Bakedwheat Web Enterprises » The World of Search

Blogging and Mulitivariate Testing: Easily Sync Wordpress with Google’s Website Optimizer

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:48:42 +0000

Multivariate and A/B testing are two very important strategies in marketing. Even more so in the realm of internet marketing where nearly every aspect of your campaign can be tracked, tweaked and tracked again. There are sophisticated tools and software out there that can manage your testing for you. However, the cost of that software and the necessary learning curve can be high. Google lowered the entry threshold with their Website Optimizer toolset. If you have AdWords and Analytics experience, you can likely learn how to use Website Optimizer. The one caveat is that you have to play with your website’s code. For folks whose websites are built on blogging platforms accessing the back-end code can be tricky. If you use Wordpress, don’t fear – there’s a plugin that makes entering the necessary code a cinch!

There are a few plugins available, but the Website Optimizer plugin I’ve been using stands out because it allows you to apply the test code per page or per post. Other plugins are limited to one test per site – which would be like trying to run with your legs tied together, in my opinion. Setting the plugin up is simple(ish):

Create your Google Website Optimizer account.
Download the plugin and save it to your Wordpress plugins folder.
Activate the plugin.
Start a Website Optimizer test for a single page or post and copy/paste the test code directly into the plugin-provided boxes in Wordpress.
- A/B tests will require you to enter code into the “Original” page, “Test” page and “Confirmation” page.
- Multivariate tests require you to enter code into the “Original” and “Confirmation” pages only – but you do have to manually add the “Section” code directly into the HTML.
Wrap specific sections of your page or post that you want to test with the “Section” script in Wordpress; save your page or post.
Validate your code placement and begin creating variations of your content.
Launch your test!

In the Wordpress interface, you will see these boxes under each page and post:

One other note worth mentioning is that if you want to test variations of your headline or design/layout, you’ll have to get your hands dirty. Changing headlines and page titles will require you to add generic “Section” script directly to your blog’s header.php and page.php files. And any design changes will have to funnel through your template php files. If you don’t know how to manage these files – find someone who does! You could seriously mess your blog up if you’re not careful!

Today’s takeaways – multivariate testing has never been easier thanks to Google’s Website Optimizer and if you’re using Wordpress, it’s made even more simple with handy-plugins. So no more excuses about letting your blog go stagnant because it’s too hard to test!

T-Shirt photo courtesy of Tamar Weinberg at Flickr.

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27 PPC Services You Should Be Considering

John — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:53:26 +0000

This week I’ve been driving home the point that if you are advertising with pay-per-click, you need to be diversifying your efforts across multiple PPC search engines and networks. Remember such classics as “Different people use different search engines” from Tuesday? Or how about “Lower CPC and increase ROI” from Wednesday? Whatever the reason, the truth is there are a lot of great PPC options out there. I’ve listed many of the major PPC search engines and networks here sorted by category. This is by no means meant to be an all inclusive list, but something of a starter list!

General Search Engines

PPC Ad Networks

B2B PPC

Business.com

Local PPC

Job Search PPC (traditional PPC and feed-based CPC job listings)

Shopping (feed-based CPC product listings)

PPC Grab Bag of Niche Verticals

…And there are hundreds more. Like I said, this is just a starter list! If you don’t see a PPC service that caters to your industry, don’t fret. I have a suggestion. Head on over to Google and enter a search query like “advertise my-industry-goes-here” or “my-industry-goes-here PPC” – you’ll be amazed at what you’ll find!

Photo courtesy of Danard Vincente at Flickr.

Is there a PPC search engine or network that you feel belongs on this list? Leave a comment and let me know!

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4 Reasons You Should Diversify Your PPC Advertising Reach Today: Part 2

John — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:02:16 +0000

Opening minds to the wider world of pay-per-click advertising – that’s my lofty goal this week! Yes, I’m talking to those advertisers out there who equate “PPC search engine” with “Google AdWords.” On the surface, this is correct, but it is a dangerously short-sighted view of the world. Tunnel vision if you will. Yesterday I kicked things off by talking about how different people use different search engines and why you need to diversify your PPC into vertical search to remain competitive. Today I’ll dive head-first into why PPC diversification could mean low CPCs and higher ROI, followed closely by a big picture view regarding search engine market share.

3. Potentially Lower CPC and Increase ROI

Of all the benefits to expanding your PPC advertising beyond Google AdWords (and even Yahoo! and Bing), the one that stands to make you smile this most is this: Google naturally has a tremendous amount of advertiser competition which has increased bid prices and ultimately the cost-per-click (CPC) achieved. CPC increases and in some cases, ROI decreases. BUT… Yahoo!, Bing (via adCenter) and especially niche search engines have the potential to provide relevant traffic at a much lower CPC.

Cheaper traffic translates into decrease cost-per-conversion and increased ROI (assuming a constant conversion rate, but that’s a conversation for another day!). When you combine a reduced CPC with the use of a highly specialized vertical PPC search engine, it’s a match made in heaven. Todd Mintz discussed this very same thought process in an article titled “PPC Is Rocket Science“:

Clearly, AdWords is the largest, most important PPC advertising network, but folks sometimes get so fixated on AdWords that they fail to consider using Yahoo & Bing, making those networks relative bargains for advertisers. In almost every campaign in many different verticals that I’ve worked with, the Cost Per Conversion for Yahoo is less than it is for AdWords.

4. Prepare for Potential Shifts in Search Market Share

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard of the new deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft. In short, it’s a 10-year deal that will combine the 2 companies’ search technology (well, dissolve most of Yahoo!’s) to compete with Google. This isn’t new, per say. Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo! outright in 2008. Google and Yahoo! drafted an agreement later in ‘08 to share AdWords ads on the Yahoo! search engine. Neither of these deals went through, but you get the picture.

What I’m driving at here is that while Google is the undisputed #1 in search and PPC, this may not be the picture in the near future. Microsoft’s re-branded and well advertised Bing engine is actually gaining in market share. That is big news! If you are only advertising on Google AdWords, you could be losing clicks and conversions to Bing. Whereas if you were devoting time and money to targeting customers across Google, Yahoo! and Bing – you would be prepared to react to that type of change by shifting budgets and management time between campaigns.

***

Thus endeth part 2. The whole point of this blog posting marathon is to broaden your PPC horizons. It is important to your advertising success to know that there are opportunities, big-potential opportunities, lying beyond Google AdWords! There’s one more day left in this PPC diversification series. Check back in tomorrow when I’ll be posting a mega-list of PPC search engines sorted by category/vertical.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Ellis via Flickr.

Have a question or think I’m full of it? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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4 Reasons You Should Diversify Your PPC Advertising Reach Today: Part 1

John — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:27:09 +0000

I’ve been in the PPC biz for a few years now and still find myself amazed at the rampant amount of tunnel vision amongst pay-per-click advertisers. What do I mean by tunnel vision? On one hand, this is the inability to see PPC opportunities beyond Google AdWords as the PPC search engine of choice. As is more often the case, I’ve found that this tunnel vision applies to seeing past “the big 3″ to find potential ROI goldmines in vertical search with a niche search engine. Over the next few days I plan to share with you 4 reasons you should diversify your PPC reach, concluding with a hefty list of PPC search engines by category. So without further ado, let’s get into the first 2 points:

1. Different People Use Different Search Engines

Different strokes for different folks, as some might say. This is officially the obvious statement of the day. But it’s true! Not everyone uses Google. And dare I say it, the entire US population (and especially international searchers) aren’t 100% accounted for between Google, Yahoo! and Bing/MSN either. Yes, Google has dominant market share. But when you’re talking about millions of monthly searches, there are plenty – I repeat – plenty of opportunities for finding PPC success with other PPC search engines.

Aside from the obvious, there is a fundamental driving force behind the idea of diversification in PPC: user intent. When the user types in their search query, what are they really looking for? Do customers come to Google to find products/services like yours? Or does their intent take them someplace else due to niche specialization?

An easy example of this is for ecommerce advertisers. Sure, there are a tremendous amount of product based searches, and yes, people buy products when they search on Google, Yahoo! and Bing. But you know what? There are also a tremendous amount of sales happening on shopping search engines like Yahoo! Shopping (separate from primary site), PriceGrabber and Shopzilla – to name but a few. Those sites have a special focus, they cater to a niche. Because of that simple fact, there will be potentially less advertiser competition and the individuals who search on those sites are already in the mode of buying (user intent, remember?). You can apply this to any niche/vertical you like from B2B, job search to finance, etc..

2. Remain Competitive in Your Market

I think I can best explain this point through story telling. Imagine Advertiser A, a purveyor of fine women’s shoes. He has been advertising on Google AdWords for a few years and knows that he’s getting a great ROI. However, something is nagging at his sole (misspelled on purpose): his arch enemy, Advertiser B, always seems to be posting better profits and claims that it’s all from PPC. Advertiser B has campaigns at the main PPC search engines Google, Yahoo! and Bing. And a few months back he also submitted product feeds of his stock of women’s shoes to Yahoo! Shopping, PriceGrabber and Shopzilla and began bidding. All of this remains a mystery to Advertiser A who is suffering from extreme AdWords-tunnel-vision.

The point of this silly story is that if you assume your competition is only as smart as you, there’s a damn good chance you’re in trouble. Make it a point to know on which PPC search engines your competition is advertising and stand up and meet the challenge by advertising there yourself. Otherwise you might as well be giving them a free pass to Club Med. On the other hand, you yourself may be like Advertiser B. You already have diversified your PPC reach and are laughing cynically at the sad-excuse of a PPC campaign Advertiser A is putting up. Don’t let your holier-than-though attitude push you to laziness. New vertical search engines and advertising opportunities pop up all the time – so keep actively looking for other ways to reach your potential customers. Do that, and you may always stay one step ahead of poor-old Advertiser A.

***

Alright, 2 reasons down. I know you’ve been waiting for it – the moral of the story is, “don’t put all of your eggs into one basket.” All joking aside, hopefully you’re starting to see the light as those proverbial PPC blinders begin sliding off your face. Duh – different people use different search engines, right? Actionable item: open a Yahoo! and Bing/adCenter account. Better yet, research your niche and find a relevant PPC search engine and give it a test run. And don’t let your competition get the upper hand. Keep an eye on their PPC activities and ensure that you remain competitive by diversifying your PPC reach!

Check back in tomorrow when I’ll discuss the next 2 reasons for diversifying your PPC: lower CPCs; higher ROI and be flexible for the changing search landscape. Of course, I’ll wrap all of this up on Thursday with a sweet list of niche/vertical search engines listed by category.

(photo courtesy of Librarian Avenger)

Have a question or think I’m full of it? Leave me a comment and let me know!

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Take a Peek Into the Bakedwheat Web RSS Reader

John — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:31:05 +0000

So, I’ve been a bit slack on updating the blog these past few weeks. First of all, my wife was on vacation for 2 weeks – which meant I was on vacation for 2 weeks, too. I did quite a bit of work, but I neglected the blog. And this week! Don’t even get me started on this week. Let’s just leave it at thunderstorms and no electricity.

To get back on the blogging horse, today I’m going to give you a peek into the Bakedwheat Web RSS reader. I’m currently subscribed to over 100 RSS feeds. The vast majority are internet marketing related. But I’ve got a few “fun” blogs thrown in (mostly musicians). Out of those 100+ feeds, there are 18 that I automatically check first – in no particular order:

Maybe it’s because I’ve been a little out of the blog-reading loop the last few weeks, or perhaps the entire blogosphere decided to kick it up a notch – whatever the reason – reading has been good this week. Here are just a few of the best this week has had to offer:

And with that, I’ll return to my non-blogging activities. Going forward, you can keep tabs on some of my favorite blog posts by reviewing the Shared Items from Google Reader box in the sidebar >>>>. Or if you’re really desperate, you can follow my shared items in a separate RSS feed. ; ) Happy reading!

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Think You’ve Exhausted Your PPC Keyword Potential? Think Again!

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:36:32 +0000

Pay-per-click managers the world over are in a constant search for the “perfect” keyword list. You know, the keyword list that covers every possible variation, misnomer and misspelling possible for your PPC campaign. While I don’t think that list exists (or will ever exist), the point I’m driving at is that most of us are in a constant search to grow, expand and otherwise improve our PPC keyword lists. If you feel that you’ve exhausted your PPC keyword potential, you need a wake up call. Search is perpetually evolving, effectively expanding the bank of potential search queries. So, snap out of your stupor and learn a few strategies to fuel your own search for PPC keywords.

Keyword Research Tools

Find a way to incorporate keyword research (tools) into your PPC management routine. Your first thought is likely, “But John, I already completed my keyword research 12 months ago when I launched my campaign.” OK, yes, you completed a round of keyword research. But that was a year ago! Keyword research is not a one-time event. Major tool players like Google, Keyword Discovery and Wordtracker are constantly updating their search volume data and more importantly, incorporating new search queries into their results. This is especially true with the Google Keyword Tool whose data is derived directly from Google’s search query database. Make the decision to scrub your keyword lists against a research tool’s updates and you’ll soon find that new keywords just keep popping up.

Keyword Expansion Tools

The human mind is capable of many things, including the ability to extrapolate variations of your targeted keywords. Differences in capitalization, spelling and even similar or related terms all can be found with a simple brainstorming session. The problem lies in the fact that this can be a tedious, time consuming process – one that exponentially grows with the size of your PPC campaign. Because of the difficulty, some of you have likely avoided this tactic or perhaps haven’t fully thought it through. Thankfully, there are tools available for keyword expansion. Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter both have expansion tools readily available for your use. Many of the more sophisticated PPC software packages also include these tools (i.e. Wordstream, ClickEquations, etc.). In short, kill 2 birds with one stone: improve efficiency and find new keywords with an expansion tool.

Competitive Research

For the sake of conversation, let’s say that you’ve incorporated routine keyword research and the use of expansion tools into your PPC strategy. What now? Is it OK to rest on your laurels? No. Hone your skills as a PPC guerilla and do some competitive research. Check out Compete, QuantCast or SpyFu and review your top competitors’ keyword lists. I’ve found on more than one occasion that this can push me and my keyword selections to new and exciting territory. Think of it as inspiration, or a push in a different direction. Get inspired and motivated by your competitors and head back to your keyword research and expansion tools to flesh out your list. Rinse and repeat.

Flippin’ Brainstorm

Sounds obvious, right? Well it should be. Brainstorming should be a part of your PPC keyword selection process from the beginning (if it isn’t, better late than never I guess). But just like using research and expansion tools routinely, so should you participate in the keyword brainstorming process. Much like search engines, our own minds are constantly evolving – and a few weeks or months can provide new perspective on an old product, service or whatever. Additionally, bring in different people to brainstorm with. Especially if all of your keywords have been chosen by you and you alone! Fresh eyes and opinions always have a way of showing us what we missed. If you don’t have any co-workers to bug, drag in your significant other, friends or family to mull it over. You and your keyword list will thank you.

I didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel with this post today, but it was my hope that I could snap a few of you out of your “my keyword list is perfect” stupor. Remember that there is always potential for new keywords as the search engine landscape continues to evolve. Use your keyword research and expansion tools. Check on your competitors and last but not least – talk it out and brainstorm. Yeah keywords!

(image courtesy of SearchEnginePeople.com)

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A Quote Worth Remembering from Mike Moran

John — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:43:05 +0000

I’ll apologize in advance – this is going to be a short post. But I promise you that it’s worth your time! Mike Moran posted today at Search Engine Guide, and his topic was quite simple: Data beats opinions in any decision. His final point is a quote that I’m currently working on etching into my memory as I type this blog post. You should do the same!

So remember that opinions are like necks. And every time you rely on an opinion instead of data, you are sticking your neck out.

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Are You Ready To Catch the Product ‘Wave’ From Google?

John — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:25:40 +0000

Forgive me for writing a post that’s a little off-topic today, but I’m excited. Google has announced a new product: Google Wave. Wave is an online collaboration tool a la Basecamp, MS Groove, etc. However, Google is pushing their product much farther by developing Wave to be a real-time communication tool for personal or business use.

Wave will allow you to create a Wave (think of it as a wide-open discussion or project) and invite individuals to the Wave as you see fit. Email, text, pictures and videos can be traded real-time and “concurrency control technology” will allow multiple users to edit the same files at the same time.

Billed as “the e-mail of the future,” Google Wave is the result of a multiyear project inside of Google to reinvent the inbox, blending e-mail, instant messaging, photo sharing, and perhaps, with input from developers, connections to the world of social networking.

Personally, I see this as a fantastic alternative to tools like Basecamp or Groove (both of which require a monthly fee or software purchase, and with Groove, there’s no guarantee that your clients, vendors, etc. will have the software!). And if the early speculation about social media integration is true, that makes Wave even more appealing.

Photo courtesy of wave.google.com

The announcement merely states that Wave will be released later this year. So who knows how long we have to wait. Either way, I’ve already requested to be a part of the BETA launch (though I didn’t write a Haiku). And I look forward to putting Wave to use both for my business and my personal communication!

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