Author: Nancy McCord

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Are You Out of the AdWords Auction? How to Tell

The AdWords clients that come to me typically are small to medium sized business owners who have tried to do AdWords themselves and not been successful. Because they feel AdWords could work for them, based on what they have read, they want a professional AdWords account manager to optimize their account. In many cases when I take over an account I see that the client was not bidding enough to be in the auction. Here are a few examples:

Client A Last Month Activity

30 day click budget $1,800
Clicks  received 3
Impressions received 250
Current max. CPC setting $1.01
Average ad position 1.2

Client B Last Month Activity

30 day click budget $2,600
Clicks received 12
Impressions received 800
Current max. CPC setting $4.00
Average ad position 9

In the above examples there are two scenarios. In the first case it appears that there is simply no demand for the Client A’s products as his ads are showing in position 1.2 but yet he has very few clicks. In the second scenario, for Client B, it appears that he may be below the first page bid or have a quality score problem.

In both cases I would say that the client is simply out of the auction. When you are bidding too low, based on your marketplace, Google may deliver your program but at very low rates. In fact, you may see a high ad position but very few impressions. In other cases you may see a very low average ad position figure. But both are true indications that your maximum cost per click setting is simply too low.

To re-mediate the problem, I recommend for a seven day period changing your campaign settings to allow Google to set the keyword bids without a bid cap. This will allow you to see where the market place is bidding and then you can evaluate what a fair price is for your click, based on what your competitors are paying.

Check in Wednesday to read my post on how maximum CPC and daily budget work together to either keep you out of the auction or get performance.

For more information about our Google AdWords account management services visit our AdWords program page.

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The Facebook Timeline

On September 22nd, Facebook announced that by September 30 a new look would be rolled out in Facebook. The new look is called a Timeline. As of early this week (this post was written on October 1) I am only seeing the Timeline on developer sites. I can’t see the Timeline on our spokesdog site or that of family members.

I have found in one news article that Facebook has stated that “Facebook Timeline has yet to be launched to all of its 800 million users.” Which brings us to when exactly will mainstream Facebook users be funneled into the Timeline?

Although most press has been good, especially with the new attractive cover image which is 720 pixels wide, the depth of information shown on users is a bit concerting. Comments of “this is too much information about me” and “this looks like a life resume” are surfacing on the Web; with not everyone being in love with the new Timeline look.

Personally, I like the cover, and I like how the content is now compartmentalized, but will I go back and add baby pictures of myself? No way! How this will impact Facebook Business Pages is still to be seen. I have not seen the select a cover option appear in any of the Business Pages we manage professionally. I have however seen that the ability to send a note to all fans has disappeared as Facebook said it would after September 30th.

It will be interesting this next month as Facebook rolls out the Timeline to see what people do with the graphic space. Once you set up your cover, enter a link to your Facebook profile in the comments below so we can see what you have done. Here’s mine: http://www.Facebook.com/nancymccord.

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Introducing Our New Facebook Advertising Management Program

With Facebook being the place to meet clients and prospects on the Web, Facebook advertising is really something you may want to strongly consider at this time. Because we’ve had so much interest in Facebook pay per click and are already managing several client accounts, we have rolled out a formal program. You can find out more about our Facebook Advertising Program.

For $100 we’ll set up your Facebook Advertising Program and for a monthly charge of $100 we’ll manage it and update your ad creatives weekly. That’s only $25 per week for management! With some services charging a minimum start up cost of $400, 12% of your ad spend, and $25 for each new creative they add to your account, we think you will find our Facebook advertising services a real value.

Although you don’t need us to set up Facebook pay per click advertising for you as it is fairly simple, there may be situations where you don’t have the time or know how on how to effectively manage Facebook to get results. Our services aren’t the right match for everyone, but for the busy professional or business owner who has heard about the value of Facebook, our services offer the opportunity to get started on Facebook at a practical price.

 

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Phone Numbers Cause Confusion on AdWords

Just this past week I had three AdWords clients phone me to find out why their phone number was wrong in their Google AdWords ads. It was not a mistake, but rather a Google feature.

If you have phone extensions enabled in your Google AdWords account AND enable call metrics so that Google can track phone calls as conversions then you will not see your “correct” phone number in your ads. When you enable these terrific features this is what happens.

  1. Google creates a Google Voice phone number for your ads and places this number above or below your ad text. It is a click to call feature.
  2. Google will forward to your selected “correct” phone number any of the calls you get.
  3. Google will bill you $1 for each call as well as your cost per click charge.
  4. Google will track the length of the call, is it from a mobile phone, and even list the area code.
  5. Google will record the call as a phone call at the campaign and ad group level in your account.
  6. If you list your phone number in your ad, Google will replace it with their own generated phone number to get the $1 per call additional charge.

What we have found with call metrics is that AdWords generates much more activity than a completed email form on a website. We’ve had some clients with 40+ phone calls in one ad group recorded in their programs on top of regular email related conversions. This really helps clients see the real value of an AdWords program and helps them to measure the return on their ad spend.

If you need savvy AdWords help, we invite you to review our program and contact us for more information.