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Increasing
Your Pay Per Click Profits Through Testing
By: Cindy
McMahen 11.13.02
As
a Internet marketing expert, Andrew Goodman is one of the
best, and his special report ,"21
Ways to Maximize Your ROI from Google AdWords Select",
has sold thousands of copies. In case you haven't yet purchased
it, Goodman's invaluable report emphasizes how pay per click
(PPC) advertisers would see better returns by mining the huge
volumes of unsold keyword inventory available across the pay
per click search engines.
It's
hard to argue the excellent suggestions Goodman offers on
doing one's keyword homework. And while he also spends some
time in the report on the virtues of good copywriting, I don't
think he emphasizes enough the value of testing your copy
for better returns. I'm talking about the benefits of scientifically
testing the titles and the descriptions used in your pay per
click buys.
There
are many articles and professional copywriters that can help
you craft different variations of ad copy. However, there's
really only one way to know for sure which one ads will yield
you GREAT results. Only your target market and testing can
tell you which is most effective. That's because creating
the most effective ad copy is really a process - it involves
systematic, scientific testing, revising and eliminating results
until the results are conclusive. Testing your copy lets your
target market TELL YOU exactly which ads will make you the
most money.
If
you've been around advertising for some years you'll recognize
that the idea of scientifically testing ad copy isn't new.
Claude C. Hopkins, author of "Scientific Testing" and "My
Life in Advertising" are considered to be two of the best
ever written on advertising. Hopkins was preaching the virtues
of scientific testing two decades ago. As a business pioneer,
he is also credited with inventing (or substantially forming)
the advertising models which are considered the norm today:
the coupon, the "free gift" with a purchase, direct mail,
and much more. Like it or not, much of what we see around
us today was initiated by Hopkins.
One
firm, Lasater e-Properties, which conducts testing and optimization
of web-based advertising, has taken to applying Hopkins' scientific
testing principles and methodology to modern day pay per click
advertising. They outline the outline the basis for split-run
testing (also called A:B testing) as the best and most scientifically
valid testing methods for ads. For a modest fee, Lasater will
conduct a test cycle using a split-run test of various titles
and descriptions for ad campaigns. Amazingly, they offer that
even 200 clickthroughs can often yield statistically valid
results when they are tracked and evaluated.
Here's
does split-run testing work?
Depending
on your objectives, the test design may be one of these four
combinations of titles and descriptions:
(Where
A - D are titles; and 1 - 4 are description copy.)
1:4 - 1 title: 4 descriptions (A1:A2:A3:A4)
2:2 - 2 titles: 2 descriptions (A1:A2:B1:B2)
4:1 - 4 titles: 1 description (A1:B1:C1:D1)
4:4 - 4 titles: 4 descriptions (A1:B2:C3:D4)
Lasater's
service includes recording the clickthrough ads results into
a daily spreadsheet. This may be supplemented with analysis
of the visitor's activities after they hit your pages (through
tracking urls). The ultimate goal being that test results
will reveal which titles and descriptions will pull, ultimately
convert, and make you more money.
Among
the pay per click engines we know of, none will do split-run
testing for you. However, the good news is that Google's AdWords
Program actually has split-run testing capability built into
it. This often overlooked feature of Google has the ability
for you to test your own ad copy by automatically rotating
the copy as it's displayed across your specific keyword buy.
Thousands of people can look at your ad copy each time the
keyword is typed into Google search , Google will then track
the impressions and clickthroughs on the fly, and even tabulate
the results for you as to their effectiveness.
Lasater isn't alone in discovering this power in Google. MarketingExperiments.com
is a firm which conducts research focused on discovering what
works in online marketing. Their experiments range from three
to eighteen months, and budgets from $4500 to $50,000. They
also admitted to underestimating the power of Google's new
features, which allow for rapid testing feedback. They point
out how the savvy marketer at Google, who delivers more clickthroughs
(and is deemed more relevant) is additionally rewarded with
higher rankings -- even when their bid is lower than competitor's.
Thus, even small changes in ad copy and its clickthroughs
can have a dramatic effect on results there.
In conclusion, while making changes to and testing your ad
copy may seem like extra work, you might consider these added
benefits:
-
You can lower your bid (and position) and maintain or even
improve your number of clickthroughs.
-
You can avoid the costly bid wars and void the unscrupulous
acts of competitors who would drain your account.
-
You'll have copy that you might possibly use in other PPC
engines, incorporate into web pages, banner and classified
ads, or into direct mail letters.
-
You can take advantage of the large gaps that often exist
between the first and lower bid positions.
-
You will start seeing a better return (that's profits) from
your pay per click and marketing efforts. Targeted and tested
words do have tremendous power!
The
results in testing your titles and descriptions in your ad
copy, and its effect to your bottom line can be dramatic.
For example, if the #1 listing at Overture or Google costs
40% more than the #3 listing, and it could be made to perform
equally as good as the #1 ad, you would have saved 40%! From
testing titles and descriptions, you might even go so far
as to decide to test variations of landing pages that your
visitors click through to. Not to worry though -- we'll save
that discussion on how to improve your landing pages for another
day! Until then, good clicking to all of you!
More
info about the author: Cindy
McMahen
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