Susan Wenograd

Wenograd.com

Twitter: SusanEDub

@SusanEDub #StateofSearch 1

3 Ways to Improve Your

AdWords (and Become

Amigos with Google)

Who Am I, Anyway?

• 10 years in digital marketing

• PPC is my favorite (don’t tell the other

channels)

• Client & agency experience

• Brands: CircuitCity.com, General Motors,

and many others

• Based in Dallas, where I claim I hate it

from July through September

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It All Starts Off So Easy…

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We’re going to bid on awesome keywords!

We’re going to get perfectly-qualified clicks!

Phase One: Sadness

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Where are my sales?

The AdWordsinterface says

to increase the budget.

Phase Two: Frustration

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What am I doing wrong?

Phase Three

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When Did It Get So Complicated?

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3 Biggest Ouches in an Audit

• Search Terms & Negative Keywords

• Account Structure

• Bid Modifiers

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Ouch #1: Lack of Negative

Keywords

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I’m Google, and

I’m here to eat

your budget.

Match Type Lesson

Broad Match

• Match making services

• Type A personality

• Lesson you’ll never forget

Modified Broad Match

• Susan’s +Lessons about +Match +Types

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Match Type Lesson (cont.)

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Exact• [Match Type Lesson]

Phrase• Slides with the “Match Type Lesson” info

• “Match Type Lesson” at State of Search

Broad & Phrase Match

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Keywords vs. Search Queries

Does This Really Matter?

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Bottom Line

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Weaponry: Search Term Report

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Negative Keywords

Match Types:

• Broad: Classes

• Phrase: Classes in

• Exact: Classes in Raleigh

Application Levels:

• Campaign

• Ad Group

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Bonus Tip:

Mining Your Search Terms

Export search terms.

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It looks worse before it looks

better…

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(Yes,we’re geeking out right now.)

Consolidate terms to one column

• “Remove Duplicates” on each column

• Copy keywords in each column to bottom

of Column A.

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One list, many insights

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Negative keyword

Hmm. Consumers care about

the material…ad copy &

keyword additions!

Ad Group idea & on-site

content idea win!

Ad Group for B2C Campaign,

negative keyword for this Ad

Group

Ouch #2: Poor Account Structure

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It’s Campaigns and

Ad Groups.

Big Deal.

Good Account Structure vs. Bad

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• No new ads

• No change in bids

• No change in landing page

• So, what was it?

It’s gonna sound crazy, but…

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Here’s Why

• Cross-matching (aka) “Click bleed”

= Sub-optimal ad copy being shown

• Broad Match gone wild

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How to Spot Click Bleed

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Ad Groups term appeared in + spend

Ad Groups term appeared in + spend

Ad Groups term appeared in + spend

Ad Groups term appeared in + spend

How Do We Fix This?

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Go to your Ad Group! Are you

too good for your Ad Group?

Clear Account Structure: Option 1

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Campaign

Ad Group: Broad

Ad Group: Exact

Negative

mirroring

Clear Account Structure: Option 2

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Campaign: Exact

Ad Group A

Ad Group B

Campaign: Broad

Ad Group A

Ad Group B

Negative

mirroring

Does It Work?

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Before

After

Bonus Tip: Ad Copy in Rotation

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Structure = Control & Time

• Negative keyword analysis

• Negative keyword mirroring

• Bid management

• Budget control

• Ad copy control

• Device control

• Daypart control

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Ouch #3: Modifiers

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What are Modifiers?

• Gained prominence & function with

Enhanced Campaign roll-out

• Bid modification by % based on criteria:

– Days & Hours

– Device Types (Mobile only…thanks, Google)

– Geographical location

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Device Types

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All Users Are Not Equal

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Psst…your mobile users are awesome.

Geographic Modifiers

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Who loves you?

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Sorry, Detroit

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Canpaign Level Settings Locations

Are They Morning People?

Weekday People?

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Custom Ad Schedules

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Campaign Level Only

Modifiers Can Get Sticky

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Autopilot Danger: Stacking

Modifiers

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Danger, Will Robinson

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Bonus Tip: Callout Extensions

• New in September

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Before & After

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Acct Average Month Prior:

CTR of Ads with Callout Added:

Let’s Wrap This Up

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You Can’t Be Lazy

• Campaign & Ad Group Structure

• Negative keyword strategy

– Don’t fall off the wagon, the market changes

• Laser-targeted user behaviors and locations

– Dayparting

– Geographies

– Devices

• Check results frequently after making changes to catch issues

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Thank You!

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