Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

The Google AdWords Traffic Estimator has been around for awhile, but no one I talk to seems to know about it.  I use the Google Traffic Estimator all the time and I want to share it with you so you can see its value too.  It is especially valuable for local businesses running Google AdWords campaigns in smaller geographic regions.

We all know about Google’s Keyword Tool which provides traffic information for your terms but a limitation on the Keyword Tool data is that it is either global or country based (the column labeled “local” now, means U.S. or whatever country was selected at the top of the page). 

This traffic data is good if you are running a national campaign – but not as useful for geographically targeted campaigns.  It can be used to determine relative traffic between keywords (i.e., what gets more traffic? Car dealer or Auto dealer?), but it falls short if you are trying to figure out what to expect when you when you are running campaigns in just Dallas or Los Angeles.

So, what I use for local traffic data is the Google Traffic Estimator.  You enter your keywords (however many you want) and a specific region – anywhere from a country, to a state, to a city or even a zip code with a radius.  If you like, you may also enter your desired daily budget and your CPC. 

The results? The traffic you can expect in one day for each keyword in the region you selected!  Now, keep in mind, there are the same limitations to this data as there are with the Google Keyword Tool – I find the traffic data to be more accurate than the estimated CPC. But it’s a good starting point.

The Google AdWords Traffic Estimator provides extremely powerful data for your Google AdWords campaign efforts. You should use this data to decide where to spend the majority of your time.  Any reputable PPC management firm would always suggest the majority of your time should be spent on keywords that can drive the most targeted traffic to your site.  Don’t waste your valuable time on terms that don’t deliver direct benefit (because they just aren’t searched on very often). That doesn’t mean don’t have them in your account, just don’t spend the majority of your time on them. Focus your attention on the top terms.  Yes, you would have seen this data yourself once your campaign was running for awhile, but this gives you the boost to focus on the right terms from the very beginning. 

Lately I’ve been getting asked by Google AdWords clients for help with Google Analytics and the need seems to be increasing rapidly. More and more of my ppc advertising clients are wanting information about their site, bounce rate, exit pages, revenue and more (Google Analytics is a free tracking program offered by Google). I’m not a Google Analytics expert by any means, but I do know the basics of how to create an account, how to implement the code, how to setup goals (which is critical for tracking conversions) and how to analyze results.

Google Analytics provides great information, but one issue that can arise is when Google Analytics transaction numbers and the Google AdWords conversion tracking numbers don’t jive. I know that different packages are not going to track exactly the same, but most of the time, they are close enough that it’s not a big deal. However, a big issue arises when you have an e-commerce site and a decent percentage of people don’t order on their first visit, but come back and order at a later date.

Here’s the problem: Google AdWords tracks “first touch” – if someone searches on a term, clicks on your ad and comes to your site, does not order at that moment, but comes back a week later, AdWords will log the conversion back that first date and attribute the sale to AdWords. Analytics on the other hand tracks “last touch.” In our same scenario, if someone were to search, click an ad, visit the site and leave, then come back a week later, Analytics would attribute that search to organic or other, unless they did a search and clicked on an ad again. Not a big deal if a majority of visitors order on the first visit, but if you have a large amount of people who order at a later date, this can be present a huge problem.

I have two clients who have this issue. For one of them, 40% of visitors don’t order on their first visit, and the other is 50%. And you guessed it, there’s a 40% and 50% difference in AdWords conversions and Analytics transactions. They can’t get a true picture of their PPC ROI with Google Analytics because they only see the revenue for anyone who ordered the first time they visited the site.

The big question is why is that? You would think that, both being Google products, they would track the same way, or at least have an option to track that way, but they don’t. Frustrating for both me and my clients!

But, I’ll explain how to get around this dilemma in my next Blog.

More about Nikki

Google’s updated search query report provides even more insight into Google AdWords PPC advertising campaigns. Here at JumpFly, we have been asking for this for a LONG time and are excited it is finally here!

In May, Google announced an enhancement to their search query report.

The search query report is a great PPC management tool that we use to fine tune an account.  It allows us to see, for phrase and broad match search terms, what the actual term was that the visitor typed in.  It shows only those terms that resulted in a click-through so you can focus your efforts on your cost areas.

Since inception, this report had a flaw.  For all the low volume terms, Google would lump them into “Other Unique Queries”.  Sometimes the majority of the traffic seemed to fall into this field which could be very frustrating.

Now, Google removed this field all together and we can see all terms that were actually searched for going forward.

Here is how I use the Search Query Report.  You can do this on a weekly or monthly basis. I choose weekly to be sure to catch all the terms possible.

Keep in mind that this information is also now available in the new interface.  However, I am finding that for large campaigns with many ad groups, I can still save some time with using the report itself.  The actionable report within the interface is good for quick spot checks and focusing on the highest spending ad groups, though.

1. Generate a Search Query Report – in fact, create a report that is generated automatically on a weekly basis so it is already there when you are ready to work on it.
2. Download the report into a CSV file and Open it in excel
3. Sort largest to smallest on the cost column (this keeps you focused on the keywords of most importance if you are short on time).  Don’t feel compelled to go through every single one.  Stick to the top 20 every week.
4. Create a list of negative keywords to add and a list of new keywords to add.
5. Import the list into Adwords Editor and Post.

Quick.  easy. and it really tunes up the account and can save big $ for your business.

For more information on the enhancement, See Google’s Search Query Enhancement Announcement.

More about Kristie