C’mon People, PPC is all about timing. Advertisers need to take advantage of all of the FREE PR, News, Word of Mouth, etc… to capitalize on the timing of this release. Just a few things to ponder:

• Is it a matter of product margins?
• Why isn’t iTunes promoting it themselves?
• Could the Goo Goo Dolls do their own PPC?
• Should the record company spend some PPC Dollars?

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Question #1:
Can you tell us a little more about the new Trellian Direct Search Network as well as the benefit it provides for the typical advertiser who is already using Traditional Search Engine Marketing?

Answer:
The Trellian Direct Search Network is a direct navigation platform. Direct search or direct navigation as most of your audience knows, is a search performed in the address bar followed with a dot com. Trelllian Direct Search Network platform provides publishers and advertisers with highly targeted traffic redirected to their website.

Direct navigation is powerful because this is the fastest route a customer can take to your site. Research shows that direct navigators convert nearly 50% greater as users are presented a website highly relevant to their search. Because direct navigation by passes search engines altogether the Trellian platform provides marketers a powerful extension to any search marketing campaign.

Trellian controls the destination of 200 million unique visitors every month.

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Question #2:
Can you explain to our audience the unique differences between Trellian Direct Search Network and the very familiarized Search Engine Google, Yahoo and MSN/Bing?

Answer:
Search Engine marketing without search engines. Direct navigation bypasses search engines altogether. With this method, the visitor is redirected straight to your website. Unlike organic or paid search your customer does not have to decide which ad or listing to click. No competing ads, no banners, no organic listings.

Recent independent studies by Mozilla and UCLA confirmed that direct navigation is a major part of the web user experience. Researchers discovered that direct navigators behave differently to traditional search engine users in three key ways: Far higher purchase intent-Not browsing, looking to buy -Not looking at alternative products or services.

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Question #3:
Trellian in the past has been recognized for it’s KeywordDiscovery Tool and other reputable products. Why are you now entering the Search Marketing Industry with such as unique vertical? Has this idea been in the works for a while or was this just something that sort of happened overnight?

Answer:
Trellian is a global leader in innovative web based services and solutions for SEO/SEM, advertisers, publishers, web developers and domain portfolio holders. Since 1997, Trellian has delivered quality products and services for government, fortune companies, online marketers and SEM professionals.

Trellian is acutely aware of the market shifts and needs and creates solutions to serve those needs.. Search engine marketers are seeking alternative traffic sources with higher conversions opportunities at a lower cost. Trellian Direct Search Network is our answer to delivering quality targeted traffic .

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Question #4:
How does the Trellian Direct Search Network model work?

Answer:
The Trellian bid interface is a bidding platform where you pay for unique visitors PPV. If you are used to running a PPC campaign then our interface is going to feel very familiar to you.

Enter a keyword with an option to add stop keywords, for specific targeted keyword campaigns. Trellian delivers matched, targeted unique visitors from domains in our network. Our PPV is, on average, 70% less than that of the average search engine CPC, without the competition. Trellian Direct Search Network delivers a platform that compliments current search engine campaigns.

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Question #5:
With the emergence of PPC Software Tools such as Acquisio, ClickEquations, etc… in the marketplace, is the Direct Search Network compatible with these tools? If not yet, do you have any plans for this integration?

Answer: Much like our KeywordDiscovery tool the Trellian Direct Search Network provided an API for clients or agencies performing volume bid buys. TheDirect Search Network API can easily be implemented in any PPC tool. Requirements are posted in the API manual

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Question #6:
Web Analytics plays a huge part in the continued success of any online advertiser. Does the AdNetwork provide detailed reports and analytics needed to monetize efficiently? Can your platform support additional Google or other web analytics tracking?

Answer:
The network provides reports of traffic that is sent to your campaign. In the campaign set up we recommend that advertisers add their own tracking code or implement our suggested code to manage and track results.

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Question #7:
Why Should an Advertiser Choose Trellian’s Direct Search Network?

Answer:
Trellian makes Direct Navigation Marketing effective because we have the three key requirements covered: know how,infrastructure, and meaningful amounts of traffic. Advertisers need to know that they are working with someone that can be trusted. Trellian is the name behind many of the leading innovations in Search Engine Marketing and controls the ultimate destination of over 200 million Direct Navigation searches every month.

The Trellian Direct Search Network may not be for everyone. A Trellian account manager works with advertisers to identify specific needs and assist in creating a campaign. If we cannot help in specific areas we will be the first to tell you.

Strategy Level Checklist:

• Approved Strategy in Place.
• All Approved Text Ad Messaging has been implemented and approved by Editorial (watch carefully as soon as it’s activated).
• All (CPO) Cost Per Order/Conversion Metrics are setup and understood.
• All Approved Daily/Monthly Budgets are set correctly. (For multiple campaigns, make sure you have the right budget allocation)

Web Analytics Checklist:

• All Conversion Tracking Code is Tagged Correctly & Tested.
• Generic Web Analytics Code is Tagged Correctly & Tested.
• Make sure all Destination Urls are tracking Properly.
• Suggest to client that all other advertising, newsletters, etc… have analytics tracking code attached.
• Make sure all Conversion Funnels are setup and working properly.
• Make sure to create Analytics Dashboard for client (if applicable).
• Make sure to let the client’s Tech Team to include Web Analytics code on all new and existing pages if edited.

Tactical PPC Checklist:

• Specific Networks are checked off/on based on strategy. (Search, Display, etc..)
• If Ad testing, make sure Ad Serving is set to Rotate.
• Make sure to not have any possible Trademarks, Excessive Capitalization or Superlatives that bypass Editorial that could deactivate the Ads later on.
• Make sure all Keyword Matching settings are setup correctly, according to your approved strategy
• Add all identified Negative keywords are either added to Campaign or Adgroup Levels (Make sure they are not relevant modifiers and either phrase or exact negatives
• Make sure the Destination Urls are accurate and working properly.
• Make sure all approved Geo-Targeting settings are setup correctly (same goes for Demographics within Display Networks)
• Make sure all approved Display Banners in all sizes for maximum visibility for network sites.
• If using Display Network, double check the selected sites and any keywords being used are based on accurate themes for the adgroup.
• If client has any other Google services such as Google Places, Merchant Center, Phone Extensions and Site Links, make sure to add them to the Campaign Settings (if applicable)
• Any other specifics such as Day-parting, Position Preferences and Frequency are setup correctly based on client’s business activities.

In Conclusion:
In all honesty, it’s very easy to forget to check off a setting or forget to add a & or ? to a destination url that would inadvertently create a broken link within a test ad and that’s not a good way to start off a new PPC Campaign. These suggestions mentioned above are just some of the things that I look at when launching a new campaign or even making edits. There are so many settings as well as strategies that can be implemented on any given day, so keeping a checklist of what to do before your hit the ENABLED button and release the hounds is a good way to avoid any “Imperial Entanglements” (Star Wars Fans out there????)

1. Not Bidding On their own Brand Name “Blockbuster”

Of the places where Blockbuster is showing visibility through PPC such as “video game rentals” & “xbox rentals” and some others, their Text Ads are all the same. There is no relevancy in the CTA or anything different in the Text Ads, which is another problem area.

I am just surprised by the lack of PPC strategy and/or efforts on this recent push by the “once giant” Blockbuster to compete with the successful online gaming site Gamefly.com. You know, they are just missing the basic “Blocking and Tackling” areas of PPC best practices, not to mention the “outside the box” creativity to find potential customers or bring back customers from the past.

If Blockbuster wants to make a name for themselves through the online world, they MUST do a better job promoting their name, reaching out to younger audiences and testing older demographics because they are now playing in the market where their is a Generational Gap between Generation X, Y and the Echo Boomers. If they do not expand their strategy, no one will know they exist online.

Counteract with an SEO Strategy for High CPC Head Terms.
Even if you’re PPC campaigns are tightly structured and you have a good understanding of (1) what’s working, (2) what is not, (3) what has potential and (4) what just needs to be turned off, you are still NOT moving the needle and your PPC strategies “shelf life” is running out unless you can look at the big picture and provide the client with other options to gain leverage over their competitors.

This strategy of advising the client to build out SEO landing pages based on those expensive head terms that are NOT COST effective in PPC is not just about SEO, it’s about improving Usability & Monetization. The reasons behind an unsuccessful PPC campaign may not always be the structure, it has to do with outside issues like:

• Cost of product/service
• Shipping & Handling Fees
• Overall Comparison Shopping
• Delays in making Purchase (cookie)
• Overall Shopping Experience

The bottom-line of suggesting an SEO strategy based on PPC data is simple. Why waste the client’s PPC Ad budget on something that is not working, but is valuable enough to keep pushing an audience to it. It’s much more cost-effective to provide this strategy to them and frequently results into creating an entire SEO strategy which can extend your monthly contract.

Understanding Web Analytics Installation:
Again, another important element in the life of a PPC Marketer. Whether your clients have a large IT Dept. or their nephew/niece helping out, it is the PPC Marketers job to either advise of direct the client on installing web analytics before any PPC dollars are spent. This can sometimes be a very difficult phase to get through if the client’s resources do not fully understand the where the code needs to be. For ecommerce sites, this is even more complicated for them. A big rule of thumb, make sure you understand the installation, funnels, conversions and obviously reporting and analysis. Because if you don’t, all of your hard PPC work will be down the drain.

Understand Google Landing Page Design and Usability:
I always say that if the Door to your Store is not opening correctly, people WILL NOT walk in and buy something. This is multiplied by 10x when it comes to an online store or normal website. Why? Online visitors can easily click a button and go somewhere else. That’s not as easy for them driving in a car. Good Usability is what makes the conversion happen. The PPC marketer’s job is to not only increase qualified visitors to the site they are also responsible for conversions. With that said, knowing the elements of a good Landing Page is crucial to a PPC strategies success. Whether you design and code the Landing Pages yourself, or provide examples of what works best, it’s important to communicate that the client.

In Conclusion:
A PPC Marketer these days needs to be a well-rounded and experienced Internet Marketer that understands everything “BEFORE” and “AFTER” the click. Paid Search is a very competitive and “living-n-breathing” advertising monster with little room for mistakes. In my opinion, what makes a good PPC marketer is not seeing them speak at a podium, write a book or teach a class. Moreover, it’s what they have done to improve the business for their clients and Word Of Mouth will set the record straight. Another important element is how they were able to think “outside the box” to increase conversions and created a brand loyalty through the Search Engines.

However, you must ask yourself, “How effective can this be when the media tells the American people that BP has not only been manipulating the facts, not paying these Temp workers and finally started to close the well” I guess the truth would be in the Web Analytics (if there are being used correctly)

Throughout the work day, I come across different strategy ideas to try and stimulate new conversions and testing opportunities for my clients. And on days like this, I just have the need to rant a little because what I noticed will make it more difficult for me to sell this strategy. For example, I wanted to provide a new PPC strategy surrounding Display Advertising using Google’s Video Placement through Youtube. Furthermore, the goal was to put together a solid strategy where the client could advertise their services to a very niche YouTube audience.

However, I was quite surprised at the “LACK of Relevancy” on behalf of Google’s Display Network Video Option Example. Now I know this is just an example they have provided, but I would of expected an example that was somewhat related to the industry/audience focus that I have searched under. In fact, my findings just reinforce my previous statements that even though Google is very good at promoting their nifty PPC Services, they are diminishing the integrity of these services and are simply not auditing what they are offering their advertisers. This kind of reminded me of the Seinfeld Episode where Jerry complains to the Rental Car place that “you have no problem taking the reservation. You just can’t hold the reservation.”

Let me explain….
If you can see the recent screenshot below, you can see my intention to place either a Banner Ad or Video Overlay for a video within the category of Health/Nursing. However, when you click on the example, it takes you to a Video which is about an Indie Movie about the end of the World and obviously has nothing to do with Health or Nursing.

Now, if you click on the link above (click here to see for yourself), this is completely irrelevant and screams of incompetency. Am I wrong? Too strong of words? NO!. The PPC marketers job is to provide their clients with the best possible advertising opportunities and we have to trust Google to deliver on those before we just commit to it. In my opinion, Google does not care how we spend the money, just as long as we spend it. It also helps to double and triple check what Google is offering, and sometimes that can even be a smoke and mirrors scenario.

In Conclusion:
Google just needs to be careful about how they promote these advertising options. In the end, it’s the PPC Marketer who is at fault and no one else if the client spends money on misleading audiences. Video Advertising has a lot of potential and will play a significant role in the future of PPC Marketing. But before advertisers take this seriously, Google needs to audit what they are offering.

Personally, I do not think they have enough information to statistically make this claim that this a viable conversion improvement option. 

Here’s how Google sees it:
“Restrict your display ads to placements that appear completely on-screen regardless of the user’s web browser, monitor size, or screen resolution. By excluding the ‘below the fold’ category in your AdWords account, ads in your Google Display Network campaign will only appear when a placement displays fully upon page-load, with no scrolling required, to drive awareness and purchase consideration for your business.”

I have a hard time believing this “koolaid talk”, because of the following reasons:

• Frequency of Network sites changing their Ad Placements/positioing.
• Based on past history, potential loss of “view through conversions” can be identified thru the 30 day cookie.
• Depending on the content of the site, the important information could be below the fold where opportunities might be better achieved.
• This is not Position Preference or the SERP Heat-Map. This is usability and pursuit for the information that interests visitors.

In Conclusion:

Unless Google can literally control where their network partners place their Adsense Code on their site, I simply cannot see this “above the fold” advertising making a significant impact. It’s a much different monster for SERPs where ranking within #1 – #6 (first page) is an obvious no-brainer. But, the location of Display Banners in today’s world depends on where the important information is located on the website and searchers will continue to scroll down the page until they find what they want.

In contrast, again Kudos to Google for continually to “wow” everyone with all of there great ideas and options for their advertisers. But, for this PPC Guy, I’m just not buying it!

Here’s what Google says:

“Here’s what one major UK retail company said about their experience using the feature:
We’re always interested in ways to increase our volumes while keeping our CPA down. As a result, we’ve added broad match modified keywords to several campaigns where previously we only had phrase and exact match keywords. After a few weeks of testing, we’re pleased to see these campaigns showed significant increases in conversion and volume, whilst keeping the CPA down. Therefore, we will be looking to scale our use of modified broad match keywords in all our campaigns to take full advantage of these great results.”

As PPC Gurus stay away from Broad Match, this statement irks me for some reason:
“If you mainly use broad match keywords in your account, you should know that switching your existing broad match keywords to modified broad match will likely lead to a significant decline in your click and conversion volumes and will not directly improve Quality Score. To maintain volume, keep existing broad match keywords active, add new modified broad match keywords, and adjust bids to achieve your target ROI based on the results you see.”

In Conclusion:
Everything we do as PPC Marketers (or should do) is always focused is conversions, conversions, conversions. (of any monetization type). This “tweak” to try and find the most relevant terms will only increase your Ad spend and not necessarily affect your bottom line. Just be careful before you start putting + signs in front of your keywords. It just might end up in + extra cash out of your pockets.

Wow, I was not expecting this from Yahoo and Bing.

In my opinion, that’s a very slippery slope, especially with using the “drill baby drill” Hockey Mom at the realm. Regardless of your political views, that is a dangerous tactic especially when were are living in a very polarizing political society and the last thing a search engine needs is to come across like they are supporting a specific political party or organization.

See the Actual Screen-shot below (or do your own Yahoo Search)
http://search.yahoo.com/search?cs=bz&p=Sarah+Palin&fr=fp-tts-701&fr2=ps

1. What’s your opinion on this?
2. Do you think this is in Bad Taste?
3. Let us know your thoughts?