An overview of paid search strategies and considerations for small-medium sized businesses.

1. Paid Search: Strategies & considerations Ideal for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

2. Starting with the best foundation possible. CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE

3. Assess Your (Business) Goals Before you begin paid search, assess your business goals Disregard traffic, positions, rankings, etc Ask yourself, can paid search help me accomplish my business goals? Create one Campaign for each of your business goals.

4. Begin Your Keyword Research Ask yourself, what would someone search for if they were ready to help you accomplish your business goal – buy a product, buy a service, donate money, learn more about your business? General Keywords (hair salon) Problem-Based Keywords (need a haircut) Geo-modified Keywords (pittsburgh hair salon) Available KW Research Tools Google’s Keyword Tool WordTracker SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool

5. Weeding out the “Bad” Keywords Pull Traffic/Cost Estimates from Google Google Traffic Estimator

6. Keyword Considerations Google Traffic Estimator is best for directional information Clicks will likely be over-estimated Keywords below position 3 can still receive clicks – you may want to bid lower than Google’s lowest estimate “No Data” doesn’t necessarily mean No Traffic, it could mean No Competition A simple search on a “high traffic” keyword can show you context Example: Express (37 million) vs. Rue (8 million)

8. Considerations Goals  Campaigns  Ad Group Structure  Keyword Selection  Landing Pages  Match Types  Ad Copy Bids Campaign Settings

9. Keeping your cost low and your ROI high. BUDGET CONTROL

10. Ad Copy Ad Copy isn’t just about messaging or getting people to click CTR affects Quality Score and thus affects CPCs Qualifying Ad Copy is one of the first steps to controlling cost Cost Location Clear messaging No KW Insertion, ex: {KeyWord:Pittsburgh Hair Salon}

11. Initial Bids How low can you go and still succeed? If Google’s Traffic Estimator has “No Data,” you should start out with a $0.15 or less bid. Google’s Estimates aren’t requirements & bids aren’t permanent, bid whatever amount you’re comfortable with to start Check 1st Page bid estimates Directional– they may change once quality score increases

12. Campaign Settings Budget Caps Ad Distribution Google/Search Network/Content Network Geo-targeting Great for local companies Great for national companies Lower CPCs/More targeted audience Ad Scheduling/Day Parting Requires some knowledge of your most profitable times/days Position Preference Delivery Method: Standard vs. Accelerated Ad Rotation: Standard vs. Optimize

13. Considerations Goals  Campaigns  Ad Group Structure  Keyword Selection  Landing Pages  Match Types  Ad Copy  Bids  Campaign Settings  Bid Management Performance Analysis Testing

14. Ensuring you’re always getting the most out of your marketing dollars. ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

15. Performance Analysis Every engine has basic performance reporting Web analytics should also be present to measure profitability Performance should be checked at least twice weekly Performance Monitoring Best Practices Available Google Reports

16. Bid Management Considerations Keywords need to be in Positions 1-3 before you’re shown in Google’s search network Position 11 is on Page 2 and will receive severely reduced impressions How much can you pay for a keyword and make it profitable Back track: How valuable is a conversion? What profit margin would you like to maintain? The difference is how much you can spend on a keyword if you receive only one conversion. Budget Optimizer

18. Test, Test, Test Ad Copy Testing Landing Page Testing Match Type Testing Bid Boosting Dayparting Geographic Demographic

19. Considerations Goals  Campaigns  Ad Group Structure  Keyword Selection  Landing Pages  Match Types  Ad Copy  Bids  Campaign Settings  Bid Management  Performance Analysis  Testing  Paid & Organic Resources

20. Understanding the big picture. PAID & ORGANIC

21. Paid & Organic Considerations Paid Search for Brand Awareness Paid Search for Link Building Branded Paid Search Campaigns vs. Organic Traffic & Cannibalization Analyzing Organic traffic & generated sales to determine bids Paid Search & SQ Reports can provide SEO insights

22. Resources Campaign Structure: Google Grants Account Creation Guide Testing Ideas & Strategies: PPC Hero Campaign Creation/Management Tool: AdWords Editor Google Search Help Yahoo Search Help MSN Search Help

23. Questions? Goals  Campaigns  Ad Group Structure  Keyword Selection  Landing Pages  Match Types  Ad Copy  Bids  Campaign Settings  Bid Management  Performance Analysis  Testing  Paid & Organic 