No offense to Madonna, but living in a material world is no longer as relevant as living in a Google world; so if she’s ready for the remix, I’m only looking for a small finders fee.  There’s no question that Google dominates news headlines and is a top priority for online advertisers. When discussing accounts with a client, I estimate that 98% of the time we discuss Google and the other 2% of the time we talk about Bing.

With the end of the year upon us, it’s time to make sure your PPC accounts are ready for 2011. Our clients are busy this season selling their products which, naturally, makes us busy keeping up with their accounts. Despite being caught in the holiday craze, it’s still important to focus on an end-of-the-year clean-up to be in top shape for the New Year

As you are likely already aware, negative keywords are words or phrases that you can designate against so that your ads do not show up when a search engine user searches a keyword or term that you don’t want to trigger your ad. Having an extensive and accurate list will prevent you from spending money on keyword phrases that do not make sense for your company and, thus, will not convert. So now that we know the importance of generating an accurate negative keyword list for your Adwords account, the question becomes: how does one go about making the most effective negative keyword list? 

In terms of pay-per-click advertising, it has been a constant uphill battle for Google to produce relevant traffic on the content network that mirrors that of the search network. Despite the many benefits of the reach of the content network, Google has had difficulty proving why this advertising can be as beneficial as the search network due to lack of targeted visitors and increase in fraudulent websites in the network. However, over the past year or so Google has made legitimate strides in improving content network traffic by allowing for more control and targeted websites.

When you need help you call AAA, which naturally stands for “Agency Adwords Advantages”. Using an agency to handle a company’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has many benefits. On the surface, search engine marketing platforms may seem straight-forward and simple. However, taking full advantage of the advanced tools and complicated bid management software is not possible without extensive training and real-world experience.

As I have touched on in previous blog posts, Click Through Rate (CTR) is king in running a successful pay-per-click account. In order to maximize CTR you are going to want write appealing ad text. Unlike other forms of advertising you are allowed a lot of flexibility in copying and slightly adjusting the work done by others before you.

I’m the kind of girl who has always enjoyed keeping up with the latest trends. However, now that I’ve entered the world of search engine marketing, I’ve switched my trendy eye from fashion to PPC and the automotive industry. Who has time for an Emmy pre-show when there is Nissan year-end sale ad copy to create?

Coming from a traditional media background, I consistently watched dealers spend a minimum of $5,000 per month in traditional media – whether it was newspaper or radio or cable or magazine ads - we all know them.  There are plenty of options out there.

Google is quick to point out that they use an algorithm to determine Quality Score. It is based on click-through rate (CTR) and relevance, which are somewhat interlinked - with “relevance” being a very broad concept.  Google won’t get any more specific than that, claiming that if they do, it would provide an unfair competitive advantage.