Just because you’ve graduated, don’t think testing is behind you
Brad Geddes pulls back the curtain on how to optimize Google AdWords PPC campaigns in 2015
Ready for school
DFWSEM sponsors Advice Interactive were on hand with news about their upcoming Local, Search and Social Summit, which will be packed full of digital goodness on October 1 — and 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales benefit TryMunity, an online community for survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury and those who care for them.
Vertical Nerve, sponsoring as well as hiring, had news about some of their upcoming educational opportunities, including a Google Analytics and tag management session that’s just around the corner to supplement their ongoing series of webinars.
DFWSEM is proud to have Vertical Nerve as a sponsor of the September meeting
DFWSEM president Scott Vann put rmoov.com‘s Lead Software Architect Sha Menz on the spot and on the stage, but only to sing her praises. She’s done exceptional volunteer work for State of Search, even visiting all the way from Australia. Speaking of Australia, she also brought treats from Down Under.
But snack time must end and classes must begin. Time for Brad Geddes’ turn at the podium.
PPC school in session
Brad has been involved in paid search since 1998, so it’s no wonder that folks listen to what he has to say. And the first thing he said was something that should be obvious, but is often forgotten: initially, your audience only knows you by your ads.
If that’s the case, you need to get to know your audience so you can serve them the sort of ads that lead to conversions. How? Testing. Test it all. Test everything that doesn’t move. Test everything that does move. Then test again.
Brad drives home the importance of testing and retesting your paid search campaigns to get the mix just right.
Two types of testing
Broadly speaking there are two kinds of tests. A/B testing, or single-variant testing, is sharp and precise. This narrows the focus to a single parameter in an ad or landing page, possibly even to a single word. According to Brad, this is great for getting information about how people react to your brand at an incredibly detailed level.
Multi-variant testing changes several variables rather than one, a shotgun rather than a scalpel. This kind of test can be run across multiple products or accounts, and is a great way to get actionable insights over a larger area. But neither one of them provides useful answers without the right questions.
For example, companies should determine if they have customers who are price conscious. How to find that out? Test prices in ads. Companies should determine if customers are local or shop from afar. How to find that out? Test locations. Companies should determine if quality is more important than affordability. How to find that out? I’ll give you three guesses.
As Brad put it, “test to find failure” And if you never fail then you’re not being aggressive enough in the search for answers.
Make it mobile
Unless your user has a large phone, they won't see organic results. Which means you're getting killer CTRs if you're above the fold. #dfwsem
— Christina Tharp (@christinatharp) September 10, 2015
Unless your user has a large phone, they won't see organic results. Which means you're getting killer CTRs if you're above the fold. #dfwsem
— Christina Tharp (@christinatharp) September 10, 2015
Naturally, mobile search is an important part of any nutritious marketing breakfast. Brad pointed out that over half the clicks in the United States and Canada are now on mobile — but only one-third of the spending. So is your site designed to make it easy for customers to purchase from you? There’s no excuse for having a badly functioning mobile site in 2015.
Brad happily answered questions after his presentation.
On the subject of mobile, Brad pointed out the importance of measuring mobile and desktop results separately. Those clicks come at different times and for different reasons. Only makes sense to treat them differently.
Companies should also be listening on mobile. And on multiple platforms. And everywhere their customers are. Don’t just pay attention to comments on your Facebook page. Search frequently for your brand and company so you can hear your audience outside of the spaces where they seek you out to get candid information.
Wrapping it all up
The insights you learn from testing #ppc ads should be applied outside your ad account too! @bgtheory #DFWSEM
— Jacob Henke (@jacobdh) September 10, 2015
Brad took some audience questions, during which time he dropped the astonishing fact that the call extension is the least-used on mobile ads. He pointed out that every mobile image had should have a button and a strong CTA. And he mentioned the importance of pivot tables as a vital tracking tool.
But again, testing was the PPC key, along with the patience required to wait for good data.
Patience won’t be required much longer for State of Search.
There’s only one more meeting, October 14 featuring local search genius Mike Blumenthal, and then it will be November and the premier SEO conference in the South.
You do have your tickets, don’t you?