Occasionally, AdWords likes to add in nifty new features to its interface that even the most on-the-ball search marketers never really notice until a few months later, when they suddenly ask themselves (or the entire office at large), “Has this always been here?”

Such is the story of the new Segments feature, which AdWords first implemented in November of 2009 under the Filter tab.

Now, though, it gets a tab of its very own, sandwiched between All but Deleted Keywords and the aforementioned Filter tabs. Just click on that handy dandy little Segments tab, and you can sort all your performance data by network, day, week, month, quarter, year, day of the week, click type, device, and… oh, that’s it?

I think you get the picture.

Needless to say, this is a really cool and versatile new feature, made even cooler by the fact that it saves a lot of time as well. Instead of going through and selecting one day or week or month at a time in the date range in order to view your data, you can view it all at once and, blessedly, compare numbers without having to lay a finger on Excel.

Of course, since the initial discovery and subsequent whoas, we here at Engine Ready have been putting the new Segments tab to use. So far, we’ve mostly been segmenting by week, so that we can get a really good picture of why performance increases or decreases week to week. To do this, select a month (or two or three) as your date range, then segment by week. You end up getting something that looks like this:

Each of the four weeks of data is broken down, so that you can easily take a look at the changes in cost per click, conversion rate, position, and anything else that might be affecting your account’s performance. Which makes it much simpler to answer the question: why?

Which makes it much, much simpler to go for the impossible: true optimization.

Adwords, Analytics, Google AdWords, PPC

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

In the quest to create a truly epic pay per click campaign, our intrepid search marketer often runs the gamut of keywords, from the obvious to the creative to the downright silly.

But no matter how stupid “paper click” might sound as a keyword, there’s at least one person out there who’s going to search that exact phrase, right?

Right?

Oftentimes, depending on how enthusiastic the search marketer might be, an account can accumulate hundreds of keywords that never get any impressions at all, leaving one to wonder: is it really worth it, keeping all these zero impression keywords?

Maybe.

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to cull any non-performing keywords, especially since a large number of them make it more difficult to manage your account. For the most part, they’re really not adding anything of value, since their click through rate is technically at zero percent.

On the other hand, a CTR of zero percent doesn’t necessarily lower your Quality Score, at least according to our Google sources. While CTR plays a major role in determining a keyword’s Quality Score, it’s not the only factor, not by a long shot. The historical performance of the keyword across Google’s entire system, the past performance of your display URL, the overall performance of your account—all of these go into the equation that churns out your Quality Score.

So while it’s safe to assume that most zero impression keywords are clogging up your account, it’s the Quality Score that ultimately decides whether a keyword is worth keeping or not. If the Quality Score is less than five, or otherwise significantly lower than the rest, your best course of action is to delete the keyword.

And if the Quality Score is good? It definitely doesn’t hurt to let it hang around a little while longer. A high quality keyword is better than nothing, right?

Right.

Ad Quality, Adwords, Google, Google AdWords, negative keywords, PPC, Quality Score

1. Open the Adwords Editor and download the newest version of your account

2. Export desired campaigns, if not all, to as .csv file

3. Open the exported csv file in Excel

4. Remove all negative keywords(without sorting)(

• Select All(Ctrl + A)
• Turn on the “Filter”

• Filter the “Keyword Type” column to only include negative keywords

• Once only the Negative Keywords are showing select all rows(excluding row 1) and delete.
• Clear the filter

5. Save file as UNICODE TEXT and click YES on the warning screen that pops up after clicking save

6. Close the file in excel and DO NOT save changes

7. Login to your Yahoo Search Account

8. Click the Campaigns Tab

9. Click on the “Import” link

10. Click on “Convert Third Party Campaigns”

11. Hit the browse button

12. Find the unicode txt file you saved and Click once to edit the file name.  Add .cvs to the end(VERY IMPORTANT).

13. Select the file and click “Open” to add the file into the converting box

14.  Once you receive the confirmation screen, click on return to import history

15.  Open the converted file and look at the error columns.  If there are no errors you are done, if you have errors see below.

POSSIBLE ERRORS

Error Message: The Short Description Is Too Long. Please Enter A Valid Short Description. This means that your 70 character ad in Google turned into a 71 character Ad in Yahoo, because Yahoo forces a period at the end of every ad. Play with your ad and get it to fit within the 70 character limit with a period. Yes, exclamation and questions marks are fine too.

Error Message: The Keyword ________ Was Not Added Because It Is Covered By An Existing Keyword In Your Ad Group.

This means that your keywords is already somewhere in the account, and Yahoo won’t allow duplicates. If you really want it in there twice, call your rep and ask to have your account switched to an umbrella account, with a new account opened as a child account (there will probably be small fee involved). Redo the campaign import with the new account instead of the original account. (Remember you’ll need to load conversion tracking for the new account)

Error Message: Cannot Determine Which Campaign/Ad Group Is The Parent

I really hate this one. It means that you probably tried sorting the columns when working on a project and didn’t put it back precisely the way it was. Unless you’re working with only one or two accounts, it’s usually fastest just to start over.

After you correct these errors you need to re-download the Yahoo template and paste ONLY the corrected items. Then…

• In Excel, Click On “Save As” And Save The Template File As A .Csv File With A Different Name Than The Imported Campaign (Even If You Haven’T Saved The Imported Campaign)
• Again, Click Yes On The Warning Window That Says Formatting May Not Be Compatible With Unicode Text
• Close The File Without Saving Changes
• In The Yahoo Interface Click On The Browse Buttons On The Import Campaigns Tab
• Hit The Browse Button And Find The File To Upload
• Click Once And Add .csv To The End Of The File Name
• Give It Any Import Name (Can Be Identical To Your Conversion File Name) And Click Upload
• Once You Receive The Confirmation Screen, Click On Return To Import History
• You Will See The Status Be Labeled As “In Progress” For A While. Refresh Every 10-15 Seconds Until Completed

It’s possible that you get an additional error file, but it should be smaller than the original. Keep repeating the above steps until all errors are gone and you’ll be done! Congratulations!

Keep in mind some important issues:

• Bulk uploads are limited to 10mb/day/account.
• A day is defined by 24 hours, not a business or working day.
• If you are making account updates instead of 3rd party conversions, DO NOT try to upload anything that you don’t intend changing. Attempts can kick back error messages that will make things tedious.

Adwords, convert, Google, upload, Yahoo Search