Busby SEO Test
As you’re probably aware, Adwords is a wildly popular advertising platform, but are you going about putting your ads together in a way that lets them reach their effectiveness potential? Google says to Write clear, specific, and compelling ads to convince people to click on them. “For instance, if you are running a special holiday promotion, you could mention it in your ad text to drive additional interest.”
You can geo-target your AdWords ads right down to specific neighborhoods (or as wide as an entire country or the whole world). This lets you adjust the relevancy of your ads to the audience they reach. Google also suggests, “Use the Keyword Tool to help you build your holiday keyword list so your ads can appear when holiday shoppers search on Google for gift ideas related to your products and services.”
I’ll go a step further and suggest incorporating some display ads into your holiday AdWords campaigns. This is a new feature that Google is offering, and display advertising is a trend that is making its way back around now that targeting and personalization technologies are better equipped for success than they were years ago. Not only will display ads potentially attract more eyeballs, they are (in my opinion) better for branding and leaving a lasting imprint in the minds of those who view them.
Google Checkout Tips
If you use AdWords, display Google Checkout badges in your ads. According to Google, ads that do this have a 10% higher clickthrough rate than those that don’t, and why not? This is a classic advertising strategy. It makes the ads look “clicky”. It’s basically a call-to-action. It tells the customers, “click me to buy this.”
Google also offers a couple of cost-saving tips when it comes to Google Checkout, which are sure to be appreciated as the economy puts a strain on businesses. You can reduce transaction processing costs if you use AdWords with Google Checkout, because when you do this, you are eligible for free processing on some or all of your Google Checkout sales. They also offer reduced shipping costs via discounted FedEx rates.
Google Analytics Tips
Analyzing data is an important part of moving forward with campaigns and making adjustments to your site, and in that spirit, Google also has a couple tips for using their Analytics service. These include getting the most out of you AdWords campaign by evaluating geographical performance data, and learning where shoppers are exiting your site so you can make improvements to it to keep them there until they buy.
For a more detailed look at Bounce rates, I suggest reading Jason Miller’s article and watching our accompanying WebProNews video interview from SES San Jose with Google Group Manager Brett Crosby and Web Analytics: An Hour a Day author Avinash Kaushik. Search Engine Roundtable also points to some additional holiday tips from Google in video form.
