The Top 3 Pay-Per-Click Tips from SMX Advanced

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Seattle and attend SMX Advanced. I sat in on all the PPC sessions and couldn’t wait to learn something new. Unfortunately there were only a few bits of information worth blogging about, the rest was general knowledge, ranting or shameless promotion. That being said, listed here are the top 3 PPC tips from SMX Advanced: how you can control ad copy impression share; reset your quality score; and use dynamic keyword insertions for all-caps titles.

Tip #1: You Can Control Ad Copy Impression Share

This one is simple yet few people realize it. Normally, AdWords will split impression share amongst the ads in your ad group assuming you set rotate to on in your campaign settings. In ad groups that drive a lot of traffic it is not always beneficial to introduce a new split test because of the potential of the new ad hurting your profits. In this case it might be a better idea to only share 10%-20% of your impressions (to the new ad) instead of 50% like you would normally. All you have to do is take your control (winning ad) and duplicate it and because AdWords will rotate all ads evenly you can essentially have your new ad only receive a specific amount of impression share simply by multiplying the winning ad several times over in your ad group. This technique only makes sense when the ad group you’re applying it to is producing a large volume of traffic.

Tip #2: You Can Reset Quality Score

Although this is something I was already aware of prior to SMX Advanced it is still a great tip that many advertisers are not aware of. If in your AdWords account you are seeing $5 to $10 minimum bids then chances are your quality score has been “slapped”. In most cases this means the death of an account. However there is a solution that can reset your quality score immediately with no reviews or waiting periods (which can last months). If you’re plagued with minimum bids that range from $5 and up then you will need a new domain and a new account. That’s it.

• Register a domain
• Open Your FTP program
• Select all your files and copy and paste over to your new domain
• Created a new AdWords account
• Open AdWords editor, select all campaigns, copy and paste over to new account

Your minimum bids will all be reset and your back in business. If for whatever reason you QS is still poor then chances are your account structure is a mess. This also doesn’t mean you have to abandon your original site (especially if it gets organic traffic). You can still keep the original domain and use the new domain for PPC purposes only. Just make sure you’re not letting Google index your new site (to avoid problems with your organic listings).

Tip #3: Dynamic Keyword Insertion

This last tip is a bit of an exploit in the system (expect it to be fixed) but it’s still useful. In AdWords you can use DKI to get your headline in all caps. Simply take the keyword, create a new ad group, and insert only the keyword you’re going to use in the ad group then use dynamic keyword insertion in the headline: {KEYWORD:Default_text} and when your query comes up your ad headline will display in all caps. This will only work if you type “keyword” in all caps. The benefit of getting your title in all caps is that your CTR will skyrocket. The better the CTR the more of the market share you will have and potentially more profit. Overall SMX was a good experience, some people probably benefited more than others but that’s simply based on your experience and knowledge in the field. I would definitely like to see more case studies next year. I would also like to add that Microsoft threw a great little party as a part of the Bing rollout. It included free snacks, liquor (unlimited) and mimes for entertainment.