In coming months, you can expect facts & answers from Google.
Google will be giving more than just website results for users’ queries. It will also present direct answers and other factual information and will work more like how humans understand the world. For queries such as, “What are the 10 largest lakes in California?” Google might provide the answer instead of just links to other sites.
These changes are being termed as the biggest in the company’s history, and will also have impact on millions of webmasters across the globe.
As per reports, Google isn’t replacing its current keyword-search system, which determines the importance of a website based on the words it contains, how often other sites link to it, and dozens of other measures. Rather, the company is aiming to provide more relevant results by incorporating technology called “semantic search,” which refers to the process of understanding the actual meaning of words.
Tags: google makeover, google semantic search, Google update
Google’s +1 button has started appearing on display ads.
Actually, +1 on the Google Display Network was announced on 20 Sept., which makes the display ad campaigns social-enabled by incorporating personal recommendations into it. A display ad gets more attention & become more influential when people can see them with recommendations from their friends and contacts.
“Because a recommendation from a friend is such a strong signal of relevance, the Google Display Network gives ads that have been recommended an extra boost by including them in the auction for any page a friend visits. Of course, if you’re targeting specific placements or audience segments (including interest categories and remarketing lists), your ads will only show on pages that match those restrictions. Additionally, your ads will never show on any placement or category on an exclusions list.”
Source: +1 button to start appearing on display ads today
In July this year, I have passed AdWords Individual Qualification exams with specialization in “Search Advertising”, “Display Advertising” & “Reporting And Analysis”. Today, I am happy to announce that SEODoz has satisfied the program requirements to achieve status as a Google AdWords Certified Partner in the Google AdWords Certification program.
SEODoz’s Google Certification Program Profile page is available at- https://adwords.google.com/professionals/profile/org?id=012735969304162909832&hl=en or you can search SEODoz in the Search By Partner Name.
To attain certified partner status, companies must meet eligibility criteria which includes one team member passing a minimum of two certification exams, illustrating practical expertise in managing accounts, and agreement to terms and conditions of representing AdWords.
Also, a company have to manage at least a US $10,000 spend over 90 days (to be counted from the day the AdWords account is linked to the MCC). The MCC account linked to the company must have spent on 60 days out of a 90-day period.
This is definitely a boost, however lot more to do…
Yesterday, I received a query about “How to structure same meaning keywords into ad groups?”
Well, marketers have different opinion about this. Some will say to have them in single ad group while others would prefer to create different ad groups for synonymous.
Let’s say I am selling Audio Systems and my relevant keywords are “Audio System”, “Sound System”, “Buy Audio System”, “Buy Sound System” etc. so should I create different ad group for same meaning keywords- “Sound” & “Audio”?
Here is my viewpoint-
- We can create two different Ad Groups here- one for ‘audio’ related keywords and other for ’sound’ related keywords, provided you have highly specific and relevant keywords to that ad group. If you choose to create separate ad groups then I would suggest avoiding using keywords in broad match as this can possibly trigger ads on relevant term/Synonymous. For ex: if a user searches on “audio system” and if you have keywords like audio system and sound system in broad match then the system will prefer to use the one with a higher ad rank. So, it can happen
that your ad from “sound” ad group can show ad if the ad rank is high.
By creating different ad groups, you can create specific ad copies targeting these synonymous and if someone will search online for “Audio System” and find their search query (Audio System) in the ad, the chances of them clicking on the ad are more.
- On the other hand, you can add similar meaning keywords in the same ad group & can still keep your ad relevant by using Keywords Insertion feature. This way you can dynamically update your ad text with your chosen keywords. You insert a special modification tag into your ad text to enable this feature for your ads. Depending on a user’s searched keyword, AdWords automatically places your triggered ad group keyword into the ad text.
- If you are planning to add the keywords with Broad match then I would suggest you to keep the synonymous in the same ad group.
Hope this would help!
Let me know your viewpoint also.
Tags: Ad group structuring, AdWords optimization, adwords tips, keywords match type
In last few days, I have received a number of queries related to the “keywords match types” from my visitors. The most common was- should we use the same keyword with all three matching options in one ad group?
So, here is the answer of this query-
Each of your keywords should only appear once in your AdWords account. Having a keyword appear multiple times makes your account statistics difficult to interpret and indicates that your account structure could be improved. Also, your keywords will compete against each other.
Note: If you have multiple keywords that are the same but with different match type, the system will prefer to use the keyword with the more restrictive keyword match type.
Also, there’s no definitive Quality Score benefit to be gained from adding the same keyword multiple times with different match types to your account. Identical keywords in your ad group will have the same first page bid estimates, regardless of their match types. The Quality Score used to determine ad position depends on the relevance of your keyword to the search query. This Quality Score is often higher if the search query matches the keyword exactly. However, this does not depend on whether your keyword’s match type is broad, phrase, or exact.
So, in my opinion we should avoid adding single keyword with different match types. If the objective is to get relevant traffic (impressions and clicks), then we should try keywords with phrase or exact match. If the objective is to get maximum impressions, then I would suggest adding keywords in broad match.
Hope this helps.
Contact me if you have queries related to AdWords, SEO, SEM etc. I would love to answer them 
Tags: Google AdWords, Keywords Match
Soon after AdWords Express has come into being, I have been receiving numerous queries related to their similarities and subtle differences.
In this post of mine, I am writing about the basic differences among each of them and also times when shall one suit the best.
Let’s first discuss the differences between Google Places & AdWords Express (previously known as Google Boost):
• Google Places is a FREE way to connect your business with your local customer. Google doesn’t accept payment to include particular listings or sites in its search results. However, AdWords Express (Google Boost) is a PAID program for local business promotion. You will be charged when someone click your ads.
• Google places listings will appear as part of the organic results based on their relevance to the search terms entered, along with geographic distance (where indicated) and other factors. However, AdWords Express ad will be shown in the Ads section of search results pages—on the top or right hand side and in Google Maps.
• Google Places listing will be marked with a red pin marker 
. However, AdWords Express ad will appear with a distinctive Blue pin 
.
• According to the Google Places quality guidelines- you cannot include marketing taglines or extraneous keywords in your business name. However, in AdWords Express ads, you can change your ad titles from your business name to any message you’d like.
• AdWords Express advertising option is available in USA, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and the Netherlands. However, Google Places is available in many other countries as well (To see where Google Places is currently available, view the list of country locations from the drop-down menu in the upper right hand corner of your Google Places dashboard.)
Important Note: AdWords Express does not affect the ranking of free, organic business listings in any way. AdWords Express ads appear only in the sponsored ads section, so they do not affect how many or which businesses appear in the organic. If your business already appears in the organic results and you advertise with AdWords Express then your AdWords Express ad will appear in the sponsored ads section with a blue marker and the organic listing still appears (without any effect on ranking) with red marker pin.
So, if your business is already listing on Google Places (if not then you can list it for Free here) and ranking in top positions of organic search results than you can think of not paying for the same listing in sponsored section. However, if your Google Places listing is not ranking well in organic search results then AdWords Express can be a good choice for your local promotion to be listed on the top positions.
(Note: I will also share some tips on Google Places page optimization in my future posts which might be helpful for you to get top positions in organic search results.)
Now, let’s discuss the difference between Google AdWords & AdWords Express:
Both AdWords Express & AdWords location extensions are different methods of achieving the same result – an ad campaign that helps advertisers connect with their local customers.
• The key difference is that AdWords Express automatically manages the ads for advertisers on an ongoing basis while AdWords offers more controls and options to advertisers who want to manage their campaigns themselves.
• AdWords Express is designed for local business owners who want the quickest and easiest way to advertise their local business on Google and Google Maps. However, Google AdWords provides you with more advertising options and finer controls. You can setup campaigns in places outside your Google Places Listing area to get more reach for your business.
• With AdWords, you can control keyword selection and bids, target both locally and nationally, get advanced reporting, and take advantage of different ad formats such as video, display on thousands of partner sites, and more. With AdWords, you can choose to run your ad during certain business days and hours, if you want. Ad scheduling also includes an advanced setting which lets you adjust pricing for your ads during certain time periods. There are several other advanced levels of functions available in AdWords like conversion optimizer, website optimizer etc. to name a few.
I have also received few queries about the AdWords Location Extension & AdWords Express. Some clients are already advertising their business locally using AdWords location extension and they wanted to know whether they should use AdWords Express instead? Now, the answer is:
Both AdWords Express & AdWords can be used to create online ads with local specific information attached to the ads. The ad format offered through AdWords Express is similar to Location Extensions format Google offer via the AdWords platform as well.
Location extensions provide advertisers with more options in how they want to manage the KWs, bids, multiple stores (if present) and placement. The feature is also available on mobile devices, select AFS (AdSense for Search) properties and soon on thousand of partner sites on the Google Display Network.
Note: Both AdWords and AdWords Express ads compete in same auction for ad placement with no special preference given to either. Only one ad will appear when triggered by a search query, just like any other campaign that you have in your AdWords account.
Conclusion
- AdWords Express is for you if:
o Your Free Google Places Listing is not ranking well for relevant geo searches.
o You want to promote your business locally quickly & easily and don’t want to indulge yourself in on-going ad campaign management.
- AdWords is for you if:
o You want more reach, more advertising options, advanced features and finer controls
I hope this information helps you in finding the right advertising solution for you.
Please feel free to share your thoughts. Also, contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Tags: adwords express, Google AdWords, google boost, google places
Last year in October, Google has launched Google Boost- A local advertising solution to help local businesses connect with potential customers in their area. Now, Google has renamed it with “AdWords Express” with not much change.
It’s very easy to use “AdWords Express”. You don’t need to be a marketing expert to start your local marketing campaign on AdWords Express.
Here are few simple steps which are required to set-up your AdWords Express campaign:
- Sign up for Google Places & claim your FREE business listing. Your business listing on Google Places is MUST to set-up AdWords Express.
- Now, click on Create AdWords Express Ad within your Google Places Account
- Now, Choose the Search Category which is most relevant to your business/ services. There may be a general and a specific category that applies to your business. I would advise you to choose the most relevant/ specific category as choosing a general category may mislead customers. Your AdWords Express ad will perform more efficiently with the best relevant category.
- Write Ad Headline (With 25 Characters limit). You should write a catchy headline which describe your business best
- Now, Add two-line 70-character description. It is always good to mention business USP & Call-to-Action in Ad Description.
- Now, select the option to direct your searchers to your company website or your Google Places page.
- Now, select the Maximum Monthly Budget. Google will provide you recommended budgets based on the category you picked. You can also set a custom budget, starting as low as $50 per month.
- Now, Save & Continue. That’s it- You are ready to go!
Now, an AdWords campaign will be created on your behalf based on your ad text, category choices & budget. There is no On-going management is required from your side, everything will be managed automatically, ensuring your ad is only shown to people looking for what you are offering.
Benefits of AdWords Express:
- It’s very easy to use & will take only few minutes to set-up the ad campaign. No marketing experience is required.
- No on-going management is required. AdWords Express will automatically manage your ads for you.
- In addition to the company basic information like name, address, phone number, and website, AdWords Express ads may also include the number of reviews the business has received, an average star rating, and a link to the business’s Google Places page.
- It is not must to have a website. In this case, you can direct potential customers to your free Google Places page.
- You simply need a mailing address which you can keep private if you want.
- You can measure the effectiveness of your ads in your Places dashboard
- Pay only when people click on your ad
Note: AdWords Express is currently available in the United States.
References:
http://www.google.com/awexpress/
http://googlesmb.blogspot.com/2011/07/making-local-online-advertising-easy.html
Tags: adwords express, google adwords express, google boost, google local advertising
As I promised in my previous post, here are some tips & sample questions for all four exams, which might be useful for you if you are planning to appear for the Google AdWords Individual Qualification Exams in near future.
• First & most important tip is- READ COMPLETE TRAINING MATERIAL COURSE provided FREE by Google (at AdWords Certification Program Learning Center covering Fundamentals & 3 Advanced topics). Reading this training course will be really very helpful even if you have a good practical experience in managing AdWords campaigns. You might find certain questions which are theoretical, definitional & simple data like which can only be answered if you have read the material.
• This time you can find more questions about techniques and strategies. So, be prepared for advanced level of optimization techniques.
• There were some really tough questions related to MCC, MCC account hierarchy & AdWords API, so do work hard in this area.
• You should have a good understanding of Analytics. There will be questions related to Google analytics covering topics like Goal, funnels, filters etc. AdWords Learning Center material has already covered these topics so you should not be worried about it. Also, analytics related questions will not be tough for you if you have hands-on experience in this area.
• There will be a good number of questions related to billing, payments, account access level and account management, so read these topics carefully.
• For some answer choices, it may seem that two of the four options are both possibly correct answers. However, because you may choose only one answer, you must discern which answer is the best choice. So, I would advise you to read all the options carefully before answering the question in one go without reading the other options. So, READ ALL THE OPTIONS carefully.
• Never leave a question blank. There is no negative marking & it is better to guess than to leave an answer blank. As you move through the exam and you find questions that stump you, you the “Mark Question [M]” option in the testing center browser, choose an answer you suspect may be correct, and then move on. When you have answered all of the questions, you are given the option to review your marked questions.
• Don’t waste your time in laboring over one question as difficult questions & easy questions are worth the same importance in your exam.
• You have to download the Google testing center browser to start your test & when launched, the Testing Center Browser opens to a full screen which will prevent you from navigating to other web pages or windows. Existing applications will be suspended while the browser is running. So, don’t think of cheating 
.
Now, here are some sample questions from each area I remember: (I am not writing the multiple choices here)
Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam sample questions:
• In “Impression” & “Reach, what is Reach?
• If you want to reduce your avg. CPC then what should be the action plan?
• Anny creates a Google AdWords ad for her company. She wants to avoid showing her ad when users search for free, cheap, or crack. How can she do this with a keyword match type?
• Which tool allows you to specify certain hours or days of the week when you want your AdWords ads to appear?
• Are demographic options available for campaigns that are only running on the Search network?
• Is Display Network targeting required to run a mobile image ad?
• What is the benefit of using Display ad builder?
• Using phrases like “hurry!,” “limited time,” and “special offer” would impact the CTR?
• Should we use standard banner ads as the opening image for video ad?
• What should be your action plan if you find that interaction rates are declining for your video ad?
Search Advertising Advanced Exam sample questions
• Which tool works best for advertisers whose goals are mostly ROI oriented?
• What geographic targeting options are available for video ads?
• Does the quality score of your Display network affect the quality score of search network?
• What would be the appropriate account access level to assign a co-worker who also needs to log onto the AdWords account to make changes and manage access levels?
• What would be the first element of a video ad that a user will see?
• Jenifer’s immediate goal is to increase clickthrough rate what can be the most appropriate optimization strategies?
• John is reviewing her Google AdWords account and notices that his ad has received a considerable amount of clicks. Upon further review, John realizes that on some days the amount of clicks were considerably more than what his daily budget has allowed. What is the most likely reason of why this is happening?
• Consider an advertiser that is trying to sell more designer dresses. The advertiser has identified keywords for the ad groups: designer dress, branded designer dresses, and designer shoes. Which keyword wouldn’t be a good choice to include in the ad group designer dress?
• How would an advertiser determine most profitable keywords within a campaign?
• MCC user wants to link a new client account into MCC, what will be the first step in order to start the process?
• An API user of a given AdWords account is not able to view that account thru AdWords interface, the likely reason could be?
• What is the benefit of using adwords editor?
Display Advertising Advanced Exam sample questions
• What is a benefit an advertiser gets only if they have separate campaigns for the search and the display network?
• When using keyword targeting on the display network, an ad’s position is dictated by the maximum CPC of the ad group and…………..?
• Which of the following bidding options is best suited to an advertiser focusing on branding?
• One benefit of placement targeting on the Google display network is?
• An advertiser is not interested in branding, but primarily in getting cost effective conversions from a display campaign. The advertiser should use….?
• Which of these techniques you can use to ensure that your display ads do not appear on less relevant sites?
• Which of the following is only available for ads created using display ad builder?
• What is a possible reason why a maximum CPA set by the advertiser be exceeded?
Reporting & Analysis Advanced Exam sample questions
• Your customer wants you to create a Google AdWords report that will show them how many times the ads were shown and the actual cost-per-click rate. What type of report can you create for the client?
• An advertiser enabled conversion optimizer & notices decrease in number of conversions, what can be the possible reason?
• Up to _____ different conversion tracking types can be set up, with different monetary values assigned to each one?
• Which report in analytics helps advertiser to identify which pages should be optimized?
• Which AdWords tool allow user to view statics on keywords in account like cost & CTR?
• Which adwords feature is compatible with conversion optimizer?
• A visitor clicks on an AdWords ad and purchases a gadget. The next day they return by typing the website address into their browser address bar, and then make another purchase (this time a different gadget). How are the conversions measured in AdWords?
I studied for almost 12 to 14 hours to pass these exams with respectable scores and would recommend each one of you to have adequate preparation before taking it up. Passing the exams with great scores is always a plus as it provides more confidence within you. I obtained more than 88% in all the exams and hope good scores for you too.
Apart from the tips & sample questions, if anybody has any question, just leave a comment or drop me a note.
Best of luck!
Tags: AdWords Certification Exam sample questions, AdWords Certification Exam Tips
Most of you would understand why I wrote “Again” in the title. As per Google’s mandate, the validity of the exam holds good for 1 year for advanced exams & 2 years for Fundamental exam and after that it gets expired. In order to become qualified again, one has to appear and pass it again.
After passing this set of exams I have been awarded as AdWords Individual Qualification with specialization in “Search Advertising”, “Display Advertising” & “Reporting And Analysis” (As I have passed all three Advanced Exams).
My Individual Google Certification Program Profile page is available at: https://adwords.google.com/professionals/profile/ind?id=09094152380988034105&hl=en
These exams cover intermediate-to-advanced best practices for maximizing account performance using Google Analytics, Website Optimizer, the AdWords Report Center, and other analysis techniques.
There are many benefits of gaining individual qualification:
• Improved knowledge & practical application of AdWords tools
• Globally recognized stamp of approval certifying essential AdWords knowledge
• Showcase specialist knowledge through advanced exams covering search, display, reporting & analysis”
To become a Qualified Individual, we need to meet the following requirements:
• Pass both the Fundamentals exam and one of the three advanced exams.
• Be aware of, and in compliance with our program Terms and Conditions; you accept these terms when automatically by enrolling in the program.
Now, there is no minimum spend requirement to be Individually Qualified.
In my next post, I will provide some tips & sample test questions which might be helpful for all of you if you are planning to take the test in near future.
Tags: Adwords Fundamentals exam, Adwords Search Advertising, Display Advertising, Google Adwords Certification, Google Adwords Individual Qualification, Reporting And Analysis
Are you running Ad Campaign on Google Display Network (GDN)? If yes, then there is good news- Google has announced some innovative tools which are helpful in achieving superior performance with greater transparency & better measurement. These tools are: Relative CTR, Impression Share (IS), Content Ads Diagnostic Tool & Unseen Impression Filter.
Relative CTR is a competitive metric which will show how your ads are performing on Google Display Network compared to other advertisers ads on the same page/place. The Relative CTR value is obtained by dividing your CTR by the average CTR of all advertisers on the placements where your ads are shown.
Relative CTR is a measure of quality score as well. If an advertiser has low Relative CTR then it will lead to lower Quality Score than competitors, which leads to lower rank in the auction and higher CPCs.
So, even if you have good CTR but lower relative CTR than again it gives an opportunity to further optimize the ads with different creative, keywords etc. to position your ad on top & to further reduce the CPC.
A good relative CTR shows that ad is working fine & people are more interested in advertiser’s products/ services than the other advertisers.
Impression Share (IS) is a factor that represents the percentage of times that your ads were shown out of the total available impressions for which your ads were eligible to appear. Eligibility is based on your current ads’ targeting settings, approval statuses, and bids. You can also view a breakdown of the percentage of time that your ads weren’t shown in the “Lost IS (budget)” and “Lost IS (rank)” columns. Impression share data is available at the account and campaign levels for Google Search and Display Networks.
You can increase IS by increasing the budget, bid, improving ad rank & with adjustment in targeting placements as these changes will help your ads to appear more often & in more places.
Content Ads Diagnostic Tool (CADT) will help you to know the reasons of why your ads are not running on Display Network.
Google will launch the full release of CADT in early July this year.
Unseen Impression Filter makes sure that CPM advertisers are not charged for impressions that users have a low probability of viewing. For example, if your ad is appearing below the fold & user does not scroll enough to view the ad then you will not charge for that impression. This feature is automatically enabled and does not require any controls or set-up.
These tools are really helping me to analyze & optimize campaigns in better way. Try these tools; I am sure you will also love them.
Source: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/06/today-innovations-in-targeting.html
Tags: Content Ads Diagnostic Tool, Google Display Network Advertising Tools, Impression Share (IS), Relative CTR, Unseen Impression Filter
