Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales (Voices That Matter)

“A remarkable book that eases you into the important world of search engine advertising. Read it before your competitors do!” ―Danny Sullivan, Editor SearchEngineWatch.com Nothing delivers high-quality traffic like the search engines, but if you’re not showing up prominently in the results for your desired keywords, that means your competition is. The way to gain control and maximize profit is to take advantage of paid search results. Paid search engine listings can deliver site visitors who want to buy what you sell. And they can pinpoint exactly the right landing pages using not only keywords, but also geography, time of day, and more. With a little education and pre-planning, any company can launch a profitable search engine advertising program. Key features in this book include learning how to: • Buy top positions on the major search engines profitably • Transform poor ad copy into ads that deliver results • Increase visitor-to-buyer conversions • Begin paid search advertising now, even if you’re a novice • Use advanced techniques to evaluate and improve your results • Leverage successes from Google into Yahoo, Microsoft, and more • Leave the unprofitable clicks to your competition while grabbing the most profitable ones Cover Contents Foreword Introduction Part I: Paid Search Fundamentals CHAPTER 1 Search Engine Advertising Overview Customers Raise Their Hands What Is a SERP and Where Are the Paid Ads? Getting Ready for a Real-Time Auction Ten Years and Ten Billion Dollars Why Google Comes First CHAPTER 2 The Engines: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Beyond Paid Placement vs. Paid Inclusion vs. Directory Inclusion Keyword Bidding Keyword Targeted Contextual Ads Keyword Targeted Behavioral Ads Second-Tier Engines Local Search and the Internet Yellow Pages CHAPTER 3 Essential Pre-Planning Is Your Site Ready? Is Your Competition Brilliant or Bogus? Metrics and Formulas in Marketing Goal Reviews Where Does Search Fit in Your Media Plan? Tracking and Bidding CHAPTER 4 Marketing Campaign Foundation Mission Statement Goals Become Objectives Target Market Definition Call to Action The Buying Funnel and Search Successes You Can't Measure Part II: Planning a Successful PPC Campaign Strategy CHAPTER 5 Direct Response and Branding Metrics ROI Is in the Eye of the Beholder CPO, ROAS, CPA, Blended Metrics Branding Metrics and Measurement BEI: Turning Branding into Direct Response Engagement, the New Brand Metric CHAPTER 6 Campaign Setup: Structuring Your Listings Considering the Search Engines Structuring Your Campaigns Organizing with Ad Groups Selecting Keywords Writing Ad Creatives (Your Ad Copy) Creating the Right Landing Pages CHAPTER 7 Campaign Setup: Keywords Consider Using Brand Keywords Select Product and Service Keywords Understand the Head and Tail of the Search Curve Use Plurals and Stemming Use Keyword Research Tools Consider Keyword Clustering Understand the Traditional Match Types Use Negative Keywords Compensate for Advanced Match, Extended Broad Match, and Other Surprises Consider Trademarks and Search CHAPTER 8 Campaign Setup: Titles and Descriptions Maximizing Search Scent Creating the All-Powerful Title Creating Descriptions That Work Making an Offer Making Your Benefits Resonate Considering Incentives (Pros and Cons) Adhering to Editorial Guidelines and Policies Using the Fancy Stuff Starting with Two CHAPTER 9 Campaign Setup: Conversion Pages, Bids, and Budgets Picking a Landing Page Determining Mission Accomplished: Conversion Using Binary Events and Scored Conversions Optimizing with Shopping Carts and Revenue Using Blended Conversions Making Exit Clicks Count Avoiding the Dreaded Back Button Setting CPC Bids by Ad Group and/or Keyword Setting Campaign Budgets CHAPTER 10 Going Live A Fight You Can't Always Win Start with Google Reach Consumers When They Search Model the Launch Make the Leap to Yahoo and Microsoft Implement Targeting, Beyond Keywords Weed Out and Manage Failed Listings CHAPTER 11 Campaign Management, Bids, Technology, Agencies, In-House or Blended Automating Your Campaign and Bid Management Entering into Performance Deals, or Not Using Your In-House Team Part III: Beyond the Big Three Engines CHAPTER 12 Additional Search Traffic Sources Marketing On Comparison Shopping Engines Marketing on Internet Yellow Pages Marketing on Vertical Market Search Engines CHAPTER 13 Contextual Keyword Targeting Exploring Contextually Targeted Advertising Using Best Practices for Contextual Keyword Targeting Handling Contextual Advertising Issues Considering Third-Party Contextual Advertising Vendors CHAPTER 14 Extending Search with Behavior What Is Behavioral Targeting? Regulation and Self-Regulation of Behavioral Targeting How Search Engines Offer Behavioral Targeting Other BT Vendors Is Behavioral Targeting For You? Tying It All Together APPENDIX: More Than Just a Glossary A B C D E G I K L O P Q R S T Index A B C D E F – G H I – J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W–Z Updated Guide To Creating An Effective Search Engine Advertising Strategy! *discover How To Effectively Buy A Top Position On Major Search Engines, Avoid Common Pitfalls Like Poor-performing Ad Copy, And Evaluate And Correct Low Visitor To- Buyer Conversions. *author Breaks Down Sophisticated Topics And Communicates Them In A Way That Anyone Can Grasp What Has To Happen To Make A Website Succeed. *complete Coverage Of Google, From Adwords To Analytics. My experience using the internet as a marketing tool began with a class at UC San Diego in 1994.