Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

Unless you have been living under a rock the last 12 months, I am sure you have heard about the TREMENDOUS (1500%) growth that Twitter has experienced.  Although they have been appearing regularly in all types of media outlets, many were wondering how Twitter planned to monetize itself.  In the late part of 2009, Twitter inked lucrative search deals with both Microsoft and Google to allow Twitters Tweet Stream to show up in search results (and a similar deal with Yahoo! is currently pending).

So, how else does Twitter plan on making a profit?  Answer:  PAID SEARCH

Twitter recently announced that it is planning to launch its own online advertising program this year which will resemble the Google AdWords PPC platform.  According to reports, these future Twitter ads will use the same 140 (or fewer) character parameters as users Tweets.  Ad results will be tied directly to Twitter users’ searches and will not appear unsolicited in their Tweet Stream – which is critical.  The fact that Twitter will not show unsolicited ads to their users is greatly appreciated by this Twitter user.  There is already enough “spam” in most Tweet Streams, adding advertisements to the mix would be enough to drive some users crazy.

Although the proposed Twitter advertising platform will be similar to Google AdWords, it will also have one major difference.  Instead of offering Twitter advertising direct to advertisers, they will be targeting ad agencies and buyers.  This is just one more reason to take you online advertising business to the next level and use a professional PPC Management Company like JumpFly.

Google AdWords recently notified advertisers that, beginning this week, all ads that lead to sites on hosted domains must have display URLs that match their destination URLs exactly.  This change only affects advertisers who use websites on hosted domains and does not impact those who have display URLs that go directly to a regular site.

For Example:  JumpFly would like to advertise their blog to bring in new readers.  Before this display URL policy change, JumpFly would have been able to use the display URL www.JumpFly.com/Blog (or something similar if desired).  However, after this policy change is implemented, the example display URL would need to be www.Blog.Jumpfly.com.

Going forward, ads that do not include the additional information in the display URLs will be disapproved during the AdWords ad review process.  Google AdWords advertisers will be notified via e-mail that their ads require editing before they can go live and a suggested display URL will be provided.  Google is also encouraging AdWords advertisers to proactively adjust all ads that might be affected by this change.

This Google AdWords display URL policy change is understandable and conducive to the smooth user experience that Google prides itself on providing.  Advertisers not currently utilizing the services of a PPC Account Management company will need to go through the campaigns in their AdWords accounts to make sure their ads are compliant with this new display URL policy change. 

The Google AdWords display URL is a potentially valuable tool that is unused or underused by many pay-per-click (PPC) advertisers. Don’t make the mistake of neglecting this valuable piece of online advertising real estate. It can partially act as an additional advertising line if used wisely.

It used to be – in the old days (okay the “old days” in the search engine marketing (SEM) world was 2 years ago) – that large pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns with thousands of keywords were the way to go.  The bigger the better.  Some of the older Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing accounts that I’ve taken over have had over 50,000 keywords!

Now, according to Google AdWords and what we’ve seen in our own management efforts, it is a much better idea to start with a smaller PPC advertising account and expand slowly.

There are two reasons for this. 

Quality Score

First is the need to establish a good quality score.  Using extremely targeted terms and matching them carefully to your ad copy is the best way to establish a high quality score in your account.  There are other factors, of course, but these are the most controllable aspects of the quality score calculation.

The 80/20 Rule

Second is the smart use of your time and money.  Business owners are busy people.  The methods that you use to grow your business should be chosen carefully with respect to your time and your expenses.  What we see again and again with all of our clients is that 20% of the keywords in a PPC account (actually, it’s probably more like 5-10%), make up 80% of the traffic and conversions for the business. 

What does this mean to you?  For the best effect, you should focus your time and expense on those 20%.

The Catch

The problem, in many cases, is that we don’t really know what the 20% is until we test them.  Yes, keyword research and competitor research reveals a lot of data on what the top keywords are for a particular industry.  However, until those keywords are tested with your ad copy, your call to action, and your business model, we don’t really know which ones will be in the top 20.  It has to be  tested.

So, for the best PPC results and the best use of your time, you should start with a small, targeted account with tight ad groups and focused, effective ad copy.  But – this tight campaign should then be expanded based on the actual results. A qualified PPC Management Company will provide a complimentary consultation to help you determine the best route for your PPC Campaigns.