Advertising online used to be pretty straightforward. You put your banner on a website; someone saw it on a desktop computer, and boom: you had made your connection. Today, the online advertising space has become a vast landscape navigated by millions across the planet through a series of different channels. Nowadays advertisers have to look at a number of factors when deciding how to reach their audience; things like time of day, location and whether or not the search query is coming from a mobile device are crucial to know when targeting ads. Having this information can greatly increase your chances of reaching new customers at your target ROI.

In February, AdWords launched Enhanced Campaigns to help advertisers gain a better sense of how and why potential customers were searching. By knowing the devices they were using, and other pertinent time location details, the delivery of ads could be customized to reach the most appropriate targets. The delivery of more relevant ads means more clicks for you, and more clicks can quickly translate into increased sales.

Sure, the updates are already noticeable, but AdWords has grand plans for even more customizable bids starting mid-May. In an effort to you give you more control over how your ads are displayed, you will now be able to set mobile bid adjustments at the Ad Group Level. Google anticipates this will be most useful for large, national brands that have been running campaigns targeted to specific devices.

Let’s say you’ve discovered that a majority of your keywords are having more success on desktop computers versus the equivalent bids you’ve set for mobile placements (and mobile is the focus of your online advertising platform). You see that 90% of your keywords in mobile-only campaigns have bid thresholds that are 10% lower than those in the matching desktop campaign. The remaining 10% of the keywords have varied bid ratios (we’re talking in the 40% lower to 100% higher range here) meaning you could lose serious cash on clicks if you’re not playing to the right audience. You also see a clear opportunity to save money on bids. In a case like this, you would benefit from adjusting the mobile bids of that single ad group, without having to completely alter the other bids (on all devices) currently associated with that campaign. Google is now providing an opportunity for advertisers to maintain lower prices on the mobile bids they’ve set when they upgrade to enhanced campaigns. 

Despite the new rollout, Google maintains that most advertisers will benefit more from sticking with the existing campaign level bids currently available in enhanced campaigns. You can go ahead and upgrade to enhanced campaigns now by logging into AdWords and clicking “Get Started”. Select your mobile bid adjust and then click “Complete Upgrade”. All accounts will be officially upgraded to Enhanced Campaigns on July 22, 2013, so you might as well get familiar with the new functionality.

You should think of impression share as a serving bowl of tasty punch at a party. That full punch bowl represents the overall impression share (ultimately the total number of chances you have to display your ad to a potential customer) that’s available at any given time. You and all of your competitors want a glass. The more glasses you obtain, the more of the overall impression share you’re drinking.  When you set up metrics, you’re able to measure that amount you’re drinking as compared to your competitors. This punch is delicious and you want as much as possible! The same principle applies with your search ad campaigns and the actual number of online impressions you can obtain. You want to have the highest level of exposure among the other players in the online market space.

Impression share is the number of impressions you’ve received over the duration of an ad/campaign’s run then divided by the number of total impressions you were eligible to receive. There are a variety of metrics you can set that will help you get a sense of how your impression share stacks up against your competitors.

Search impression share allows you to see the number of impressions you have obtained on the Search Network then divided by the approximate number of impressions you were eligible to receive. Display Impression share is the same except for it measures impressions received on the Display Network vs. the Search Network.

There are also ways to track when your ads weren’t running to due to lack of budget. Search Lost IS (budget) actually provides that percentage of time that your ads weren’t run on the Search Network due to insufficient budget settings; however this information is only available at the campaign level. Display Lost IS (budget) shows the same percentage of time lost due to budget restraints; however it refers to the Display Network.

Search Lost IS (rank) and Display Lost IS (rank) show a similar metric however, this measures the percentage of time your ad was not run due to poor Ad Rank on the Search and Display Networks. You should note that if your budget lapsed at any point during the date range being measured, you will not see the IS (rank) settings in your reports. This will be trumped by the IS (budget) metrics.

The last metric you can utilize is Search Exact Match IS which measures the number of impressions you obtained divided by the potential estimated impressions available on the Search Network for search queries that matched your keywords exactly, or very closely.

These metrics reports can easily be referenced in the Campaigns tab (or Ad Groups tab depending at which level of data you’re looking to observe) of your AdWords account. Simply login and access your Campaigns tab. Next, click the button labeled “Columns” (located above your statistics table) and choose the “Customized Columns” option from the menu. This is when you’ll decide which of the aforementioned Impression share columns you’d like to analyze. After you click “Save”, the impression share columns that you’ve selected will automatically appear in your reports moving forward. It will become a part of your default statistics table. You can download the data from AdWords by clicking the download button (designated by a down arrow).

For the most up to date metrics, be sure to check after 1 PM PST as this is when data is updated on daily basis. There is a historical archive of impression share data available dating back to October 2012. Be sure to use this to your advantage to ensure that you’re not missing clicks due to insufficient budgets or ad ranks. This should also give you a pretty good sense of how your ads are performing in relationship to key competitors which can help you strategize in the long run.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or you hastily left it in a cab after a late night at the bar, you own (or used to own) a smart phone. In fact, a recent study presented by the Cisco Connected World Technology Report stated that more than 90% of young people use their smartphone first thing in the morning, often while they are still in bed. The important thing to take from this tidbit is the need for convenience and accessibility. In today’s world, people turn to their phones and other mobile devices for information constantly. Whether it’s at home before breakfast, or out late seeking midnight snacks, young people are using their phones for various reasons, from which many you could benefit as a business owner.

Smartphones serve immediate needs. From obtaining driving directions to the nearest sporting goods store to checking current bus/train schedules, smartphones provide necessary information with the click of a button. Of course, this level of convenience means that users have the ability to act faster than ever before. Smartphones drive conversions both on and offline, and it takes careful planning to ensure you’re reaping these benefits to the fullest extent.

A recent collaboration between Google and Neilson was conducted to gain a better understanding of how mobile searches drive conversions, in all contexts. All participants were asked to log their mobile searches over a two-week period with a special smartphone diary app. It should be no surprise that the average search logs were comprised of more than 6,000 queries taking place over the 14-day period. In addition to the queries themselves, the participants were also asked to record a journal of their post search behavior – i.e. visiting the nearby bar they found through a happy hour app, making a last minute appointment for a massage at a spa that was running an online promo code, etc.

Because so many actions take place offline as a result of search queries on mobile devices, it can be difficult to measure the effectiveness of mobile search advertising. This study offered valuable insight because it recorded customer behavior in addition to the searches themselves. This kind of information is invaluable to local businesses looking to increase sales and attract new customers who may live, work or play nearby.

Mobile devices have traditionally been seen as an “on-the-go” tool, but this study suggested that this is not necessarily the case. In fact, nearly 77% of the actions conducted on mobile devices in the course of this study happened at work or in the home. In many instances, it is easier for someone to run a search on their phone rather than turn on their desktop computer, wait for it to load, and then run a search on Google. So while advertisers should definitely take advantage of targeting people who may be out and about in the area, they should not neglect the people who may be searching from home. This may be a much larger part of the market than previously thought.

Additionally, the study also proved just how fast these potential customers take action after performing a search on their mobile device. There are four common scenarios that take place shortly after a search query – additional research and website visits make up more than a quarter of the results, while visits to a physical storefront or a completed purchase rank next. A follow-up phone call is also a common action, but it makes up less than 10% of the total actions performed. The study showed that more than half of the time, a potential customer turned into a conversion within one hour of performing the initial search query. That means that 55 out of every 100 people who entered a query on their phone became a conversion. It was deduced that around 45% of mobile searches are initiated in an effort to help a potential customer make a decision. This number of course jumps to nearly 70% when that search conducted inside of a physical store. This means that location and accessibility are key for convincing customers to convert. It is essential that your web presence be known when people are in such close proximity of your goods or services.

Finally, the study offered the concept that context is key. You’re more likely to make the sale if a potential customer can read a positive review online while they are staring at your product on the shelf in front of them. The customer who is meeting friends for dinner after work is more likely to go to your café up the block if you can offer them a discount incentive to try you out through a deal site or exclusive smartphone app. Mobile marketing opens up opportunities for you to reach customers in new and exciting ways. Be sure that you are making the most of your efforts and reaching the people nearby who are most likely to follow through with a conversion.

If you’re a retailer that offers a multitude of products that you want to advertise online, you may find yourself scratching your head and thinking, “Where do I start?” You know that running a successful ecommerce campaign means more exposure for your business and more cash for you, so it is worth the time and energy to get organized.

Managing a large PPC campaign can be a challenge. Thankfully, AdWords provides you with several tools to make this job less daunting. These features will help you to improve your CTR, ROI and conversion rate along the way.

Start by getting your ducks in a row. Make sure that your PPC campaign reflects the set-up of your website, or you can even think of it in terms of the layout of your store (if you have an offsite location where transactions are made). Think about taking careful attention to create different ad groups for your various families of products. For example, if you are a shoe retailer that offers a variety of different styles you don’t want to shortchange yourself by grouping athletic shoes with heels. If you carry several brands that offer different styles, you probably want to break them up as well because there are bound to be customers who are looking exclusively for Skechers or New Balance shoes.

If you’re already feeling overwhelmed because of your extensive inventory, then the AdWords Editor may be a lifesaving tool for you. You can use it while working on or offline, and it can be a huge time saver when working to promote multiple brands within your PPC campaigns. You can download the Editor for free for either Windows or Mac. The AdWords editor gives you the ability duplicate ad groups for different brands for the click of a button. Let’s say for example, you are advertising Skechers Running Shoes and you also want to create a similar campaign for Nike athletic sneakers, you can copy the attributes of your existing ad group. Next you can paste them into the editor and simply change the brand name to create new ads for the Nike sneakers, rather than having to create a whole new campaign from scratch.

Did you know that you can import data from Excel sheets when working within AdWords? This is a good option if you have large quantities of information to upload at once. Make sure that you have the information clearly separated in the files so that AdWords Editor can recognize how the information should be organized when it is imported to your AdWords account.

If you are selling a number of products online, you should already have a Google Merchant Centre account, and if you don’t, it’s time to get on it. Within the Google Merchant Centre interface, you have the ability to upload and customize product data so that valuable details appear when people run a search. This is an extra opportunity for you to snag the interest of potential customers by offering them more insight into your offerings. When you update product information in Google Merchant Center it automatically appears in your ads when an interested user enters a search query. This will save you some steps when keeping your campaigns up to date. Once you have linked your AdWords and Google Merchant Centre accounts, you may want to include “ad attributes” to further assist your campaigns. You can apply special filters to keywords or ad groups, manage bids and much more by selecting a few simple settings.

So now you know that having a well-structured account is key, but let’s not forget the necessity of clearly worded ads. The copy of your ads must be enticing and easy to understand. The thought of creating unique lines of copy for every ad may seem intimidating, but once again AdWords has supplied you with the resources necessary to put this together in a jiffy. The Dynamic Search Ads feature is currently available and allows you to use a snippet of code to replace your ad copy based on the keywords triggered in a users search query. These snippets are directly linked to your website so that information from your site is transcribed into your text ads. This means your potential customers always see the most relevant information. This is especially helpful if your product offerings and listings are updated often. This way you don’t have to worry about accidentally advertising inventory that is out of stock or is no longer carried.

You may choose to rely on ad extensions to help you out in this department as an alternative. You can link your Google Merchant Center product listings to your text ads so that these products become a part of your search ad campaign. You can also use ad extensions to include location, click to call information, and links to certain product pages on your site.

Creating a well-polished PPC campaign may seem like a difficult task, but you can see that AdWords has your back every step of the way. Organization is key, so take some extra care upfront to yield outstanding results throughout the duration of your campaigns. You’ll be glad you did.

When you launch a new search ad campaign, so many factors play into the success or failure of your online marketing efforts. In order to make sure that you get the most mileage out of your ads, you’ll likely be analyzing performance reports regularly. Thankfully, you can link your Google Analytics details directly to your AdWords account, so you don’t miss valuable online traffic information.

Google Analytics is a tool that allows website owners to see exactly how many people have visited their site, and it also offers insight into the behavior of those users. With analytics you can access valuable demographic information about website visitors, as well as seen how they interacted with your site. Things like the average bounce rate of visitors, number of pages visited, the average amount of time spent browsing and the estimated percentage of new visitors to your site, can all be gathered using Google Analytics. This information is valuable when running AdWords campaigns because you can see what how your business is driven by existing ads and the products that customers deem popular on your site.

To link the accounts, start by making sure you have administrative rights on both the AdWords and Analytics accounts to which you’ll be applying changes. Once you have verified this information, sign into AdWords, and click the “Tools and Analysis” tab. Choose “Google Analytics”. Once you’ve entered this menu, click the tab labeled “Admin” on the top right side of the page. Next, click the Google Analytics account you would like to link to AdWords. If you don’t see the desired account, return to the “Account Home” menu and select the account with the correct campaigns before moving forward again. In the “Admin” menu, select the “Data Sources” tab before ultimately visiting the “AdWords” tab and clicking “Link Accounts”. This ensures that your Analytics Account is importing the necessary cost data from your AdWords Account. You’ll also need to verify that your Data Sharing Setting in Google Analytics is set to “Set to Share my Google Analytics Data with Other Google Products Only.”

 After linking the appropriate accounts, you will decide which Analytics Profiles you would like to apply to which accounts. You can select up to 10 Analytics profiles to apply per account. Simply hit the “Add” button to the right of the profile to include the additional profile.

 You will have the option to engage in “autotagging” (AdWords default setting) or “manually tagging” the web pages on your site. Most online marketers prefer and recommend autotagging because it automatically tacks a special code to each page on your website. This option allows you to easily determine how your customers are behaving once they enter your site. Having access to this information can inform you which ads or campaigns are driving the most traffic to your website, and how your advertising efforts are influencing your ultimate conversions and sales.

 As soon as the Analytics data starts appearing in your AdWords account, you will be able to infer how your customers are reacting to your AdWords search display ads. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for Google Analytics and AdWords accounts to appear “linked’ online. You may need to sign out of your AdWords account and sign back in before the changes are reflected. You now have the ability to analyze all the necessary data to build a successful campaign from one concise place online. Your performance reports will also include your Analytics data so you’ll never miss important details about your customers wants and needs.