Getting great results from the Google content network doesn’t have to be difficult, but it can get tricky if you treat it the same way you would a search campaign.  Too often people either just turn on content in a search campaign or duplicate the search campaign as a content targeted campaign.  This often leads to less than optimal results.  In order to avoid creating a content targeted campaign that isn’t setup for success, there are a few easy steps that can be taken which involve using free tools.

The first step relates to your keywords.  In the content network, you can generally use broader keywords than you do for search targeted campaigns and still get great results.  This will allow your campaign to have a greater reach within your target audience.  Finding these broader keywords is simply a matter of using the keyword research tools that are available from the search engines.

Once you have your keywords set, the second step is finding specific sites that are relevant to your campaign and can be targeted through the content network.  A great tool to use is Google Ad Planner.  Ad Planner can be used to find similar audiences to your site and find sites that relate to the keywords in your campaign.

To find sites that relate to the keywords in your campaign, simply add a list of keywords from your campaign into the tool and it will return related sites.  You can then refine the list of sites using a variety of filtering options to find the most relevant sites for your campaign.  You then simply add these sites in as managed placements in your campaign.

You can also use Google Ad Planner to find sites that have a similar audience to your site.  To do this, you enter in your domain and it will return demographic data for you site as well as other sites visited by visitors who come to your site.  This will allow you to then use the tool to find sites that have similar audiences to your site.  These can then also be targeted as managed placements in your campaign.

Lastly, you should make use of your web analytics data to find relevant sites to target through the content network.  Go through your list of top referring sites and see which ones are driving high quality traffic.  Put a list of together of those that are driving great traffic and then see if you can target them specifically through the content network.

Once you’ve gone through these simple steps, you’ll be ready to launch your content targeted campaign.  Once the campaign has launched, you’ll have to make sure you’re very vigilant in optimizing the performance of the campaign in order to maximize your results.

Have you ever really taken a hard look at where your Yahoo PPC traffic is really coming from?  Recently I was working on a web analytics project for a client and was doing a deep dive into their referring sites.  I noticed a number of sites that were driving a fairly high number of visits, but none of them were converting.  I dug deeper and began to notice some strange abnormalities.

These sites appeared to be some of the “made for adsense” type sites that only have ads.  They had some navigation and a search box, but everything always led to ads.  I could see that all the traffic coming from these sites had PPC tracking strings so I figured it was from the Google content network.

Google AdWords, however, wasn’t reporting any clicks from any of these domains.  I was a bit perplexed and so I went back to take a closer look at the tracking stings.  I was very surprised to see that they were from Yahoo.  The reason why I was so surprised was that the client isn’t running on the Yahoo content network.

I figured somehow the content network had been turned on by mistake, but that was not the case.  I kept poking around Yahoo and to my surprise found a Referrer report (which apparently is new as of the middle of October).  There I could see all the sites that Yahoo apparently deems to be “search” partners when in fact the only available content on the site are Yahoo ads.

In a few campaigns well over 50% of the monthly budget had come from these so called “search” partners with zero conversions.  These domains are now blocked, but that doesn’t mean the client or I am happy.

There will need to be follow-up calls with Yahoo to figure out how these sites can possibly be regarded as “search” partners.  In addition Yahoo only allows you to block 500 domains, so what is the client supposed to do once they reach that threshold?

Many questions still need to be answered, but I would strongly suggest doing a deep analysis using your web analytics data to see where exactly Yahoo is showing your ads.

If you’re planning to attend SES Chicago, and you haven’t quite clicked on that register button, STOP! WAIT! HOLD ON!  because if you enter this little discount code 20SERE you’ll save yourself 20% on an SES Chicago conference pass (that’s over $350 on a platinum pass).

And if you’re going you should check out our session on Bringing PPC In-house.  We’ll be co-presenting with American Public University System (APUS) and discussing how we successfully helped them bring their PPC in-house.  Or stop in and see our sponsored session Social Media Strategy & ROI Measurement where we’ll discuss how to build a Social Media Strategy working backwards from a solid measurement framework.

Also catch our Director of Social Media, Li Evans, as she introduces the session Introduction to Search Engine Marketing, as she speaks on Images and Optimization and as she discusses Ghost Blogging, Tweeting, Content Production – Ethical? Does it Matter?

Below are more details on our In-house and Social Media Measurement sessions:

Bringing PPC In-House
While a PPC campaign can be a more cost-effective operation if executed in-house, the complexities of staffing and managing an in-house PPC program can be more challenging than you might think. In this session, we’ll discuss how to create the right combination of people, tools and resources for maximum efficiency and success. Determining when it makes sense to in-source your PPC, developing an effective bid strategy, and selecting suitable ad tracking software are just some of the key factors to be discussed.

Moderator:
Paul Elliott, Partner, Rosetta

Speakers:
Nathan Linnell, Director of Analytics, Serengeti Communications
Hee So, Senior Internet Marketing Coordinator, American Public University System

Social Media Strategy & ROI Measurement
According to Forrester, Social Media will be the fastest growing interactive marketing technique over the next 5 years and account for the third largest spend category. Unfortunately, most marketers struggle with how to measure Social Media and demonstrate its effectiveness. This leads to difficulty securing budget for the channel, which in turn leads to weak or inconsistent strategy.

In this session, you’ll learn how to create a successful Social Media strategy, working backwards from a solid measurement framework. We’ll show you what to measure and how to measure it, and share our secrets on high-ROI Social Media.

In the meantime, download our white paper on Social Media measurement at http://www.serengeticommunications.com/measuring-sm.

Speakers:
Nathan Linnell, Director of Analytics, Serengeti Communications
Nan Dawkins, Founder and CEO , Serengeti Communications
Liana Evans, Director of Social Media, Serengeti Communications

Too many marketers take a ‘good enough’ approach when it comes to their Google Adwords campaigns.

I recently had a phone call with a client who had over 4,000 words of unorganized content on his landing page and couldn’t understand why no one was purchasing his service. When I encouraged him to change his landing page, he quickly interrupted, insisting it was a waste of time and consumers “will get the gist.”

Web visitors are not your friends and family.  They are the most fickle, impatient bunch that will ever come in contact with you or your brand.

Web users, in mass, seem to have one enduring mantra: when in doubt, click out.  And why shouldn’t they? Your website is not the only circus in town.  In any industry, it’s possible to have between 20 and 20,000 competing sites.  This puts a premium on creating tight, well organized, and engaging content that will lead customers to the call-to-action.

You don’t have to be a wordsmith to create compelling content.  You don’t even have to speak the language.

I used to work with a software company managing their English speaking campaigns.   After producing very positive results, I mustered the courage to see if I could handle their overseas campaigns as they were heavily engaged in Germany and France.

They were slightly confused by my request (I speak neither German nor French), but I quickly explained that despite speaking neither language, it was quite obvious that they were making some serious mistakes. [View Entire Article]

Over at Takeitinhouse.com we have an interview with Melanie Mitchell, VP of Marketing at Folio Investments, Inc. She discusses her nearly nine years in search marketing, points out some great reasons for educating the entire company about SEO, and shares insights on in-house search marketing teams and their role in the company.

I’m sure all of us went through a stage where no one understood us and we felt alone in the world (all of us at once oddly enough). The litmus test for me was the day the automatic urinal flushed while I was still standing at it. Even an object that gets peed on all day doesn’t know I’m alive…

Luckily machines have allowed us to beat most of that loneliness and connect with people in new and weird ways.

But, there are times when it seems that machines only widen the gap between us and others. Emoticons, after all, can only communicate so much. And, now that machines “talk” to us through targeted advertising, we can sometimes wonder how much they really “know” about us. And, we can worry that they’re right.

For instance, does Google really know about my secret desires to be a controlled-asthmatic, spiritually-awoken SWAT Team Officer who sells Tonka trucks on the side while secretly nursing an addiction to teen vampire novels?

I mean do they have a direct line into my cerebral cortex? It’s all there in Green and Black and Blue and White. How could they know so much from just the Facebook friend request of my high school classmate’s creepy ex-boyfriend?

After all, they’re doing targeted advertising now? I mean there were months at a time when Google gnawed at my sub-conscience with a single question: “Are you a slacker mom?” “What if it’s true?” I worried, despite having no children at the time and being male. “What if I am a slacker mom?”

For the record:

• I wanted to be a police officer until about sixth grade, but not part of the SWAT team. (And no, I didn’t see the LL Cool J/Samuel L Jackson/Colin Farrell movie.)
• Although I played with trucks as a kid and have two boys, I can only think of one Tonka truck that we own, and that was bought by my in-laws and never referenced in an email.
• I don’t have asthma.
• While I do have an interest in childrens and young adult literature, I have no real interest in vampire novels.
• Finally, while I am religious, the wording of this ad seems far flung from anything I personally practice.

Wow, a five for five fail not only in interest to me, but also in relevance to the email in question (unless “Facebook” is a secret Google code word for “SWAT Team interest” or, for an even crazier theory, perhaps University of Phoenix is buying unrelated keywords).

The point of this post is two-fold (you didn’t think I had even a one-fold point, did ya?)
1. Buying unrelated or overly broad keywords defeats the purpose of targeted advertising. The whole point is to be able to more appropriately match your advertising to people who might buy your product/service. Because it’s unrelated, you’ll almost assuredly spend more for lower quality traffic annihilating all of the advantages.
2. PPC isn’t something you can set and forget. Because it’s targeted advertising, it ebbs and flows with the tide of the web. What is a relevant key word today may not seem so relevant a year, six months, or even one month from now. A year ago the word “twitter” meant: “to utter a succession of small, tremulous sounds, as a bird.” Now, it’s the hottest social scene on the web. Effective PPC takes time, a bit of know-how and a lot of elbow grease.

Don’t leave your PPC out in the cold. We all know what it’s like to feel lonely.

Over the coming months, Google will be rolling out a new way to target your ads on the content network called Interest-Based Advertising.  It’s basically behavioral targeting with a slight twist that I’ll talk about later in the post.

Up until now, advertisers could use the Google AdWords content network to target their audience in a few different ways.

Keyword Targeted

Advertisers can pick groups of keywords that are relevant to those Internet users who are likely going to be interested in the advertisers’ offer.  If there is content on Google’s content network that matches the keyword group, then the ad will potentially be displayed on that page.

Placement Targeted

If an advertiser knows their target audience frequents certain sites, then they can target those sites or specific sections of the site.  Advertisers’ ads will then potentially be displayed across those sites or on the particular sections of the sites that the advertiser has deemed to be the most relevant.

Placment and Keyword Targeted

Advertisers can also target specific placements with a group of keywords.  In this case, the ad will potentially be shown if there is content on the targeted placements that match the keyword group.

Google has now taken it a step further with the announcement of Interest-Based Advertising.  As an advertiser, you can now use behavioral data to target ads.  What this means is that Google will collect data on the types of sites users visit that are utilizing AdSense.  And, based on those sites, Google can determine categories of interest for each user.

Interest-Based Advertising will also allow advertisers to tailor ads based on how the user has previously interacted with their company.  For example, if a user has been to your site you could then display an ad to them on other sites they are browsing that offers them a discount on their next purchase.

For users, Interest-Based Advertising also gives them a certain amount of control.  Using Google’s Ad Preferences Manager, users can opt out completely which means Google will disable the cookie that is used to display the behavioral-targeted ads to the user. 

The twist that I mentioned at the beginning of the post is that Google is giving users the ability to change the interest categories that have been associated with their browsing history.  They can eliminate categories that have been assigned to them based on their browsing history. They can add categories that they are interested in but that have not been associated with them based on the sites they’ve visited.

If you’re interested in being part of the beta test for Interest-Based Advertising then fill out the request form.  In my opinion, it’s definitely something that’s worth testing to see if behavioral targeting will be a cost effective way to utilize the Google content network. 

Over the past few years, when working with clients to improve their pay-per-click campaigns, one of my first pieces of advice was to opt out of the Content Network.

From 2005 to 2007, it seemed the Content Network was just a black hole.   By default, a percentage of your spend was spent in the Content Network. 

Where did that money go?  Some of the traffic showed up in Web reports such as ‘Google Content Syndicated’ or ‘Google Ad Services.’  But, much of the traffic had no referrer information nor any keyword information.

And, if you did create a separate campaign for the Content Network, the traffic almost always proved to be lower quality than search traffic.

Google realized this.  And, back around 2007 … gave you the option to set bids differently for the Content Network than for search.

But, the problem remained. Where was this traffic coming from?  With no referrer nor keyword data, it was impossible to know.

Google realized this was a huge problem to search marketers.  So, while many search marketers were not paying attention … Google listened and made some changes, and the Content Network got good.

Some things you may not know about Google’s Content Network, 2009.

1) Reach – The Content Network reaches 76% of internet users across both mass media and niche media sites.

2) Placement Options – No more is the Content Network the black hole of search marketing.  You can choose where (type of site or specific site) you want your campaign to run.

3) Exclusions – Even better, if a site in the Content Network is not driving quality traffic, you can exclude it from the campaign.

4) Demographics – When you set up a campaign, you can include only the age and gender that you want to target.

5) Reporting – This is my favorite.  The Keyword/Placement report will tell you not only the normal stats for each click including domain but also interesting information about each site. (Parked Domain, Error Page, etc.)

If you are one of the search marketers who opted out of the Content Network a few years ago, it is definitely time to give it a second chance.

Back in the first post of 2008 on this blog, I predicted that 2008 would be the year of Reputation Management.  Given the trends we’d seen in customer referrals, it seemed like a pretty safe bet. 

Over the course of the year, we did indeed gain some buzz monitoring / reputation management contracts, which we successfully completed.  However, reputation management was not an over-riding discussion point throughout the year.  Just as Local Search wasn’t in 2006 or Mobile Search in 2007, it was just a part of the bigger picture of internet marketing.  Although, you could say that each was indeed a larger part of that picture by the end of each of those years.

SEO and potentially, PPC can be large parts of your reputation management solution, social media involvement can help your SEO and reputation management, and so on and so forth.  What you really need to look at for 2009 is that bigger picture.  Where does everything fit together?  Where are the holes in your internet marketing plan?  Where should you focus your budget, and how flexible can you make your spend?

In 2009, what I’d like you to do is not to focus on the shining promise of ‘the next new thing’ at the expense of everything that’s already working for you.  But instead, keep an eye out for the potential of that next new thing, and be prepared to test and see if it can / will work for you, either now or in the future, and how it plugs in with what you’re doing now.

In my last post, I referenced a magazine ad from an older issue of Business 2.0 (October 24, 2000) describing how interesting it is to time travel BACK in time to get a ‘gut-check’ of the present and maybe, even look into the future.

Perhaps, more interesting than that ad, in my journey back in time, was the large absence of Google on the business radar back then.

Not only was Google absent from the ‘Internet at a Glance’ page, but there was not even a mention of Google in the article about ‘buying ads online’ called ‘Open for Bid-ness, Round Two.’

The article opened citing a recent report that showed many online media buys took place by old school means: “faxes, phone calls, business lunches.”

The article described the abundant need for business/technology that worked for both ad buyers and ad sellers; a solution that addressed the concerns; and concerns about introducing new technology to automate the process.  Or, on the flip-side, it described the problems with having to beef up a sales staff, concerns about excess inventory, and big concerns with conflict of interest between publishers, sellers, buyers, and agencies.

Hindsight is so clearly 20/20.   Nice job, Google!  You saw the opportunity, the challenge.  And, you solved the problem.

So, perhaps a good resolution for me (and you) for next year (wow, is it that time already?) is to read these articles with a bit more sense of foresight – to try to figure out how the current big problems could be the next big solution.