I am going to run a series of posts about optimizing your PPC Campaigns - getting a bigger bang for your buck. They may not be in order so pick and choose your reading!

At some point in recent history, Google AdWords has allowed the visual separation of your AdGroup by Google Search Engine, Google Partners and Content Network - in the past you could only see Google and Partners combined and then the content network.

By separating these out, you can identify for example that you are not getting as many conversions from the partner network and therefore may decide not to include this network in your bidding strategy.

Google has come a very long way - there was a day not too long ago where you could not control your bid for the content network separate from the Google Search Network. Now if they would just allow us to control bids separately for the Partner Network, I’ll be happy.

I’ll post screenshots in the next day or two!

Getting clicks on your paid listings can be a challenge. You need to compel the consumer to click through, yet your ad must also comply with editorial standards controlling what you can say and even the punctuation you can use. You also want the RIGHT type of click. Choose your words poorly, and the wrong audience will come, costing you money and offering no hope of conversion. This webcast looks at ways to get the right clicks.

Writing Compelling PPC Ads
July 9, 2008 1:00pm (EST)
Cost: FREE Webcast | Register now!

This is a webinar being put on by Yahoo! which will cover consumer’s search and shopping trends during the Holiday season including online / offline purchase behaviors, search volume trends, the combined impact of search and display on consumer engagement and spend. The webinar will conclude with search best practices for the Holiday season.

Start Time: 11/15/2007 12:00 PM
(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US and Canada); Tijuana
Duration: 01:00:00

Register for this one hour webinar.

Google has put into place an opportunity to assist registered charities in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts through a grant program which allows the charities to raise awareness and increase traffic to their website.

This opportunity is open to charities in the United States as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. In the US, organizations must have current 501(c)(3) status, as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service to be considered for a Google Grant.

In Canada, Grant recipients must be registered under the Canada Income Tax Act (search for registered charities at CRA) and use their award of free AdWords advertising on Google.ca to drive traffic to their website, thereby raising awareness.

Each organization choosing to participate in Google Grants receives at least three months of free advertising and once the AdWords account and initial ad campaigns are up and running, Google will provide further assistance by refining your ad copy and keywords (if necessary) to help your organization get up and running.

The catch for most charities is that they need to have a basic understanding of the Google AdWords program and will be asked to provide sample keywords, ad copy, and a brief statement about how your organization will benefit from participating in the Google Grants program.

Google Grants recipients every quarter and DriveTraffic would be happy to assist Canadian Charities which meet the eligibility requirements to pursue this grant money. DriveTraffic can be reached at 613-725-9606 or by email at info@drivetraffic.ca

Gord Hotchkiss of Enquiro in British Columbia has hit the nail on the head while commenting on the online advertising habits of Ontario Tourism.

Long story short, he blogged that Ontario Tourism was not doing online search; they came forward and corrected Gord, indicating that they were indeed “doing search”.

While in Toronto (Ontario), Gord did searches on the following phrases: Ontario vacations, Ontario resorts, Toronto vacations, Ontario getaways and Ontario holidays. According to Google Trends and their keyword research tool, these are the most common searches, by a substantial margin. Ontario Tourism was not visible for these searches.

Gord goes on to explain how Ontario Tourism is doing substantial print advertising, takes a stab at the money they might be spending and how they could potentially spend that money more efficiently by doing more online advertising.

Check out the post at Ask Enquiro.