Should you buy search ads for your brand keywords?
I confess, as a search engine optimizer, I used to think that buying ads for one’s own brand name was a complete waste of money. After all, all companies should rank in top slots for their own brand name(s), if they’re doing their SEO right, and if you’re ranking tops then people will be able to find you if they’re looking for you. As such, I thought that buying ads for your own name was just paying for clicks that should rightly come to you anyway.
But over time, I’ve heard other experts stating that their research shows that having ad presence for brands along with natural search ranking appears to enhance overall click through rates in a synergistic manner. And, with greater experience, I’ve seen a number of cases when companies really should be buying their own brand name keywords for ads!
I see that George Michie over at the Rimm-Kaufman Group criticized a recent Microsoft study claiming that some advertisers are wasting money by buying their own brands in paid search ads — and I think George was right to criticize this. Read on and I’ll elaborate…
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris of Silvery on 08/24/2007
Permalink | | 
Print
| Trackback | Comments Off on Should you buy search ads for your brand keywords? | Comments RSS
Filed under: Advertising, brand names, Monetization of Search, Paid Search Atlas-Study, brand names, brand-ppc, brand-search, Microsoft-Ads, Paid Search, paid-vs-natural, Pay-Per-Click, ppc
7 Habits of Highly Effective PPC Advertisers
I just saw this great article on “Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Pay-Per-Click Advertisers” by John Ellis, who does search marketing for Gaylord Entertainment, and I thought it was worth highlighting.
Some of the tips include:
- Â Control spending by adjusting bid amounts, not daily spend budget
- Â Conversion matters, not click-through rate (CTR)
- Â Avoid bidding up for top position
…and more. I think there’s some great stuff here – both for paid search newbies as well as veterans.
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris of Silvery on 05/31/2007
Permalink | | Print
| Trackback | Comments Off on 7 Habits of Highly Effective PPC Advertisers | Comments RSS
Filed under: Monetization of Search, Paid Search Paid Search, Pay-Per-Click, ppc, PPC-Tips, Search-Engine-Marketing
Superpages to Factor CTR into Ad Rankings
I noticed that Greg Sterling just reported over at Search Engine Land that Idearc Media’s Superpages is going to begin factoring in ad click-through-rates into the measures used for ranking ads on the vast networks of sites where Superpages content appears. I was aware of this plan prior to my departure from Superpages, and I think it’s one of the cooler things my old teammates are developing.
Naturally, this follows other major ad networks who do similar things. Google, for instance, has begun using quality scores to decide ad rankings and the pricing of the ads.
Possible Related Posts
Posted by Chris of Silvery on 04/26/2007
Permalink | | Print
| Trackback | Comments Off on Superpages to Factor CTR into Ad Rankings | Comments RSS
Filed under: Advertising, Paid Search, Yellow Pages Ad-Rankings, Advertising, CTR, idearc, Idearc-Media, Pay-Per-Click, ppc, superpages, Superpages.com
