PPC Optimization Wizard

Comments and thoughts that have been submitted on this wizard page:

Name: Akin
URL: Multichannelmetrics.com
Comment:

As they say, if you don't know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which way you take. Picking the right metric is necessary for ensuring that you are optimizing your PPC campaigns towards a meaningful business outcome.

Choose from the options below.

* The ideal metric is lifetime value, i.e. the net present value of all expected future profits from clients that are acquired. Since this metric is difficult to calculate marketers often use substitutes. But be conscious of the risks of doing so.

* The next best metric are short term returns, i.e. profits after deducting not only PPC costs but also costs of goods and delivery. This metric is vital especially for eCommerce sites. But also not easy to gather the data

* The next best metric are short term revenues from online or offline sales vs. PPC costs

* If you are selling offline (e.g. B2B) but your web analytics aren't configured to display offline revenues then you may want to substitute lead registrations, i.e. conversions

* Note: You will usually hear a lot about conversion rates, ROAS (revenue divided by PPC costs) or costs per acquisition or sale in conjunction with optimizing marketing. However these are not really metrics to mazimize themselves. Rather, they are helpful indicators for optimizing the previously listed metrics. After all, if you really wanted to maximize conversion rates you just need to run a PPC ad that says something like 'Only click here if you are ready to purchase now' 8-)


Name: Elias Dabbas
URL: http://media-supermarket.com
Comment:

Thank Akin, my recommended addition would be not just to optimize an existing campaign, but to also look at the market, and look at your website.

Specifically:

1. Understand the market: when doing keyword research, the advertiser (who should not be an AdWords technician) should come up with a picture of what the market looks like in terms of keywords and how these keywords are grouped.

An understanding should be developed as to what each group of keywords correspond to in terms of intent or interest. (this is how campaigns and ad groups need to be structured to reflect the market)

2. Understand your website: this is not only about your landing page and how "optimized" it is. The advertiser needs to make a full content audit of their site, and get the percentages of keywords on their site.

This should be compared to how the market looks like and any gaps should hint at failures that cannot be handled by fixing a landing page or tweaking some ad text (although I fully understand the power of such tactics).

Here is my presentation explaining what I mean in a hopefully better way.
http://www.slideshare.net/eliasdabbas/adwords-research-segmentation-targeting-strategies

Thanks again for the initiative


Name: Akin
URL: http://multichannelmetrics.com
Comment:

Elias, that is an absolutely well taken, superb comment. You are adding a whole additional business dimension which I neglected when setting up the wizard. Doh! Got to make sure your keywords match your market (not just your products.) I hope readers will browse your presentation to learn more.

Thank you
Akin


Name: Kenneth Eriksen
URL: http://www.baranyi-eriksen.com
Comment:

I like this. A structured and systematic approach, but still simple. Should be a useful tool for companies that have not entirely outsourced the PPC spending.

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