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Week 5 HW #7 - Martha's COIN 72

Book #4 - Online Advertising and PPC
Chapter #1-7

INSTRUCTIONS   Question 1   Question 2   Question 3   Question 4   Question 5   Question 6   Question 7   Question 8

(worth 25 points)

1. How are flat-rate and bid-based models for determining cost per click different? give examples. Wikipedia's article on Pay Per Click Advertising (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click) gives good definitions of the two prime methods of determining the cost of PPC ads:

1. "In the flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher agree upon a fixed amount that will be paid for each click...in many cases advertisers can negotiate lower rates, especially when committing to a long-term or high-value contract."

2. "In the bid-based model, the advertiser signs a contract that allows them to compete against other advertisers in a private auction hosted by a publisher... Each advertiser informs the host of the maximum amount that he or she is willing to pay for a given ad spot (often based on a keyword), usually using online tools to do so.

What our textbook focuses on is the bid-based model, which is the most common method for the majority of online PPC advertising Web sites. As Google states (http://www.google.com/ads/adwords2/#tab0=2), with the bid method you will pay only for results, and you can start with any budget. For example, First Crush is a San Francisco company that uses Google AdWords, and they increased the number of unique visitors by 4 times (200/month to 800/month) after advertising with AdWords (read about it here: http://www.google.com/ads/success/adwords/firstcrush.html). Undoubtedly, they think this is a worthwhile expense.top

2. What are some benefits and drawbacks of using PPC? for whom? examples? Pay-Per-Click advertising evolved as a system of advertising (p. 341) that enables companies to bid on keywords that are relevant to their products and services. The search engines then show the company's ads to anyone who searches for one of these keywords. The main advantage of this system is that those companies that do not have a product or service that will "organically", or naturally, emerge at the top of the search page results are hereby given an opportunity to have their advertisements viewable. Anyone (with money!) can bid on these keywords, and each company that does so has a method of advertising that gives rapid results. The frequency of ads, the time and location of ads, even the audience of the ads can be controlled by the advertiser. Coincidentally, it's a great income-generating tool for the search engines, and allows them to continue to offer "for free" their search results to anyone with a browser, a computer, and a need for information.

On page 343, the authors list 6 possible disadvantages of this method of advertising:

  1. Companies may not have enough money to afford this method.
  2. Some Web sites may be hard to navigate, and will discourage easy shopping cart successes.
  3. Page loading may be slowed down as a result of the ads, and may discourage viewers
  4. Some niche markets are too limited, and may not be able to generate enough ROI (Return on Investment) to make it worthwhile.
  5. Some Web sites may not have an analytics package, and hence the information they have is insufficient to show them how they can achieve greater value through this method.
  6. It is not a method that can just be set up and forgotten. PPC campaigns need to be actively managed, and not every business owner can afford this "luxury".

Who will most likely benefit from PPC advertising? Most likely it is the large corporations, the companies that have an extensive inventory, and the ones that have sufficient personnel to make this a worthwhile investment. Above all, it is those companies with products and services that are easily described, with features and benefits that are tangible, and communicable, that will most easily prosper with PPC ads. As an example, I searched on Google for "shoes", and see ads from Macy's and Nordstrom's. Surprisingly, I also see ads for companies that are unknown to me - endless.com, guess.com, lastcall.com, and onlineshoes.com. Who's missing? The companies at the top of the page do not need any advertising! Zappos Shoes leads the results page - they do not need to pay for clicks - they have EARNED their way to the top... top

3. What is an ad campaign (Ch 2)? what kinds are there? examples? An ad campaign is an organized advertising process where businesses decide what they want to advertise, how they want to advertise, to whom they want to advertise, and how they want to pay for it. The term is used to describe Pay-Per-Click ads and ad groups which are created after setting up accounts with the search engines. The top 3 search engines all have a similar process: Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN adCenter. Companies bid on particular keywords, which they select using the search engine tools, and then the companies create ads using those keywords. When a searcher enters a word or words in their browser's search field that match the advertiser's keyword, the pages that result will show ads that have been purchased through this PPC process.

WebAdvantage.net (http://www.webadvantage.net/digital-marketing-services/online-media-buying-planning/types-of-online-advertising) lists three basic methods of targeting the customers, and gives an example for each: 1) contextual, 2) behavioral, and 3) geo-tagging. Contextual ads are based on what a consumer is searching or reading online, behavioral ads are based on a viewer's activities, such as recent online orders, and geographically-targeted ads depend on one's location. Each of these types of ads would use a separate ad campaign to target their products or services to customers that would be most receptive, where they would be receptive, and how they prefer to respond.

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4. Which do you prefer for your project, Google AdWords, MSN Ad Center, or Yahoo!Search Marketing (or yet another one) and why? I am re-designing the Web site of a non-profit, membership organization, and I'm not sure the PPC model offers us any advantage. But it might! I will continue to explore this possibility in the future, but for now, I'll focus on Search Engine Optimization. Many of the tools are similar - keywords that work for PPC may be the same that work for SEO efforts. In any case, it's good to be aware of what tools are available. Another advantage to learning about PPC, even if one is not going to use it, is that the search engines are set up so that they do produce ads on the SERPs (search engine results pages), whether you want them or not! So, I'll need to start studying what shows up when people search for our organization. For instance, I did a general search for "federal retirees San Francisco", and got the following RESULTS (http://djnmarti.com/foothill/coin72/assignments/07/federalRetireesSanFrancisco-GoogleSearch.pdf). A few things interested me here: firstly, the appearance of an ad for AARP, the major commercial "competitor" to our organization (since its name looks like, and rhymes with, NARFE), and secondly, the link "Why these ads", which leads to a page on Ads Preferences (https://www.google.com/settings/u/0/ads/preferences/?hl=en). This page, with a good short video, tells viewers how they can opt out of the contextual ads process. Now I have to ask myself – do I really want to do that?

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5. What did you learn in Ch 3 Keyword Lists chapter that wasn't covered in SEO Ch 2? Which keywords would work for your Web marketing project/website? The keywords described in Book II Chapter 2 were those used for Search Engine Optimization. Pages 156-7 ( Chapter 1 of Book II) talk about what matters to the search engine for optimized results: title tags, description meta tags, headings, paragraph copy, the site's age, trust factors, image captions, links, link text, file names, and URLs. SEO is a long-term project, and results are not quickly achieved. Those companies promising quick results are oftentimes offering short-cuts that will not stand the test of time - or the legal requirements of the search engines.

Keywords used for Pay Per Click ad campaigns may be similar to those used for SEO efforts, but the keywords themselves are used differently. For instance, a long-tailed keyword is often the best choice in an SEO pursuit. However, it takes up too much room, and is too limiting, for a PPC purpose. Here the advertiser wants words that describe the product or service being offered, and that detail the features and benefits to the customer. The search engine offers advertisers the opportunity to match keywords in several ways (pages 381-2):

6. What did you learn from Ch 4 Writing Ads that Earn Clicks that you didn't know before? How do you test for successful ads? What was useful for your own project in our class? The headline is the most important part of an ad - it must grab the attention of the viewer, and be no more than 35-characters long. It should include a high-traffic keyword (one that drives a lot of impressions), and preferably one that is your most revenue-generating (keywords that bring in results, such as sales, downloads, or inquiries). The body of the ad is only 2 lines - it can be two separate phrases, two separate sentences, or a long sentence that wraps around, and stays within, the 70-character limit. The best model is one that describes the benefits to the searcher, and the features of the product/service. The fourth and final line of the ad is the display URL, which does not necessarily need to be the destination URL. That is, it may omit the "http://", or the "www.", and have no prefix at all. However, whichever format one uses should be consistent throughout one's campaigns. The important thing about the destination URL is that it must take the viewer to a place that delivers what it promises - the product or service the viewer was searching for. The best and easiest way to test for successful ads is outlined on pages 396-400: conduct A/B tests! These tests involve setting up two ads that are exactly alike, except for one small change - perhaps the display URL or the headline, the capitalization or the use of dynamic insertion. However one does it, one should start simply, tracking only one variable at a time, and running them in the same time and in the same way. Then - watch the analytics, the statistics of the conversion rate, and the ROI, and make appropriate adjustments as needed.top

7. What's a PPC budget all about? Is the cost worth it for your own Web marketing project? why do we have to know about bidding by day/time? Chapter 5 describes the budgeting process for PPC advertising, which it considers the most important part of a PPC campaign. "The amount you spend and how you spend it determine the overall outcome of your campaigns..." (p. 403). Not all industries, products, or services require a PPC campaign, of course. However, it still might prove profitable if the advertiser gets "new recruits" to an organization, or increases the brand awareness to the consumer. For a membership organization such as NARFE Chapter 65 (narfe65.org), this means it should be considered. However, other aspects of Web marketing may be more important, such as adding social media, or beginning an email alerts mailing list. Whatever the decision, the companies need to decide on an ad budget, and stick to it. One should also keep track of one's spending, and re-examine the various ad campaigns and ad groups periodically. The option to adjust bidding by day, by time, by season, and even by geographic location means that the advertiser can maximize the likelihood of their ad reaching their target audience, when and where they're likely to buy, and minimize the costs of their ad campaign. top

8. What's PPC got to do with the Law? What is Click Fraud? examples? Click fraud is a novel concept to me, and I found it truly amazing. Nevertheless, it makes sense: some malicious people and organization are intentionally acting in ways to force other, legitimate, companies to exhaust their advertising budgets on worthless "clicks". Since the advertiser pays for each click of their ad, a program or person that purposely clicks an ad with no intention of purchasing the product can easily use up your finances. This is such a prevalent problem, apparently, that the search engines themselves have numerous methods to both discourage this practice, and to reimburse those companies that have been victimized. The November 23, 2006 issue of the Economist gives an example of what a problem click fraud can be: http://www.economist.com/node/8319505?story_id=8319505, and how Google combats it. top

 

Source: WEB MARKETING ALL-IN-ONE FOR DUMMIES by Arnold, Lurie, et al, 2009, Wiley/Dummies Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-470-41398-2