Monday, June 30th, 2008
Paid Search Testing & Experimentation: Webcast, July 10
Google has famously stated that all you need to get started with paid search is five minutes and a credit card.
While that’s essentially true, to avoid wasting money and to achieve optimal results from your paid search campaign, you need to test, experiment, and test again.
On Thursday, July 10 at 1 PM EDT, join us for a webcast with Search Engine Land’s Executive Editor, Chris Sherman: “Paid Search Testing & Experimentation: Optimizing for Superior Results.” This webcast is sponsored by iProspect.
Testing and optimization offers multiple benefits: in addition to improving your bottom line, you’ll gain a leg up on the competition, as fully 60% of all search marketers aren’t doing any testing at all, and those that are testing often use simple, ineffective methods, according to JupiterResearch.
Your approach to testing and optimizing a paid search campaign should be systematic and carefully planned.
Chris Sherman will cover the followin key points in this webcast:
- What you should test and how much is too much?
- A/B vs. multivariate testing - which is right for you?
- The importance of audience segmentation and how to target different user needs
- Beyond ads: Optimizing the “landing experience”
- Why automated tools are key to this process
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
Webcast Today with Greg Sterling - 1 PM EDT
Join us today as Search Engine Land’s contributing editor Greg Sterling looks at the current landscape of local search, and how brand marketers can take advantage of this evolving channel - in a webcast titled “National Brands Marketing Local.”
Research indicates that 82% of consumers who use a local search site have followed up with an offline action. Find out where local search is headed — in this free educational webcast.
Special thanks to our sponsor, TMP Directional Marketing.
Friday, June 20th, 2008
Who’s making money in local search?
It’s a great question - -and it’s among the topics that will be discussed at the upcoming Search Marketing Expo - SMX Local + Mobile in San Francisco, July 24-25.
Local search has become a critical channel for marketers, as consumers are becoming more sophisticated and as tracking and online targeting capabilities continue to evolve.
According to a recent comScore study, 82% of Local Searchers follow up offline via an in-store visit, a phone call, or a purchase. Of these, 61% end up making a purchase.
Local Search is also at the heart of our next webcast - “National Brands Marketing Local,” Wednesday, June 25 at 1 PM EDT. Register for this webcast - it’s free.
The implication for marketers is significant: how do you track offline conversions that began in an online search? How does a large, national brand take advantage of search at the local level? As consumers become more adept at searching online, how do marketers keep up with the shifting behavior? Are Internet Yellow pages the way to go - or should you consider a combination of print and online advertising to maximize your offline sales?
In this webcast, Greg Sterling will discuss the latest developments in the Local Search landscape and how brand marketers — of any size — can take advantage of this evolving channel.
Greg Sterling, local and mobile search correspondent for Search Engine Land, has been covering local search for more than six years. He is the founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm focused on online consumer and advertiser behavior and the relationship between the Internet and traditional media, with an emphasis on the local search marketplace.
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Search as a Strategic Planning Tool
Next Tuesday’s webcast explores how you can use search as part of your strategic marketing plans - to gain insight into your competition as well as your customers.
Tuesday, June 24, 208 - 1 PM Eastern
“Search as a Strategic Planning Tool”
Gord Hotchkiss and James Lamberti, speakers
Developing good “search intelligence” - for example, understanding how certain demographics behave relative to certain keywords - is critical to your marketing success.
Gord Hotchkiss and James Lamberti will discuss how marketers use search in the strategic planning phase - from creating a demographic profile of their ideal customer, to sizing the opportunities in the market.
In this webcast you’ll learn:
- How to translate online consumer behavior into successful marketing strategy
- How to be sure your search campaign aligns with your target demographic
- How to determine the best marketing mix of paid & organic before launching a new campaign
Saturday, June 14th, 2008
Pre-webcast Q+A with Jon Kelly: Quality Score
For our June 18 SMN Webcast, “Decrypting Quality Scores,” we invite you to submit questions ahead of time. Our speaker, Jon Kelly has answered a few… We thought we’d share some with you to give a peek at what you’ll learn on this webcast.
Thanks to Marin Software for sponsoring this webcast.
What’s the best quality score you can get? Is it “Great” and min bid of 0.01? Should you go for that goal? What’s a checklist so you know you’ve done everything you can?
Minimum bid is mainly determined by your Landing Page Quality Score, but yes it can be as low as 1 cent. You really only need to worry about the minimum if what they are asking you to pay is more than what you want to pay.Of course, what you want to pay is determined by your ROI and traffic volume needs. Come to the upcoming webcast for a best practices check-list, but the one word answer is “relevance.”
Can you keep an existing quality score when moving the campaign from one agency to another?
Yes, the quality scores follow accounts not agencies. If you have large accounts, it’s a good idea to give Google a heads up that you are switching over.
Googles Query String Report - How would you recommend digging in to the “unique queries”?
The Query String Report is a great way to see what people actually typed to get to your site. Look for patterns and “groups” you can establish. If you can segment searches into, say a dozen groups, you can establish a unique selling proposition for each and then craft your ad creative and landing pages accordingly.
Didn’t see your question here? Tune in Wednesday, June 18 at 1PM EDTfor “Decrypting Quality Scores” with Jon Kelly, Vice President at SureHits.
Friday, June 13th, 2008
Local Search, Act II: National Brands Marketing Local
Search Marketing Now’s June 25 webcast features our own Greg Sterling, Search Engine Land correspondent and co-chair of SMX Local + Mobile. Join us as Greg explores the current landscape of Local Search, how it affects brand marketers of all shapes and sizes, and how marketers can take advantage of this evolving channel.
National Brands Marketing Local
Wednesday, June 25 - 1 PM EDT
Register here - it’s free 
As consumers become more sophisticated and targeting and tracking capabilities continue to evolve, local search is becoming a more critical channel for all marketers. We are, in many ways, in Act II of Local Search.
According to a recent comScore study, 82% of Local Searchers follow up offline via an in-store visit, a phone call, or a purchase. Of these, 61% end up making a purchase.
The implications for marketers is significant: How does a large, national brand take advantage of search at the local level? As consumers become more adept at searching online, how do marketers keep up with the shifting behavior? Are Internet Yellow pages the way to go - or should you consider a combination of print and online advertising to maximize your offline sales?
Greg Sterling, local and mobile search correspondent for Search Engine Land, has been covering local search for more than six years. He is the founding princiapl of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm focused on online consumer and advertiser behavior and the relationship between the Internet and traditional media, with an emphasis on the lcoal search marketplace. He also co-chairs Search Marketing Expo - SMX Local + Mobile, which comes to San Francisco July 24-25.
This webcast is sponsored by TMP Directional Marketing.
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Decrypting Quality Scores
If you’re finding the results of your PPC ad campaign puzzling, you’re not alone. It could be your Quality Score — and it could be costing you traffic.
Life for a PPC advertiser used to be easier. You bid more than your competitor, and you ranked ahead of them. But today, the perceived “quality” of your ads can make a dramatic difference in how much you pay and where your ads are positioned. And since the exact formula of calculating quality scores isn’t revealed by the major search ad networks, marketers have some deciperhing to do.
On Wednesday, June 18 at 1:00 PM Eastern, Search Marketing now presents another free webcast, “Decrypting Quality Scores.”
Jon Kelly will reveal what goes into Quality Score, how you can increase your Quality Score and why understanding it is crucial to the success of any PPC campaign. If you have specific questions for Jon, we’re taking them in advance on our registration form.
Join us for this free webcast - register now!
