It was announced today that a conclusion may finally have been reached with the MSN vs. Yahoo buyout. But instead of a buyout or merger, it appears there is going to be a partnership. This new joint relationship is aptly named “Search Alliance.”

Could this mean that we will have to manage one less search engine without losing inventory?

Will this bring additional competition to Bing advertisers who have competitors only in Yahoo! and vise-versa?

…These questions are more will soon be answered.

Here are the highlights:

• Search inventory will be combined into a new unified search marketplace
• Microsoft will manage the technology platforms that deliver the algorithmic and paid search results.
• Yahoo!’s team will exclusively support high volume advertisers, SEO and SEM agencies, and resellers.
• Microsoft’s team will support self-service advertisers
• Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising & affiliate search partners.
• Transition is scheduled for the Pre 2010 Holiday Season or early 2011.

For More Information Regarding:

Search Alliance: http://advertising.microsoft.com/search-alliance/home
Yahoo Transition: http://advertising.yahoo.com/transition/en_US
Bing Transition: http://advertising.microsoft.com/learning-center/microsoft-transition-center

Search Alliance

If you’re not familiar with Engine Ready’s free software suite, Conversion Critic, you may want to take a moment to utilize some handy online marketing tools.  Conversion Critic can be used to evaluate your landing pages, check for broken destination URLs in your pay per click campaigns, and to forecast the performance of your PPC marketing efforts.

The calculator is perfect for computing expectations for a new campaign.  Many marketers and business owners want to calculate the risk associated with a new campaign.  Accurately forecasting return on ad spend is a challenge shared by all marketers, which the PPC Calculator attempts to relieve.

The free tool will also illustrate how slight changes in the conversion rate or cost per click can significantly impact your bottom line.  In the example below we can see that a 0.5% increase in conversion rate (everything else being equal) equates to thousands of more dollars in revenue.

Example:

Slide the button, or manually input your ad spend.

Forecast snapshot of performance.

conversion rate, cpa, EngineReady, Internet Marketing, Keyword Opportunities, Online Marketing, PPC, search marketing, Software, Tools

Do you have some ongoing Google AdWords campaigns that, despite being optimized, are not performing to your expectations?

Oftentimes, the problem is with the landing page copy.

To illustrate this point, let’s say we have a software company that makes a great product at a very good price. Their AdWords account has been up and running for almost 2 months. The traffic is very targeted and the quality scores are good. The ads have a very respectable click through rate.

Everything looks great except the number of conversions. Which is everything in paid search.

If the problem isn’t the keywords or their costs, then the hurdle for the users must be on the company’s landing page.

At first glance, the landing page looks good. Visually, it’s not too cluttered, which is a common problem with underperforming landing pages. On closer examination, though, the sales copy doesn’t pop like it should.

Let’s try rewriting it. Before we start, ask yourself a few questions:

1) Why should I care? – Benefits, not features! I don’t care what IT DOES. What’s it going to do FOR ME? Clearly translate the features into benefits to the user.

The first snippet of text on the landing page to rework: Custom reports are a breeze. Using our report wizard, you select only the data that you want.

No, no, no. That’s what IT does. This is supposed to be about me.

This is better:

No more pouring over spreadsheets trying to figure out how to display only the data you want, the way you want it. With just a few clicks you’ll get your data exactly how what you want it. It’s so easy, you’re going to be wondering what do with all the extra free time you have on your hands.

The user (you) is mentioned 7 times.

2) Call to action – If you want me to do something, let me know!

Currently, they have a mediocre call to action:

Try our free trial today.

Better:

We’re so sure you’re going love all the extra free time our software gives you, we’re offering it to you to try now, risk free.

3) Why here and now? Why not somewhere else?

Lets add this:

In less than 10 minutes, you’ll realize how great this software really is. Try our demo version now and when you sign up you’ll also get our report: “The Biggest Marketing Opportunities of this Holiday Season.”

The above paragraph illustrates to the user that:

1) In just a few minutes, any doubts will be answered.

2) The free report, while working as an incentive, also creates a feeling of scarcity. The upcoming holiday season? Oh, fudgesicles. It’s almost here. There might be something in there I can use. I want to find out about it sooner instead of later when other people have the information.

You’ll be amazed at how much you can increase the conversion rates of your paid search with strong landing page development.

Remember: if you’re not testing your landing pages, you might be losing sales.

Landing page conversions, Landing Page Copy, Landing Page Development, Landing Page Optimization

Does this look familiar?

Google First Page Bid Estimate and Actual Position

This inspiring sight is almost inevitable to anyone working in AdWords. Google takes care to inform you, in no uncertain terms, that your bid isn’t high enough to make the first page, and yet, when you look closer, your average position is still pretty good. Usually third or fourth. Definitely not on the second page.

Which just leaves all of us, search marketer and client alike, perplexed. What gives?

Anyone working in AdWords also figured out pretty quickly that it’s a mercurial creature, and often contradictory. Just because Google says something doesn’t necessarily mean that it means it, and the “below first page bid” situation is a prime example. In this case, a first page bid estimate does not equal the cost per click.

So just because Google says your bid is below the first page doesn’t mean that it actually is, and there are a few reasons why. Besides AdWords deciding to be contrary.

One, the first page bid estimate is just an estimate. That’s all. It’s an indication of how much you might have to pay to get on the first page, and not how much you actually will pay. In fact, you’ll often find that you pay less per click than your maximum CPC gives you room for. This is due to AdWord’s quality-based price system, which is a whole new beast of burden in and of itself.

Second, first page bid estimates only really work when a search query exactly matches the keywords that first page bid estimate is for. So if you’re using a broad or phrase match keyword, then forget about it; variations that trigger your exact keyword don’t make any difference in determining a first page bid estimate.

Third, Google search and the Google Search Network use different factors in determining pricing, ad position, and all that fun stuff. So that first page bid estimate you’re seeing? Only comes from Google search, not the Search Network, which is why you might be scratching your head at the huge disparity between the first page bid estimate that applies just to Google and the average CPC that applies to Google and the entire Search Network.

Finally, if you’re throwing your campaign around in more than one country, then the first page bid estimate comes from data from the country with the highest search volume for that specific keyword. Google does much better when you’re only targeting one country, so campaigns spanning multiple ones produce much less accurate first page bid estimates.

So the next time Google informs you that you’re below the first page bid in spite of all evidence on the contrary, that’s what gives.

Or AdWords just decided to be contrary.

Adwords, Bidding Strategies, Google, Google AdWords, Keyword Opportunities, PPC, search marketing