What has Google ever done for you?

As part of our marketing campaign, earlier this year we began a Google ad-words campaign.  Although very successful at generating site traffic and with a fair amount of “conversions” we were pleased with the ROI we were receiving.  However, as our natural rankings increased we decreased our monthly budget.

Whether by coincidence or not, a sales rep from Google contacted me shortly afterwards.  Not only was she really friendly (perhaps she’d seen my online mug-shot) but she also did a great job in “optimising” our campaign to such an extent that we were getting more conversions for 1/2 the cost!

My thanks go out to her!

Here is a brief summary of what she did:

1. Split my campaign into two campaigns – one for content and one for Google.  This allows easier targeting of the content keywords and adds.  Content adds are those adverts placed on other peoples pages but which are sourced from Google.
2. For the Google campaign split the campaign into groups based around related keywords – for example “Accounting Software”, “Accounting System” etc.
3. For each of these groups customise the ads so that they reflect the keyword in the url displayed e.g. for the “Accounting System” ads -
   
   Fusion Accounts
   Online Accounting Software
   Sign Up Now For 60 Day Free Trial!
   FusionAccounts.com/AccountingSystem
   
   Note – the actual link is still the same.
4. Use keyword substitution e.g.
   
   {KeyWord: Accounting Software}
   Online Accounting - Anytime,
   Anywhere. 60 Day Free Trial Today!
   FusionAccounts.com/OnlineAccounting

I guess the psychology around this is that if you see the search words you typed in coming back at you, you are more likely to associate it with what you want.

Then, after a couple of weeks she re-contacted me and we set up a keyword report to show what people had searched on and then added in “Negative” keywords.  These were searches that were matching and people were clicking on (so I was paying for) but that were irrelevant.  Example for Fusion Accounts were Halifax Accounting, Barclays Accounts etc.

I wish I had thought of Google!