Author: Nancy McCord

Posted on

Google AdWords and the New Auction Insights

Just this last week Google AdWords added an “auction insights” icon to AdWords control panels. On certain keywords (on the keyword tab or keyword rollup found on your campaign tab) you may see a small block graph icon. Tick the box next to the keyword and then click the button called “keyword details” and then select “auction insights”.

AdWords will return a list of your actual competitors and your position in the AdWords auction. The table will show the following data:

  • Impression Share
  • Average Position
  • Overlap Rate
  • Position Above Rate
  • Top of Page Rate

This information is very important and allows you to be much more strategic about your bidding and to understand more fully what is happening in your account. This additional transparency is welcome indeed and I would like to thank Google for providing it.

Here are a few things you can do with the data:

  • If your impression share is high and you are in the top position, you can lower your click cost to have a greater ROI (return on investment).
  • You can actually see the names of the businesses and sites you are competing against. You can harvest these names and do an additional ad group to try to take additional market share away from them. This is a short term approach, but as Google will most likely drive the quality score of these keywords down quickly, but you can bleed off a bit of traffic and boost CTR. It just depends on how competitive you want to be.
  • If your impression share is low and you are not in the top position as frequently as you would like, this may be a good time to optimize and possibly increase your bid.
  • If your impressions share is high, your ROI great, you may want to consider breaking out that keyword and variations of it into its own ad group to get an even higher quality score and even better return.

I have to say that I personally feel that the auction insights tool is a wonderful refinement to AdWords. Knowing who you are competing against and how you really stack up against them by keywords is excellent and a feature I will be using to strategically position my clients in their marketplaces.

For more on how my firm can help you with Google AdWords, please visit our Google AdWords services page for account management options.

Posted on

Why Use Go To My PC When You Can Use Live Mesh

On my last vacation, I decided to try Go To My PC as a way to keep on top of my email churn. It is not uncommon for me to have over 1,400 emails on my return from a week’s vacation. I ran www.GoToMyPC.com through its paces and actually liked the product. The problem was I could not rationalize spending $10 a month when I only needed several week’s access a year.

After research, I found that there was a way for me to access my PC at home when I travel that’s free! It’s called Windows Live Mesh. I already used Live Mesh to sync files on my laptop and other computers, but did not realize that Live Mesh also allows me to access my home computer while traveling.

Here’s how you set it up.

  1. Get Windows Live Mesh here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/essentials-home?SignedIn=1 You’ll get it as part of the Windows Live Essentials.
  2. Install Live Essentials on your desktop and your laptop.
  3. Following the instructions in Mesh, sync the two computers as you desire. For me, I simply sync one folder and sync my favorites in Internet Explorer.
  4. When you travel turn on remote access which is on the top of the page on the left on the computer you want to access remotely.
  5. When you travel access over the Internet your Live Mesh account and click to access your previously set up computer.

That’s it, you’ll log in as if you are in a remote desktop setting. Have full access to all programs on your home PC. You’ll just need to make sure that your home PC is on, that’s all.

Easy, simple to set up, and best of all it’s free!

Posted on

LinkedIn Heat Map – What Are People Looking At in Your Profile

This interesting article was shared by Ken Lankin at Awesome Almonds. It is interesting reading about what readers look at in your LinkedIn profile. Thanks Ken!

Here’s what the article says in a nutshell:

  • Top priority and the most “looking” is done on your profile photo. Try to take the very best picture possible and even consider having a professional photo taken if you think that LinkedIn is the right place for your marketing endeavors. A great looking photo may get more people to check out your full profile. Here’s a great photo of one of my clients, Shawn Friesen. The photo is engaging and unusual.
  • The place that gets the second most views is your most recent Twitter update. Wow! Who knew? Make sure you are tweeting regularly and are using the app to connect your LinkedIn account to Twitter.
  • Comments on your status update. Wow, who knew how important on LinkedIn this was as well. Engagement is key. Taking time to interact with your updates and those of others is a great way to really get noticed on LinkedIn.

Even in today’s faced paced digital world that ability to connect with others in essence hinges on what you post on social media sites and the attention to detail you put in on creating personal profiles. Find out more about how we can help you with social media updates with our affordable services.

Posted on

Google Cracks Down on Misleading AdWords Service Providers

All third party service providers of Google AdWords™ advertising account set up and management services are being audited. I am in the middle of my compliance review right now. For some businesses who perform Google AdWords™ services, this will be a real wakeup call!  I won’t name names, but there are some big mainstream providers whose names I hear from clients consistently as offenders.

It is about time that Google really cracked down on what third party providers sell in regards to Google AdWords™. I cannot begin to tell you about the phone calls I have received from clients shopping for a new account manager and the misinformation that they have been told about their service providers relationship with Google.

I have heard from prospective clients that their current account managers have:

  1. A special relationship with Google to get clicks at a lower cost or bundled price.
  2. They have a deal with Google that their ads get top placement always.
  3. That they buy placement on Google as well as buy keyword activity in bulk.
  4. That they and only they get special pricing and their clients don’t compete in the AdWords auction.
  5. That their account is not transportable and that they are not allowed account access.
  6. They get special ad positions from Google because of who they are.
  7. If you spend so much in a 30 day period, Google will match it dollar to dollar up to $10,000.
  8. If you pay them you are guaranteed top placement of your ads in Google Places.

If you are tired of being mislead by your account provider or been approached with these types of selling tactics, you can complain directly to Google about that service. Rest assured that they will be found out in the months to come as ALL third party providers come under the AdWords™ services compliance microscope.

At McCord Web Services, we make no margin or commission on any clicks delivered in  your account. Find out from Google more about working  with third party account managers like McCord Web Services. McCord Web  Services manages your account with the highest level of integrity and adheres  strictly to Google’s policies to provide full transparency for how clicks are  delivered and how your budget is spent. At all times, you have full access to  your AdWords™ advertising account.