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16 of the Best ‘Don’t-Miss’ PPC Posts of 2015

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Summer is here, which means 2015 is already half over. Where did the time go?  Well, a lot of people spent it writing about PPC strategy and tactics, never-ending sources of evolving challenges.

In case you missed some of the great PPC posts during the first half of 2015, we’ve compiled some of our favorites. Whether because of the specific topic, because they made us think a bit differently, or because their detail make them hyper-useful – these are some PPC-related blog posts worth reading and re-reading.

Google AdWords Features

7 New AdWords Features to Change Your Campaigns FOREVER! (WordStream, March 3, 2015)

Well, at least until the next hundred or so new AdWords features. But that’s the point. Larry Kim’s round-up of the AdWords features he says are most deserving of your attention this year shouldn’t be ignored. His list shares the whys and how-to’s of each feature, chock-full with advanced tactics and examples.

Graph Chart

Mobilegeddon

Mobilegeddon Checklist: How to Prepare For this Week’s Google Mobile Friendly Update, (Search Engine Land, April 20, 2015)

How to Identify the Impact of Mobilegeddon & Future Mobile Algorithm Updates, (Search Engine Land, June 5, 2015)

Alright, we’re cheating a bit right off the bat by including an article from June. But Mobilegeddon merits including an update article in this list, especially since it hasn’t seemed to cause any natural disasters. The first article remains a valuable review for your mobile sites, while the second provides step-by-step guidance distinguish whether changes you’re seeing are due to Mobilegeddon or other issues.

Call Tracking

The Ultimate Guide to PPC Call Tracking, (Search Engine Watch, February 10, 2015)

This succinct post provides valuable overview of the free call tracking options within Google and Bing, as well as exploring the added value of using a paid call tracking solution. The author includes a tidy case study, with metrics, demonstrating how capturing call conversions gives you better insight into a campaign that appears to be underperforming.

With mobile search only growing, the need to track how a campaign captures people’s actions in the micro-moment will only increase in importance. [tweetthis twitter_handles=”@pagewiz_app”]Mobile search is only growing; you need to track all ways a campaign captures actions[/tweetthis] You can see how Pagewiz incorporates Google call tracking within its call-to-click functionality here.

If you want a closer look at what a paid call tracking solution can offer, check out Top 12 Call Tracking FAQs: What Every Marketer Needs to Know. Keep in mind it’s written by a call tracking solution provider, but its review of the metrics you can capture and what you should expect from a provider is a helpful starting point.

Store Visits

Google reveals impact of store visits on conversion, (Econsultancy, April 8, 2015)

Google’s store visit tracking is another newer metric that’s pulling in off-line activity to improve analysis of your ads performance. The author shares Google research on the positive impact including store visits has on total conversions data, as well as how major retailers have used this data to refine their bidding strategies.

The Video Showdown

Here’s another reason Google should be afraid of Facebook: Some ads on Facebook are 6 times more expensive than YouTube, (Business Insider, March 26, 2015)

Google Brings Its Shopping Adds to YouTube, (re/code, May 21, 2015)

This pair of articles provide some insight on video as the new battleground for digital ad dollars and consumer attention. The first article compares the video ad potential of Google and Facebook, discussing differences in metrics, video volume, and video placement. It also points out that Facebook charges a premium for better demographic targeting, but Google may have an edge in contextual ads.

Video-Showdown

As for those contextual ads, the second article talks about Google’s new video tool: TrueView, bringing product listing ads into videos to challenge Amazon in its ability to meet people at their moment of purchase intent.

Facebook Ads

15 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Ads, (Social Media Examiner, January 26, 2015)

6 Unique Ways to Target Your Facebook Ads, (Social Media Examiner, May 25, 2015)

Social Media Examiner presents a bookends for the first half of 2015 on getting the most of your Facebook ads. As is the norm with Social Media Examiner, each article is a waterfall of multi-media tutorials and detailed, how-to screenshots.

Bing

If You’re Not Marketing on Bing You’re Missing 30% of U.S. Searchers, (Entrepreneur, January 6, 2015)Search-Engine

7 Ways Bing Ads Beats Google’s AdWords, (WordStream, February 25, 2015)

Both articles do a great job of sharing both the business and technical background to what Bing has to offer. Google is still Google, but as the WordStream piece notes, its paid search clicks are trending down, while Bing is trending up.  The Entrepreneur article underscores it’s a misconception to think that Bing searchers can be reached outside of Bing. If they can’t, leaving nearly a third of the US search market unattended doesn’t make any sense.

Both pieces also provide technical tutorials on using Bing.

Using Your Words

5 Search Ad Copy Resolutions for 2015, (Search Engine Land, January 29, 2015)

Writing Ad Copy in 2015, (PPC Chat)

There’s so much focus on tools and strategies, it can be easy to overlook the creative side. Here are a couple of pieces to bring attention back to your ad copy. In the first, you’ll get some actionable suggestions on variations you can make to test ad copy. If you’re curious what the folks on the ground are doing with their ad copy, read through this PPC chat transcript. People share their ad creation process, what ad copy practices they think are outdated, and techniques they use specifically for mobile or social ads.

Getting Esoteric

How Your PPC Strategy Is Like Gardening, (Search Engine Watch, May 15, 2015)

Here the author makes the case that less is more when trying attract PPC prospects. Using drip irrigation as both PPC strategy model and example, he argues for shorter, more targeted content to provide the prospect with only the answer to the specific question on their mind right now.

There’s No Such Thing as Best Practices, (PPC Hero, March 27, 2015)

You didn’t really think we’d get through a list like this without an entry from PPC Hero, did you? Anyway, this post is a great reminder that all the advice and established best practices in the world are only suggestions. The best practice is always whatever is working for you on that account. The author’s best caution: Don’t rely on best practices as a substitute for your own creativity.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@pagewiz_app”]Don’t rely on best practices as a substitute for creativity. #marketing[/tweetthis]

What was your favorite PPC post in 2015? Share it below and what makes it worthwhile to check out.
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