|
Posted by Uncle Sha
|
The first thing you should know about Google AdWords’ search and content network is that they are two very different animals. To get this point across, put yourself in the mindset of the searcher. If someone is searching for something through Google search, they are already either a) looking for information or b) ready to buy something. Now contrast that with someone that is simply surfing the web and barely glances at the Google ads amongst the pages he / she is viewing.
Since the mindsets of these individuals differ, so must the ads targeting them. For the search network, your ad is informational or you have a call to action of some kind - something (hopefully) the searcher is already seeking. To attract customers using ads on the content network on the other hand, the ad acts more like a distraction and must do exactly that - distract the surfer from their original focus and make them click on the ad.
Since this is the case, two sets of campaigns should be implemented - one specifically for the search network and one for the content network.
A point to keep in mind - the content network runs your ads based on your keyword theme not by each individual keyword as in the search network. So, say for example, you are bidding on the keyword phrase “healthy fruit drink”, your ads will appear on websites that contain one or all of those keywords or fits within the theme of healthy living, healthy drinks or healthy fruit (and quite possibly cocktail sites due to the keyword “drink”).
Therefore, if you are using the content network, you need to be constantly checking the Placement Performance Report offered by Google (in your AdWords campaign, go to Reporting - Reports - Create New Report. Under Report Type, check Placement Performance). Then you want to go through the report clicking on each of the websites that your ad appears, and looking to see if they fit the image and target market you are aiming at.
Make note of websites where you don’t want your ad shown and remove those placements from your campaigns using the same method used for adding negative keywords - except this time it’s with a URL. Eg. [-FreeAdWwordsStuff.com or -FreeAdWordsStuff.com/free] making note to put the minus sign in front of each of the URLs you enter.
One way to get a higher CTR for the content network is to make use of Google’s “Display Ad Builder” which allows the average person to create graphic ads without any previous graphics knowledge. And they even have flash ad templates where you can change the colors, add your own graphics, text and URL - and the rest is done for you.
Display ads will get a higher CTR on the content network but you may not find that to be the case at the start. That’s because Google doesn’t have any historical data for your display ads at the onset and so you may have to set your bid price to double that of what you are paying on the search network to ensure your ads get displayed often enough for Google to collect said data. You should only need to do this for a month or two until Google collects some stats and then brings your keyword costs down based on the CTR that you have been getting over that time period.
The content network can be gold if you know how to use it but it can also eat up your budget in a heartbeat without getting you nearly the same click through rate (CTR) that you can get on the search network.
As with anything you do with Google, you should be testing and testing to see what works and what doesn’t. You may want to try a text ad and an image ad on the content network to see what works best for your particular market and make incremental changes accordingly.
Reese Richards is an Internet Marketer and Serial Entrepreneur based out of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada who has successfully used PPC to drive traffic in industries such as import / export, the arts, the bar / restaurant industry, ESL (English as a Second Language) and the dating industry. Much of what he has learned about being profitable with Pay Per Click advertising was learned from the free newsletter offered at http://www.FreeAdwordsStuff.com which is owned and operated by Dr. Glenn Livingston, the only person endorsed by the world’s two foremost PPC experts - Perry Marshall and Howie Jacobson.
For the only PPC newsletter that gives you free PPC cheat sheets, MP3s, videos, tips and tricks and more, go to http://www.FreeAdwordsStuff.com and enter your email address for your free degree in PPC.
|
5th Nov 2009
|
Category: Advertising
|
