Google Analytics, best friend or worst nightmare? I remember when first starting out in PPC, I was completely overwhelmed with all the features and reports that Analytics provides. It can be a bit daunting to figure out, but I have learned that it can be an invaluable tool to be used in conjunction with your paid search efforts. I’ll outline some basic features in Analytics … [Read more...] about 6 Google Analytics Features You Need To Understand
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My Top 10 Favorite Paid Search Tools
There are lots of tools that assist us in our paid search efforts. Below I have compiled a list of my favorite paid search tools. Each has its own reason for making “my favorite” list. Some have saved the day, others I use on a daily basis, and others are simply fun tools to use. 1) Conversion Optimizer or CPA Bidding For me, conversion optimizer gets on the list, because … [Read more...] about My Top 10 Favorite Paid Search Tools
Should You Specialize To Grow Your Agency? And, An Introduction To VINS.
This is the fourth in a series of five blog posts about how to grow your agency. Jeff Allen and I are hosting Agency Growth workshops in Portland and London. Learn all about how we've grown Hanapin from a $2000 investment to an Inc 5000 company and an Indiana Best Places to Work honoree. For more info, read the About page and our FAQ. Make sure to check out the previous … [Read more...] about Should You Specialize To Grow Your Agency? And, An Introduction To VINS.
When To Draw The Line With Prospects – Also Known As When To Choose Sanity Over Growth
This is the third in a series of five blog posts about how to grow your agency. Jeff Allen and I are hosting Agency Growth workshops in Portland and London. Learn all about how we've grown Hanapin from a $2000 investment to an Inc 5000 company and an Indiana Best Places to Work honoree. For more info, read the About page and our FAQ. Make sure to check out the previous posts … [Read more...] about When To Draw The Line With Prospects – Also Known As When To Choose Sanity Over Growth
Uncertain Waters: Dealing With Executive Management Change
A member of my client’s senior leadership team recently left the company. This void has led to an uncertain future for the marketing department. Decisions currently being made can easily be overturned by the new regime, which will most likely have a different vision and point of view. Adding to this uncertainty is the future of my everyday contacts of which I’ve built solid … [Read more...] about Uncertain Waters: Dealing With Executive Management Change
Best Sources And Techniques For Identifying Great Talent
This is the second in a series of five blog posts about how to grow your agency. Jeff Allen and I are hosting Agency Growth workshops in Portland and London. Learn all about how we've grown Hanapin from a $2000 investment to an Inc 5000 company and an Indiana Best Places to Work honoree. For more info, read the About page and our FAQ. Make sure to check out the first post in … [Read more...] about Best Sources And Techniques For Identifying Great Talent
Assisted Conversions – You’ll Miss Them When They’re Gone
Recently, I performed optimizations on an account focused on improving ROI. This particular client was highly ROI-focused and wanted me to ensure that there were no inefficiencies within the account. An inefficient keyword was defined as any keyword that wasn’t generating a certain level of profit for the company. To start, I carefully went through the account and looked at … [Read more...] about Assisted Conversions – You’ll Miss Them When They’re Gone
Review Extensions: AdWords’ Mythical Monster
There was once an ad extension that promised to improve your account health with better relevance, trust, and even engagement. Review extensions had rolled out, and all you had to do was complete a form such as this and all would fall into place. But it didn’t happen that easily, did it? No. In fact, there many out there still trying to get review extensions approved, … [Read more...] about Review Extensions: AdWords’ Mythical Monster
How PPC Impacts Your Business
The general tone around the digital marketing industry lately has been somewhat bleak. Over the last handful of years, specific channels have gotten more and more popular, driving competition to high levels. These factors have together increased prices for many digital channels across all verticals. To continue the difficulty of the market, consumers are becoming more educated … [Read more...] about How PPC Impacts Your Business
There’s No Such Thing as Best Practices
Let’s talk about an epidemic. In the digital marketing industry (and many other industries that aren’t the focus of this blog) there is something of a perverse fascination with the notion of “best practices.” Here’s the problem: Best practices don’t exist. Though well intentioned, the very notion of a best practice can serve as a foil to its own supposed cause. I’ll … [Read more...] about There’s No Such Thing as Best Practices
How I Would Evaluate A PPC Agency’s Performance If I Were A Client
As the CEO of a 45-person company, I obviously can’t make all of the decisions for the company, nor do I want to. I need to be able to rely on our department heads and managers to drive results. So, I would approach managing the agency like I approach managing Hanapin, focusing on results and behaviors. If Hanapin were to hire a PPC agency, I would not be the person managing … [Read more...] about How I Would Evaluate A PPC Agency’s Performance If I Were A Client
How To Use Historical QS To Diagnose Your Account
It can get really frustrating when you seem to do everything right but Google doesn’t want to raise your Quality Score and you end up paying high bids for no apparent reason. On the other hand, when you do manage to increase your QS to 10 for example, AdWords rewards you big time! Your traffic increases and your costs drop dramatically, but how do you know what change or … [Read more...] about How To Use Historical QS To Diagnose Your Account
