What Does Structure and Content Have to Do with Paid Search?
Solid, tightly-targeted content is obviously vital for organic search rankings, but did you know that your organic content also affects your bid prices when you bid on search traffic using Google Adwords? It’s a part of the landing page algorithm that contributes to overall Quality Score… and Quality Score can make or break a campaign.
Organic content is often overlooked as an aspect of PPC (pay-per-click) campaign management because it requires a lot more work to establish a granular campaign. But, granular campaigns that are continually split-tested (also more work) can yield exponential gains for click-through rates (CTR) and conversion. It’s not rocket science, but it is really tedious work that pays off in consistent longterm results.
The biggest key in PPC campaign management is knowing how to structure campaigns properly, especially for Google Adwords. There are so many possible ways to structure a campaign that Google doesn’t tell you everything about how to set up the most optimized campaign structure. They tell you about 80% of it, and then it’s up to you to discover the truth about the rest… if you are lucky enough to survive that long in PPC. But, that 20% of what they don’t tell you… that’s the success driver. That 20% left on the table can reduce what you pay Google by up to 50% sometimes, for the same traffic. Experience and testing are the only way to learn how to get the edge on that final 20% that can make a huge longterm difference.
However, if you are not a detail-oriented, patient person, you will not be pleased with the amount of tedious minutia that is required to structure a campaign properly. And, don’t for one minute think that all PPC consultants know how to structure a campaign because they don’t. I know, I’ve hired more than a dozen of them in the past. You would not believe some of the things I’ve seen that were supposed to pass for being ‘optimized.’
As an ecommerce owner, before I had the experience to learn these things, I suffered through many so-called consultants that worked for somewhat sizable SEO companies. I was forced to learn how to make the process work because it was mycompany on the line. The bottom line is that unless your consultant owns their own ecommerce company (and not just a consulting company) they can’t understand the process completely. They can sound like they do, but I promise you… most of them don’t.
As a site owner, I have been given what seemed at the time to be smart, and well-intended advice, only to find out too late that it was usually the opposite of what I should have been doing.
Maybe you’ve already experienced this? If so, don’t be discouraged about what didn’t work. Let’s find out what DOES work! Maybe what’s right for your company or website is a different kind of traffic… or a different source? Maybe you are more concerned about branding and you aren’t getting a good roll-out? Maybe you need MSN keyword PPC mixed with traffic from the Google content network?
If you want to explore that, call me. We’ll talk about it. If I can help you I will. If not, I’ll tell you so. I do SEO work because I love doing it. When I’m not working for a client I’m doing it for myself. Affiliate marketing. PPC split testing. I’m a bit obsessed, but that’s what makes me good! I do it for other people because I love the work and I like getting paid for helping people.