Jamdo Marketing Blog

Getting people to click on your adwords ads can be pretty tough in some of the more competitive markets.

With click through rate (CTR) playing a roll in how Google ranks your ad, it is important to know some strategies to get those clicks.

Of course, you need to remember that the most important metric is profit, so writing ads that get high CTR a the expense of profit is pretty silly. Anyone can get a high CTR on their ads by making misleading and attractive claims, but such ads usually don’t convert to leads or sales. Even so, you can still get a reasonable CTR in most niches by writing ads that accurately describe your product or service (ie. don’t be misleading) and also by implementing some of the following tips.

1) Target Target Target - The more relevant your ad is to the keyword you are bidding on, the higher your CTR will be when people search for that keyword. If you are bidding on the keyword “green tables” then make sure your ad is targetted specifically to people looking for green tables. Having a generic ad will usually lower your CTR.

2) Captilise The First Letter Of Every Word - This really helps people clearly see the words in your ad. Look at the following examples.

get cheap widgets online
Get Cheap Widgets Online

The second example is just that little bit easier to read so it’s worth taking the time to capitalise every word in your ad.

3) Use your keywords in the ad copy - Very much related to the first point, but if someone is searching for “green tables” and your ad has the words “green tables” in it once or twice, then you are far more likely to get the click when you are competing with other ads that only mention “tables”. It’s even better if you can get the keyword into your title as well as the copy.

4) Social Proof - People like knowing that others use products that they are interested in. If some well known individual or group uses a product that you are promoting, then don’t be afraid to mention it. All things being equal, who would you rather hire - a “personal trainer” or a “personal trainer of the Miami Dolphins”? What would you rather buy - a “wrist watch” or a “wrist watch as worn by Pierce Brosnan”?

5) Left Right Left - Here’s a little visual trick. When someone types in a keyword into Google and that keyword is in your ad, it will be shown in bold. That is an opportunity for you to use a strong visual element to draw the human eye to your ad. By using the keyword at the beginning of the first line, the end of the second line and the beginning of the third line, you create an arrow that draws the eye to your ad. Here’s an example, if someone were to type “Omega Seamaster” into Google. Your ad would look like this:

Omega Seamaster Online
Cheapest Online Omega Seamaster.
Omega Seamaster as Worn by Pierce Brosnan
www.YourSite.com

Notice how the bolded words form an arrow that points to the right? Like >>. That can help draw the eyes from the left of the page to the right where your ad is. Hopefully it helps you get a slightly better CTR too.

6) Captilalise keywords in your display URL - It’s difficult to read keyword rich URLs. But if you can allow your audience to easily see the words in your URL, you are at an advantage. So rather than having a display URL that is www.mygreatsite.com, change it to www.MyGreatSite.com so it’s easier to read.

7) Put www in the display URL - People just seem to trust it more. Having a www before your display URL draws more clicks. www.MyGreatSite.com beats MyGreatSite.com

I don’t really know why. It just does. I suppose more people associate www with the web and so are more trusting of sites that begin with it. But really, I am just speculating on a reason.

Put your keyword after the display URL - If you are writing seperate ads for targetted groups of keywords, then I have found that putting the keywords in the display URL helps CTR. For example if the keyword you are targetting is “gree tables,” then www.MyGreatSite.com/Green-Tables will get a higher CTR than www.MyGreatSite.com in most cases.

9) Copy your competitor’s ads - There are times when you want to compete in a crowded marketplace. If you are competing in an older and established market, then chances are that the big guys have already done some of the hard work for you. If when you type in your keywords, the ads that show up at the top are all basically the same, then there is probably a reason for it - those ads make the most money. Don’t be afraid to borrow what they are doing and split test it with your own ads.

A key point to remember here is that these tips are general guidelines. They won’t work in every scenario, but they are a good starting point to split test with your other ads.

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Ok, so something about the DoFollow blog movement is really starting to irritate me. Blog newbies who see any one of the hundreds of blogs that are on any one of the hundreds of “DoFollow Lists” and rush out to post a meaningless comment so as to get a free backlink.

DoFollow, of course, is that  little wordpress plugin that removes the “nofollow” tag from blog comments and passes link juice to people who comment on your blogs. It’s basically a way for the blogger to thank their community for taking the time to add some value to that community by making meaningful contributions via commenting.

Jamdo has been part of the DoFollow movement for quite a while.

But I have to admit, if I get too many more people who add a generic comment like “Yeah, that’s a great insight into [INSERT BLOG TOPIC HERE]” then I will start to think a lot more about removing the plugin and reverting to the bad old days of nofollow.

So too people who make their username (and thus anchor text for their link) some keyword they are targetting like SEO, or Database or something like that. Nothing screams spam like that.

Now, the thing is while the above behaviour is irritating, I would happily accept it from longer term readers who had already proven their worth with meaningful comments. After all, there can be some give and take in building a community.

But if you have never commented on a blog before and are unlikely to return, then making a spammy comment with a spammy username, even if done manually is STILL spam. It is rude.

So don’t do it.

Use your common sense and make a few meaningful comments that are longer than 10 words. Join the conversation of a blog. Show the blog owner that you have taken the time to actually read the whole post and not just the title. Add an insight and anecdote of your own.

Your comment and link will have a lot better chance of not being deleted.

And you will be going a lot further to building COMMUNITY - which after all is the whole strength of blogging.

Technorati Tags: spam, wordpress, dofollow

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Getting links to your blog or site is at the very heart of your SEO and traffic efforts. One of the better strategies for getting the links is linkbaiting - the art of producing content so good that other bloggers and sites are compelled to link to it without being asked.

Linkbaiting has become so popular among marketers and SEOs that some SEO companies charge up to $10,000 for a link baiting campaign and many believe that constant link baiting can be so effective that it will propel them to the top of the search engines in very competitive niches if done properly.

In short it is a good strategy to get links.

But do some people take that a bit too far?

Recently a fairly well known internet marketer made a post about an eploit he discovered in the search engines. The exploit allowed him to get his link on the pages of some very highly trafficked sites.

The post drew the attention of a few other bloggers and got him some incoming links and quite a few comments.

The problem?

He was lying.

This managed to upset a few people.

Now, this one post obviously had the desired effect - it got people talking and linking.

But was it worth it?

I don’t think so.

I think the post may have damaged the credibility of his blog and in the future he will probably have a harder time convincing people to link to him. He has damaged the credibility of his blog. (If the link bait was a one off page where long term credibility was not so important, this may not be such an issue).

Why would I, as a blogger,  link to a blog with a history of lies that makes me look like an idiot who fell for the lies in front of my readers?

In short, I wouldn’t.

I would therefore encourage people to be very careful about misleading linkbait on their blogs.

After all, the credibility of a blog is really its main value.

Technorati Tags: linkbait, seo

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Getting recognition (or possibly a backlink) from the big guns in your niche can be a pretty cool feeling. If you get a mention on their blog then it gives you some readership, a nice backlink and the recognition that you deserve!

Hell, even just knowing that the pros are taking what you say seriously can really keep you motivated to keep producing.

So how do you go about attracting their attention?

There are several things you can do.

Most people are egotistical.

I know I am.

Now, I don’t mean that in a nasty way, but people like recognition from their peers and that is driven by ego. Almost everyone who is well known certainly is egotistical to some point (it is possible to be successful without others knowing about it so if someone is well known it is usually because they have actively sought some type of fame or recognition). Hell, Darren Rowse can’t even recall all the times he has spent talking about himself! As I said, that is not an insult that is meant in a nasty way, but simply an observation that can be taken advantage of.

Blog About Them

The first way to get on the radar of an egoist is to talk about them. They like it. And here is a tip. Any well known person who is into new media (like blogging) and is a self promoter will almost certainly have a “Google Alert” set up for their own name. That way Google will email them every time someone on the internet mentions their name. If you want to get on their radar, then the first thing to do is mention them specifically.

Google alerts are also comonly used to keep up with mentions or specific sites and even particular niches. That means you should also be mentioning sites by name and URL if you can. This increases the chances that you will show up on the radar.

Join Their Community

The second thing is to do is to regularly comment on their blog. Become an integral part of their blog community. I am not talking about saying, “Hey, nice post” - I mean contributing significant quality content to their comments section on a regular basis. They will notice and be grateful. When you then email them with some great content you have on your own blog, they will know who you are and you will have a better chance of getting a positive (or any) response.

MyBlogLog is a great tool to help you with this. Create a memorable avatar for yourself to help you get visually noticed (even better if they display MyBlogLog avatars in their comments). Start commenting and commenting well.

Meet Them

The other way to get on their radar is to actually go and meet them in person. This is basically how Tim Ferris got so much play in the blogosphere when he was recently promoting his new book (obviously he also prepared what he wanted to talk to them about and the action he wanted from them too). He went to conferences and meeting where he knew the people he wanted to meet would be attending - then he bribed them with lunch. Once a few A-list bloggers started talking about him, then a lot of other people did too. And guess what! It got him a NYTimes bestseller without the aid of offline advertising or markteting. So do a bit of research and find out where your favourite bloggers are going to be. Meeting people face-to-face really opens doors.

Now, these tips should get you accross the line. Just decide whose radar you want to be on, plan how to do it with the above tips and execute your plan. It isn’t rocket science and there can be a whole world of rewards in doing it.

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Well I just got back from Ad:Tech in Sydney and one thing stuck out more than anything - especially with the online marketing companies.

Of the companies that offer Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services, not a single one really bothered to emphasise their unique selling proposition (USP) and thereby differentiate themselves from the other SEM marketing companies at the event.

I mean there was really no discernable difference between those companies which I thought was odd considering that they all knew each other would be at the conference and displaying in the exhibition hall and they would therefore be competing for customer’s attention head to head.

Displaying your USP is really the only way to differentiate yourself when you go head to head in these types of situations.

Oh, well..

There were a few companies that were worth taking note of at the event.

Facilitate Digital had a small stand, but are developing a cool little reporting system that plugged into the APIs of Google, Yahoo and Sensis so that you could analyse your search spend. They could probably afford to get a designer to make it a bit prettier, but the utility of the reporting system was very nice. If they had been able to include MSN, it would be very cool. I’ll be keeping an eye one what these guys come up with in the future.

KeywordDiscovery had a couple of cocky young reps talking up the comprehensiveness of their data. Basically they are working 35 billion keyword database (as opposed to WordTracker’s 300 million). They are a fair bit more expensive than WordTracker, and offer a minimum weekly subscription for $69.95 I’ll probably check them out in the next month or two and write up a review.

JSA Digital is a web development company, but I thought I would mention them because their brochure pack really stood out. It’s an odd size, a lime green colour and has various well laid-out pamphlets of their portfolio and really stands out from all of the other stuff I picked up in the exhibition hall.

The main Australian affiliate networks were all represented with DGM having a very impresive presence. clixGalore and Commission Monster were also there. To be honest I didn’t spend much time at these stands as I know what they all have to offer pretty well and I had a limited time to spend at the conference.

Will probably go back tomorrow and see what’s brewing and maybe catch a keynote if I get there early enough.

Always good to put faces to the names so if anyone is about, drop me a note and we can catch up!

Technorati Tags: ad-tech, keyword discovery, dgm, clixGalore, Commission Monster

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Getting more people to read what you have to write is a factor of making it is easy for them as possible. One of the strategies that you should be using to get people reading you is promoting your RSS feed as one of the options for them to do that.

What is RSS?

Most of the readers of this blog are fairly tech savvy, so will probably already know what RSS is. It stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is a way for people to subscribe to the exact content they want from your (and other) sites by pulling it from an XML file on your site into a reader (such as Bloglines). That way they don’t have to visit every individual site but just get a list of updated stories from the websites they want all in one convenient location. Yaro Starak has a nice introduction to RSS if you are in the dark.

Get Accurate Statistics

The first part of getting more people to subscribe to your blog is to make sure you can measure your results. The most popular way to do this is to join FeedBurner (it’s free) and burn your RSS feed with them. Just follow the instructions on their site. The reason you want to do this is because FeedBurner provide nice stats to do with your RSS feed - something your current stats program probably doesn’t do.

The next trick is to make sure that everyone is subscribing to that feed alone. To do this, I use a great little plugin for Wordpress. It’s called FeedBurner Feed Replacement and it is one of my must have plugins. It makes sure that every person who subscribes to your feed from your blog is actually subscribing to the Feedburner feed.

After that is installed, your Feedburner feed will be able to record accurate statistics to do with your RSS readership.

Educate Your Audience

One of the things you will want to do is to let your audience know what RSS is. That means writing a short article about RSS and how they can use it. It is also good practice to link to that article from an obvious place - many people do it from a “What’s This?” link next to their RSS button. I haven’t done this yet on Jamdo out of pure laziness.

Make it Obvious and Easy

You will notice that there is a great big ugly RSS symbol at the top of the right hand collumn here on Jamdo. That is my attempt to make it damn obvious that the site has an RSS feed and that you might like to subscribe. That graphic is a link that will take you straight to the feedburner feed. Go on.. press it… you know you want to!

Simply putting that big graphic there increased readership by 20 overnight. Not fantastic, but better than a kick in the teeth.

The Single Best Way to Increase RSS Readership

Well, as the title promised, I guess I have to reveal how to get a bunch of new subscribers to your RSS feed. Assuming that you have followed the rest of the advice on making it easy and obvious how to subscribe to your feed and that you also have accurate stats so that you will even know if anyone has subscribed to your feed then there is one other way to get a lot of people subscribing to it.

Get plugged! If you get a plug in a blog post from another high quality website with good traffic then you will see your RSS stats go up overnight. When Jamdo was mentioned on CopyBlogger a week or two back, it was worth an extra 50 or 60 subscribers. The same thing happened the once or twice Jamdo was mentioned on ProBlogger. I have had feed stats go up by several hundred overnight when one of my sites has been mentioned on a very popular blog.

Of course, you have to get noticed by other bloggers first, but I have covered that before.

Anyway, enjoy your new RSS readership!

Further Resources:

What is RSS and How do I Use it? (A good introduction by Yaro)

Feedburner Feed Replacement Plugin for Wordpress

Feedburner

How to Email Other Bloggers (Useful for asking for a plug).

Technorati Tags: rss, feedburner, xml

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