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AdWords Shows Activity From Search Partners

Just posted this last week on the Google AdWords blog was a note that AdWords will now show, in the campaign view, separate activity from the Search Partner network. You can read the full article and see a screen shot at the AdWords blog.

For many client accounts we do not enable Search Partners but now we have metrics that will help accounts to decide if this is a good or bad option for them. Previously any Search Partner activity was recorded in the Search activity.

Just what exactly is the Search Partner network and what does it consist of? Well according to Google, they hang the big carrot over your head encouraging you to be in the Search Partner network. Some people even think erroneously that the Search Partner network is Google.com.  Here’s what Google says about the Search Partner network:

Search partners include AOL, Ask.com, and many other search sites around the web.

What Google does not spell out here but any Googler at the customer service phone number will clarify for you is that any site, yes ANY site – even including Joe Plumber’s website, that has a Google search bar is included as a Google Search partner. Some good ones are Adobe.com, AOL.com, ASK.com, but also sites like AskDaveTaylor, Business.com, and others small and large. In fact if I used a Google Search box on my website, I would be considered a Search Partner.

Improving the transparency of activity from Google Search Partners is a very good thing as enabling your ads to be shown in the Search Partner network can be a big budget sapper and render some of your clicks to be of questionable quality. Now you will have a tool to help you decide if showing ads in the Search Partner network is good for you.

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It’s a Great Time to Consider Yahoo Pay Per Click

This past week we have helped more clients migrate their advertising programs into Yahoo Sponsored Search. With the escalating costs of Google AdWords, significant drop in AdWords ability to deliver conversions, and the quality score algorithm changes, Yahoo is looking better all the time.

Yahoo has a very good ad serving program, is a good value for the money, and has consistently supplied quality conversions. Yahoo’s only problem is that not everyone uses Yahoo as their search engine; meaning that you get less “reach” when you advertise on Yahoo versus on Google.

We have found however, that as a supplement to your Google AdWords program, Yahoo can deliver the lead conversions that you are looking for at nearly one third to one half less per click than you will pay on AdWords. Additionally, if you are the type of person who really wants to manage your own advertising account versus hiring a professional manager, like us, then Yahoo is an excellent place to advertise and even start checking our pay per click for the first time.

Yahoo has a very easy to understand ad control panel, provides quality keyword discovery tools, and is very easy to manage on an ongoing basis. Although the Yahoo program is less sophisticated than Google’s, it is easy to use and makes getting up and running fairly painless.

With AdWords upping the ante in regards to a big jump in click costs since the algorithm change on 9-15-08, more of our clients are lowering AdWords budgets to fund a jump into Yahoo. Some are simply allocating more dollars for Yahoo and some are stealing AdWords money to fund new Yahoo accounts.

AdWords had system maintenance on Saturday 10-11. but it is still to early to say if this was an adjustment to the highly unpopular quality score update they did in September, or an additional tweak to wring more money from your pocketbook. Whichever it is, we’ll be sure to let you know as we start to see the impact in the nearly 35 accounts that we manage in a wide variety of business sectors.

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Reed and Reed Debt Collection Services

It is a sad state of affairs when we have to review a collection agency and a terrible indictment of today’s business climate. We have recently selected Reed and Reed to act as our collection agency. If you are looking for a proactive professional service to handle collecting on your late accounts, we recommend that you take a look at Reed and Reed.

Collections are a sensitive matter, but one that nearly all businesses will use at some time or another. Stephen Smith of Reed and Reed tells me that in today’s business climate, they recommend to their clients to turn accounts over for collections at 60 days. The longer that you wait to start collection the less you may actually recover.

Not only are we following Stephen’s advice, but are tightening up on the way we allow credit to new customers. So if you are in a similar position – trying to be patient with client’s who simply will not pay, now’s the time to get proactive and check out this resource which was recommended to us by one of our own clients and who we have very positive dealings with so far.

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How to Blog For Organic Search Engine Placement

Many of our clients are doing blogging for search engine optimization benefits. So what exactly should you do if you are blogging for search engines?

  1. Make sure you have great well-written interesting content.
  2. Make sure you are using WordPress on your own domain and website server.
  3. Install the WordPress All in One SEO plug-in and configure it.
  4. Write only on topics that are your core businesses and keep posts keyword dense.
  5. Use great post titles that contain your important keywords.

These are just a few things that you should keep in mind as you blog. There are more tips and tricks what do you recommend for best practices?

Just one more from me, try to deep link to your content from your blog post at least once and two to three times depending on the length of the blog is better.