But if we stop getting caught up in the buzz of these new AdWords features for just a moment, you might ask yourself the question -  How exactly are these extensions going to benefit my AdWords campaigns?

Utilising ad extensions opens a whole new world for your ads by extending the ad format and helping to make your advertising stand out from your competition. Additions such as Sitelinks and Location Extensions mean that AdWords ads are beginning to look more like the natural organic search results, which is great for us PPC marketers!

However, there are many other advantages and benefits your campaigns could gain through utilising ad extensions.

This article will explore and analyse  each of the current available ad extensions and, furthermore, will highlight exactly how you can maximise their performance and better your SEM results.

Sitelinks

Sitelinks are additional links that can appear below your AdWords ad in instances where Google deems your ad to be of ‘high enough quality’. Usually only showing 3 to 4 extra links, you can add up to 10 links in AdWords. The advantage of these extensions is more options for the user. Rather than your ad having one focus, you can now add sitelinks which directs users straight to a special offer page, a specific product page or a contact us page on your website. And how does this help the performance of your campaigns? Firstly, sitelinks are often known to increase the Click-Through-Rate which can help the overall quality of your campaigns. But more so, sitelinks can offer more high quality clicks because potential customers are choosing where they want to go once they click on your ad, and having done this, are less likely to bounce straight off the page.

Location Extensions

Location Extensions add location specific information as a 5^th line to your ad. These can include your full business address, and even a drop down function that opens to a Google map. The obvious impact that this extension has on your campaigns is that it makes it much easier for potential customers to find your business! Location Extensions may also save a wasted click from someone who has clicked on your ad, only to realise they are not close enough to your business, or are not willing to travel to where your business is located. For example, utilising location extensions is a great one for car dealerships and other similar businesses where the aim is to get customers through the door.

Product Extensions

Product Extensions are yet to be released in Australia, but when they do the possibilities will amaze you! This extension allows you to showcase your products before a user has even clicked on your ad. When your AdWords text appears on the Search Network, it will display the product that is most relevant to the user’s query as well as displaying the product’s price. At no extra CPC charge, Product Extensions can also link to a more relevant landing page on your website. For example, the checkout cart for the product on display. Product Extensions allow you to enrich your AdWords Campaigns and can present more relevant and specific information to the user, thus heightening the chance of creating a conversion, increasing the click through rate or realising another goal.

Click-to-Call Phone Extensions

Click-to-Call Phone Extensions make it even easier for potential customers to call your business. Mainly used for a mobile targeted campaign, the Phone Extensions appear as a 5^th line to your ad allowing users to click directly on your phone number, and automatically call your business straight from your Google ad!

This extension can potentially increase your conversion rates by making it quick and easy for potential customers to ring your business. And with AdWords, you can even schedule your ads to only run when your business is open! Therefore, your ads will only show when your business is operating, and you can avoid disappointed customers calling an unanswered phone.

Seller Rating Extensions

Although not out in Australia yet, you can see Seller Rating Extensions appear on Google.com and Google.co.uk which include a star rating beneath your ad. The rating is a combination of ‘user-submitted’ ratings and reviews about a particular business. However, once a user clicks on the rating, they are directed to a new page which outlines the reviews, therefore distracting potential customers further away from your website.

On the other hand, this rating extension may be good for a potential customer who wants to choose the highest rated business or product with the most reviews. But, this may become a disadvantage to your ad by giving potential customers evidenced based pre-judgement to not visit your site. It’s a well known fact that one unhappy customer will tell as many people as they can about a bad experience, where as happy customers aren’t always that inclined to tell the world. So how then, are these user reviews actually providing applicable information for potential customers clicking (or not clicking) on your ads? I’ll leave this thought with you.

If there is one thing we know at Reload Media for sure about Google, it’s that change is inevitable and new AdWords ad extensions and features are going to keep coming. So, Google will continue to provide the power for your AdWords campaign potential – you’ve just got to plug in the extension!

Images Taken From: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=188235

And: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_X6aeJvBBv4o/TCj-kUVrrKI/AAAAAAAAAH8/rvSIfABVF58/s1600/laser+printers+-+Google+Search.jpg

By being able to control the maximum cost-per-click for every keyword, this puts advertisers in a position where they are able to monitor the profitability of every keyword they are targeting.

Search engine ads are one of the most trackable marketing activities available, and if you’re running some sort of eCommerce environment then you have the potential to track the exact return on investment (ROI) each keyword is bringing.

However, this degree of reporting can lead to misinterpretation of what is a “good” keyword and what is a poor keyword.

At the basic level, a decent Analytics setup will allow you to determine that for every $1 you put into AdWords, you are getting $X back. Clever operators will have this set up for each individual keyword.

However, relying just on ROI can be a big mistake. Let’s take the following example.

Keyword #1 – “widgets brisbane”

• ROI = $4.50
• Monthly Spend = $300

Keyword #2 – “widgets sydney”

• ROI = $2.80
• Monthly Spend = $700

From the above example, we can see that “widgets brisbane” is a better performing keyword. Therefore, if you only had $1000 in total monthly budget, you would spend all of it on Brisbane (presuming of course there’s enough traffic to use that much). However, if your budgets are flexible and you can spend more if you want, then would you turn off the Sydney keyword?

The answer is no. ROI is just one factor you need to consider. The other is profit. The Brisbane keyword makes $1,050 profit per month (300 x 4.50 – 300) while the Sydney keyword makes $1,260 profit (700 x 2.8 – 700).

Turning off the Sydney keyword would make your business worse off. Obviously you should also consider the profit-margin on the actual widget itself when calculating these figures.

Now most people when faced with the above scenario, would obviously choose to leave both keywords turned on, but for some reason when this scenario is expanded to hundreds of keywords, rational profit-maximising thinking tends to go out the window.

Let’s say an AdWords’ advertiser is spending $1000 per month across hundreds of keywords, and is getting about $5000 back (a $5 ROI). Based on this good performance, the advertiser decides to increase their budget to $2000 per month, which in turn lifts the revenue to about $9000 (a $4.50 ROI).

Looking purely at the ROI figures would lead an advertiser to incorrectly assume the increase in budget has not worked, and they might drop it back. However, looking at the profit figure clearly shows monthly profit rising from $4000 to $7000.

One of the questions we are commonly asked is “why does my ROI drop when I increase my budget?”

The reason behind this is actually tied to the economic principle of the low-hanging-fruit. The low-hanging-fruit principle basically explains that in business, there are some sales that are easier to get than others, like the low hanging fruit on a fruit tree is easier to reach.

In an AdWords context, a low-hanging-fruit keyword would be something like “buy online widgets now.” If a user types this into Google, it’s likely that they already have their credit card out of their wallet and are ready to purchase. These longer, more specific keywords are also often cheaper to bid on than generic terms.

By contrast, a user searching “widgets” is not a low-hanging-fruit. This term is highly generic and it’s going to take a good salesperson (in this case a website) to convince this person that now is the right time to buy.

Essentially, this is why ROI drops when you increase your budget. The AdWords’ algorithm has a built in “low-hanging-fruit” factor that shows higher performing keywords more often, meaning when you increase your budget, you’re starting to reach for the fruit higher up on the tree.

The lesson here is that the way to assess how your AdWords’ campaigns are performing is to find the point (budget amount) where total profit is maximised, not where ROI is maximised. This simple mistake could be costing your business thousands in lost sales.

So why do you need to advertise on these terms as well?

Consider this – What if by relying solely on your organic search listing, you may in fact be turning some of your potential customers away?

Below are our top 8 reasons why bidding on your company name is an effective search engine marketing strategy that can help increase conversions, ROI and your brand presence on the web.

1. Attention, Interest, Desire, AdWords

It is important to remember that Google AdWords clickers are different to Google Organic Search Result clickers as they are generally at a different stage of the consumer decision making process. We have found that, in many cases, users who click on the organic search results are more likely to be in the research or ‘interest’ stage of the buying process, whereas users who click on sponsored links (like Google AdWords), are more likely to be purchase ready customers.  If you don’t have an active ad catching these purchase ready consumers, your competitors may be winning customers who are in fact searching for you!

2. Because Your Competitors Are

Under most circumstances, your competitors are allowed to bid on your branded keywords. You can submit a copyright infringement request to Google for some more specific brand terms but there is no guarantee this will go through. Depending upon local advertising regulations, competitors are generally allowed to use your brand name in their ads (through ‘comparative advertising’) so it is important that you compete in this advertising space if your competitors already are. Do a Google search now and check if there is anyone else advertising on your brand terms!

3. It’s Cheap

A common misconception is that bidding on your company name is a waste of your PPC advertising budget because your website is already in the organic search results for free. This is simply not true. Using your company name as a keyword is actually a cost effective method to ensure you maintain a very high click through rate at a very low cost per click. Brand terms are generally much cheaper than other keywords in your industry vertical (depending on how competitive your industry and how specific your brand terms are). The benefits of running a brand terms campaign often outweigh the  extremely small costs involved in doing so.

4. Increases Campaign Quality Score

The high click through rate that advertising on your brand terms receives will help boost the position of your ads in your other ad groups by increasing the overall click through rate of your account and, therefore, increasing your overall quality score.

5. Control Your Message

AdWords ads offer personality for your brand where you can feature your latest products, promotions or brand messages. The personalised ad text gives you the opportunity to control the message so you can communicate directly with your customer. This engages the customer by offering more relevant information and landing pages. Your ads may even attract more clicks than your organic results. For example, if you are an ice cream store running an offline advertising campaign that promotes a free ice cream for all customers who download a special online coupon in the month of June, an integrated AdWords strategy would allow you to capture users searching on your brand terms and send them directly to your coupon landing page or micro-site whilst reinforcing the offline advertising messages in the AdWords ads themselves.

6. Website Relevance

AdWords can boost sales for your business by capturing the market segment in ‘buying mode’ and ensuring these users are quickly directed to the most relevant page in your website, bypassing your home or other irrelevant pages that may frustrate or confuse buyers.

7. Misspelling Your Company Name

If your business name is not well known or difficult to spell, bidding on likely misspellings ensures your company name, and the users intended search, is listed.

8. Increase Your Online Branding and Search Engine Real Estate

If your business has an organic search listing (or listings) and an AdWords ad when a user types in your company name, then your business occupies more physical space on the Google search page. The more physical space you occupy, the more visible your website.

All these factors are why we generally recommend bidding on your own company name in AdWords.

Google TV – Watch The Overview

There are a multitude of topics and issues that could be discussed in relation to the announcement of Google TV.  As a keen Google advertiser myself, however, I would like to concentrate on just one – the shift in thinking that may occur amongst advertisers if Google’s ambition to combine the internet with traditional television is successful.

Although many other companies have attempted to marry these two beasts in the past (Apple TV, Boxee, TiVo etc), none have yet achieved the ‘Holy Grail’ result – widespread adoption of and acceptance of tv/internet integration. Although to most advertisers, this integration has always been the obvious next step in television advertising, until now, there hasn’t really been a platform on offer that smoothly integrates the television and internet into one, seamless media experience.

Enter Google into the equation and the traditional television advertising landscape begins to look a little different. Google, who already have a wildly successful online advertising platform in Google AdWords, will no doubt be looking at integrating their AdWords system into Google TV. Even at this point in time, Google already have a Google TV interface within their AdWords console which allows advertisers to upload TV ads to be viewed by current Google TV owners.

Google TV + AdWords

But consider some other future possibilities for a moment…

If Google TV is a success, we may see a new generation of direct response advertising in traditional TV ads.

Imagine a Domino’s TV ad which allows you to click on an AdWords coupon that then takes you to a HD ordering page designed specifically for TVs.

Or an ad for a new song or movie that takes the user directly to a website where they can buy and download that media onto their television.

What is most exciting about this fundamental shift in the way television advertising may soon be provided is that it will now allow a once passive medium to become an extremely active, engaging and (even more) powerful advertising tool.

Only time will tell if Google’s new television platform will gain widespread acceptance but, for now, as a Google Advertiser, I can only sit and think giddily about the future possibilities for online advertising through television.

What do you think about Google TV and the future of TV advertising? Feel free to comment and discuss!

For quite some time, the online payment world has been dominated by PayPal, as its raft of features and ease of use for almost anyone has made it a logical choice for most online businesses. That was, however, until Google Checkout came along.

Google has taken their typical approach of making the use of its system totally free and easy to use. For a start, Google takes a flat 2% of any sale through Google Checkout (plus a 20c transaction fee) making Google Checkout competitive, if not cheaper than PayPal for most users.

But that’s not where its big benefit is. Google also offers free transactions on the dollar value of up to ten times your Google AdWords spend. That means if you’re a business advertising on AdWords spending $1000 per month, the first $10,000 you make in the month is all yours (with no commission for Google).

Since most businesses that have a checkout system probably use AdWords anyway, this is a massive advantage to using Google Checkout over PayPal.

But that’s not where the benefits stop. AdWords advertisers are also able to use the ‘Google Checkout Badge’ underneath their ads in the search engines and Google claims this badge improves both click-through and conversion rates (the percentage of people who buy) quite substantially.

However, Google Checkout is not just a threat to PayPal, but also to a legion of web designers who charge thousands of dollars to build custom shopping cart or e-commerce modules for their clients.

Users who sign up to Google Checkout are able to design their own shopping cart module using the built-in tools, and then simply cut and paste the HTML code straight into their site. Web development agencies who specialise in building website shopping carts are going to have to adapt and come up with new and exciting ways to build shopping carts or cut their prices drastically.

The big question that remains however, is when will Google Checkout come to Australia? Google Checkout currently supports buyers from around the world, but only supports sellers in the US and UK. Google’s information pages states that they are working to “make Google Checkout available in more locations” but can’t give specific dates.

Personally, I believe that Google Checkout will dramatically change the way online businesses are established in Australia as many website owners are crying out for a viable alternative to PayPal.

The ability to control all their purchases from one login is also a massive benefit for buyers.

Google is on the move again…

The internet is a big place, so making sure your online advertising dollars effectively reach your target market is one of the biggest challenges for managers.

When it comes to most marketing activities, whether it be a newspaper advertisement, television commercial or internet campaign, managers are always striving to choose marketing mediums that attract the most number of potential customers for their dollar.

This is where search engine marketing has a huge benefit over its more traditional rivals. SEM can obviously be targeted to the exact keywords you want, which gives you a great level of control over who your advertisements reach. By targeting the phrase “neon lighting brisbane” you can be fairly well assured that your ads are going to be displayed to those who want to buy neon lights in Brisbane.

However, not everyone includes the location when searching, meaning that someone from Perth can search “neon lighting” and click on your ad, costing you money without ever really having any intention of purchasing from you.

One way to get around this dilemma is to use what’s called ‘location targeting.’ Location targeting in programs such as Google AdWords allows your business to specify to what geographic regions you want your ad displayed.

For instance, you might want to target the whole of Australia, so you select that option. Alternatively, you can narrow down your region even further to a particular state or city.

An even better option however, is to use an ad radius, which allows you to set a certain size ring in which you want your ad displayed. For instance, you might set up your campaign so that your ads are displayed within a 50km radius of the Brisbane CBD, and only users within that radius will see your ad.

Obviously this is an extremely useful tool as it enables businesses to really target their potential local customers. One word of warning though, this is not foolproof system, as current ISP setups in Australia mean some users will not see your ads when they should.

Since that article, the much-hyped Microsoft-Yahoo! deal has fallen through (most probably for good now) and Yahoo! have signed an $800 million non-exclusive search advertising deal with Google that will see Google ads appearing in Yahoo!’s search results.

This deal basically means that Microsoft is really the only player left who can seriously have a tilt at Google. All the other players are either too small to be a genuine threat or have some vested interest in Google.

Yahoo! is now one of the latter. The problem that Yahoo! has is that by signing this deal, they have effectively conceded the search advertising war to Google, who maintain a massive market share of around 80%.

However, it’s important to note that this is not the first time that Yahoo! have outsourced to Google. Google supplied Yahoo!’s search results from 2000 to 2004 before Yahoo! engineered their own search engine. Microsoft’s MSN search was likewise outsourced for a number of years to LookSmart, Inktomi and AltaVista before they too decided to create their own engine in late 2004.

So while most consumers believe that Yahoo and MSN have been in the search game for years, and are regarded as the two ‘other players’ in the ‘Big 3,’ both have really only been producing their own search results for about four years. And now that Yahoo have gone back to Google for search engine advertising, it raises questions about whether or not even Yahoo! think they can match it with Google’s AdWords program.

Which brings us back to Microsoft as the only player who has not got some interest in Google’s success. There are a couple of signs that suggest Microsoft may be planning an assault on the Google fortress. The first is the breakaway of the MSN search engine to the Live search engine which operates on a cleaner search-oriented feel (much like Google’s) as opposed to the web portal style of MSN and Yahoo!. This move has allowed Microsoft to frame its Live search as a separate entity that is focused on search, something that Google used very early on to gain credibility.

The announcement of Microsoft’s plans to take on the realm of display advertising is another indication that Microsoft is mobilising its forces. Microsoft AdCenter, while currently no match for the AdWords juggernaut, is in a prime position to receive a makeover and move rapidly into the display advertising field.

However, if Microsoft plan to seriously take on Google they need to move quickly as Google’s acquisitions of DoubleClick, and to a lesser extent YouTube, suggest that Google is keen to move in on this new market as well.

So, whilst there is no doubt that Google is by far and away the leader in terms of market share for both search queries and advertising dollars, there are signs emerging that suggest the Microsoft giant is not ready to lose the search war just yet, although they have to be ready for a long battle if they want to pinch the crown.

Round Two – Google Knockout… but is there movement on the canvas?

The agreement, which still has to be approved by anti-trust authorities, is an $800 Million (US) deal which will see Google’s paid advertisements appear on Yahoo’s search results.

Assuming the deal is approved, and I have the impression that it will as both AOL and Ask.com are on similar arrangements with Google, then this will mean that advertisers who are signed up with the Google AdWords program will be able to get their ads to display on Yahoo’s search pages.

This begs the question, if advertisers are able to sign up to the AdWords program and control the placement of their ads in Google, Yahoo, Ask.com & AOL, why would advertisers then sign up for Yahoo Search Marketing, which is limited to just Yahoo searches?

The answer is simple… they wouldn’t.

When you throw in the fact that Yahoo Search Marketing requires a $30 deposit and pre-pay billing, Google’s AdWords becomes even more of a clear option. To make the contest even more one-sided, Google offer a whole raft of extras to assist you with your campaigns including Google Analytics, WebMaster Tools and the new Google AdPlanner.

Yahoo claim that their Search Marketing program will continue to operate in tandem to Google’s ad placements but how long will Yahoo’s users put up with double the amount of ads? My guess is that Yahoo’s Search Marketing program will simply be phased out over 12 months or so. The other more cynical option is that Yahoo will simply drop its Search Marketing program as soon as the deal is approved, and are only keeping the program running to help get it rubber stamped.

So why did Yahoo! make this deal? Quite simply… money.

Google’s share of online advertising revenue is around 80% (depending on who you believe) but Yahoo’s is only around 5%. Despite Yahoo’s best efforts they have failed miserably at stealing any of Google’s market share. In fact, they are actually losing ground.

This left Yahoo with two options; makeover their own Search Marketing program to be better than Google’s AdWords, or take the AOL and Ask.com path and simply outsource to Google. They chose the latter and one can hardly blame them. This new deal guarantees Yahoo! a stream of online advertising income but tightens Google’s grasp on the search marketing market.

It’s no wonder that this kind of deal has drawn interest from the anti-trust authorities but if it is approved (as I suspect it will) then there is strong evidence that this is the end for Yahoo’s Search Marketing program. Once again it looks as though it’s going to be Google v Microsoft.

SEM Tip #1

When it comes to managing a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign online in Google AdWords or one of the other search marketing programs, too many businesses get carried away with click-through-rates (CTR).

But before I get into why click-through rates (CTR) are overrated, let’s just clarify what a CTR is. A Click-Through-Rate, or CTR, is a measure of the percentage of people who click on your ad after viewing it.

Typical CTR’s are often well below 1% for most online campaigns, but what is it about them that as soon as they reach 2-3% everyone starts giving each other high-fives even when sales are not affected? So let’s go through the pros and cons of CTRs.

Firstly, CTR’s can be used as a guide to how effective your ad text is. Quite often, the more appealing your ad text is, the higher your CTR will be. But what if you’re in a very specific industry, say ‘neon lighting Brisbane.’ As part of your campaign it would be perfectly normal to include broader keywords such a ‘Brisbane lighting’ in the hope that people who search for lighting in Brisbane will be then interested in neon lighting. However, this is where your CTR can be misleading.

For instance, say my headline for the ad is ‘Brisbane Lighting’ – A large majority of users who have searched “Brisbane lighting” might think this is a relevant ad, so I get a higher CTR. The problem is that they click on the ad, bumping up my CTR and costing me money, only to find when they get to the site that I only sell neon lights. This is a waste…but my CTR looks good right?

On the other side of the coin, if my headline for the ad is ‘Brisbane Neon Lighting,’ all those users who have searched for “Brisbane lighting” will see my ad but only those who are interested in neon lighting will click on it. This means that I get a lower CTR but in this case that’s actually a good thing as I get better quality traffic.

Now, it is well publicised that Google, when ranking ads, don’t just take into account how much you bid, but also your quality score. One of the things that makes up the quality score is your CTR. However, your quality score is unique to each separate keyword, so having a low CTR on a broad term such as ‘Brisbane lighting’ does not affect your quality score on your more targeted keywords such as ‘Brisbane neon lighting,’ so there’s no real advantage to CTR there.

The other downside of having a high CTR is that you use up your advertising budget very quickly. A low CTR has the added advantage of giving you great exposure, as you get more impressions on your ads before your budget is used up. This helps immensely with brand recognition.

So at the end of all this you may be wondering if I can’t trust CTR, what can I trust? Some people put their faith in conversion rates, but this again has many of the same pitfalls. The best statistic to track is cost-per-conversion, which details how much it costs per sale or lead. This is done by the insertion of a snippet of HTML code on your ‘Thankyou for Purchasing’ (or likewise) page. A professional SEM management company can set your business up a conversion tracking AdWords account and manage it throughout the course of a campaign, continually adjusting all facets of the campaign for best performance.

I guess the key thing to take from this today is that when it comes to your online marketing campaigns, don’t worry too much about the percentages; but look at the dollar amounts that it is costing your business per sale to advertise online.

This is evident by the fact that marketing positions are down by 26% across Australia (BRW Magazine) as many businesses look to cut the fat from their advertising dollars.

But there is a cheap alternative to traditional advertising mediums… search.

There are two kinds of ways businesses can spend money on search. One is through search engine optimisation (SEO) where professional optimisers improve your website’s position in search engine rankings. The other is search engine marketing (SEM) which are the paid ads you will see above and to the right of natural search results.

There are a number of reasons why search engine spending is a wise alternative. Let’s do a quick comparison:

A full page ad in many print media publications costs between $6000-10,000 for just one run. And this is occuring at a time when many businesses are noting a distinct drop in conversion to sales from print media.

One of the clients I manage has a Google AdWords budget of $90 per day. One of the great things about investing in SEM is the ease with which detailed statistics can be obtained and sales conversions tracked. Here are the basic facts from four weeks of the AdWords campaign:

• Around $2500 was pumped through AdWords in that time. This compares quite well to the $6000 that would have been splurged on a print media ad.
• The Ads generated about 180,000 impressions. That means 180,000 people actually had the ad appear on their screens. Even if the readership of the print publication was 200,000, this does not mean that 200,000 people saw the ad, especially if the ad is buried on page 37.
• As a result of these impressions, over 1200 visitors were sent directly to the site.
• This translated into 350 conversions at an average cost per conversion of around $6.50. With the print media ads, it is often very difficult, if not impossible, to tell exactly how many sales have been generated.

So when we sit back now and look at the final figures, this particular client spent half as much money and generated around the same number, if not more, views of the ad. But the thing is, they know exactly how much they spent, how many views they had, and most importantly, how much it cost them per sale to undertake the advertising.

It is this combination of factors that makes search such an attractive alternative to traditional marketing.

But SEM is just half of the picture, as that $6000-10000 can also buy your company a whole lot of SEO. By putting that money into professional SEO you’ll get around 12 months of continual optimisation for Google and the other major search engines.

This means 12 months, not one print run, of potential customers seeing your site up the top of search engine results, and that translates into sales.

So despite many business’ financials being quite tight around Australia at the moment, SEO and SEM remain highly lucrative options as their relatively cheap nature and ease of tracking make them a smart solution for all businesses.