For most, the above page is a dull footnote in the ocean of Google blog posts, but for those using Adwords, this is exactly what we were expecting (and hoping) for.

What Was the Problem

A few years ago, brand owners threatened Google by arguing that they were using their trademarks unlawfully by allowing businesses to use their brands in keywords and adverts.

Brand owners thereby forced Google to let them approve which advertisers could, or could not, use their brand.

If this had been done properly, all well and good, but in our experience what this meant was that brand owners decided that those who offered the best discounts, or special terms, or even import of branded good were effectively barred.

Whilst those who towed the corporate line were given ’special dispensation’.

… Cracks Started to Appear…

However, Google’s first counter to this was to allow advertisers to advertise against branded keywords as long as they didn’t use the branded term in the advert. So, for example, anyone could advertise to searches for ‘Adidas Trainers’ just as long as they didn’t use ‘Adidas’ in their advert.

… It Then Got Ugly…

The upshot of this was, however, ‘ugly’ adverts. For example on ‘Adidas’ trainers then the advertisers would misspell Adidas – Addas, Ad1das, and so on. So, for example, the advert could look like this:

Cheap Ad1das Trainers

From only £29.99 buy Ad1das trainers
With free delivery.

It was soon realised that whilst Adidas could take out further brand protection with Google, they would have to cater for all misspells and then they’d still be dealing with ads which are well written but don’t mention the brand at all.

… Which Brings us to Today…

So, finally the post from Google which has just been announced for the UK: essentially any legitimate store or advertiser of branded goods can use the trademark on Google.

Sense has prevailed at last. But if you think that Google just did it for us, then think again. More brand advertisers is undoubtedly a good thing for advertising revenues. They may be backing ‘the little guys’, but you can be sure that they’re confident it will be worth their while.

After all, it is by increasing the number of advertisers that the big G’s pockets are filled!

An Addendum…

As usual, Yahoo! and MSN are some way behind Google. Just had an email in from one of the two telling me that they were stopping me advertising on a brand name… ah well… give it 6 months to a year and they’ll catch up at the back!

Real World Learning No.1 – Your Website IS Your ‘Store’

We are often asked by clients to ‘fix’ their Pay Per Click campaign, or to get more traffic to their website and yet when we visit the site, it’s clear that the site needs attention first.

Why Put the Site First?

Simply, your site is like a ‘change’ machine and your marketing is like sliding a £10 note into it… you put the money in (marketing) and you wait for your return.

Income < Expenditure?

A site that returns in less than £10 in change to you tells you a very simple message: your site is not optimised and you will lose money if you don’t sort it out.

Therefore your action is not to drive more traffic to it, but to scrutinise your website and work out WHY your site is not performing for you. Look in these places first:

1. Are visitors finding the ‘product’ easily (this can be an actual product, or a service, or a contact form)?
2. Are you charging enough for the product?
3. Do you have the right range of offerings?
4. What are your competitors promoting / offering?

Income = Expenditure?

So, you suddenly start to break even, and for every £10 plugged in, you’re getting £10 out. You’re OK, aren’t you?

Sadly, no, you are not OK. In many respects this is a worse situation to be in than losing money. Why? Because at this level there is a danger you will persevere with your marketing without still addressing your website.

Your action should still be to develop and improve your website. In our opinion every website could do with improvement – so don’t settle too early for ‘mediocre’ – expect more!

Income > Expenditure

OK… now it’s clearing profit and so you think, “this is where I spend more heavily on marketing”. True, it should be BUT the question is HOW. The two observations on marketing spend we would offer to you are these:

• Spending more in Pay Per Click, and other online bid-managed advertising, generally reduces margin. So if your gross profit margin is tight, then don’t go upping spend too much, there is normally a threshold where profit starts reducing so make sure you don’t overbalance when it comes to being more aggressive
• Diversify when increasing spend. Don’t just stick with a narrow range of sites or marketing media, find other routes to market and other means of placing your offers

Not only that, but don’t forget your site. It’s too easy to sit back and believe that you’ve got it made once there is some profit. Continue to work on your site, improve, fine tune and tweak – squeeze as much performance out of it as you can get.

It is like the real world in that respect. Shop, catalogue and direct mail all measure the performance of their marketing and their main focus is first on the proposition and how it monetises interest and potential customers: scrutnising conversion rate and spend.

You’ve got to look at your website in a similar way!

The Hustle

‘Search Marketing Agency X’ contacts you and says to you that they can get you ‘top of Google’ for only £100 a month.

They tell you that if you spend this with them, then they will guarantee that you will be top for a select number of relevant keywords.

However, if you stop paying them, then your positions will be removed.

If you commit to working with them, usually on 6 months plus of contract so they tie you in, then they will send you a list of keywords and you will indeed be on the first page of Google for those keywords from the start of the contract.

And all this for less than you’d pay most search marketing agencies to run a campaign for you: sounds great, doesn’t it?

The Trick

You may have been told by the agency in question any one of these reasons:

• They have a special relationship with Google
• They have a specific technology which gives them this advantage
• They are just very good at what they do…

And only the last of these is true – yes, they are very good at what they do – hustling you! They also will rarely talk about these being the paid adverts on Google, as they want to blur the boundaries between Search Engine Optimisation (listings appearing in the main part of the page) and Pay Per Click (Google Advertising), and also because they don’t want you to become too informed.

The Sleight of Hand

So, if it is a trick, how does it work?After all, they will seem to deliver on their promises…

Let’s say you’re a security business based in Luton, they send you a list of keyword phrases, for example:

CCTV Luton, Alarms Luton, Locksmiths Luton, Locksmith Luton, CCTV installation Luton, CCTV Bedford, Alarms Bedford, Locksmiths Bedford, Locksmith Bedford, CCTV installation Bedford, Security systems Luton, Home security Luton, Security systems Bedford, Home security Bedford, Security systems in Luton

Very specific keyword phrases which all look good, but deliberately chosen to be low volume in terms of traffic – in laymans terms: not searched for much, and this is the key to the con.

The Numbers

Exact matches on the keyword list above will receive, in all likelihood, fewer than 2,500 impressions in a month. Of those matches, about a maximum of 1% will actually click on the advert. And a rough estimate of the cost to be on the first page of Google for that advert will be about 20p per click.

Therefore the total estimated cost to you will be:

Impressions * conversion rate * cost per click… which is:

2,500 * 0.01 * 0.20 = £5.00

Making their profit on the deal: 2,000%

Making your estimated cost per click (25 clicks): £4.00 (paying c. 20 times more than the competition)

So, you can see why this ‘great’ offer is not so brilliant after the numbers are done. Two recommendations for you:

Google Keyword Tool – gives you the estimated number of monthly searches for a phrase

Google Analytics – so you can actually measure the amount of traffic being generated for you

With both of these in use, then you can be sure you’re really getting value. If you want any more tips, then get in touch with us…

Yet few businesses spend much attention on improving conversion rates through optimisation of their website and therefore they lose the one single area where they could generate an immediate improvement to their profitability.

So, here are some simple tips to get started on… things you can take away with you and evaluate your website:

1. Fewer Words, Bigger Messages

People don’t read long sentences and paragraphs. Or even long words. Keep the text short and make sure what you’re saying SELLS. Good copy is worth every penny. And PLEASE don’t write it yourself, unless you’re a copywriter!

2. Measure Impact

Don’t trust your instincts! If you make changes then use analytics to ensure you know that changes have a positive effect. Visitors don’t always do what you expect them to do, and changes often have unexpected knock on effects. If you are changing a really critical page, then consider performing an ‘A/B’ test – to compare your currnet

3. Use Landing Pages

Got a specific campaign going? Then make sure you have a landing page which covers this particular offer / promotion. Don’t expect website visitors to like ‘re-finding’ offers when they land on your homepage. If they’re not obvious, then they’ll move on.

4. Don’t Finish on a Whimper

The end of a page is a crucial point. If you don’t finish with a call to action, or an invitation to continue reading / browsing… then don’t be surprised if the visitor finishes with your site. Draw people in.

5. Chase the Ambulance

OK – not literally, but if there is something interesting and relevant happening in the news or your business sector – respond positively to it. You can raise awareness quickly… act on the activity you see around you!

Useful stuff, I hope. If you’re looking seriously at your website, then I’d recommend talking to us. We’re experts in driving traffic and getting results. Sure you can optimise your website yourself – but we’d probably do it better, and get to the best solution more quickly. [Call to Action]

So, call us on 020 7043 2617 / send us a message. [Response Device]