Category: Google AdWords

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Google AdWords New Extensions Beta and Otherwise

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

Google AdWords has rolled out over this past year some interesting new extensions, some are now in all accounts, others just being rolled out, and some only allowed for select users.

Here are a few that I have seen, have tested, and know about:

1. Similar Audiences for Remarketing
I have used this in several client accounts and have to say that I am not pleased with the results. Although the concept sounds good – show your remarketing Display Network ads to others who have similar like and history profiles, I did not feel the results were valuable. What I like about remarketing is that the user has visited the client’s website and so has some knowledge of the client and their services. Not so with similar audiences. Expect clicks and impressions, but I did not see conversions.

2. Sign Up for Offer Extensions
This is a pretty good one. If you have a specials list, an e-newsletter, you can get your Google Rep to add you to this beta. Sorry, if you don’t have a Google Rep, you cannot get in on this action. When enabled, a box appears below your add with text like “Sign Up for Promos”. The users ads their email address and Google emails you their information so you can manually add them to your e-newsletter list. I’ve had clients get great results with this.

3. Review Extension
I have two clients that got rated in the top 100 for services by US News and World Reports, using the new Review Extension, which by the way has been rolled out to all accounts this past year, you can now see more information under their ads plus a blurb from US News and World Report below their ad giving them huge credibility over their competition. There are rules for use on this extension – must be a third party, must have a link to show the rating, etc. but it can be hugely valuable for your AdWords clients.

4. Search Now Extension
This is a beta test extension, and you’ll need your Google Account rep to vet and set this one up. Great for e-commerce stores, sites with lots of products and information, and large websites, the search box appears below your ad allowing the user to find more information or products right from the Google.com screen.

5. New Image Extension
This is also a beta test extension. Again you’ll need to be vetted by your Google Rep in order to use this one. This extension spiders your website and provides images from your own content to be shown. Right now it appears to be mainly for travel sites. I am not sure that Google will allow use for e-commerce stores as this would compete with the new Google Shopping campaigns.

If you want to know more about how McCord Web Services can help you with your Google AdWords account, I invite you to visit our website for transparent information about our pricing and services.

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What’s Google Got In Store for 2014? Part Two

Screen shot showing new black review bar
Screen shot showing new black review bar

Continuing our post from Monday, here are some of the things Google is testing that appear to be in store for rollout in 2014 both on mobile and desktop. Make sure to read this excellent article by by Dr. Peter Myers for the Moz Blog in an article titled “Future SERP: a Glimpse at Google 2014“. This is a must read for all website owners.

4. Boxed design with expanded information for the top search result in the organic listings. Google is actively testing these results now.  See the image above, this was taken when I did a recent search for Sushi Bar Chicago. Although I did not see the box design as noted in the article, what I did see was a new black bar across the top with reviews from Google+ Local pages and Zagut (Google’s new review property) plus a large map on the right with points detailed in the search results. The black bar is an eye grabber. This is just another of the new layouts Google is testing that is not even mentioned in the article.

5. Google Now Cards. If you use search on your smartphone, you’ve already seen the Google cards. This is a button/boxed shaped section with personalized information that appears when you open Google mobile to do a search. You can customize these cards and Google also delivers location specific information in these spots based on your actual location. If you are using an Android phone, you’ve also seen that even if you turn WiFi off, Google is turning it back on to know your location at all times to deliver location related content.

Check back on Friday to see the last in this series of what to expect on Google in 2014.

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Ad Extensions Will Now Affect Ad Rank in AdWords

Your use of ad extensions will now be factored in by Google AdWords in determining your ad rank and if your ad will show with what attributes and where on the page. This is big news from Google and not to be disregarded. If you have not embraced using ad extensions in your AdWords account, now’s the time to take a very careful look to see if you should.

Read the full release from Google on this topic in this blog post from Google done in the last two weeks.

Google says: Our system for ordering ads on search results pages uses a calculation called Ad Rank. Previously, Ad Rank was calculated using your max CPC bid and your Quality Score. With this update, Ad Rank will also take into account a third component: the expected impact from your ad extensions and formats. In addition, we’ve increased the importance of Ad Rank in determining whether your ad is eligible to be displayed with extensions and formats.

This means that if you are not using location extensions as your online store does not have a store front and a competitor does have a store front and a user may be searching with a smartphone for your products, he will most likely see your competitor’s ad with a map and direction link on how to get to his store.

Google is now actively determining which ads will show with what extensions based on location, device, and search query. It is all about relevance for the searcher with Google now racking and stacking ads by price, ad quality, and pertinent extension use.

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Dealing with Low Search Volume Keywords

In this video Frederick Vallaeys, a former Google AdWords Specialist answers the question on how can an advertiser get AdWords to show their ad for low search volume keywords. You can view the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWkO_O2f3NE&feature=youtu.be

Here is my own recommendation on what to do as I don’t agree that broad match keywords are typically best for an AdWords account.

1. If Google has been turning of or not showing your ad for keywords that you really like that are over three words long, try first shortening the phrase. Take a phrase like pest control services in Tom’s River New Jersey and use pest control Tom’s River. Better yet I like the phrase +pest +control +Tom’s +River or +pest control +Tom’s +River. Use broad match modifiers first and test your response with shorter phrases and a + directly in front of important keywords to get more activity.

2. If keywords are not tagged as low search volume keywords, you may have keywords that are simply out of the auction and raising the bid may help them to show.

3. Cut your long tail phrase from five or six keywords down to three or four and use phrase match.

The key in all these cases is to test, test, test. If you still cannot get your keywords using broad match modifier and a shortened phrase to show, then I would but the query and move to full broad match. Watch carefully your search term report and aggressively add in negative keywords to keep your response highly targeted.