Category: Google AdWords

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How Do You Get Images Next to Your AdWords Ads?

Clients have asked me several times how competitors are getting images in their Google AdWords ads, here’s how.

First, to have images show you must set up an account and created a structured data feed in the Google Merchant Center. The data feed will contain product information, a description, pricing, links to images, and location on your website. Once loaded you can link your Google Merchant account with your Google AdWords account using Product Extensions.

If you want to try Product Extensions check out this article on how to do that that even contains a link to set up your own Google Merchant account.

Product Extensions are just one of the extensions that Google now makes it easy to use in Google AdWords. Recently added was location extensions and phone extensions for click to call. What is new is that now you can even set up a tab in your AdWords control panel to get quick information about activity on your special extensions.

If you want to enable the new tab to view interaction with these new extensions in your Google AdWords account check out this blog post from AdWords.

I think using extensions is an excellent way to expand the reach and relevancy of your Google AdWords program. Make sure you have enabled these things in your own account for better performance.

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AdWords Content Network – Excluding Below the Fold Placements

The team at Google AdWords has been incredibly busy this last month rolling out some super new features. Here’s one that is really great if you are advertising in the content network:

Exclude content placements that fall below the fold

The fold is the part of a web page that a reader has to scroll to see. In many cases to be below the fold means that you do not get the clicks, exposure, and return on investment that you need. For content placement in the top three to five ad spots on the side of the page or at the top of the page are preferable. As typically in the content network readers will rapidly scan content and may not even read past the first one or two paragraphs, having a top position can mean the difference between mediocre and great results.

Here’s a quote directly from AdWords on this topic and how to enable it for your content program:

“How to exclude below-the-fold placements

“Follow these steps to exclude below-the-fold placements for your AdWords campaign:

  1. Click the Campaigns tab.
  2. Select a campaign.
  3. Click the Networks tab and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
  4. Click the Exclusions link. You’ll see an “Ad group level” table and a “Campaign level” table.
  5. Within the Campaign level, click the Add exclusions drop-down menu, and select Exclude category.
  6. Select the “Below the fold” checkbox, and click Save.

“When you target placements above the fold only, the available inventory decreases. As a result, the winning bids for those placements are expected to be higher than for placements below the fold. So if you want to maintain your same campaign budget, we recommend increasing your bids. This will help you compete against campaigns that target placements below the fold, and other advertisers bidding exclusively on placements above the fold.”

You can read the full article and how-tos here in the AdWords help center.

The key here is that for above the fold placements, you will need to bid more, but your results may definitely improve. However anytime you advertise in content it is important to make sure to evaluate your return on investment after at least a 30 day period. Content clicks can suck your budget dry, so you only want to be in content if it generates sales for you or if you are working to establish your brand.

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April AdWords Trends

I have just finished doing my April reports for a large number of AdWords clients and I wanted to share with you a few interesting trends I am seeing.

  1. Impressions and clicks are up for many accounts.
  2. Conversions are trending up for many accounts as well. Some are showing results similar to February high conversion figures.
  3. Cost per click is really moving up for many geographic locations when local targeting is used. In some smaller metro areas the cost per click is staying static, but in major areas like New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the cost per click is really moving up strongly as more advertisers move back into Google AdWords and competition for the first page of results is ramping up.

If  you are thinking of Google AdWords, this is still a good time to get into the “game”. I am seeing strong movement that allows me to believe that real economic improvement for many business sectors is just around the corner. Get positioned in the “mix” before the crest hits!

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Google AdWords Trends for April

This is interesting and as I am seeing this over many accounts I felt it warranted a comment. Conversions are very tough to come by so far this month using Google AdWords and nearly non-existent on Yahoo.

I have a feeling that much of this behavior is tied to tax time and feel that things will open back up for advertisers after April 15th, but so far this month and starting at the end of March I have seen a consistent drop in the number of lead conversions.  Yahoo seems to be hit the hardest, but Google AdWords is affected strongly as well.

Click traffic and impression traffic is still good at this point, but people are not buying at this time. AdWords works in cycles with ebbs and flows. It is the advertiser who sticks through the tough and good times that ends up with the best results. So if things are “flat” in your Google AdWords account, take heart other advertisers across many business sectors are experiencing this same trend.