How much different is keyword research done in regards to content/placement campaigns as opposed to search campaigns since QS isn't an issue. I have not done much promoting in the content network. Is direct linking easier to do in content /placement campaigns?
CONTENT NETWORK
- Thread starter pilot2ppc
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1. QS is an issue these days on content campaigns too
2. The key to understand here is that you're targeting demographic, not people that search for particluar search term. Thus, you need to define what does your demographic do on internet: which sites they visit by doing some quantcast.com type of research, and define a broad range of topics your target audience likes and go from there.
3. Do your homework on negatives too, can't go wrong with "too many" negatives, just choose them as carefully as your normal keywords
4. split kws in tight groups 1-3 kws in each (some advise 1 kw per adgroup) and track and test the living hell out of everything..
5. Do placement report on a regular basis and...
GOOD LUCK BRO!
2. The key to understand here is that you're targeting demographic, not people that search for particluar search term. Thus, you need to define what does your demographic do on internet: which sites they visit by doing some quantcast.com type of research, and define a broad range of topics your target audience likes and go from there.
3. Do your homework on negatives too, can't go wrong with "too many" negatives, just choose them as carefully as your normal keywords
4. split kws in tight groups 1-3 kws in each (some advise 1 kw per adgroup) and track and test the living hell out of everything..
5. Do placement report on a regular basis and...
GOOD LUCK BRO!
Thanks for the info...I suppose what your promoting is a big factor on which type of campaign your planning on using.search or content? Also if QS is still a factor, is a landing page or site the best way to go? Or if the merchant landing page is well constructed in regards to content and appeal, is a direct linking campaign still viable?
You can target demographics in the content network but ultimately you're dealing with contextual advertising. You want your ads to appear with content that is related to your ad/offer. This way it is somewhat targeted (although it's still a form of interruption marketing). The most important thing to remember about Google Content Network is that it displays ads based on the theme of your ad groups and campaign.
You want to have a lot more than 1-3 keywords in each ad group in my opinion (20 or more) and you want those keywords to center around a single theme. The better defined your theme is, the better match your ads will have with the content that is being displayed.
Some verticals (such as weight loss) are really tough to advertise on Content now and this isn't to do much with Quality Score (I was told by someone very knowledgeable to this process at Google that to get a "good" quality score, your ads only need to have a .1% CTR) but more so with certain types of promotion (flogs, implied celebrity endorsement, etc).
The software algorithm will let your ads run for about 48 hours and then a human reviewer usually comes along and your traffic will go from 100,000 impressions to 100 overnight. That's a good indicator that they don't like your landing page/promotion method.
Be careful with negatives on Content. Pay close attention to what you're adding. You probably want to run for a week without them to see which one's are sucking your budget down. I've seen a bit of evidence that negatives are not needed as much now as they have been in the past. That algorithm is pretty damn smart.
You want to have a lot more than 1-3 keywords in each ad group in my opinion (20 or more) and you want those keywords to center around a single theme. The better defined your theme is, the better match your ads will have with the content that is being displayed.
Some verticals (such as weight loss) are really tough to advertise on Content now and this isn't to do much with Quality Score (I was told by someone very knowledgeable to this process at Google that to get a "good" quality score, your ads only need to have a .1% CTR) but more so with certain types of promotion (flogs, implied celebrity endorsement, etc).
The software algorithm will let your ads run for about 48 hours and then a human reviewer usually comes along and your traffic will go from 100,000 impressions to 100 overnight. That's a good indicator that they don't like your landing page/promotion method.
Be careful with negatives on Content. Pay close attention to what you're adding. You probably want to run for a week without them to see which one's are sucking your budget down. I've seen a bit of evidence that negatives are not needed as much now as they have been in the past. That algorithm is pretty damn smart.
Very Helpful Gents!! Thanks...that gives me a better feel for what I need to do. By the way, regarding my question to direct linking...can this be the way to go here, for instance, say for a beauty product that has a great landing page, or my own site. I know that may be a difficult question to answer. I have done redirects on search, and they seemed to do alright for a while before the googly made it impossible...
Generate a shitload of keywords and you can sort them in the Google Adwords Editor(put them in one adgroup -> tools -> keyword grouper). Start running and pause adgroups with low impressions, shit ctr.
Keep an eye on conversions and exclude shit placements that dont perform.
Keep an eye on conversions and exclude shit placements that dont perform.
New to the forum but I love the way dickarmy puts it down....
Thanks!!!!
Thanks for that tip on the Adwords Editor also Thuxen - appreciate the idiot proof instructions - (put them in one adgroup -> tools -> keyword grouper)
Thanks!!!!
Thanks for that tip on the Adwords Editor also Thuxen - appreciate the idiot proof instructions - (put them in one adgroup -> tools -> keyword grouper)
Let me know if you have any questions about content targeting on Pulse 360. Its a lot different than Google but from the feedback i get it converts a lot better.
Are you fucking kidding me Joe? .50 min cpc for most categories, INSANELY picky ad reviewers that take FOREVER to approve ads, and most importantly, a weak bidding process doesn't account for a high conversion rate.
When you tell me that a weight loss and/or beauty product is "irrelevant" for a site like Momslikeme.com, that only tells me your reviewers are not interested in doing their damn job, that or you're looking for that $1+ CPC guy.
I'd love to chat with this with you personally... PM me if you're interested.
its not irrelevant diet ads are blocked from momslikeme. A lot of our partners block the diet ads but a lot don't. you just need to know where to focus your dollars and the best way to do that is to work closely with a rep here. I wont tell you that every campaign you will put up works but I will tell you that I am working closely with people who are making a lot of money every day with us so the possiblities are there. you just need to find the right mix of topics, copy and lander.
For those of you interested in the content network, you should read ImageAndWords blog post on the subject: Conquering The Content Network (Google) : PROFITAPOLIS
you dont have to bid $2-$3 to get any play. Our top spenders are not bidding anywhere close to that. With our network its all about your CTR so your creative has to be better than your competition.
In my personal experience, direct linking on the adwords content network is very hard to pull off. LP quality scoring on the CN has become a much bigger factor than it has been in the past. If it's a remotely competitive niche, forget about it. IMO, you're much better off making your own killer LP. Note: one-page landers don't fly on the CN, so you need to be prepared to create an entire mini site (yes, it's a pain in the ass). Also, if it appears that the only purpose of your LP is to send visitors to another site via aff links, the first human reviewer will shit-can your campaign (if the bot/algo doesn't automatically off the bat). G wants the LP to have useful content that stands on its own, not just a bridge page. It's a delicate balance that can make you want to ship Google a big box of dog shit.
Seriously, if you want to go prematurely gray, try to make a living as an affiliate using only adwords.
All that being said, G can funnel an *enormous* amt of traffic your way if you can play by their rules. Here are a few tips for helping your LP quality on G search and content network:
Probably goes without saying, but keep your search and CN campaigns separate
Think on-page SEO. Make sure title, h1's, meta keywords, meta description, alt tags, anchors, and content all relate to the topic/keywords your bidding on. File name any images on your page that actually relate to the topic with an applicable name (i.e. "blue-widget.jpg") and alt text. G likes relevant images. Name any images not relating to the content (cute rounded borders, etc.) with names like "img07.gif" and for God's sake, don't give these types of images a keyword-stuffed alt tag. Use title tags on relevant links (both image links and text links). Use css as much as possible to limit code bloat. There is plenty more to on-page seo and this is by no means an exhaustive reference… do your own research.
Create privacy, tos, contact, about, sitemap (xml version too) pages. Pages with unique articles and info are also helpful. Try and think of things to keep your bounce rate low. If all your visitors immediately bail, your QS will suffer. Use a reputable web host. A slow-loading, unreliable site is a QS disaster… not to mention you are paying for traffic, so don’t piss that traffic off.
Try and get the LP indexed by G via a few inbound links prior to using it in adwords. Not totally necessary, but it does help.
Do as much ad testing and optimizing via other ad networks prior to setting up a campaign in adwords. Seriously, get your shit together – adwords doesn’t make a good sandbox. A good CTR out of the gates will be to your benefit. Too many poor performing and slapped campaigns in adwords will affect your entire account, making it useless.
If there’s a problem with an ad or campaign, don’t contact G about it except as a last resort. They’re just not helpful and it usually does more harm than good having them poke around your account.
Be sure to utilize placement reports to identify the top performers and create site-targeted campaigns based on that info. Bear in mind, though, that some sites don’t allow targeted placements so you might not be able to split them off. Use exclusions to block sites that suck.
Anyway, that's just some stuff off the top of my head. There are plenty of others who know a lot more about the CN than I do, for sure.
Are you saying that your bid prices are determined by CTR?
My experience tells me otherwise.
A while ago I targeted a few placements on your network and I was shocked to see the CPCs for top 3 positions. One of the extreme examples I saw was on Comcast (Health):
Position 1 ($89.xx)
Position 2 ($14.xx)
Position 3 ($13.xx)
No. I am not kidding. These are the actual prices I saw. I believe that your system is rigged. There is no way in hell anyone is paying so much money for a click.
In my case, I put a bid of $1.50 and it took 3 days to spend $200. I finally gave up.
Tell me how I can get decent number of clicks/impressions for ~$1.00 cpc?
i am telling you that we definitely rank your ads by your bid price and CTR. those bids you saw mean that right now based on your current bid and CTR you need to bid that to get into the top position. its an issue with the system that we are working on correcting but obviously its not accurate.
when that happens you need to just leave the ad in there at a decent bid (.75 - 1.00) and as you start to get rotated in for a few page view that bid price will drop very quickly. For a topic like Comcast health it does not surprise me that you did not get much volume. that topic does not get a lot of page views. But at topic like comcast: News gets alot of love on that site.
Again your best bet is to work closely with a rep and ask them what topics are working best. At a bid of 1.50 you can do some serious volume as long as your CTR is good. Our reps tend to really love working hands on with you so please feel free to ask questions. Unfortunately our network can need a lot of TLC so please ask questions and work closely with your AE. They willl help point in the best direction for what topics are getting volume, what bids you need to be at etc.
when that happens you need to just leave the ad in there at a decent bid (.75 - 1.00) and as you start to get rotated in for a few page view that bid price will drop very quickly. For a topic like Comcast health it does not surprise me that you did not get much volume. that topic does not get a lot of page views. But at topic like comcast: News gets alot of love on that site.
Again your best bet is to work closely with a rep and ask them what topics are working best. At a bid of 1.50 you can do some serious volume as long as your CTR is good. Our reps tend to really love working hands on with you so please feel free to ask questions. Unfortunately our network can need a lot of TLC so please ask questions and work closely with your AE. They willl help point in the best direction for what topics are getting volume, what bids you need to be at etc.
Thanks for the prompt response. The bid prices I saw was before I had any impressions. It was not based on any CTR history. I will try to work with a rep as you suggested.
yep that is a flaw in our system that we are working on. once the ad is live for a bit that bid will drop quickly. just looks crazy at first.
I'm talking to a Pulse 360 rep right now and it's TONS easier than using only their web interface.
She had some great ideas RE: category placement and conversion tracking. Joe paints a rosy picture and I'm kind of hoping to try it out hardcore this week, will report back once I've spent a grand or two.
She had some great ideas RE: category placement and conversion tracking. Joe paints a rosy picture and I'm kind of hoping to try it out hardcore this week, will report back once I've spent a grand or two.
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