PPC Blog

The new attribution model for AdWords was the talk of the town when it was first announced in 2016. But since then, it hasn’t received as much attention.

Even so, I was surprised recently when a colleague in the pay-per-click industry confessed that he wasn’t aware of it.

I can understand how he missed it. After all, it’s one of those AdWords settings that you can easily overlook if you don’t know it’s there.

Therefore, in this article, I’m going to recap what attribution settings are and reveal what you can expect if you start using the new models.

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It’s not uncommon for people new to paid search to get overly focused on certain PPC metrics.

While I applaud their interest, I often find that those metrics—in isolation—aren’t terribly useful.

At the same time, I can understand the fascination with certain numbers. After all, it’s easier to focus on one or two highly visible numbers than more complex metrics that are harder to nail down.

And, sometimes, I think these metrics become a way to avoid taking a broader perspective and asking tougher questions.

Therefore, I’m going to use this post to describe a few metrics that get more attention than they deserve—and what you might want to focus on instead.

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Last December, Google communicated forthcoming changes for its Google Ad Grants program. The changes were scheduled to be implemented on January 1. However, it appears that Google is giving account owners some time to make necessary adjustments.

The program provides up to $10,000 USD in AdWords advertising to eligible nonprofits, with some restrictions.

Some of the program changes are good (such as the removal of the $2 bid limit).

But other changes may create new challenges. In particular, the new 5% CTR rule might create some difficulties, especially if your nonprofit operates in a highly competitive market.

In my latest column in Search Engine Land, I take a closer look at these Google Ad Grants program changes and describe how nonprofits can work with—and around—the new rules.

Occasionally, clients decide to discontinue the services of their paid search advertising agencies.

Sometimes they intend to let their paid accounts run with minimal oversight or stop their campaigns entirely.

The motivation for this decision can vary.

Sometimes clients are experiencing production issues, and they want to cease advertising temporarily because they’re unable to fulfill the volume of customer orders the ads are generating.

Sometimes the client feels overwhelmed by the number of inquiries — and want to stop advertising until they’ve exhausted all of those leads.

And sometimes, it’s intended as a cost-saving measure. Clients decide to cease PPC activities for several months to “save money.”

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Recently, when Search Engine Journal asked me to predict what will happen in paid search in 2018, I pointed to audience targeting.

Here’s an excerpt:

Next year, I predict that Google will put more resources into audience targeting methods – especially on the Search Network — while, at the same time, advertisers will become increasingly sophisticated users of existing AdWords targeting options….

Advertisers will become more skilled at targeting their preferred audiences by … means such as demographic targeting. Most advertisers are well versed in location and device adjustments, but few of us are as well versed in the demographic targeting that was introduced in 2016.

Later, I was gratified to see I wasn’t the only one predicting a move in this direction.

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Group Twenty Seven is a boutique online advertising agency that’s run by a close-knit team of advertising professionals.

Our team is distributed geographically (with most located in Colorado and Massachusetts), but you wouldn’t know it from how we interact. We work together closely and collaboratively—and have a genuine fondness and respect for one another.

All of us are driven by the common goal of getting good results for our clients. If one team member needs extra help, other team members pitch in. We like our work and are focused on performing it smartly and efficiently. That’s just how we do it!

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I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been invited to speak at the upcoming ADworld Experience Conference in Bologna, Italy!

ADworld Experience is a unique conference because it’s based on real-life pay per click and conversion rate optimization case studies.

It will run over two days: April 12 and 13.

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One paid search element that doesn’t always receive the attention it should is how to write a good PPC text ad. The importance of good paid search ad copy can’t be overstated. Even the most stellar PPC program can’t survive poorly written ads!

Yet writing these ads isn’t easy. You need them to accomplish a number of not-easy things, including grab the viewers’ attention, communicate your message clearly and get qualified prospects to click.

At the same time, you have to adhere to strict requirements and limitations, such character count limits.

Over the years, my team and I have gotten pretty good at writing PPC text ads. And in my latest Search Engine Land column, I share 15 tips for writing PPC text ads that will help your online ads soar!

I’m somewhat hesitant to tackle the subject of PPC basics for new AdWords users. Because to do PPC well, you really have to step beyond the basics. But as soon as you do, things can get complicated really fast.

As a compromise, I’m going to discuss both in this article — the basics and what lies beyond.

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Paid search advertising is always changing. (Which is one of the things I love about it.) It takes a concerted effort to keep up with the times.

Paid search changes at such a rapid rate, in fact, that you have to look extra carefully at work experience. For example, if someone says, “I’ve worked in paid search advertising for 12 years,” that doesn’t tell me much. Sure, they might have excellent management experience and good contextual understanding of PPC advertising, but if they haven’t touch an AdWords account in the last two years, they would be woefully unprepared to directly manage an account.

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