The Web Uncovered

While Google has dominated the market for PPC as compared to MSN, there is still plenty of people who find it useful enough to keep using.  For those folks, there is a great tool that they put out, which makes the process much more doable once you get the hang out it.  

There is a blog post on Subliminal Pixels which gives a great explanation of the features on the Ad Intelligence PPC Tool, and how to use them.  If you fall into the camp of MSN Ad Intelligence users, be sure to check this out and implement into your strategy… As well as consider switching over to Google Adwords altogether.

According to Hitwise, the past month’s paid search traffic is down 26% from the same time-frame last year.  Hitwise said, “This is no doubt a result of cutbacks in marketing spent due to the recession.”  This analysis, however, seems shallow at best.

The online marketing blog The Marketing Pilgrim suggests a less worrisome reason.  Perhaps companies are no longer paying for their own names for paid search traffic, when their organic traffic is high enough, and of course free.  They ask, “is it likely due to a reduction in budget spent, or  is Orbitz et al are figuring out that they really don’t need to spend so much on paid advertising–considering they’re #1 in the organic results?”

The Takeaway:  Perhaps it is time for you to look at the keywords you are paying for in search traffic.  If your keywords render your website in the top results of a search engine, perhaps your money would be better spent on keywords that you are less likely to get organic traffic from.

Creating fake websites is a means towards several ends.  While some implementations are funny or catchy, some can be unethical and even illegal.   A Fake website is a website whole sole purpose is something other than what would seem to be the obvious.  One such example is the ever famous petsORfood.com, a website that pretends to sell unwanted pets for food, including species on the endangered species list.  It’s totally believable with its extensive online content, complete with order forms and checkout.

Why create fake websites?  There are two main reasons why you might consider this.  Firstly, by creating content that has virality potential, you could set up PPC ads and then just sit on the ad revenue.  While it may not turn into a cash cow, it could give you a nice side income.  Another reason why some people create fake websites is to create a reputable link to their site.  Not only could it bolster traffic, but it has positive SEO effects as well.   Find a list of such websites here.

The Takeaway:  

While creating a funny or unbelievable fake website may advantageous, make sure you are complying with FTC regulations regarding misrepresenting yourself.  Furthermore, avoid lawsuits from refraining from lying about medical matters.  Finally, consider the use of these fake websites as jokes, if yours isn’t in good humor or obviously a hoax once scrutinized, you may need to reconsider your own ethical limits.

While in a previous post we talked about how Obama’s 70 person team for online presence dominated in the area of social media, an interesting reports suggest there were weak parts in his campaign.  For instance, when it came to Pay Per Clicks, John McCain brought his A-game.  

In fact, as Obama began dominating in traditional media in ways that John McCain could not afford to keep up with, his team began focusing online.  At that time his ad impressions jumped by 250%.  Furthermore, the McCain camp mobilized quickly to dominate in buying up keywords for PPC ads.  For instance, immediately after Obama chose Biden as his running mate, the McCain team put bought up related keywords and had landing pages ready.  Similarly, they bought up all keywords relating to “Branchflower,” “troopergate,” and “Palin.”  They did this so well that that the actual articles covering this story were burried behind their ads and related websites created to refute the claims against Palin.  

The Takeaway:

Quick mobilization and clever keyword choice will assist in keeping the available content available to voters in your control.  Be sure to find related words that could similarly drive traffic to your site, or if you are inactive, to your opponent’s website.

For those looking to explore the possibilities on PPC advertising (that’s pay-per-click for you newbies), Facebook generates a strong appeal. No longer representing a slice segment of the market, Facebook has quickly become the standard social network, leaving Myspace and others in the dust.

Their advertising interface is extremely easy to use, and requires very little technology comprehension. This should be highly attractive to those looking to spread their wings in the world on PPC. Furthermore, their segmentation abilities are amazing; not only can you target based on age, location, and gender, but you target consumers based on religion, sexual orientation, and relationship status. Even more amazing is their ability to create search parameters within users profile to advertise (e.g. “target anyone who lists Tool as their favorite band and Watership Down as their favorite book”). If you choose a larger campaign, you create a plethora of ultra-targeted ads in a sort of micro-segmentation.

The Catch:
While these technologies are great, for those companies leading larger campaigns, Facebook’s cost per ad is much more expensive than most other PPC opportunities. For those selling a product rather than promoting a campaign, this will take a big bite out of your ROI (return on investment). This is a huge drawback for those on limited marketing budgets as well.

The Takeaway:
If you want to test content in a limited fashion, or have a high-end product that doesn’t require widespread response, the segmentation abilities of Facebook ads are great. This is especially true for those who are not technologically savvy. If you want to run a larger PPC campaign, many other opportunities exist that will give you better ROI. Remember, even if the segmentation ability isn’t there, if only interested people are clicking on your ads, you are still reaching your target audience.

For more specifics as to how to execute a Facebook PPC campaign, look at Facebook Ads 101.

This is the first episode in our series of online talk shows we have produced to provide you with insight into marketing best practices. Joining us is Dave Meirowitch is the founder and president of Remarkable Search. He is a nine-year veteran of the search marketing, interactive advertising and corporate marketing industries and is an expert on web topics such as: search engine optimization, pay per click strategies, accountability in marketing, as well as implementing PR to your SEO. Click here to view the deck that goes along with this program.