Hybrid Domainer

Global PPC Spend Up 15 % in the First Quarter

By: Raymond Hackney

Kenshoo is out with their Global Search Advertising Trends Report and it showed search advertisers spent 15% more globally year-over-year in Q1 with click volume rising by 21% and click-through-rate increasing by 62%

A couple highlights from the report:

Global click-through-rate (CTR) and click volume spike
Q1 2013 global CTR reached 1.68% compared to 1.04% in Q1 2012, a dramatic 62% increase year-over-year (YoY) while Q1 2013 click volume increased 21% YoY. Meanwhile, impression volume declined 26% compared to Q1 2012.

Global average paid search cost-per-click (CPC) reaches five-quarter low
After reaching a peak value of $0.46 in Q3 2012, global CPC levels continued to decline in Q1, reaching a five-quarter low of $0.39. This average CPC falls just below the Q1 2012 value of $0.41. In the U.S. and U.K., average CPC values declined to $0.38 and $0.44 respectively, while continental Europe CPC remained flat at $0.36.

Of interest to domainers should be the part about lower CPC levels. If these average cpc numbers are trending down it could mean lower parking clicks across the board.

Click here to read full report

Search Engine Watch: How to do Awesome SEO Keyword Research for a Standard Website

By: RH

Richard Kirk wrote an interesting and in depth artcle on SearchEngineWatch.com. The article is a good primer for those looking to start out doing SEO on their own and want some steps to follow with regard to which keywords to optimize for.

One interesting point from the article is worth reading for  domainers who rely on the Google Keyword Tool.

From the article:

But First, a Note on Search Volume

Search volume data from the Google keyword tool is bullshit. You know it, I know it, the whole industry knows it. You look up the search volume for a term, then log in to the tool and do the same thing again – the search volume is completely different!

The simple truth is: you shouldn’t rely on individual datapoints coming out of Google's keyword tool. It’s really there for illustrative purposes only.

On the other hand, it’s the only real source of data on any keyword; Analytics is only going to give you data on stuff you already rank for. So you’re stuck with the Google keyword tool as your comprehensive and easily-accessible data source.

You can use a simple equation to try and reduce our reliance on individual data points that come from the Google keyword tool; we call it “relative search volume”.

relative search volume = individual keyword search volume / total search volume for all keywords

By dividing the search volume for the individual term by the total volume, you get down to focusing on the proportion of the total audience rather than the raw number of searches. It allows us to place the search volume in context, which is crucial for properly judging how important it is to target a keyword.

Read the full article on SearchEngineWatch.com

How To Improve Google Adwords Quality Scores

By: RH

When starting a new website many developers use Google Adwords to drive traffic to their site. Many think you just pick the keywords where you want your ads to show and set a budget.

Google assigns a quality score which can be quite complicated to figure out on your own. There are many factors that play into the quality score. I know a few years ago when I ran my first campaign using adwords that I had no idea why my ad would not show or why I had to bid more than I wanted.

DigitalNetAgency.com has put together an informative piece on the topic that is worth reading for those new to Adwords or those thinking about starting an Adwords campaign.

Courtesy of Digital Net Agency

The Most Expensive Keywords - Google October 2012

By: RH

The Most Expensive Keywords - Google October 2012

Fetch123.com put out a list of the most expensive Google keywords updated for October 2012. The stats also include the number of monthly searches for each keyword, these were not exact searches but broad. Free Domain Names shows 90,000 broad searches but only 9,900 exact monthly searches.

See the full list here on Fetch123.com

PPC Guide for Small Business Owners

By: RH

PPC for Small Business Owners

Most small business owners are not too familiar with PPC when they first get online. After a little time most sign up for Google Adwords. Running successful campaigns most find out are a lot more complicated than picking a keyword and setting a budget.

Copper Bridge Media put together an illustrated look at PPC for the small business website.

"There has been some perceptible changes in the nature of PPC SOS calls lately – Business owners have gradually shown a greater inclination towards other modes of PPC marketing and Remarketing – Facebook PPC, LinkedIn PPC, ADRoll, Facebook Exchange…etc.

Our designing team offered a hand by recommending a visual depiction of the most common client issues. This infographic is the outcome of a joint effort of the PPC team and the designing team."

Courtesy of Copper Bridge Media

InternetRetailer.com: Search Marketing Survey

By: RH

Internet Retailer: Search Marketing Survey

InternetRetailer.com did a survey that had some interesting points in that those surveyed see Bing on the upswing and have some concern about more changes from Google.

From InternetRetailer:

This year's Internet Retailer survey on search marketing, conducted in June, attracted 128 responses, of which the majority—64.4%—came from web-only merchants. Besides the findings regarding search rankings and Google Shopping, the survey results highlight the command that search holds over online marketing budgets. They also show the ongoing interest in devoting more of that spend to Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search engine, which accounts for just less than 30% of searches, a percentage that's held steady over the past year. Google accounts for about 65% of searches, according to web measurement firm Experian Hitwise. Most questions for this year's survey were the same as last year's, allowing for some rough comparisons, although it is impossible to tell if the same respondents took part because both surveys were anonymous.

No surprise that the majority of those surveyed said that Google had the better conversion rate.

Traffic is the engine that runs the Internet. Rick Schwartz has written many times that its about the traffic first and foremost. When starting a new site search engine marketing is one way to bring traffic.

How much should you spend depends on your budget and the category. The article highlighted what those surveyed were willing to pay for their ppc.

Asked how much they spend per click on a paid search ad, the largest group, 17.6%, or slightly fewer than one in five, reported paying in the range of 26 cents to 40 cents. 15.2% reported paying an average of 51 cents to 75 cents per click, while 12.8% said they pay 5 or fewer cents. (For more detail, see the accompanying charts.) Last year, only 6.4% of respondents reported paying an average of 5 or fewer cents per click for paid search ads, which means more retailers this year are paying on average only a few pennies for a click.

Read the whole article here

The Keyword Research Cheat Sheet

By: RH

Keyword research can be daunting, especially for those new to the world of SEO. Fear no more — this handy infographic sums it all up in one “cheat sheet”. You’ll learn about transactional vs. informational keywords, grouping, keyword difficulty metrics, segmentation, volume vs. competition, trend data, and steps you can take to start your keyword research project. In a few minutes, you’ll have all the information you need to dominate the competition and start seeing some real traffic from your SEO efforts.

Courtesy of Penguin SEM

The Numb3rs Behind the Search

By: RH

An illustrated look at the "Who,What,Where and How" For those who spend time analyzing search data for their websites or SEM campaigns its worth reading

Courtesy of Steady Rain

 

 

Paid search and clicks up big to start the season

Laurie Sullivan wrote a piece detailing the strong start to the holiday season as far as paid search goes.

From the article:

Both paid-search spend and clicks rose this holiday season compared with last year. Marketers spent 128% more, driving up consumer clicks. In fact, clicks rose 87% on Thanksgiving Day compared with a year ago, according to Performics. Marketers spent 120% more to drive up clicks on Black Friday this year, to 65%. Cost per clicks (CPCs) rose steadily throughout the week, to 34% year-over-year on Black Friday.

Mobile comprised more than 20% of Google paid-search clicks on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, according to Performics. The company predicts that mobile paid search will make up 25.4% of all clicks -- both desktop and mobile -- in December 2011.

Read the whole article on MediaPost

Where search marketers will put their money

Laurie Sullivan highlighted a report that details where retail marketers plan to put their money for the holidays and the new year.  The report showed that 30% is slated for paid search, which should mean there is a healthy amount of dollars flowing into the space that matters for domainers.

Domainers  monetizing through parking pages want to see  healthy budgets for ppc to display ads on their parked pages.

Taken from the article :

The report -- "Surviving the Current Market Mania with a Solid 2012 Plan," released Monday -- looks at where 110 retail marketers participating in the survey will invest budgets in 2012. Lauren Freedman and an e-commerce consultancy e-tailing group led the survey, sponsored by Bronto Software.

When marketers were asked how they are likely to allocate holiday and 2012 online and cross-channel marketing budget, 30% said they would invest in paid search, followed by email at 18%; search engine optimization  (SEO), 11%; affiliate marketing, 9%; retargeting and behavioral targeting, 8%; comparison shopping engines, 7%; mobile, 4%: and other, 5%.

Marketers said they see changes afoot to revenue that ecommerce and cross-channel initiatives and tactics will contribute. Thirty-one percent said they see a significant increase from SEO; 30% from mobile; 22%, email; 22%, paid search; social media, 14%; affiliate programs, 13%; and catalog and direct mail, 8%.

Read the whole article here