7Search On the Go!

7Search has officially become the first pay per click platform in the industry to offer a mobile application for its advertisers! Get it on your Android phone by visiting the Play Store.

As smart phones become more and more prolific (admit it, they are tiny computers and it. is. awesome!) we are spending less and less time in front of laptops and desktops. Smart phones are a great way to consume media. I can watch movies, catch up on news, stalk my Facebook friends and respond to Tweets all from my phone. With the introduction of the 7Search Application, in addition to my media consumption, I can now be productive too, especially when I’m “in-between” computers.

Here’s what you can do with 7Search On the Go:

Manage multiple 7Search accounts

• Review account performance by accessing the Campaign and Keyword reports. Download the reports to your phone or tablet, or send the reports to your email account
• Pause existing campaigns when it becomes apparent that they need to be updated
• Activate campaigns that have been paused
• Contact 7Search support team by phone or email right from your device.

Screenshots of the app

Acquisio: Virtual Campaign Management

We have many advertisers who run literally dozens and dozens of campaigns simultaneously. The time and effort it takes to manage your efforts can be a challenge. There are tools out there that can help you automate certain tasks and compile reports on your activity for research and optimization. Think of it as a virtual account manager. You receive emailed reports, are shown areas that are performing well and others that could use improvement. The time you save is valuable because you can spend that time making decisions, and not on crunching numbers.

I recently viewed a webinar that introduced me to Acquisio, a platform that allows you to integrate of all of your digital marketing into a central hub for processing your data. According to the site, they are your solution in search, social and display marketing. They offer “more than just a software. It is a productivity and optimization platform for agencies that is multi-engine, multi-user, multi-currency and multi-lingual.”

The website review site IMreportcard.com offers this insight: “Acquisio brings together a range of data right from Google to Yahoo and MSN in the form of consolidated containers. This enables users to get an idea of the trends across the internet and thus build search engine centric reports in no time at all.” Overall, Acquisio was found to be a useful tool. ” In the end, there are no major negatives or disadvantages associated with the use of Acquisio. When it comes to the target market, this PPC management tool does offer a good percentage of what has been promised. However, the bottom-line here is that you must know how to use it well.”

Acquisio offers PPC advertisers the ability to launch your campaigns, manage multiple accounts (across different platforms), automate and optimize your campaigns through a single dashboard. The convergence of data can allow you to see patterns and trends that can help you propel your business in the direction it needs to go. According to their site, “with smart automated reporting, standard weekly and monthly reporting times can be slashed by up to 90%.”

Visual reports allow you to easily define your activity and find room for improvement. KPI (key performance indicators) tracking adjusts your campaigns in order to align with your goals and budget. Automated reports that you can create based on your parameters will inform you of any changes, allowing you to analyze your data efficiently. The system will recognize keywords that are not performing to your standards, allowing for easier adjustment.

Other services available on the site include social media integration and tracking, display marketing and retargeting, as well as billable support. You can hand off some of the management of your account to an Acquisio expert in order to update your campaigns, monitoring and tracking.

One complaint that I hear from new users of 7Search is the difficulty in managing and interpreting their activity quickly. They may be more familiar with Google Analytics or AdCenter, which has built-in activity reporting. We may not have the extensive of tools that the larger search engines have, but you can use a tool like Acquisio to help you manage and interpret your data.

If you go to their site, they do offer a free demo of their service. Look for this and make a request. In a future blog, I’ll explore similar tools so you can choose which one works best for you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Research

Are you unfamiliar with 7Search? Are you testing out our traffic to see if it’s worth your investment? Are you curious to know what offers perform well on our network? Research is going to help you, and there are plenty of ways to research. If you are reading this blog, that is definitely a great start.

You can gain even more granular knowledge by visiting a couple of pages on our site. Learn what keywords are receiving the most searches, as well as what keywords pay out the most as well as their cost per click. Knowing that is going to help you move more quickly towards profitability. Here are a couple of resources that can help you out:

7search.com Top 100 Searches:

These are the keywords that will give you the largest amount of exposure on our network. These are also the keywords that have received the most searches in the last month. You also have the option to see the amount of searches from the past year. Tracking this information is going to help you align your campaigns with the needs of our users. This is also a good resource to find high volume keywords for your existing campaigns.

This list is updated every thirty days. Consider bookmarking the link on your browser so that you can keep up to date on the latest trends.

7search.com 500 Top Paying Keywords

This list shows the keywords with the best return on your cost. These are some of the most sought-after keywords on our network. The reason for that is the keywords have been proven to convert on a regular basis, and are connected to some of the top performing niches on our network. We have several large companies with dedicated budgets to maintain campaigns within these niches. However, you can get into the game as well, if you want to and have the funding to back you up.

The bid amount is determined by the market and the advertisers bidding for the keywords. Our platform is a transparent bidding system, so advertisers can outbid others in order to maintain a certain position in our results. The keywords and bids can also indicate what products and services receive a lot of attention from our networks users. This type of research is going to save you both time and money.

Be sure to bookmark both of these pages today.

7Search and Google, The Same.. Yet Different!

It is easy to see why many of the advertisers who decide to move their Google advertising over to 7Search are of the mindset that nothing will change. Many assume that because both are paid search platforms that everything will remain the same. Maybe in a perfect world this would be the case but as we all know our world is far from perfect. This simply means that switching from one advertising platform to another will require some adjustments to be made.

For starters, it would be a good idea to start by accepting that there is guaranteed to be differences between the previous ad platform and the new one. While they may offer the same service they will, no doubt, have different sets of policies, procedures and guidelines required for using their sites. Let’s examine some of the differences between using Google as opposed to 7Search. One of the main differences in these two search engines is that Google is considered a first tier search engine while 7Search is a second tier. Just to make sure we are all on the same page here is a brief explanation of what makes a search engine either first or second tier as noted on Search Engine Watch.

VOLUME

“Google and Yahoo/Bing account for the vast majority of U.S. search market share and ad spend -- they are referred to in our industry as "Tier 1" search providers… most recent Nielsen statistics show that 92 percent of searches occur on these three search engines”. “Ad networks, those players who monetize traffic that doesn't originate on the major search engines, are traditionally referred to as "Tier 2" providers”. This tier contains the remaining 8 percent of the market share. Considering the significant difference in market share between the two it’s only logical that one would expect higher search traffic volume from a 1st tier engine as opposed to a 2nd tier as is the case with Google and 7Search. This would explain why advertisers who are used to receiving a substantially larger amount of clicks from Google may experience less volume when running ads on the 7Search network.

FEATURES

I have heard many advertisers new to the 7Search network inquire about features such as split A/B testing, Analytics and/or Banner ads and others. Both search engines have a pretty good selection of features to choose from that are also similar in function. Even though you will find that these features will accomplish the same tasks it is still important to know how to properly use them and whether or not there are any limitations when using one or the other. Let’s take a look at the differences in a few of the similar features available on both Google & 7Search:

AD ROTATION

Google offers: Split A/B Testing which allows different versions of an ad to rotate/display simultaneously testing one ads effectiveness over another. 7search offers: Ad Scheduling which allows multiple ads to be placed on a time schedule. One ad displays for a determined period of time and is then taken offline at which point another version on the ad begins to display in search results.

ANALYTICS

Google Offers: Google analytics, which offers advertisers such information as visits (clicks), time on site, specific page views, traffic source id and more. 7Search offers: Visits (clicks), CPC, conversions received, keywords searched and more. NOTE: While both platforms offer there own version of analytics, advertisers must be aware that certain analytics data that may be available on Google may not be available on 7Search. To find out if certain statistical data is available it is best to inquire with the 7Search support staff for more details.

IMAGE ADVERTISING

Google offers: Banners advertising is available on the Google Network

7Search Offers: No banner or image ads. 7Search only offers text advertising.

Match Type:

Google offers: Broad, Phrase, Exact & Negative keyword match type

7Search offers: Broad, Phrase, Exact & Negative keyword match type.

QUALITY SCORE/PLACEMENT

On the Google Adwords program, ads receiving more clicks will usually achieve a higher ranking position automatically even if they are not bidding higher then their competitors. These ads are considered by Google to have a higher relevancy factor as well as a more compelling ad. 7Search does not operate under the quality score system. On 7Search.com your bid amount determines your ad rank… period.

These are only a few of the differences between Google and 7Search. The idea here is to take note of the fact that there will most assuredly be differences between one pay-per-click company and another. As an online marketer, the key is simply to find the one that offers you the options and features that best fit your advertising needs.

Analytics: The Why and How for Your Advertising

So I have gotten a lot of calls and emails from advertisers this week on how we can help our advertisers with their analytics. Analytics, for those who don’t know, are systems designed to help a website owner make sense of the traffic that his site is receiving. The owner of the site can determine the cost per click, level of traffic over time, the cost per acquisition, and return on investment that his site is generating. He can examine his campaigns at a more detailed level to ascertain how effective his effort is. All of his effort can be examined and optimized by filtering his data through one of these systems so the webmaster can improve his traffic.

7Search, unfortunately, isn’t able to set these systems up for you. This is something that must be added on your end. These systems supply you with a HTML code that must be added to the code of your website in order to begin tracking. Access to your site in that regard should be well protected. However, we won’t leave you completely high and dry.

Here are some resources that you can refer to help you work your way through the workings of the tool. These do a great job of providing step by step instruction on creating custom reports, setting up tracking and other features.

Prosper202 Blog

Prosper202 is the hub for a collection of self hosted apps, which includes Tracking202. Their blog features instructions for their analytic tools, as well as industry-related articles, and reviews on the most helpful services on the net. Their blogs regularly contain easy-to-follow images that can show you how to use their tools, as well as video tutorials for your reference.

You also have access to text tutorials, scripts to allow you to split test landing pages, cloaking referrers, and the Get Satisfaction forum. This is a discussion board that fellow Prosper users can use to ask a question, share an idea, or report a problem. The information is there; you just need to access it.

Google Analytics Getting Started Guide

This is the site that will help you to get set up with Google Analytics. The site is really well organized, with sections for Signing up, Getting to Know Analytics, and Installing Analytics. There is even a section called “other resources,” which is tailored to your expertise or lack thereof for other questions you may have.

This also features a discussion board for users from users, organized by particular issues. Some of these include tracking and implementation, issues you may be having with your reports and data, and the Google Analytics Coffee Shop, where you can share your worries with other like-minded users. Go to Help Articles, as well. This is the central hub for all things Google and AdWords. Topics covered are tracking, reporting, goals, and featured articles by Analytics professionals.

If you have not been using systems like these to monitor your progress, you are doing yourself a disservice. How can you determine if you are making progress if you aren’t monitoring or establishing any benchmarks? Create goals for yourself and use analytics to monitor your progress. Analytics can help you monitor your progress as well as maintain it. Look into it today.

Your Default Ad Title and Description: How to Make a First Impression

My last post addressed the need for accuracy, professionalism, and targeting within your Default Ad Title and Description. I supplied some examples of these that can hurt your campaign. There were several reasons for this:

1)      Improper spelling and grammar

2)      Ad copy that isn’t compelling

3)      A lack of a strong call to action for your audience

Your PPC ad is the first message that your campaign makes about your business, so this is a statement about your legitimacy and trustworthiness. If your campaign isn’t progressing the way you had expected, perhaps you aren’t making the best first impression.

Your ad appears, along with other ads, in our results pages, similar to ads on any search engine. This will include a link to your ad, but also your Default Ad Title and Ad Description. Viewers of the ad will base their decisions on what they see and what they are motivated to do by the ad copy in these areas.

This is an opportunity to target and capture visitors. Here are some examples of what is possible in your title and description:

The above samples are strong examples of targeting, selling through ad copy and provoking a viewer to visit the intended site. You can do this with your campaign, too. Here are some tips on how to improve in this this campaign area:

1) Research your competitors’ ads. Go to 7Search’s search engine, 7Search.com/go. Type one of your keywords into the search box, and see what your competitors are doing with their ads. By researching the choices and sites that are within your niche, you can adjust your copy to better distinguish yourself from the rest of the competition.

2) Use ad copy content geared toward your audience. As you can see by the examples, the advertisers are using strong, exciting language to get their message across and to elicit the response they are after. You are selling your product, so use descriptive adjectives to create pictures in your viewers’ minds. Numbers and statistics are always compelling, as well. Visitors want to see the immediate benefits of your product, so if you have the stats to present, consider placing these in your description.

3) Add a strong call to action. This is a term that is defined as “words that urge a reader, listener, or viewer of a sales promotion message to take an immediate action, such as ‘write now,’ ‘call now,’ or ”click here’.” Adding this to your message adds a sense of urgency for the visitor. They should feel that they need to immediately visit the page, or they will miss out on a great opportunity. You can see in the examples above, the different uses of the same concept. Continue to research by combing through results pages, either on 7Search or Google.

4) Test, and re-test. It is often a good idea to have several different copy options to rotate into this area in order to test which message is the most effective. Consider running a different description and title on a weekly or bi-weekly basis in order to gather data. Refer to your tracking analytics, compare traffic data, and determine what combinations appear to generate the best traffic results.

When the work is done, you have created descriptions and titles based on researching your audience. You have created exciting, provocative ad copy that helps to distinguish your self amongst your competitors. You added a strong call to action which moves your surfers to make a purchase, or sign up for a service or newsletter. You even created multiple descriptions, so you can test other options to find the right combination of messages. Your ad then sees an improvement. Your clicks start to increase. Your bounce rate lowers, and your page views increase. Consider reviewing your account and making adjustments today! ; )

Your Default Ad Title and Description: First Impressions Count, and a New Game!

Your ad has been live for a few weeks. It has received a few clicks, but it hasn’t really taken off yet. You have reviewed your keywords, and they seem to have a decent amount of traffic. You are bidding within your budget. What else could be going on? What else would affect my traffic? One factor may be the first impression that your ad makes.

I have seen some examples of Default Ad Titles and Descriptions that have both helped and hurt a particular ad. Below are examples of ad copy that can hurt an ad:

These are examples of descriptions that may have been written hastily, or the advertiser did not consider that these would be seen by a large group of potential users. Consider that your first impression means a lot, and that you only have a few seconds to make that statement. This is directly related to your business, addressing your legitimacy and trust worthiness.

In my next post, I’ll be sharing some tips on how to improve this area, so you can make a strong, attractive statement. Your campaign can then do a better job of increasing your conversion rate. Point out what’s wrong with these descriptions in the comments!

Do What Veronica Says: Know Your Product

My fellow staff member Veronica posted an interesting thought on 7Search’s FB page today, and it reminded me of some basics that are important for good performance in pay per click:

“…when selecting a product, make sure you have knowledge of the product. Knowing the product gives you the upper hand on targeting the right audience and writing great ad copy.”

She is absolutely right. If you are trying to create a business opportunity, doesn’t it make sense to know the nuances and aspects of that niche in order to sell it? It is really important to have knowledge of the product or service that you are interested in promoting, as this is how you plan and strategize for your campaign. It affects everything: targeting, ad copy, spend, landing page design, etc.

To have an effective campaign from the start, be sure you understand what you are committing to. Understanding the product is going to help you understand supply and demand, the audience for your product, and what kinds of tools on the 7Search platform are going to enhance your campaign. Here are a few tips to help you get a good start.

Do your homework. Look at the market and decipher what is in demand. Is there a particular niche or group of niches that that has universal appeal? What products are performing well on 7Search’s network? Do your research. Contact 7Search directly and ask some basic questions. Find out which verticals receive a lot of traffic and what ways advertisers market their websites. Then, when you have narrowed your list down; study up. Figure out how you will plan your campaign, what keywords to use, and what ad copy is needed to provoke your audience into action.

Create ad copy that inspires. No one is saying you have to write a novel, or become a new Shakespeare. You do have to create messages that will grab your audience’s attention, enough so that they actually click on your site. Your ad description and title are the first messages that your viewers will see, so this is an opportunity. Be unique, exciting, and professional.

Here are some good sites that can help you with your ad copy building:

The Right Brain of Paid Search Ads: Tips and Tricks for Creative Ad Copywriting

Benefits vs. Features: What Makes a Better PPC Ad?

10 PPC Ad Copy Tips

Select strong, targeted keywords. These are the backbone of your campaign. Gather as many relevant keywords based on your content as possible. Use a mixture of targeted terms, as well as broad terms that are balanced with a strong set of negative keywords. This can help you gain more traffic through a range of traffic options. Use our Keyword Suggestion tool for the latest traffic numbers on our keywords. Look for the keywords that have the larger estimated searches per month. These can help you build your campaign.

So research your niche, create good content, and develop your keyword strategy. Effective planning can help you move quickly towards profitability. You will need to continually tweak your campaign, but starting off with a product that you are familiar with and knowing whom you are targeting can make your experience a positive one.

Use Twitter to Enhance Your Marketing

Twitter is becoming a cultural phenomenon. It has been in existence since 2006, but its popularity seems to be escalating sharply as of late. This is due in part to celebrity use, but most media outlets have adopted it into their daily stream, and further propelled by the new media outlets like Mashable, and hyper-local reporting, such as Chicagoist.com and Gaper’s Block here in Chicago. The volume of traffic that has been created through Twitter has not gone unnoticed by business owners, and has prompted the creation of Twitter campaigns.

The rise in Twitter users can be attributed to its ability to drive traffic to your site, but simply creating a Twitter account isn’t sufficient. This requires an active effort on your part, but can be fruitful in the end. A Twitter campaign is not simply racking up followers. While this helps, you should also be aware of other goals such as connections made, and replies and retweets to your posts. This activity is going to improve your SEO, as well as maintain your presence in your audience’s minds.

Here are some useful tips about Twitter that you can start today:

Use your profile effectively. This is the first message that your Twitter feed will see, so this is an opportunity to start your narrative and drive traffic to your site. For example, take a look at my profile:

I’ve placed links (using a URL builder like bit.ly or Tiny.url) into my profile so that they can visit my LinkedIn, my blogs and even my YouTube video. This helps me to build my brand as a resource but also for my new potential contacts to get to know who I am and my credentials.

You can do that too, by adding links to your site, or LinkedIn, or blog. You only have a moment to capture visitors, so why not lead them directly to your site. This will help your traffic numbers and reach.

Research. Twitter is a fantastic resource for industry related information. This is where conversation occurs in real time. Companies like yours are online, sharing information on the latest news and developments related to their business. This is because these events are directly related to changes in business and trends. You can also gain tips on best practices, such as SEO, using analytics, or blogging to build business.

Find companies and individuals who are related to your niche, and “follow” them. You then receive their updates in your news stream. Click on their posts to quickly scan for useful information. Save the articles in order to refer to them more closely later. I’ve created bookmark tags in my browser in order to organize and store useful information for reference. The idea is to continually educate and challenge you. As soon as you think you know everything, you don’t.

Building a brand. This is connected to research. The articles you read or share, and the persons, organizations, and blogs you follow should be directly connected to your goals as a business. This is statement about your intent as a potential resource. Your audience is looking for any kind of knowledge that is going to solve any problems they may have.

Look for business owners you have partnered with in the past. You can extend your relationship and gain more perspective on your industry. Connect with your customer base, or encourage them to follow you. This deepens your connection and gives you another medium to inform them on news and specials you are offering. This helps your branding by joining and creating a larger community, with mutual interests and pursuits.

This is also a great forum to solve any customer service issues that may arise. Encourage your customers to reach out to you. If you continually solve problems successfully in front of a wide audience, your reputation will continue to grow as a successful brand. This medium is also a fantastic way to announce new developments for your company. For example, Lagunitas Brewery of California recently announced plans to build the largest brewery in Chicago by 2013. This almost immediately went viral because of the popularity of the product, but because of the forum used.

Become an advocate. Your audience needs help. You can be that help by sharing insight through Twitter. You can do this by “retweeting” relatable articles to your followers and into the newsfeed. Below you can see an example I recently posted.

As you can see, I added my companies 7Search and AskPPCblog.com into the tweet so they could then share it if they wish, as well as the original writer of the blog, Elisha Gabbert. I added a call to action to encourage reading, and added hashtagged keywords so the tweet could be organized with related posts. Adding a “RT” denotes that the article is retweeted, so as to give credit to the original post.

All of this is related back to your product or service. The central hub of all of this activity is your website. The goal is create leads as organically as possible, so that they may return again and again. Twitter is a strong tool, and one you can use to enhance your marketing campaigns. If you haven’t created a Twitter account, try it. It’s a free service, and can only benefit you with more opportunity.

7 Tips to Keep Your 7Search Account Up & Running!

It has been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Personally, I am inclined to agree with this. Why go through the trouble of correcting a problem when you can take the necessary steps to prevent it in the first place. This blog is intended to do just that for members of our PPC advertising family. Here are the 7 critical tips to help keep your 7Search advertising account out of hot water and up and running.

1. NO DUPLICATE LISTINGS: Although it may be extremely tempting to do so never create multiple listings using the same keywords which land on the same website. This monopolizes ad positions as well as spams our listings.

2. SAFETY FIRST: If your site requests confidential information from your visitors such as date of birth, social security, and/or DL/state id then you must make sure that the page in which this information is entered on is secured/encrypted (Https).

3. KEEP IT LEGAL: 7Search.com strictly prohibits the promotion or marketing of illegal products and services. Among those not allowed on our site are pirated goods, child pornography, drugs, bestiality, etc.

4. STAY ON TARGET: We understand the need to drive as much traffic as possible to your ad however; we do not allow advertisers to bid on keywords that are not relevant to the content of their site. This compromises the quality of our search results as it causes the results to become unreliable.

5. ONE ADVERTISER, ONE ACCOUNT: Some advertisers feel the need to create multiple accounts in an effort to circumvent our keyword limit rule. While we do not prevent our members from opening more then one account this should only be done when there is an acceptable reason or need to do so. Multiple accounts opened for the purpose of obtaining more keywords will be closed immediately.

6. MORE CONTENT, LESS LINKS: To help ensure that our search results provide useful information to those who utilize our search engine, advertisers are not allowed to promote websites that only contain re-direct links. This is a practice we refer to as click arbitrage and it is prohibited. All websites must provide content in addition to any links that may be present.

7. ADDRESS WARNINGS ASAP: 7Search makes it a priority to place all important alerts on the dashboard of advertiser’s accounts giving them the opportunity to respond to them in a timely manner. Never ignore account alerts as they are important to keep your account active.

Failure to comply with any of the above rules and guidelines may cause your account to be either temporarily placed on hold or permanently closed dependent upon how often the violation has occurred. 7Search.com encourages it’s advertiser to contact us at anytime to discuss and resolve any issues which interfere with their advertising on our platform.

Custom TDUs: Extend Your Ad + Funnel Your Visitors

I wanted to revisit another tool this week that can help your campaign work more efficiently, decrease your bounce rate, and increase the chances of conversion. This is a simple application that can be added to your keywords that provides an extra sales pitch catered to your audience as well as linking visitors to relevant pages on your site through a custom URL. These are our custom TDUs (Titles, Descriptions, and URLs).

TDUs work like this: When a user performs a search using a combination of terms including your keywords, they will be taken to our results page. Your ad will display your custom title and description. If the message is strong enough, and the visitor clicks onto your ad, they will be taken to the specific page that contains the keyword.

For example, this user has a site for fishing gear. One of these keywords is “fishing rods.” He included a unique title and description; highlighting the different brands of fishing rods he has available on his site. Including this kind of detail is important, because it displays a level of credibility to your audience. This also saves visitors time. If they are quickly scanning results, they are more likely to click through if they see what they are looking for.

The custom title should be eye catching, and thought provoking. Consider the other ads in the results page. What can you write that would differentiate your ad from these others? The message you send is part of the formula that can help you capture clicks. The description you create is an extension of your ad. You could go into more detail concerning your keyword-related products and the benefits of choosing your product. This can also be an area to accentuate special offers, or additional price points like free delivery or money back guarantees.

TDUs can be added to each keyword in your account, and are available by looking for the “TDU” in your campaign page.

By clicking on this, a dialog box will appear. This is the area that you are prompted to enter your ad copy and URL.

For any keyword that you attach a TDU to, a potential new message can be delivered to your audience. This affords you more flexibility than your default ad description, adding granular ad copy specific to your product-related keywords. Similar to Ad Extensions on Google, the feature brings the pertinent information about your site as quickly to your potential visitors as possible. When you only have a matter of seconds to make an impression, why not take the time to target your message?

Try out this tool in your next campaign. Allow the campaign to run for 2 weeks. Measure the difference in traffic in the 2 weeks prior to insertion through your analytics. Take a look at your bounce rate. Compare your click rate, and page visits. You may find your activity improving and your traffic proving to be more targeted.

Our Dynamic Keyword Placement ###KEYWORD###: HOW DOES IT WORK?!?

I’ve noticed lately that some of our advertisers are confused about the use of one of our most useful tools, our dynamic text placeholder ###KEYWORD###. Let me first explain what this is, and how it can help your campaign to attract traffic.

###KEYWORD### variable is a dynamic text placeholder that you can use to customize the Title, Description, and click-URL of your advertisement. When a visitor searches for a keyword that you are bidding on, the ###KEYWORD### variable dynamically places that keyword into such visible places as your Default Ad Title and Ad Description. For example, let’s say you are promoting a site that sells Broadway tickets, and you are bidding on terms like “Jersey Boys tickets.” A visitor performs a search like “jersey boys tickets half price.” You could construct your title as follows:

“###KEYWORD### available now! Get the best seats in the house. Act now, before they sell out!”

The keyword “jersey boy tickets” would replace the ###KEWORD### variable:

“Jersey boys tickets available now! Get the best seats in the house. Act now, before they sell out!”

The value is in the ability to immediately capture relevant searches. If you are bidding on terms that are extremely relevant to your content, it makes sense to try to capture any search for that term. This will cut down on bounce rate, and increase the chances for conversion. If a user can find what they are looking for as quickly as possible, they are more likely to take immediate action.

One warning: be careful how you construct your titles and descriptions. The system will not automatically edit the copy to reflect the differences in keywords. For example, if you are bidding on the keyword “rush ticket availability,” the title will read:

“Rush ticket availability available now!”

Doesn’t make a lot of sense, right? You can, with a little creativity, make this tool work for all of your keywords. Some examples that can help you work around this design are below:

Best sites on the web for ###KEYWORD###.

###KEYWORD###. Look no further!

Looking for ###KEYWORD###?

The only place for ###KEYWORD###

You can use these phrases in your ad description, as well. This can be helpful when a user scans our listings for their needs. If they see that their product holds a prominent position in your ad, there is a greater chance they will select your ad and visit your site. Please also be aware that the entire phrase ###KEYWORD### must be entered in capital letters to function properly.

Lastly, you can even place the variable into your default destination URL. This allows your visitor to be taken to the page that contains the keyword they are searching for. For example, a person searches for “Book of Mormon tickets.” They would then be taken to the page on your site that contains information on “The Book of Mormon.” This also increases your click through, and the chances of conversion.

Overall, this is a feature that can help your campaign be more effective. It connects searcher to content more quickly and efficiently, and is simple to use. If you haven’t tested this in your ad yet, give it a try today.

Negative Keywords: Revisited

I have learned a lot about the effectiveness of our tools. Adding conversion tracking lets you and I examine the activity of your campaign easily. Designing custom descriptions and URLs add an instant sales pitch to your audience while taking advantage of the short time you have to capture a customer online. I was reminded today of one tool that can help an advertiser save money and target their campaign: negative keywords. Today on Twitter, however, I retweeted an article from WordStream regarding negative keywords, and it reminded me of why these are essential to your campaign.

What are negative keywords? One of the best explanations I have seen comes from the blog Getelastic.com, in a posting by Linda Bustos: “[Negative keywords] refers to irrelevant or low converting keywords that you add to a pay-per-click campaign which tell the ad system not to show your ad when that keyword appears in a search.” Pretty self explanatory, yes? They act as a search filter, shuffling away any irrelevant searches onto your site. As an example, if your website was advertising “work from home” opportunities, you might add “repair,” “insurance,” or “loan,” to your negative keyword list.

So, what’s so great about having a negative keyword? The term itself inspires thoughts of error and failure. I have found that, like our universe, keywords need balance. When you pick a keyword, there may be dozens of different search results that it can be tied to. These searches are linked to your site. Irrelevant clicks onto your site pile up, and cost you money. Negative keywords and their function help sort out the traffic that you want from the clicks you don’t need. As we all know, relevant searches are more likely to convert, and your sales increase.

For example, today an advertiser sent us a support case hoping to scale up the traffic she had received for a campaign of hers. She was promoting a male enhancement pill, and had received a good amount of traffic. I then took some time to look at the clicks she had received through the keyword report under the Reports tab in her account. She had selected relevant keywords, but some of the searches she received were not. I combed the listings, and plucked out the words and terms that made those searches irrelevant.

A great, simple way to create a negative keyword list is to run a monthly keyword report. Click on a keyword that has received clicks. The searched terms will appear, showing what term brought the surfer to your site. There may be a wide variety of search terms. Another example: Your website sells baby toys, and you select “baby” as a keyword. A fine choice, I might add. You will receive searches for song lyrics from Justin Bieber’s “Baby” song, to adult baby costumes. These occurrences are funny, but not helpful. Adding the searched terms or variations on them help prevent these extraneous searches from getting to your site.

You might also consider some of the lowest common denominators, as well, such as terms like “free.” Your business may not be giving product away for free. You are in the business of making money, so searches like these will not help you. Another example is “do it yourself.” Your website may have services that require installation. You are not online in order to instruct customers to build their own shed, or repair their own plumbing. Others are “adult,” for those who do not run adult websites, or website domains, like craigslist and YouTube.

Negative keywords also help to focus your campaign geographically. 7Search geo targets by country. We do receive requests for the ability to geo target by city or state. Unfortunately our platform isn’t built to support that. You could use negative keywords for this type of blocking, instead. If you are a business in Illinois, and want to block the rest of the country, add all of the other states in the Union. To save yourself room, consider placing states like North and South Dakota or Virginia and West Virginia as negative keywords “north,” “south,” and “west.”

Monitoring your campaign and examining your results is a key to success in pay-per-click advertising, but it is especially so with negative keywords. Taking the time to research your keyword results can save you money, drive more relevant searches to your site, and balance out the effect of your keywords.

Keyword Tools: New Ways to Discover New Words

Many of our advertisers are on the constant search for keywords. They may start with a batch of keywords, and then let the campaign run. Based on their return, they may look to expand the reach of their campaign, in order to get in front of as many leads as possible. They have used our keyword tool to start their campaign, but might be stumped for ideas for additional keywords. What can you use to help you develop more keywords for your campaign?

In client support, part of my job is to help our advertisers find keywords for their campaign. Sometimes, however, even I am stumped for ideas. In that moment, I turn to several tools to help me think outside my comfort zone and brainstorm ideas. The research helps me to think of options on our keyword tool that I might not have foreseen. Add these to your bookmarks so you can help yourself some time.

Google’s Keyword tool: I know, I know. I’ve written before on how you should be careful importing AdWords campaigns into your 7Search account. I am simply saying that you can use this to spark your creativity. An account may need a lot of assistance, and a variety of keywords to help build their campaign. Using this as a second resource can be really helpful. I’ll input some of the advertiser’s main relevant keywords and it will locate keywords that I hadn’t thought to use.

Google’s keyword tool has other useful options. The volume for the keyword on Google’s network is broken down by global monthly searches, and local monthly searches. I find this helpful to get a sense of how much the keyword is sought after universally. It also allows you to search for keywords by website. Implant your website, and options for keywords will appear based on the content of your site. This is especially helpful to novice users, who aren’t sure how to conduct a search. It also allows you to search by keyword match: broad, phrase or exact.

The best part is that it’s free to use. You do not have to have an AdWords account to use it. Simply go to http://bit.ly/hX7WkT and add it to your browser’s bookmarks. I would recommend keeping this open on a separate browser tab as you build your campaigns for quick reference.

WordStream’s Keyword Tool:  Available for a free demo at www.wordstream.com/keywords, you can try out this helpful tool to discover possible keyword options. You have up to 10 free searches to comb through WordStream’s trillion keyword database.

WordStream also offers highly useful tools such as a Keyword Niche Finder, which allows you to search for highly profitable keywords connected to successful verticals. Niches like “insurance,” “payday loan,” etc., can be searched for using basic terms. The tool then generates a list of suggested niches that you might promote.

There is also the Keyword Grouper, which allows you to implant up to 1,000 keywords into the tool. This will then group your keywords, much like in AdWords, in order to improve your campaign’s performance and move you towards higher profitability. The Negative Keyword finder does just that: assists you in finding options for blocking filters for your keywords. Enter relevant keywords from your campaign into the search box, and it can generate options for you.

WordStream does require you to purchase its services if you wish to use this on a regular basis. It may not be a bad investment, because they offer multi-platform advertising, conversion tracking, and a dedicated account strategist. Basic packages start at $299 a month.

Zenya: I found out about this new tool on Twitter. According to their site, this is the “world’s most intelligent keyword and categorization platform.” Using data collected from real human searches, Zenya categorizes keywords based on their volume and search intent. Reportedly, the database has 1.4 billion keywords. Powerful filters allow you to further hone your keywords’ strength and targeting. It also claims to be able to eliminate unrelated matches more accurately then other tools online. According to Miranda Miller of SearchEngineWatch.com, “Marketers can pare down keyword lists by limiting character count, eliminating invalid/adult/banned terms, incorporating negative terms, choosing whether to include brand names, and specifying certain categories. They also have a brand name filter with over 170,000 unique brand terms for inclusion/exclusion.” Zenya Marketing VP Matt Lawson writes, “Building out keyword portfolios by tapping into categories of searcher intent takes a radically different approach to helping marketers remain relevant while scaling rapidly."

I signed up for a free trial, hoping to test this out myself. At press time, I have not been able to share my findings. I will be amending this article in the future with my thoughts. You can visit them here: https://www.zenya.com/

Advertisers can get stumped for new ideas. Thankfully, there are options out there to assist you in building your campaigns. Performing some research and cross referencing with our keyword tool can yield positive results. Try it for your self some time.

Step-By-Step Guide to Porting Your Google Ads over to 7Search

One of the best ways to not only stay in business but to also help grow a business is to duplicate what’s already working well for you. In the case of online advertising, this could mean simply running your ad campaigns on more then one paid search platform. Many choose not to spend time attempting to duplicate the ads they are currently running on one PPC site because they assume it will be too difficult or confusing. Well, 7Search.com understands this concern, so in order to address it AskPPCBlog.com has posted an article detailing step-by-step instructions on exactly how to port your Google campaigns over to the 7Search advertising network. Take a moment to look over the following 9 easy steps on how to get started driving even more quality traffic to your website with increased online advertising:

Porting Your Google Ads to 7Search in 9 Easy Steps! Check It Out Here!

Go ahead and bookmark AskPPCBlog.com while you’re at it!