Developing Your Content Creation Strategy.

The message is clear to advertisers.  Ignore it at your own peril.  Google wants you to provide unique value to your visitors.

How do you do this?

One way is with killer content.   Words that make visitors stick... rather than flee.

The most visible example of this is simply your favorite television shows.  Consider:  What makes you prefer one Television channel over the other?  Or, one magazine or newspaper over the other?

What about one website over another?

In the end, the key ingredient is the content.  The information you offer and how relatable it is to readers.

Clever names and marketing only get you so far if there's no meat.

Quality content doesn't just help you with AdWords by making Google happy, but it also:

*  Boosts your credibility where people see you as the expert

*  Keeps visitors coming back,

*  Differentiates you from similar competitors in your market,

*  Drives free traffic from others linking to you,

*  Helps you claim free listings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Simply put, it's a long-term asset.

However, not all content is the same.  There are a lot of shortcuts out there to beef up your website.

A common "Grey" or "Blackhat" tactic is to use software to swipe existing junk content from Google search results, low-quality blog feeds, or wikipedia.  

However, if Google has not already caught on to the junk content, it won't be long before they do.

That is not to say you can't profit from it in the short term.  Just that it's not going to last long.

Of course, there's a reason folks are looking for short-term solutions.

Creating quality content takes work.  You may not be a pro writer or world class expert... and you may be in 5 different markets at a time.

So what are you to do?

Here are 5 strategies to generate quick and easy quality content:

1.  Get users to help generate content.  You might do this by creating a forum or encouraging readers to post in your blog.  To get them to post, you might have contests, answer questions (Q & A), or ask questions about controversial topics.  

2.  Give your take on the latest news stories in your market.  For example, if you run a health and fitness blog, then you can write about what you think of the latest studies that come-out. News sites or Digg.com are great places to check on a regular basis.

3.  Re-publish public domain material with your explanation of why it's still relevant today.  There's loads of old books that are free to take.  Just head over to a site like Gutenberg.org to get started.  There's loads of great stuff on topics like, self-improvement, public speaking, marketing, and much more.

4.  Interview experts.  This is a great way to learn about your market (which helps you sell) and beef-up your site at the same time.  Hire someone to transcribe your audio interviews so you can get content for the search engines.  Remember, Google can't read the words in video or audio files.

5. Selectively re-publish other people's content.  You can do this without getting additional permission from article directories, such as EzineArticles.com or IdeaMarketers.com.  You also might really like a blog or e-newsletter article and ask the author if you can re-publish it on your site.  Typically, others are happy to let you do this for free if you include their resource box after the article with a link to their sites.

Finally, you should also consider using video.  If you can't write or you really shine through video, then get a video camera and record.  Focus your attention on your talents.  

 

Simply put. there's a lot of great ways to deliver value, while keeping your workload manageable. It does take work, but you have to keep in mind that you're building a long-term asset.

If you only plan to be in a market for a short time, then possibly consider identifying a market you want to stay-in for the long-term.

Is Google AdWords Worth The Time and Effort?

If you browse much on search marketing forums, you may notice that there often a lot of angry posts aimed at Google.  Users get fed-up with the latest changes and how Google communicates about them.

It may seem as if the little (or even sometimes larger) size AdWords advertiser does not have a voice.  Google sometimes seems to treat them like they are dispensable.

The result is these advertisers may get discouraged from using AdWords.  Why go through all of the time and effort involved in setting-up a detailed campaign?

The short answer is it can be difficult to do without.  You may be leaving a fortune on the table or go out of business if you kick it to the curb.

This is because Google provides the largest supply of actual search traffic.  When somebody is actively looking for something, around 60% head to Google.  Most of the rest go to MSN or Yahoo.  

In many markets, these searchers are your bread and butter.  They're looking to buy.  For instance, let's say you sell a guide in the niche, "How to speed-up your computer."  With this type of product, there may not be too many other places you can go to get affordable traffic.  

When people want to learn how to do this, they search on Google for information.  

Free rankings might be your other best bet, but, again, you're relying on Google for traffic and this requires work and time as well to obtain.

In addition to dominating search, Google is also moving rapidly into content.  To get prime placements around the web, Google is a very valuable tool.  At this point, it may not be required, but that may change in the future.

The bottom-line is Google makes life a lot easier when you get along.  Moreover, it may be very difficult to give up on it because they dominate so much of all web traffic.

With this said, in most markets, there are plenty of other models you can use.

Other big sources besides search engines might be:

• Doing offline events, either speaking or presenting and funneling those you meet toward your website.
• Teleseminars and webinars.  Partner with others and offer to do a free online event for their customers.
• Getting others to email or mail their list of customers for a commission.
• Article marketing where you submit to directories, magazines, and get other publications to run your content.
• Direct-mail to targeted lists. 
• Social media traffic from Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and so on. 

What works best for you, depends on your skills, resources, your product, and the market you're selling to.  Even if you're currently just using AdWords now, you can begin thinking about other ways of doing things so your business is not dependent on Google.

The Content Network Mindset.

When it comes to AdWords, most of the focus is usually on search. Often little is said about the role of the content network.

As a result, many may view it as being a lot like search.  You use similar text ads and keywords.  The only difference is that you view it as producing lower quality visitors because fewer visitors from it buy.

The problem with this view is that it misses most of the opportunity the content network has to offer.

Instead of viewing it as simply "search-lite," you can view it as a different animal.

This is because in the search network, visitors are actively looking for what you have to offer.

It can be easier to stop them in their tracks and get them to click on your ad over others.  

On the content network, visitors see your ads while they are reading some type of content.  Your ads might be beside an article, discussion, review, video, audio, press release, or other information relevant to your product or service.

This means that the visitors that see your ad are at a different stage in the buying process than in search.

Let's look at an example and say you're interested in buying a television.

You have little idea of what you want or need.

So, you head over to Cnet.com to get reviews.

Alongside the reviews are Google ads.

Here's what two actual ads generally say:

"Shop Layaway To Get What You Want.  Get  A Discount Coupon.".

"Check out our new line of plasma & LCD HDTV Models."

Do you see what the goal of these ads is?

Each ad's job here is to convince the visitor to leave the cnet reviews and go elsewhere. Continue shopping.  Not stop and buy a specific product.  The ads are general.

Now, compare this to search for the term, "buy television:"

Many of the ads look like this on Google:

TV Sale
Save On TVs
Free Shipping
Website.com

The searcher typing in this term has likely already decided to buy.  Thus, the ads want the visitor to choose them as their retailer.  All they have to do is get the visitor to click on their ad over the rest.

In the content network, this is not likely the case.  The customer wants to buy, but has not made-up his or her mind on what to get.  This is why he or she is looking at reviews.

Telling this person about your Television sale is not as effective as helping him or her continue the shopping process.

In addition, this also means that many of the same people looking at Cnet reviews might be the same ones who eventually end-up going to Google and typing-in, "Buy television" when they are ready to do so.

In this example, advertising on content is your opportunity to capture these prospects before they ever get to search or walk into a store. You tap into a much larger audience.

In essence, content is not necessarily less effective than search.  The mindset is just different.  It can be more effective if you tap into it the right way.

Your job is to continue the conversation going on in your prospect's mind.  On search, the conversation may be, "Where can I get the best deal?" and on content it may be, "What is the best deal for my wants and needs?"

Next Steps Checklist For After Data Rolls-In.

We've talked about the checklist before launching a campaign over here.  Following these steps are essential to starting off on the right footing.  However, to keep the profits coming-in and improve your ROI, you need to continue optimizing.

Over time, you begin to gain an advantage over even the most well-funded new advertisers because you know what keywords, ads, and landing pages are the most effective.

Let's dig-in:

Keywords

  I am keeping track of my high-traffic keywords and making sure they are producing high-quality traffic.  

  I am keeping track of the conversions each keyword is producing and making adjustments if keywords just aren't producing results.  

  I am looking for new negative keywords to add to weed-out junk traffic.

Structure

 I am continually looking to create new ad groups for my top keywords. 

 If I am not already using the content network, then I have considered expanding to it with a new campaign.

Ads

 After my ads have generated enough traffic (for a low margin of error), I am changing-out the losers to test new variations.

 I am on the lookout for ads that do not make sense for the keywords they are associated with so I can replace them with new targeted ads.

Landing Pages

 If I haven't already, I am setting-up a website optimizer campaign to boost the percentage of visitors that become customers and fans.

 Once my Website Optimizer experiments are complete, I am setting-up new variables to test, while learning from my existing results.

 As I add new keywords with their own ad groups, I am customizing the landing pages to make sure they are relevant.

Content Network

  I am looking for junk sites my ads are appearing on and adding them to the "Exclusions" list so they will not show on them anymore.

  I am looking for new sites I can target with Placement Targeted campaigns.

  I am adding new types of ads I currently lack (especially different sizes of image ads).

Accountability

  I monitor my reports on a regular basis and make changes based on what they tell me.

  I am checking my analytics data for valuable information about how visitors are interacting with my site.

  I am working toward increasing my visitor and customer values so I can easily outbid the competition (because I can justify spending more for traffic).

How To Figure-Out Why Your Quality Score Tanked

One of the most baffling parts of AdWords for new advertisers (or even established ones) is the quality score.  This number (1-10) determines how much you pay.  The higher it is, your costs go down and your ad goes-up on the page.  

It's vital to know.

At first, this number is easy to be overlooked by new advertisers.

That is, until you get hit with a "Google Slap" where the quality score is lowered to 1 and your ads stop showing as a result.  You're then left to figure-out why you aren't generating anymore clicks.

Where can you find-out what your quality score is?

It's accessed by checking the "status" column inside each ad group and hovering your mouse over the dialog box:

If you're quality score is on the low end, then you've got work to do.

It it's on the higher end, then you still may have room for improvement, but there is no need for immediate worry.

Here's what it looks like if you've been hit:

In the above example, you can see three areas of evaluation:

1.  Keyword relevance -- Your keyword should be relevant to your ads.  If you get hit by this, then first ask yourself if the keyword really is likely to produce buyers for you.  If not, delete it.  Otherwise, you may improve relevance with the right ads.  Isolate your hit keyword and put it into its own ad group with customized ads that speak directly to searchers.

2.  Landing page quality -- There's something about your landing page Google doesn't like. 

The challenge is then doing detective work to find-out what the problem is.  It might be a technical problem with your site (as described here), a quality issue, or just anything that they deem as creating a bad user experience.

You can begin by reading Google's landing page and site quality guidelines at:  https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?answer=46675

If you're still not sure and you likely will not be, then you can contact Google for more information.  They usually do not give clear answers and you may have to do some testing. 

If you're an affiliate marketer, then you need to make sure you spend time building a valuable site.  Read more about what to do as an affiliate here as well as the webmaster guidelines.

3.  Landing page load time --  This is how fast your page loads.  If it's not loading fast enough, then it likely is loaded with graphics, video, or there is too much you're trying to load.  You need to reduce the size of your landing page.  Google gives basic ideas on how to do this here.

Typically, long load times significantly impacts your response rates anyway.

Alright, you now know where to go if you've been hit.  It can be a frustrating experience to get your site going again, but worth it once you've gotten it all straightened out.

Google's Next Step: Display Ad Domination

Google has long made most of it's profits from small text ads along search.  Now, they're attempting to conquer the display ad world with the launch of the new "DoubleClick Ad Exchange."  This new service allows advertisers to easily compete to place their ads on a massive amount of ad space across the web.

According to Google's official announcement here, some advertisers have up to 80% of ad space left unsold. The new Ad Exchange seeks to solve this problem by connecting more advertisers with more publishers in one central place.

You, as an AdWords advertiser, have access to publishers in the exchange through the content network.

  

This means that if you're not already using the content network, now is the time to get started.  The display ad business seems to be where a lot of Google's future focus seems to be and the amount of ad space you have access too in AdWords will likely rise as the exchange grows.

For more on this story, check-out:

• http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/09/announcing-new-doubleclick-ad-exchange.html -- Inside AdWords Blog Announcement  
• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/technology/internet/18exchange.html?_r=1  -- Story about the new Ad Exchange

Affiliates and The "Google Slap"

Over the past few months, Google has been hitting affiliate sites hard with the "Google Slap."    

If you're not familiar with the "Google Slap," it's simply when Google decides to lower your quality scores to 1 and not show your ads.  They decide they don't like your site and the change usually happens overnight.

Affiliate marketers are usually hit the hardest.  That is, those who are not promoting their own products and services, but someone else's for a commission.

The other day, I contacted Google about affiliate sites that just got slapped.

The problem, according to the Google contact, was that the "ultimate goal" of the site he reviewed was to bring the user to another site.  This was not considered a positive experience.

Moreover, he also said, regarding which affiliates get hit, that it depends on the experience the site offers.  It's on a case-by-case basis.

In other words, he didn't say they disliked affiliates -- just the experience the site provided.

So, what's the lesson for affiliates from this?

You might get away with removing links to parent sites or cloaking the links for the time being.  Thus, Google's bots can't see you're promoting an affiliate offer.

However, this likely won't last forever. 

Instead, the real key is to make sure you're creating a unique and valuable experience. 

How can you do this?

The main goal of your site should not be to solely redirect visitors to another site.

You should be a purposeful middleman (or woman).

Offer some type of value where the searcher is glad he or she went through your site before reaching the product or service provider.

Focus on building a long-term asset, such as an email list or a site that could be self-sustaining without PPC -- instead of a site built only for PPC.

This may mean having fewer, but more profitable sites.

Checklist Before Launching New AdWords Campaigns

You may know a lot of the tips and tricks to build your campaigns the right way, but still not follow through.  So, in this post, we've put together a quick checklist you can check-off before you let your campaigns go forth.

Let's dig:

Keywords

  I have attempted eliminating keywords that lack few or no other ads bidding on them.

  I have considered eliminating keywords if no similar advertisers that serve my target customers are bidding on them.

  I know which keywords are likely the most targeted and are my priority to optimize for.

  I have added negative keywords to make sure my ads don't show-up for unrelated searches.

Structure

 I have separated my campaigns into tight ad groups (preferably 1 for each keyword).

 I have at least two campaigns, one for search and one for the content network.

 I have created at least two ads for each ad group to split test.  

 My campaigns and ad groups have descriptive names for easy future optimization.

Ads

 I have customized each ad to the keywords it's associated with (each searcher should be able to quickly identify your ad as what he or she was looking for).

 I have researched my top competition's ads to see what's working and if I can use successful ideas to get my campaigns off to a fast start.

 Under "Campaign Settings," I have set my ads to rotate evenly for split testing purposes.

 I have considered including the keyword in the ads associated with it.

 My ad is not going to be lost in the mix for important keywords (what's unique about me is clear to searchers).

Landing Pages

 Before my campaign starts, I have checked to make sure my landing page has a high quality score and that there are no usability or design issues. 

 My landing page has one clear main goal and the visitor is not easily distracted from it.

 For higher quality scores, my landing page is customized to the keywords in each ad group.

 I have strongly considered collecting contact information and implementing an effective follow-up sequence.

 I have considered highlighting my message with video or audio.

Content Network

  I have considered using placement targeting to get more precise on the sites I want my ads to appear on.

  I have created all eight sizes of images ads to get prized positions on profitable sites others overlook.

  I have effective ad copy on my image ads to generate high clickthrough-rates.

Accountability

  I have installed the conversion code so I can track progress and how each keyword performs.

  I have installed Google Analytics or a similar analytics tool to get detailed information on how my landing pages are performing.

  I have considered installing Google Website Optimizer or a similar testing tool so that I can continue to optimize my landing pages.

  My daily ad budget and costs-per-click are based on how much each customer is worth and what I can afford to spend.

  I plan on checking key reports about how my campaigns are progressing.

Quick and Simple Conversion Boosters.

When it comes to optimizing our landing pages, we all want the quick fix -- that little change that only takes a few minutes to implement and works magic.  

Unfortunately, this focus on the little details distracts from the big picture.  Before you begin worrying about the little details of boosting your landing page's response, it's important to take care of the big stuff, such as your offer, how you're unique from the rest, and so on.

These ingredients must be right.  Little details don't usually have to be perfect to make money.

However, the little details are important too.  They may not matter much alone.  But, added-up together, they make a big difference.

So, what are some quick improvements?

Keep in mind that there are no silver bullets.  Nothing guarantees your response goes-up.  It depends on your product, market, and how you implement them.  However, there are a few tips and tricks that more often than not help.  They're a good starting point before you get around to testing them.

Let's go through them below:

• Adding seals to communicate credibility.  For example, you might add a secure order shopping cart seal to your landing page.  At a glance, customers are reassured their credit card info won't be stolen.  Other examples include, adding an "As seen on" or "As featured in" seal if you've been in the media or posting a seal of an award you have one for either your product or customer support.

• Engaging senses of sound and sight.  You can do this by adding video or audio clips to your landing page.  You might use these tools to highlight your entire offer or just use it for testimonials or your guarantee.  A key point about using additional media is that you shouldn't just use it because you can.  It's job is to add to your landing page.  What you say is much more important than how you deliver it.

• Use plenty of white space between text and table borders.  This is a simple formatting trick to make your text easier to read and invite the eye toward it.  Remember, your goal should be to stop targeted browsers and get them to devour your message.

• Make images earn their space.  Each should have a purpose and it should add to your overall message.  Stock photos that look good, but aren't there for any other reason should be avoided. 

• Use graphics to draw the eye toward text and get it read.  If your have important copy, then graphics are a great way to highlight it for those scanning your landing page.

•  Simplify choices.  Avoid having too many options that can delay a buying decision.  You don't want your visitors to have to stop and think.  The decision to take action should feel natural.  The decision process should be as smooth as any other everyday purchase, such as buying groceries or gas.

Alright, we've covered a number of key tips you can implement right away without a lot of thought.  To get started, make sure you do it scientifically by setting-up a split or multivariate testing with Google Website Optimizer or another tool.  You want to make sure your changes really do boost response.

Two Essentials To Boosting Your Email List Subscriptions

We've covered the importance of building an email list to get more from AdWords starting here.  An email list allows you to not just follow-up with customers, but stay-in touch with the vast majority who don't buy right away.

Over time, your conversion rates rocket with effective follow-up.  Moreover, you have an instant contact list you can turn to for the launch of new products and services.

Of course, there's catch.  You need to get your visitors to give-up their contact information and join in the first place.

This can be a challenge.  After all, they've likely had experience with a business who has abused their address in the past... and they may feel like they just don't have the time to read anything else even if they do trust you.

In other words, simply telling them to join to get "updates" or your monthly newsletter just doesn't cut it.  Sure, you may get a few subscribers here and there.  But, it's nothing compared to what you could have.

Just imagine what would happen to your bottom-line if you could get just 20% (a relatively low number) of your visitors on your list?

If you only received 100 visitors a day, then that's 20 people joining your list.  At this rate, it only takes around 2 months to build a respectable size list of over 1,000.

So, how can you get your numbers at least this high?  Well, it's more than achievable simply by offering value in exchange for names and email address.

There are two key ingredients you can use to boost your opt-in or lead generation rates:

1. "Sell" your visitors on the value they get by joining your email list or newsletter.  Do you give "inside" access, offer money saving tips, offer special offers, or give other valuable information they can't get elsewhere?  You need to sell the opt-in just like you would any other offer.  Free still has a cost, time.  Your visitors should know why they should invest their time in you. 
2. Offer a valuable free report, video, audio, or other content.   It may only take an hour or two to put together a short report with tips related to your product or service.  For instance, "The Top 10 Keys To Making More From AdWords" or "The 10 Biggest Mistakes Made When Hiring A Photographer" (which you also happen to solve).  With this type of report, you just list off each key and then add to it.  You don't need to be a world-class expert or writer to do this fast.

Even better than short reports, are those that are more thoroughly researched and tell a story (or argument).  For instance, let's say you're a real-estate agent.  You might create a "Manifesto" on what's wrong with the real-estate industry and how you do things differently.  Another idea might be that you sell a health supplement and you write a "Tell-all" about why most are worthless...even dangerous and why you're different.

Do you see the power in this?  In addition to boosting your sign-up rates, this free content does 3 things:  Educates your prospects on the need for your paid products and services, builds relationships, and establishes you as the expert.  

The key is your freebie should offer real value -- maybe even something you would have otherwise sold or used to sell.  Other quick ways to get it done are to do an interview with either yourself or another expert, record a presentation, or offer a simple service, such as consulting.