 Chapter 3 Keyword Tools: Extracting Valuable Data from Google 59 AdWords Keyword Planner 60 Generating Keyword Ideas 61 Advanced Options and Filters 65 Ad Group and Keyword Ideas 69 Traffic Estimates 76 AdWords Keyword Planner vs Third-Party Keyword Tools 82 Google Trends 83 What Services Should You Offer? 85 Determining Your Messaging 87 Determining Consumer Interest 88 Bing Ads Intelligence 89 Best Practices for Using Keyword Tools 90 Chapter 4 Writing Compelling Ads 93 Do Your Ads Reflect the Search Query? 94 Writing Effective Ads 96 Calls to Action 97 Touching the Emotional Core 98 Following Google's Editorial Guidelines 99 Character Lengths 99 Editorial Requirements 100 Developing Unique Selling Propositions 102 Distinguishing Features and Benefits 103 Benefits, Features, and the Buying Funnel 104 When to Use a Feature vs a Benefit 105 Employing Themes That Get Clicks 106 Utilizing Numbers in Ads 107 How Strong Is Your Call to Action? 110 Writing Informational Ad Copy 111 Utilizing Negative Ad Copy 114 Do Not Forget the Display URL 114 Controlling Your Mobile Ads 116 Spicing Up Your Ads with Ad Extensions 118 Sitelink Extensions 118 Call Extensions 125 Additional Extensions 127 Limited Betas for New Extensions 129 Showcasing Your Products with PLAs 129 Following the Law: Trademarks 131 Trademark Exceptions 134 The Quest for the Holy Grail of Advertising 135 Best Practices for Writing Compelling Ads 136 Chapter 5 Creating Landing Pages That Convert Searchers into Buyers 139 Does Your Landing Page Answer the Searcher's Question? 140 Everything about Destination URLs 142 Using Destination URLs for Tracking 144 Complying with Destination URL Editorial Policies 151 Choosing Landing Pages That Increase Conversion Rates 152 Choosing Landing Pages Based on the Type of Query 153 Differentiating Local Business Queries 157 Using Segmentation Pages 159 Using Forms as Landing Pages 160 Thanking Your Customers 162 Crafting Perfect Landing Pages 164 Employing Usability, Trust, and Web Technology 164 Using Web Technology to Implement Usability and User Security 165 Psychological Factors That Increase Conversion Rates 173 Your Website's Usability Goals 180 Best Practices for Landing Pages 181 Chapter 6 Learning Advanced Optimization Techniques 183 Optimizing for Traffic 184 Exploring Strategies to Show Your Ads More Often 184 Taking Advantage of Dynamic Keyword Insertion 190 Increasing Page Views 194 Optimizing for Conversions 198 Writing Ad Copy That Sells 199 Creating Landing Pages That Increase Conversions 200 Making Additional Conversions to Increase Your Profits 210 Best Practices for Advanced Optimization Techniques 213 Chapter 7 Demystifying Quality Score 215 What Is Quality Score? 216 How Quality Score Affects Ad Rank 218 Quality Score Factors for Search 221 Viewing Your Quality Score 225 Landing Page Quality: Making Your Pages Relevant 228 Spiderability 228 Relevance 229 Transparency 230 Navigation 230 Estimating Your First Page Bid 231 Understanding the Display Network Quality Score 233 Quality Score for Managed Placements 234 Diagnosing Your Quality Scores 235 Ignoring Quality Score 240 Increasing Quality Scores 243 Creating Highly Relevant Ad Groups 244 Ad Testing to Increase Quality Scores 246 Landing Page Fixes 248 What to Do if Your Quality Score Drops 249 Quality Score FAQs 251 Best Practices for Optimizing Quality Scores 254 Chapter 8 Beyond Text: Employing Image, Video, and Mobile Ads 257 Beyond the Desktop: Creating Mobile Ads 258 Reaching Smartphone Users 258 Smartphone Extensions 261 Reaching Other Mobile Users: WAP Mobile Ads 262 Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool 264 Beyond Static Text: Creating Rich Media Ads 266 Creating Effective Image Ads 266 Developing Profitable Video Ads 272 AdWords Ad Gallery 275 Best Practices for Employing Image, Video, and Mobile Ads 278 Chapter 9 Understanding the Display Network 279 What Is the Display Network? 280 Advantages of the Display Network 281 Display Targeting Methods 282 Automatic vs Managed Placements 283 Creating Search- and Display-Only Campaigns 284 Managing Ad Group Targeting 285 Creating a Successful Display Network Campaign 286 Creating Keyword-Based Display Ad Groups 287 Display Network Topic Targeting 292 Targeting Ads Based on a User's Interest 296 Placement Targeting: Choose the Actual Sites Where Your Ads Are Displayed 298 Blocking Your Ads from Being Shown across the Display Network 305 Determining Negative Display Keywords 309 Smart Pricing: Measure Success with Cost per Conversion 310 Choosing CPM or CPC Bidding 312 Using the Display Planner Tool 314 Best Practices for the Display Network 320 Chapter 10 Utilizing Advanced Display Network Techniques 323 Remarketing: Bringing Visitors Back to Your Site 324 Define an Audience 324 Place the Script on Your Site 328 Create a Remarketing Ad Group 330 The 100 Cookie Rule 332 Remarketing Strategies 332 Don't Creep Out Your Customers 340 Flexible Targeting: Mixing and Matching Every Display Targeting Option 341 Flexible Targeting Options 342 Bid Modifiers for Display 344 Flexible Bidding Examples 345 Optimizing Your Display Campaigns 351 Organizing Your Display Campaigns 353 Creating Scenarios to Understand and Reach Your Target Audience 357 Writing Effective Display Ads 359 Best Practices for Advanced Display Network Advertising 361 Chapter 11 Utilizing Advanced Geographic Targeting Techniques 363 What Is Geographic Targeting? 364 The Technology behind Location Targeting 364 How Accurate Is Location Targeting? 366 Reaching Users in Specific Locations 369 Finding Locations to Target 370 Radius Targeting 374 Location Groups and Bid Modifiers 375 Advanced Location Targeting Options 376 Location Targeting Considerations 378 Targeting Multiple Countries 378 Reaching Users in an Area Smaller than a Country 380 Treating Locals and Nonlocals Differently in Your Ad Copy 385 Automatically Inserting Your Address into the Ad Copy 387 A Case Study into Local Belief Systems 390 Viewing Geographic Results 391 Geographic Performance Reports 393 Best Practices for Geographic Targeting 396 Chapter 12 Saving Time and Scaling Accounts with AdWords Editor 399 AdWords Editor Overview 400 Choosing Your Viewpoint 400 Viewing Your Account in AdWords Editor 404 Scaling Your Account 408 Importing Keywords 409 Creating Thousands of Keywords and Ad Groups 411 Easily Creating Thousands of Ads 414 Optimizing Display with AdWords Editor 420 Best Practices for Using AdWords Editor 421 Chapter 13 Devising Profitable Bid Strategies 423 Setting Your Marketing Goals 424 Measuring Results with Google's Conversion-Tracking Code 425 AdWords Conversion-Tracking Code 426 Google Analytics Tracking 430 Accessing Valuable Conversion Data in AdWords Reports 432 Tracking Phone Calls 434 Exploring AdWords Bidding Options 435 Focus on Clicks, Option 1 435 Focus on Clicks, Option 2 435 Enhanced CPC 436 Conversion Optimizer 437 Focus on Impressions 443 Flexible Bidding 443 Profitable Bidding Strategies 448 ROAS vs Profit 449 Revenue per Click 450 Taking Margins into Account 453 How Can Publishers Determine Revenue per Click? 455 Tracking Long Sales Cycles with Conversion Funnels 457 Calculating Your Max CPC 460 Setting Bids Based on ROAS 460 Bidding for Exposure 461 Bid Modifiers: Automatically Changing Bids by Time, Geography, Devices, and More 464 Location Bid Modifiers 467 Ad Scheduling: Automatically Changing Bids by Time Periods 471 Finding Conversion Information by Time Frames 473 Examples of Ad Scheduling Success 476 Creating Time-Sensitive Offers 479 Device Modifiers 480 Understanding Attribution Management 481 Examining AdWords Reports to Make ROAS Bid Decisions 484 Best Practices for Utilizing Profitable Bid Strategies 487 Chapter 14 Organizing Accounts Successfully 489 What Is an AdWords Account? 490 What Are the Limits of an AdWords Account? 490 Managing Multiple Accounts the Easy Way 491 Becoming a Google Partner 494 Developing a Successful Campaign Structure 496 Reasons to Create New Campaigns 496 Structuring Campaigns to Achieve Business Goals 497 Organizing an Ad Group to Increase CTR and Conversion Rates 513 Ad Group Organization for Mobile Bid Modifiers 515 Best Practices for Account Organization Strategies 516 Chapter 15 Implementing Testing Techniques That Will Increase Profits 519 Testing Is Essential to Increasing Profits 520 Testing Ad Copy to Increase Conversions 520 Ad Copy Messages You Should Test 521 Ad Copy Themes to Spark Your Creativity 521 Test Discounts Instead of Prices 522 Creating the Ad Copy Test 525 General Guidelines for Statistical Significance 527 Measuring the Results of Your Ad Test 529 Multi-Ad Group Testing 532 Testing Mobile Ads 534 Testing Landing Pages to Increase Conversions 535 Testing Where to Send Traffic 536 Landing Page Testing Factors 541 Making Ads and Landing Pages Work Together 547 Essential Items to Test First 553 Creating a Landing Page Test 553 Testing Profit per Click and Profit per Impression 556 AdWords Campaign Experiments 559 Best Practices for Testing Techniques That Will Increase Profits 561 Chapter 16 AdWords Reports: Extracting Actionable Information 563 Choosing General AdWords Report Settings 564 Customizing the Interface 564 Downloading Your Data 568 Using Reports to Optimize Your Account 571 Campaign Reports 571 Ad Group Performance Report 573 Ad Performance Report 573 Keyword Report 576 Display Network Reports 579 Dimensions Reports 581 Creating Custom Alerts 585 Best Practices for Using AdWords Reports 587 Chapter 17 Step by Step: Creating and Monitoring Your AdWords Account 589 Before You Create Your Account 590 Creating Campaigns 592 Creating Search Campaigns 593 Creating Display-Targeted Campaigns 597 Creating Managed Placements Campaigns 598 Other Campaign Types 600 Optimizing Ongoing Campaigns 601 Optimizing Search Campaigns 601 Managing Maximize Clicks Campaigns 605 Optimizing Display Campaigns 606 Optimizing Managed Placements Campaigns 608 Optimizing CPM Campaigns 609 Optimizing Other Campaign Types 611 Creating an Optimization Schedule 612 Best Practices for Creating and Managing Your AdWords Account 615 Glossary 619 Index 627