Category: Google

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Google Pushes Google My Business Forcing Google+ Pages

The Google+ Carrot and Stick in AdWords.
The Google+ Carrot and Stick in AdWords.

Google will simply not give up on Google+. They have tried over the years to push individuals and businesses into Google+ and now have take the original GMail model to try one more time to build growth in this social media network that simply has not caught on.

Google’s most recent push started in October using the AdWords platform to require participation on a Google+ page in order to use their AdWords location extensions. Here’s how they are doing it:

1. If you did not already have a Google+ location page tied to your same Google AdWords login or used manual address extensions, Google stated that you would not be able to use location extensions anymore.

2. Google then auto-created a Google+ page for every Google AdWords login and automatically tied it to Google AdWords. Too bad if you already had a Google+ page under a different user name, for it to show in AdWords the page had to be tied to your AdWords login. Welcome to your new page.

3. What is even more complicated is that actually Google has auto-created two pages for every AdWords account; a location page with map that points to your website and is pointed to from your AdWords ads AND a new Google+ page that they are hoping will become a new social media portal for your business and a central location for your online reviews.

This heavy handed approach shows how serious that Google is about growing Google+ pages and location identification for local advertising. Google took the exact same model when GMail came out. Google required that to use GMail, you had to set up a Google account forcing everyone to open a GMail account. They are doing it again to force businesses to utilize location specificity via Google+ via AdWords.

If Google thinks Google+ is so important you may want to reconsider if you should consider it important too. We offer minimally priced options to have content created to keep your Google+ page updated. Just a consideration if you are going to embrace what Google thinks is key to them.

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Google AdWords Loves Mobile, But Is It Right for You?

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

Google continues to push advertiser activity into the mobile arena citing that online searches on mobile devices have eclipsed searches done on desktops; but is advertising activity in mobile right for your business?

Of note is the new test that Google has been doing with mobile ads shrinking the ad space landscape to allow them to show more ads on smaller screens. Check out images.

Of particular interest to me is also the boost of app placement in Display ads when shown on mobile devices. Many placements when you look, are simply not a good match for most businesses and to me appear for a way for Google to really bleed you of your cash. Case in point, one industrial client showing in the display network spends more money than I feel he should in the mobile app arena with no way for me to totally block activity there. When I move out of the smartphone space for him, Google simply delivers more clicks on tablets to counteract my strategic changes. I have excluded literally thousands of mobile app sites in his account and Google continues to show his industrial ads on new mobile apps.

Google reps are suggesting that due to mobile trends, accounts should plus up, by 20%, the cost per click to get a better position on mobile screen. What I have seen for the majority (but not all), of my clients is that this strategy simply rings up a bigger bill. When you monitor cost per conversion for mobile, you should not bid up when the conversion numbers do not bode well for your return on investment. A limited two week test may be in order to just do a double check with careful monitoring.

My recommendation is for each account to set and monitor how effective mobile is for your needs and make strategic unique decisions based on your findings. Make sure you evaluate a 30 day and then 6 month period every now and then to give yourself a reality check as to if mobile activity is necessary for your business.

I have personally found that businesses with strong location specificity like stores, dentists, doctors, and pest control firms would do well to be active in the mobile space, but nationwide providers will need to be cautious, as would those selling higher end products, as more evaluation before a purchase will typically be done by desktop or tablet. Bidding up for position on mobile for these types of businesses may simply bleed out cash that would be better spent elsewhere.

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Google AdWords Callouts – What Are They?

New just this past week, Google AdWords callout extensions are the new way to draw attention to what you are promoting and a way to differentiate yourself from other ads.

AdWords decides when to show this new extension based on relevancy but that does not mean you should brush it off or not set it up.

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

Use callouts to highlight something special like:

  • Free shipping
  • We match prices
  • 20% off for first time customers
  • 24/7 Service
  • Daily deals

Google will show your callouts underneath your ads where sitelinks or your business address may typically go. These blurbs are not linkable – they just add more ad text and selling points. When you do set up make sure you stay within the 25 character (including spaces) character limit and create a minimum of two for your AdWords account.

Google recommends sentence case versus capitalizing each word’s letter. They say they’ve had better results, but it may be a factor that Google shows two or three at a time and so they simply look more like an extension of the ad versus an after thought.

To find our more information and tips on using AdWords callouts make sure to check out this great article.

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AdWords Enhances Phone Call Tracking for Websites

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

AdWords has rolled out a nice improvement for call tracking that every business owner who is using AdWords should implement.

This new conversion tracking feature allows website owners to code their website phone number to auto insert an AdWords call forwarding phone number. This new feature now allows for website visitors to use the auto generated phone number to improve lead tracking that happen back on the website but originated from an AdWords click.

This new conversion feature will give website owners a more accurate picture about how AdWords is driving lead phone calls that had previously not been recorded as AdWords generated activity.

Implementation of the code is really a three step process:

  1. New code is generated from within the AdWords account from the conversion tab.
  2. Two bits of code are installed in the <head> tag of the web pages and then these codes are called into the page using an onload function in the <body> tag.
  3. Code is then created to tag each incidence of your old phone number in the page content with a dynamic insertion call to the two scripts.

What happens after implementation is the following:

  1. A person clicks your ad and lands on your website.
  2. When your website page loads, the scripts go into action and instead of showing your default phone number on the page, AdWords inserts dynamically a special unique phone number tied to that specific search query action/ad click.
  3. The customer then phones you using the phone number they see on your page and AdWords records the action of a call lasting 60 seconds (you can select the duration in set up), as a conversion back in the AdWords control panel.

This is really a revolutionary improvement for AdWords conversion tracking. I found that when Google first started call tracking clients were surprised how effective AdWords was in making their phone ring. This new enhancement will surely boost metrics even more proving that AdWords is driving more lead conversions than previously expected.

I highly recommend this implementation on your website if you are using AdWords to drive lead generation. If you are looking for a savvy AdWords account manager make sure to check out our pricing and services.