Google has made two further tweaks to how it calculates the Quality Score of each Google Adwords ad that appears in the search results. The tweaks are likely to significantly affect which ads appear at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The first change is a welcome acknowledgment of the fact that top-placed ads naturally get a boost in click-through rates (CTRs) by virtue of their position… while the reverse is true of lower-placed ads that may be as ‘relevant’ as those above them. Google is taking this discrepancy into account, which should result in higher quality scores for lower placed ads.

Secondly, Google is now making it easier for ads to occupy the positions above the natural search results. Previously, only ads with the highest ad rank and a minimum Quality Score would be placed here; now ads can be placed here if they meet the minimum Quality Score without having to be first in terms of Ad Rank.

Both of these changes should be welcome news to Google Adwords advertisers… but let’s not kid ourselves. As TechCrunch points out, the moves are also calculated to boost Google’s ad revenues. More ads above the organic search results means more clicks… which means more revenues for Google.

Source: Erick Schonfeld, “Google Tweaks AdWords To Reward “Quality” (And Juice Revenues)”, TechCrunch, October 31, 2008

When I first began pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google Adwords a few years ago I learned to:

• gather together hundreds or thousands of keywords that seemed appropriate for my campaign (from the most highly searched on to the most obscure or “long-tail”);

• stick them into ad groups;

• write ads that matched those ad groups;

• create landing pages that matched those ads; and

…ta-da, I’d have a highly performing Google Adwords campaign!

Only it wasn’t as simple as that. And it certainly isn’t now…

While that was - and IS - broadly the right approach to take, a big problem emerged from gathering all those keywords… one that is even bigger now, given Google’s Quality Score.

You see, with so many keywords to organize, it was all too tempting to bunch lots of unrelated long-tail keywords into the same ad groups. After all, there was little justification in creating individual ad groups for keywords that rarely got searched on.

The result was, however, that I’d end up with generic ads that didn’t quite fit each of the long-tail keywords in a given ad group. And today, such an approach would more than likely lead to a low Google Quality Score. All of which amounted to – and would now amount to - low click-through rates (CTRs), high cost per click (CPC) rates, and low ad positions.

Does that imply that long-tail keywords should be abandoned?

Not necessarily. According to search engine marketing expert, David Szetela, all the keywords in an ad group should be tightly related to each other and to the ad text. So much so that he says PPC advertisers should make this our mantra:

“(Almost) every keyword should appear in the ad text.”

This is important for several reasons including the fact that Google bolds keywords that appear in the ad text which is likely to attract clicks and higher CTRs. Furthermore, it reflects RELEVANCE between the keyword and ad text, which is likely to have a positive impact on Quality Score. And, in sum, your ads will likely get higher CTRs, which will lead to higher quality scores, lower CPCs, higher ad positions… and in turn higher CTRs!

Mr Szetela further recommends you divide and group keywords in your keyword list based on who you are targeting and where they are in the research-shop-buy cycle. In other words, group together keywords that are likely to be used by people in research mode… other keywords used by those in shopping/comparing mode… and others used by people in buying mode.

What if you have some long-tail keywords that just can’t be grouped together in any meaningful way? Well, if they really are long-tail i.e. hardly ever searched on… and they don’t seem related to any other keywords… then… what are they doing in your keyword list? Get rid of ‘em!

Source: David Szetela, “Tightly-Themed Ad Groups: The PPC Pro Advantage”, Search Engine Watch, August 4, 2008

Today it’s my privilege to share the steps Fabian Tan of Explosive Traffic System.com has used to build his list to over 19,000 subscribers in just 16 months… WITHOUT a major product launch or any joint ventures with major list owners.

According to Fabian, list building is his obsession and he’s spent countless hours poring over list building reports, traffic blueprints, and training videos. Better yet, he’s distilled what he’s learned into 10 steps that have consistently worked to bring traffic to his websites and build his lists.

Here are Fabian’s 10 steps:

Step 1 - Write and submit articles to article directories. I’m not talking the occasional article though. Fabian has 2,469 articles on EzineArticles.com alone!

Step 2 - Participate in highly trafficked forums in your niche(s). Create a signature file promoting your site and regularly post helpful content.

Step 3 - Contribute products to giveaway promotions. According to Fabian, this is an ultra-fast way to build a list.

Step 4 - Use the co-registration service offered by Get Subscribers.com to funnel leads straight into your autoresponder account.

Step 5 - Run a Google AdWords campaigns to attract traffic to your optin pages.

Step 6 - Run classified ads on Craigslist, eBay Classifieds, US Free Ads and Yahoo Classifieds.

Step 7 - Purchase the List Joe premium account. This enables you to blast an ad out to 3,000 subscribers every 3 days. Fabian says this is a great list builder.

Step 8 - Get in touch with potential joint venture (JV) partners and arrange a solo email swap. Your JV partners will send an email to their lists promoting your opt-in page, while you promote theirs to your list. Fabian reckons this is the fastest strategy to build a targeted, responsive list.

Step 9 - Create a blog at Wordpress or Blogger and post new content daily. Be sure to ping your new posts at Pingomatic to get instant search engine recognition.

Step 10 - Buy some ezine ads. Join the Directory Of Ezines and search for ezines that are related to your market. Continue to advertise in those ezines that continue to cost-effectively deliver subscribers.

What does Fabian say are his very best list builders? Co-registration (GetSubscribers.com), joint ventures and participating in giveaways. The latter two are more one-shot bursts of huge traffic, while co-registration is more of an ongoing, continual process.

Search engine marketers have long argued about which position in the paid search listings is optimal, taking into account the cost-per-click, click-through-rate, and the sales value per click.

AdGooroo has attempted to measure the exact relationship between cost-per-click and clickthrough rate, and how these critical campaign metrics are affected by the length of the searcher’s keyword phrase, as well as the average position in which the ad appears on Google AdWords.

Based on its research, AdGooroo has developed a proprietary index, known as the “AdGooroo search index”, which shows the relationships between these factors across the spectrum of ad positions on Google.

AdGooroo believes its index can be combined with standard website metrics, such as conversion rate and average order size, to reliably predict the optimal average position for both broad and niche keywords.

Based on the report, some quick generalizations can be made:

1. For short keywords (one to two words) it’s not profitable to bid for the first or second positions, where you’re likely to compete against “brand” marketers who are willing to pay a premium for greater visibility. For direct response marketers, the most profitable positions for short keywords are the fifth and sixth positions.

2. For three-word keywords, you are still likely to lose money in the first position, but will find the most profitable positions to be the second and third positions. (Brand advertisers are unlikely to be as interested in the lower volumes of clicks available on these longer tail keywords). Eric Enge, writing for Search Engine Watch, believes it reasonable to assume that the three-word keyword data would also apply to four- and five-keyword phrases.

Sources: Eric Enge, “When Being First Isn’t Worth It”, Search Engine Watch, July 16, 2008, AdGooroo, “How keyword length and ad position impact CTR and CPC on Google AdWords”, AdGooroo, June 22, 2008