“How can it be better?”

Microsoft’s latest attempt to gain a greater share of the search engine market went unexpectedly into beta last week. Pitched as a “decision engine”, bing.com comes as the replacement for LiveSearch.

With a fresh look, stunning photographic background imagery and a reported immediate impact with users in the opening test week, is Bing the next big thing in search?

Nice touches, nothing groundbreaking

The homepage is undoubtedly good-looking, but how does Bing fare when it is actually put to work with a search? The results page looks more or less as you’d expect, with a couple of nice touches.

Related searches are bumped up to the top left, instead of appearing in the footer as you’d expect. This could be a slight time-saver if you’re not overly familiar with what you’re searching for, but it’s nothing you couldn’t get before elsewhere.

Each individual result, when hovered over, has a small pop-up containing a synopsis and various links from the same website. Presumably this is to offer as much information as possible before a user commits to a click. This doesn’t seem a million miles away from Ask.com’s thumbnail preview, which offers a sneak peek of a website on the results page. Neither are particularly useful, but at least Ask.com’s effort offers some neat visuals.

Both cases essentially miss the point of the results page and their own faith in the suggested websites - the fact that a site is appearing on the 1st page should be reason enough to click on it. Any in-depth pre-investigation required before accepting the search engine’s suggestion indicates it might not be what you’re looking for.

Advanced search offers a pleasingly flexible and straight-forward set of variables - including country and language - but these aren’t exactly daily requirements for your average web user.

Spammy returns rank strongly

The synopsis tool actually comes in quite handy as a few random searches show that while Bing is returning relevant websites, it often suggests very deep links or spammy findings. These absolutely need to be weeded out before any full launch, or there’ll be all manner of “optimised for Bing” results appearing - a sure-fire way to kill the user experience.

Loose PPC connections

Bing’s suggested pay-per-click websites seem decidedly fuzzy, which is odd given PPC’s highly manageable nature and in particular the sharp targeting available through Microsoft’s own Adcenter system.

A search for “email marketing newcastle” returns an accurate selection on organic - but a poorly irrelevant mix of hotel, job vacancy and football websites on sponsored search.

The same search on Google.co.uk returns a watertight set of paid-for Newcastle-based email marketing results.

Despite the apparently hapless targeting, Bing does repeat the top ranking PPC ads at the bottom of the page - meaning that those advertisers who are paying top dollar get a second bite of the cherry if their main ad is ignored. Good for advertisers, good for Microsoft’s pocket.

Endless images

When using the images tab, Bing doesn’t seem to limit the result thumbnails, returning as many as 1000 at a time. While this helpfully removes the need to click through multiple pages to find what you’re looking for, it also produces reams of loading thumbnails as you’re scrolling the page. Maybe that’s why every other search engine, ever, uses multiple pages.

“Verbing Up”

Google is so synonymous with the very act of searching online that it comfortably reached the brand nirvana of becoming an associated verb some years ago. While Google’s top brass have made noises in the past that this is something they’re not too happy about - it “dilutes” their other offerings apparently - it is surely the pinnacle of brand domination. This obviously isn’t lost on Microsoft, with Chief Exec Steve Ballmer openly stating that Bing was chosen as a name that can be easily “verbed up”.

First impressions…

So will we all be “binging” for our information in years to come? On the evidence of the beta, the answer has to be a pretty clear ‘no’. Bing needs to offer something that Google doesn’t, and at the moment it isn’t doing that. However, with a reported marketing budget of $100m to ease the full introduction, Bing is likely to be around for a while. We’ll see how it goes, but with such a glitchy opener and the absence of anything really new, or even useful, it doesn’t look very promising.

Of course the beta phase of any project is intended to iron out the creases, so perhaps the niggles mentioned above can be forgiven for the time being. Perhaps the full launch will be a little slicker…

All in all, it’s good to see that someone is taking a determined run at Google’s domination - it’ll certainly be interesting to see how the market leader responds in due course.

Our PPC specialist passed the updated Google Advertising Professional exam this week, continuing qualified status for another year. The qualification provides a genuine reassurance for clients that a Google PPC supplier is an expert in the field, and can provide the best campaign performance possible.

We’ve been creating and managing PPC campaigns for a number of years now, with accounts ranging from £10 to £1000 daily budgets, covering single day promos to 365 day permanent programmes. The Google Adwords system is constantly being refined so it makes sense that the professional qualification is an annual requirement - and we’re always happy for the opportunity to put our skills to the test, and officially prove them.

Tips on passing the exam

If you’re thinking about becoming qualified for Adwords here are some hints and tips on how to prepare for the GAP exam, and some issues that crop up in the exam itself.

Alternatively, if you’d like a qualified expert to take care of it all for you - get in touch.

1) The Google Learning Centre

Google’s Learning Centre is the first place you should visit if you’re thinking about taking the exam, as it provides a valuable and comprehensive resource for the system as a whole. The centre is updated regularly with the latest new features, and splits the modules into relevant sections - great for revising through one stage at a time.

Lessons can be taken in text, interactive video or quiz format, depending on your particular learning preference. While all three have their benefits and should be explored, I personally find the quizzes the most useful - they are presented in largely the same style as the exam itself, and offer clear explanations when you get a question wrong. In the pressure-free environment of the quiz, getting answers wrong is often the best way to learn.

2) Are you experienced?

No matter how much time you spend in the Learning Centre there’s no substitute for the real world experience of managing a campaign to see the mechanics of the Adwords system in action (It’s actually a prerequisite of the qualification to manage an account for at least 90 days).

Some of the questions in the new exam relate to case-study style scenarios and optimising campaigns based on fictional client requirements - neither of which can be researched through the Learning Centre.

3) Don’t just stick to what you know - look at the bigger picture

Just because you’ve run some campaigns it doesn’t mean you know PPC inside out. Google Adwords is an expansive system, and the exam covers every aspect of it whether you’re familiar with it or not. It doesn’t matter if you don’t create and manage mobile ads or you’ve never looked at the Local Business Listings - they’re on the exam so you need to know how they work.

If you’re severely lacking knowledge in a particular area you’re likely to fail the exam, no matter how strong you are elsewhere on the system.

4) Beware of ambiguous wording

While there aren’t any ‘trick’ questions on the exam, there is a fair amount of ambiguous wording and numerous occasions where several answers initially seem to be the right one. This is frustrating - especially when the clock is ticking down right above the questions throughout the exam - but it’s not an insurmountable issue. Just make sure you read the questions and all available answers clearly, and don’t be complacent with any of your choices.

5) Use the ‘check back’ function

Every question on the exam has a ‘check back’ option that allows you to return to it at any point. The obvious use for this is when you’re completely stumped, but it should also be employed when you think there’s a chance that one of the other answers might be appropriate (…the ambigious wording problem again). A question that might seem tricky at first glance might be glaringly obvious when you go back to it later.

6) Use the available time wisely

The exam runs for 1:30 and contains 110 questions. Some questions literally take 10 seconds while others can take a couple of minutes to run through the possible answers. Either way, there’s plenty of time and you should have some spare once you’ve answered all the questions. Use this time to think through your ‘check back’ questions, and generally run through your submissions to make sure you’re happy.

Contrary to popular belief, pay per click (PPC) isn’t about throwing money at your account until it gets to the top of your searches. This way you’ll end up spending way over budget for a lot of very general traffic, and your conversion/ROI rate just won’t stack up.

PPC also tends to be something that a lot of SEO “experts” and amateurs think is easy to jump into and get immediate impacts without any real knowledge of the systems or strategies that should be used, which more often than not results in poor performance.

However, PPC can be a really effective platform when it’s used to its potential. Here are some quick ideas to get your PPC moving in the right direction.

1. Use organic SEO priniciples

Think about how you create your keyword list - terms that are difficult to achieve on organic searches translate to being competitive and expensive to achieve on PPC. The answer? Go long tail and be specific - you’ll find that CPCs are lower and the quality of visitor is higher.

2. Cut poor performers out

If your campaign contains a straggler keyterm that’s generating nothing and getting a far lower success (clicks/impressions/positioning/conversions) rate than the others then get rid of it. Your Quality Score is based on the whole campaign and poor performers can drag the entire thing down.

3. Be creative with your ad copy

An obvious but often overlooked PPC issue. How to do it? Look at the competitor ads on any given keyterm, you’re sure to find at least a few that are basically saying exactly the same thing - avoid doing this at all costs. You need to make your ad sufficiently different to stand out, and get as many USPs in as possible to encourage a click. It’s amazing how much detail can be squeezed into those 70 characters.

4. Write lots of ad variations and use them all

The main PPC systems allow multiple ads to be assigned to campaigns, and they carry out their own “survival of the fittest” process to determine the most effective. The result? The best ads are shown the most. This is a great help to marketers, and there’s no excuse not to use it. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, get a load of ads written up and let them sink or swim on their own. Once you know which ad style works the best, refine and improve it even more.

5. Diversify with ad groups

Don’t lump all your keywords in together. If the scope of your campaign is broad enough, use ad groups to split it up. This will let you create more specific ads for each topic, and move away from being too general.

6. Make your display URL jump out

While the display URL is a fairly rigid element, why not try introducing capital letters to make individual words stand out more? Look at this example, it’s clear which one is more attention-grabbing;

www.freshredroses.com

www.FreshRedRoses.com

… a minor point? Maybe, but in a competitive market every tactic helps.

Green Media are Google Adwords Professional Qualified, which means that every single PPC campaign we create and manage is handled in the most appropriate and effective way. We employ all of the techniques described here, as well as some more advanced methods learned through years of experience to achieve the best results. Get in touch to find out how PPC by Green Media can help your business.

PPC is a powerful marketing tool that can potentially form your promotional backbone when operated correctly - making it the ideal platform to promote Xclusive Treats, the start-up boutique-style gifts website. Designed to support Xclusive’s launch period and all-important lead-in to Christmas, the PPC campaign needed to get it right first time.

When organising any PPC campaign, it’s best to break things down into smaller parts. Although it might be quicker initially to bunch all of your keywords up into one big ad group, it will impact on the management of the campaign further down the line and you may find that the whole thing can fast spiral out of control. If your product or service offering can be broken down into different areas, your PPC marketing can be as well. By overlooking structured ad groups you will also miss out on the assessment and reporting elements of PPC - essential if the campaign is going to run smoothly ongoing. Creating defined ad groups takes a little thought, but acts as the groundwork that will pay dividends later.

In creating the Xclusive Treats campaign, we looked at the product areas that were likely to be popular in the run-up to Christmas (hampers, spa vouchers, pet items etc) and created individual ad groups based on them. Using this approach, the campaign was divided up over the different markets. As each of the ad groups were essentially operating in different areas, we were able to individually manage their performance as required and ensure a successful campaign - something that would have been impossible with a single ad group.

We recently went live with Xclusive Treats, a new e-commerce website created to offer a massive range of luxury gifts and experiences all in one place. With a fantastic selection of items ranging from handmade jewellery to designer handbags, Xclusive Treats is the ideal site for Christmas shoppers looking for a unique present for a loved one. Experiences on the website cover everything from the adventurous (quad biking, sphering) to the luxurious (spa days, beauty treatments), across the North East region.

“The idea for Xclusive Treats came from a desire to provide a shopping solution for busy people who simply don’t have the time to trawl around the internet to find what they’re looking for,” explained Louise Milligan, founder of Xclusive Treats. “We’ve brought together some special suppliers that provide the very best in their respective areas, giving the website a really exclusive, boutique feel.”

The back-end of the website uses a Greenmedia bespoke CMS, the user-friendly system which allows the client to change everything displayed on the site, from page copy to individual products and images, meaning that the look of Xclusive Treats can be refreshed as often as required, and the site can grow over time.

Along with a broad-ranging promotional programme already underway, Xclusive Treats is backed by a Google Adwords campaign, focusing on the Christmas gifts markets for its various product lines.

At Greenmedia we know that one of the key elements of digital marketing is using the latest technologies and service offerings. With this in mind, we were delighted to begin using a new cutting-edge telephone lead tracking system this month, to help our clients trace the success of their advertising campaigns. Using the system, any calls made as a result of an ad are logged the same way as click-throughs, giving a clear breakdown of the campaign’s overall effectiveness. The system neatly overcomes the problem of phone calls being difficult to track, an issue that previously had the unfortunate potential to skew the genuine results of online marketing. Applying the telephone system to Direct Ford’s well-established Google Adwords campaign, we were able to follow the number of calls made as a result of click-throughs and gain a complete picture of how successful the ads had been in generating real contacts. This unprecedented level of analysis also gives us a clear platform to refine and improve the campaign ongoing, making it the ideal application to achieve immediate results today, and even better results tomorrow.

We recently put our years of expertise and success in the field of Google Adwords to the test, and can now claim official ‘Adwords Qualified Professional’ status. This means that when you choose Greenmedia to manage and run your adwords campaign, you know that you’re in safe hands – officially! We’ve used Google Adwords to help our clients with a whole range of search engine marketing (SEM) targets over the years, from short notice promotions with quick-fire one-day campaigns, to larger, long-term advertising that runs for fifty weeks of the year. This experience means that we have seen all the trends, tricks and traits of the Google Adwords system, giving us the ability use it to its maximum potential and get the best results for our clients, whatever their goals. Adwords is a powerful tool that has the advantage of immediate impact, something that every online marketer can benefit from.