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June 1, 2016May 27, 2016

AdWords Changes Its Bidding Algorithms

Clear Strategy — Get Results on Google AdWords When You Use a Google Partner Like McCord Web Services.

Just a few month ago, Google AdWords quietly retired the old auto bidding with a built-in enhanced CPC algorithm. If you change out of this old bidding model, you can’t get back in.

Here are the new/revised bidding models for Google AdWords and my thoughts on each.

eCPC Manual Not the Old Auto
This bidding model uses the enhance click setting algorithm from AdWords but now starts not with an auto bid and bid cap but rather a manual bid. I have found that the traffic results are lower with this bidding model than the old eCPC auto bid model, but the ability to control costs is a big plus. For some accounts we are seeing roughly a 5% drop in costs. But the downside is that you really need to watch bids more carefully to boost them to the first page bid or set up bid automation rules. Traffic is lower as much as 20% less for some accounts. With eCPC Google is restrained in how much more than you max CPC bid it can set in the auction. That number is up to only 30% more. CPA bidding is unlimited.

Maximum Clicks
Google says that this bidding algorithm is the old auto bid with eCPC component, but I say it is not. This model is good to get maximum clicks and traffic, but does not take any conversion history into account when setting your bid. It is great to start a program out with when you are not sure what the click cost should be. You cannot set individual keyword bids unless you opt those specific keywords out of the Maximum Clicks algorithm, but you can using a bidding portfolio strategy. If you need traffic and have a low budget this is a good choice to get strong traffic.

CPA Bidding
This bidding strategy and algorithm have been around for a while. It works well for some clients and crashes the account for others. Google says that it is improved and now in the Bidding section of the shared library you can see how the algorithm is learning to serve your bids. Remember with this one there is no bid cap. Google can automatically bid as high as it wants to win you the click auction. So far I have several clients that are really getting excellent results with CPA bidding with increased conversions at a significantly lower cost.

Google has spent significant resources on making these bidding tools valuable and many use your account history to keep you well placed in the AdWords auction.

To learn more about Google AdWords, I invite you to review our website and services.

May 30, 2016May 27, 2016

What’s Google Got in Store for the Rest of 2016?

Google Partner Badge — McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

I watched the Google Live Stream this past week with curiosity. What was Google going to cook up next to wow us with and when would it launch? I was not disappointed.

Here’s what’s in store from Google for the rest of 2016 and early 2017

Longer AdWords Ad Text
AdWords will be moving to a title and ONE line of descriptive text not two 35 characters each long lines. This single longer line will be 80 characters long. Doesn’t sound like much, but in the world of AdWords this is huge!

AdWords Bid by Device
This is a really big one and one I have wanted for a while. Now I will be able to bid by device, not just do a bid adjustment. This will allow me to fine-tune my strategies for mobile and give me more flexibility as an AdWords account manager.

AdWords Google Display Network (GDN)
The AdWords display ad builder will now take your image and make it device responsive in the GDN. Excellent news!

Google Maps is Now Ad Inventory
Promoted Pins are in the queue, expanding AdWords more fully into Google Maps. Google Maps is now part of the search network. This will be very important for mobile advertising. But be ready to see these as you use Google’s driving directions.

Local Search Ads are Coming
In an effort to increase store foot traffic Google AdWords is revamping location extensions. Google will use beacon signals to record local store visits and these will now be recorded as conversions in AdWords.

RLSA – Remarketing for Search Improvements
Google AdWords is continuing to refine and revise RLSA ads and expanding your reach in this product by offering similar audiences now for RLSA and search ads.

Demographics for Search Ads
This one is pretty big, but Bing Ads has been doing it for a while. Google AdWords will now offer demographic targeting for search ads. Just another way to refine your targeting by age, gender, and potentially income.

It’s a Mobile First World
Google stated that search activity is now a “mobile first” world compared to just one year ago a “desktop first” world.

Google Analytics Updated for Mobile
Tying in with a mobile first world, Google Analytics is undergoing a major platform update and redesign. Many of the best features are in the paid model, but expect to see some nice changes even in the free version.

Google Data Studio
Interesting, this new application could be very good. It connects all your data together and let’s you build dynamic reports that are very visual. They are allowing some free reports in the trial beta.

What interesting plans and great new improvements. I am looking forward to each one of them.

May 9, 2016May 6, 2016

Why Businesses Are Flocking to AdWords in May

It’s no joke that it is harder to find the organic results and even harder on a mobile device. Here’s why businesses are flocking to Google AdWords and seeking out our Google AdWords account management services in May.

Google is obscuring a view of the organic results on desktops by showing 3 to 4 ads at the top of every results page the following the ads sometimes with paid location listings or Google My Business pages. On mobile, it is even harder to get to the organic results much more scrolling is needed.

2. There is no need to drill down to organic results as the relevancy of AdWords ads has improved tremendously that you can find exactly what you need by simply clicking an ad. Add to that there are new ad features such as sitelinks (to take readers and shoppers right where they want to go) to click to call buttons allowing you to bypass a website visit completely.

3. AdWords has improved pay per click automated bidding algorithms and added many automation features in accounts, allowing a savvy AdWords account manager to quickly make changes and spend time in an account where it is needed to drive in more traffic and conversions.

4. AdWords leads are targeted and have value. With competent account management, your keyword list does not have to be untargeted, it can be finely honed with laser beam focus. Add to that the ability to automate bidding or stay in control of keywords you want to bid up and others you do not, AdWords allows clients to improve their ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).

If you are ready to move into AdWords too, I invite you to visit our company website and find out the difference that using a Google Partner for your AdWords account management will make in your results.

May 2, 2016April 29, 2016

Site Prominence and Local Organic Placement

Mobile exposure in AdWords is key. — Does your website show up prominently in mobile searches for your location?

Organic placement in the local results is important for many businesses, but the big question is how can you get there other than paying your way onto the page with Google AdWords?

If you are a service provider that looks to sell your services in your hometown, placing with your location is key to growing your business.

Here are my top tips to getting local placement for smartphone and desktop searches.

Make sure that your phone number is in text at the top of your website page and not in an image.

2. Make sure that you have your full address and phone number in the footer of all of your pages.

3. Put your phone number and city location in the meta title tag of your home page.

4. Make sure that you have your city location in your h1 and h2 tags on your page.

5. Start working on great customer service and start building reviews. If you have reviews on your website, make sure they are coded for Google using Rich Snippets.

6. When you blog, blog with purpose and cater to your local market with city or state names positioned prominently.

7. Hire a savvy expert who will assist you in crafting a content strategy to boost local positioning. At McCord Web Services we provide consulting to help you position your website to place in your geographic location.

Don’t flounder around anymore, get the help you need to start placing locally in your city and state.