In the early 1960’s astronomer Frank Drake devised an equation to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. By a similar method, we can find the leverage points to optimize our SEM and SEO efforts. [...more]
Paid search advertisers are acutely aware of the dependence of click traffic levels on their ad's position. But recent changes to how Google apparently serves ads in search results on its own site might have a toxic effect across the board. [...more]
Determining how much to bid in PPC advertising requires knowing the value of a click. But a click has several different values, some direct and some indirect, and they should each be taken properly into account to determine how much to bid on each keyword. [...more]
David Hughes discusses the key points of SEM and SEO organization in his chapter SEM and SEO: Core Drivers of iDirect Success for the book “Reinventing Interactive and Direct Marketing: Leading Experts Show How to Maximize Digital ROI with iDirect and iBranding Imperatives.” [...more]
Search engines are implementing more rich media – video, pictures, reviews, maps, etc. - in search results and Yahoo’s Rich Ads in Search (RAIS) is one of the programs leading the charge. Get the latest on this new program and learn some best practices for incoporating video clips into your PPC campaigns. [...more]
When is comes to understanding Google Adwords costs vs positioning, understanding that it's an ever-changing, multi-product, global auction adds some clarity to the equation. [...more]
A well-tuned landing page can produce dramatic improvements in any paid search campaign. Find out the "must have" elements of any high-performing landing page and start turning more visitors into profit-driving customers. [...more]
My top 10 favorite moments in SEM where I've seen someone in the industry make a decision, or a statement, that requires a leap of faith to believe with no clear basis in fact... [...more]
Well-written headlines and ad copy can significantly improve the performance of any paid search campaign. Determining which version of a PPC ad is most effective for a particular keyword or ad group requires rigorous, controlled testing to account for changes in bid and position. TSA's new creative testing tool enables our account teams to quantify the impact of each ad on conversion rate and quickly determine which under-performing versions should be paused. One client has already seen a 30% boost in conversion rate for the ad groups in which the creative testing methodology has been applied. [...more]
If you manage bids on search engine ad auctions, you probably spend a lot of time puzzling over spreadsheets looking for opportunities to improve your account's Cost per Acquisition (CPA). But CPA is a funny beast and if you don't know how funny it can act (even in the best of times), you might be wasting some of your effort. [...more]
