Still Newsjacking For Links? Forget That, Make The News Instead!

We all know that Google frowns upon trying — in any way, shape or form — to get links (they’re serious, guys). Yet, links still play a very large role in determining SERP rankings. If you can’t ask for or chase down high-quality, authoritative links, what’s a marketer…

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The Real Reason AdWords Isn’t Working For Many Small Businesses

By now, you’ve probably read the New York Times piece that’s been making the rounds lately. If not, here’s the upshot: it concludes that Google AdWords isn’t practical for small businesses. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time the Gray Lady has gone after AdWords, nor is it the first time…

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3 Surprising Benefits Of Retargeting

As retargeting becomes more widely used and better understood, its reputation is improving. Marketers are learning to avoid creeping people out through better targeting and less intrusive messaging. Early adopters now have a year or two (or more) of ex…

New AdWords Ad Ranking Formula: What Does It Mean?

AdRank in AdWords is a key AdWords marketing concept that plays a huge role in determining how prominently your ads are displayed in a SERP and also your cost-per-click. So, when Google quietly announces huge changes on how AdRank is being calculated, …

New Data Suggest AdWords Enhanced Campaigns Actually Work

Nearly two months after the forced roll-out of Enhanced Campaigns in AdWords, at least one key question remains unanswered: are we better off today than we were before? In my column this week, I’ll try to answer that question using some data-driven analysis — but first, I thought it…

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WordStream Launches PPC Landing Page Creator, Lead Management Tool For SMBs

Successful PPC lead generation campaigns demand good landing pages. Yet many small business marketers are left without the resources to create solid landing pages that will convert visitors into leads. WordStream, a PPC platform designed specifically f…

Hacking Quality Score: How One Advertiser Got A Quality Score Of 8.8/10

In previous articles, I’ve discussed why I believe that Quality Score is so critical to PPC success. To illustrate the point in a more concrete way, I want to present a detailed case study of a WordStream client that is absolutely crushing its AdWords Quality Score. In this case study,…

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What The Heck Is AdWords Quality Score And Why Does It Matter Anyway?

Last month, Google announced some changes in how Quality Score is being reported. While it’s been described as just a reporting change (as opposed to a change in how Quality Score is calculated), some of my respected colleagues have pointed to the news as evidence that Quality Score somehow…

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All Hail Quality Score – King Of The AdWords KPIs!

(Property of HBO) The high-level relationship between Cost-Per-Click and Quality Score is well known: the higher your Quality Score, the lower your cost per click. Earlier this year, I published some research data showing how, as average Quality Scores…

How to Use The Keyword Planner — The New Keyword Tool From Google AdWords

Last month, Google quietly began rolling out the AdWords Keyword Planner to select AdWords accounts last month. In typical AdWords fashion, one of the biggest overhauls of the Google Keyword Tool ever went almost unnoticed!   This new keyword tool combines elements of two existing keyword…

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