Blog

• Google brings AI-powered ad suggestions to AdWords campaigns. The new campaigns will get optimization suggestion from Google’s AI.  
• Google is testing phrase free AdWords Campaign. 
• Automated PPC bidding is not ideal in all the situations. Here’s a comprehensive article that explains in great detail that when you should not use automated bidding. 
• Google has recently launched a new tool “reach planner” that helps you spend your marketing budget wisely. 
• Don’t want Google to run ads automatically? Here’s how you can opt out of AdWords Ad suggestions.
• Bing has recently launched 4 new features within their Bing shopping campaigns interface. 
• The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is new privacy regulations that are going into place officially on May 25th, 2018. IN response to this rule, Google is making big changes, especially within Youtube Ads. Find out. 
• Bing Ads has launched New Price extensions. According to bing, this will help advertisers show the right product at the right time. 
• Google has launched TrueView that helps advertisers to promote their products/service more effectively. The bumper ads which are 6 seconds long are the first to be introduced.
   

• Google has finally released the new keyword planning tool in AdWords. However, you have to wait just a little more to try it yourself.
• What Startups Can Learn from ‘Tax Relief’ PPC Campaigns.
• Bing recently rolled out a fix to Intelligent Tracking Preventions (ITP).
• Delayed growth of close variants following google changes now becoming clear.
• Bing Ads’ new Audience Segmentation feature makes list performance comparisons easy.
• Google provided the users with the ability to “Opt-out” from the re-marketing campaigns.
• 10X Your A/B Testing with AdWords Ad Variations.
• Here are some excellent strategies for E-commerce campaigns.
• 5 critical factors for optimizing luxury E-commerce sites.
• Everything you need to know about Facebook live ads.
• A guide to Snapchat ads manager.
   

The top 20 updates for local search in 2016

The sign on your business is in disrepair. Packages delivered to your business are blocking your doorway. What do you do? You repair the sign and you move the boxes. You make sure your business is easy to find.

The same care is required for your local online presence. You won’t rank well if you have conflicting information on any one of the thousands of sites where Google and other search engines gather local listings data. And, consumers are confused when they see discrepancies—they’re likely to go to a competitor whose listings are clean and consistent.

Give us a call and we’ll tell you more about local listings management.

According to a recent study by Bunnyfoot (a usability and user experience design firm), an estimated one-third of people who use Google Search don’t recognize the difference between a paid ad and an organic result. In other words, a significant number of people think the item at the top of the page is there because it’s the best match for their search query. 

After hundreds of tests over the past decade, the team at Bunnyfoot concluded that, “... it is very difficult to predict what customers’ knowledge or understanding is. When you do the tests, you are often humbled and surprised with how far off your assumptions are.” This is a good reminder that it’s unwise to assume you know what your customers are thinking.

Online marketing is a great and necessary investment, but so is your website. 

According to a study by Missouri University of Science and Technology, it takes users less than two-tenths of a second to form a first impression of a website. 

With so little time to make a good first impression, it’s important that your website:

• Has a crystal clear call to action.
• Is uncluttered and easy to navigate.
• Includes “real” images that genuinely represent your company (keep the stock images to a minimum).
• Is mobile-friendly.
• Provides useful information (i.e., load it up with quality content).

Make sure your website is a place where people want to spend time. And remember, the majority of first-time visitors to a website leave without completing a conversion. Click here to find out how PPC retargeting can bring people back to your website. 

Google, Facebook, Twitter and AOL have joined together to launch TrustInAds.org, with the mission to keep the user experience positive for everyone on the web and keep ads safe. 

From the TrustInAds website:

...There are scammers that try to “game the system” to find ways to exploit consumers by getting harmful and deceptive ads published on reputable websites. In many cases, these ads - on the surface - appear normal and harmless, but may surreptitiously redirect a person to webpages that can install malware to a computer or mobile devices, direct them to scam or phishing websites, or try to sell them counterfeit goods.

Any effort to thwart the bad actors on the internet helps the upstanding businesses that depend on leads from their PPC advertising campaigns. Click here for more information about TrustInAds.org.

In 2014, Content Marketing is still the key to a powerful SEO campaign and an active, engaging social media presence. The opportunities for content placement are increasing because online publishers will need to generate income!

The banner ads on newspaper and magazine websites are not doing the job; the typical click-through rate is approximately.1 percent. (Source: DoubleClick). Online publishers, including such heavyweights as The New York Times, Buzzfeed and Vanity Fair, are hoping Native Advertising will boost click through rates and increase revenue.

The objective of Native Advertising is to complement an article with helpful information from a paid sponsor. Like other forms of content marketing, native ads do not specifically market the sponsor's product or service. The expectation is that a reader will would like to engage with the sponsored content because, unlike a banner ad, a native ad contains information that is specific to the article that has already attracted the visitor's attention.

While a small business probably can't afford a native ad placement on The New York Times website, there are affordable options-- 73 percent of online publishers and media companies offer some kind of native advertising program. (Source: eMarketer)

According to a recent industry report, SEO is #1 when it comes to generating leads. The report is based on a survey of over 500 marketing professionals. 53% of all participants said SEO makes the biggest impact on lead generation, followed by 28% for PPC and 19% for social media.

We’re not surprised. Most of our clients get significantly more leads from SEO than any other online channel. We get great results from PPC and Social Media campaigns too and that’s because we set and measure goals. We’d be happy to give you recommendations on PPC and/or Social Media for your business.

Bing: One Year Later

In August of 2010, Yahoo and Microsoft combined their resources in a new search engine called “Bing.” Many in the search marketing community were anxious to see how this would impact Google’s domination of the industry. So what’s the damage? One year later, Google’s U.S. market share is down from 71% to 65%. Bing’s share grew 4%, from 24% to 28%. In March 2010, Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer said, “Tomorrow’s goal is to gain a few points, a tenth here, a tenth there, and just keep working and working.” Slow, steady growth is their goal and after one year, it looks like they’re on the right path.

People who do pay-per-click advertising should max out their budget on Google—that’s where the traffic is. Bing hasn’t changed that. Bing is a viable service to add for high budget campaigns. If you’re interested, we’d be happy to advise you on PPC for your business. You may even want to consider a retargeting campaign. You’ve probably noticed ads following you as you surf the web—that’s retargeting. Let us know if you have any questions about PPC advertising.