How to optimize pages on www.example.com serving desktop users with corresponding pages served on m.example.com for mobile users.

 Separate URLs
In this configuration, each desktop URL has an equivalent different URL serving mobile-optimized content.

A common setup would be pages on www.example.com serving desktop users with corresponding pages served on m.example.com for mobile users.

Separate mobile URLs serve different code to desktop and mobile devices (and perhaps even tablets), and on different URLs.

TL;DR

•     Signal the relationship between two URLs by <link> tag with rel="canonical" and rel="alternate" elements.
•     Detect user-agent strings and redirect them correctly.

Annotations for desktop and mobile URLs

To help our algorithms understand separate mobile URLs, we recommend using the following annotations:

• On the desktop page, add a special link rel=”alternate” tag pointing to the corresponding mobile URL. This helps Googlebot discover the location of your site’s mobile pages.
• On the mobile page, add a link rel=”canonical” tag pointing to the corresponding desktop URL.

We support two methods to have this annotation: in the HTML of the pages themselves and in sitemaps. For example, suppose that the desktop URL is http://example.com/page-1 and the corresponding mobile URL is http://m.example.com/page-1. The annotations in this example would be as follows.

Annotations in the HTML

On the desktop page (http://www.example.com/page-1), add:

<link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)"
 href="http://m.example.com/page-1">

and on the mobile page (http://m.example.com/page-1), the required annotation should be:

<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.example.com/page-1">

This rel="canonical" tag on the mobile URL pointing to the desktop page is required.

Annotations in sitemaps

We support including the rel=”alternate” annotation for the desktop pages in sitemaps like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<url>
<loc>http://www.example.com/page-1/</loc>
<xhtml:link
rel="alternate"
media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)"
href="http://m.example.com/page-1" />
</url>
</urlset>

The required rel="canonical" tag on the mobile URL should still be added to the mobile page’s HTML.

Annotation in detail

Notice the attributes of the link tag on the desktop page:

• The rel=”alternate” attribute signals that this tag specifies an alternative URL to the desktop page.
• The media attribute’s value is a CSS media query string that specifies the media features describing when Google should use the alternative URL. In this case, we’re using a media query that’s typically used to target mobile devices.
• The href attribute specifies the location of the alternative URL, namely the page on m.example.com.

This two-way (“bidirectional”) annotation helps Googlebot discover your content and helps our algorithms understand the relationship between your desktop and mobile pages and treat them accordingly. When you use different URLs to serve the same content in different formats, the annotation tells Google’s algorithms that those two URLs have equivalent content and should be treated as one entity instead of two entities. If the desktop and mobile version of the page are treated as separate entities, both desktop and mobile URLs can be shown in desktop search results, and their ranking may be lower than if Google understood their relationship. Furthermore, please note some of the common mistakes in this configuration:

• When using rel=”alternate” and rel=”canonical” markup, maintain a 1-to-1 ratio between the mobile page and the corresponding desktop page. In particular, avoid annotating many desktop pages referring to a single mobile page (or vice versa).
• Double-check your redirects – make sure that desktop pages don’t inadvertently redirect to a single, unrelated mobile page.

For more information about canonical tag Click here

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Google sharing on webmaster blog getting your site ready for mobile-first indexing

Google sharing on webmaster blog more advice around getting ready for the mobile-first index.

Mobile-first indexing means that we'll use the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking, to better help our – primarily mobile – users find what they're looking for. Webmasters will see significantly increased crawling by Smartphone Googlebot, and the snippets in the results, as well as the content on the Google cache pages, will be from the mobile version of the pages. Sites that make use of responsive web design and correctly implement dynamic serving (that include all of the desktop content and markup) generally don't have to do anything. Here are some extra tips that help ensure a site is ready for mobile-first indexing:

• Make sure the mobile version of the site also has the important, high-quality content. This includes text, images (with alt-attributes), and videos - in the usual crawlable and indexable formats.

• Structured data is important for indexing and search features that users love: it should be both on the mobile and desktop version of the site. Ensure URLs within the structured data are updated to the mobile version on the mobile pages.

• Metadata should be present on both versions of the site. It provides hints about the content on a page for indexing and serving. For example, make sure that titles and meta descriptions are equivalent across both versions of all pages on the site.

• No changes are necessary for interlinking with separate mobile URLs (m.-dot sites). For sites using separate mobile URLs, keep the existing link rel=canonical and link rel=alternate elements between these versions.

•  Check hreflang links on separate mobile URLs. When using link rel=hreflang elements for internationalization, link between mobile and desktop URLs separately. Your mobile URLs' hreflang should point to the other language/region versions on other mobile URLs, and similarly link desktop with other desktop URLs using hreflang link elements there.

• Ensure the servers hosting the site have enough capacity to handle potentially increased crawl rate. This doesn't affect sites that use responsive web design and dynamic serving, only sites where the mobile version is on a separate host, such as m.example.com.

For more information about google webmaster tool check here.

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How to Use Google Adwords Effectively

Strategies to run Effective Google Adwords Campaign

List Adwords Optimization technique that will help you to run effectively Campaigns.

1.Quality Score
2.Keyword Research
3.Write Compelling Ads
4.Competitor Intelligence
5.Unique Selling Proposition
6.Discount & Offer
7.Conversion Tracking(Tools and Analysis – Conversions)
8.Adwords settings for Success(Search Vs Display)
9.Remarketing

Here is explaining Adwords Optimization technique that will help you to increase your long term results from Campaigns.

1. Quality Score

Quality score is based on factors which Google considers for determining where the advertisement should be placed on the site. The factors include :

• Relevance of Ad copy
• Relevance of Ad to landing pages
• CTR
• Account Performance History and others

To get high quality scores you need to have a strong organization. High quality score will help you to get the most out of Adwords and maximize your profit.

2. Keyword Research

Keywords are the terms or phrases entered by the browsers in the search query box. Choosing keywords is an important factor in any online marketing process. Adwords Keyword tool will provide you with right keywords.

Before you start bidding on a keyword you should know whether the keyword is worth your bidding. There are factors to decide this

• Select a keyword which matches closely with the content of the landing pages
• Also select negative keywords which will help to streamline your ad
• Don’t select keywords which rank too high as it will have a heavy competition
• Selecting the top keyword will also be too expensive

There are a lot of Keyword tool to help you to select the right keywords.

3. Write Compelling Ads

Ads should have very attractive words which should make the viewers click on the advertisement.

There are four important elements of text advertising:

Headline – Need to be very attractive and include your keyword in your headline

Description Line – Describe about your product or service and what are the advantages of it

Display URL – Don’t copy paste your domain name in the ad. Instead include a keyword or USP or anything that will attract your customers to the URL

4.Competitor Intelligence

 KeywordSpy tool : This tool lets you to have easy entry to your competitor’s advertising information.

5. Unique Selling Proposition

USP makes your ad stand ahead of all your competitor’s advertisements. There are three major reasons to create a USP

• It will drive more traffic to your site
• Reduces the unwanted clicks
• It will increase your sales conversion rate
• Price becomes a secondary factor for the visitors when there is a powerful USP. You can also increase the prices without having to bother about your competitor’s product pricing.

How to create such USP ? Here are few tips:

• Concentrate on your strengths
• Get feedback from your customers. Ask them why they do business with you
• Do a research about your competitor’s strategy
• Find out for a gap between your competitor’s ads and say something unique and attractive to the customers

6. Conversion Tracking

Tools and Analysis – Conversions You need to track your keywords and ads to know how effectively it is working and to boost up your sales. Conversion tracking helps you to know the amount of sales made through your Adwords campaign.



7. Adwords settings

List of important settings:

• Search Ad
• Display Ad
• Device setting
• Keyword Match Types
• Negative Keywords
• Search term
• Remarketing
• Dynamic search ad

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Our Most Popular Posts of 2017

This will be my last post of 2017, and I want to thank everyone who as spent some of his or her valuable time reading this blog. My goal for this blog has always been to provide content that readers will find to be informative, thought-provoking, and useful, and I've been immensely gratified by the attention and engagement this blog has received.

For the past few years, I've used my last post of the year to share which posts have been most widely read. In the past, I've ranked posts based on cumulative total reads, regardless of when a post was published. Therefore, older posts had a built-in advantage, and they often appeared in the "most popular" list.

This year, I'm considering only posts that were published in 2017. So, in case you missed any of them, here are our five most popular posts for 2017:

1. Why It's Time to Reset Expectations for Content Marketing
2. What You Need to Know About Target Accounts for ABM Success
3. Research Confirms that Customer Experience Drives Financial Performance
4. The Economics of ABM Account Selection
5. The Promise and Peril of Personalization at Scale

Happy New Year, everyone!

Image courtesy of the Republic of Korea via Flickr CC.

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Make a Killer PPC Marketing Plan in 10 Steps

How advertisers who succeed with PPC make their PPC Marketing Plan-

1. Know your PPC Campaign Goals

“You log in to your WordStream or AdWords account, overwhelmed by all the functionality and unaware of where to start. No plan = no direction = no success. But no goals = no workflow.” – WordStream

Goals are the inevitable part of creating the PPC plans. It is same as if you hop on the treadmill- you would have a specific goal in your mind- it may be to lose weight, or increase your stamina, or scale down the chance of any cardiac arrest. Same philosophy applies on PPC plans- You need goals to design workflow of a PPC marketing plan.

We all know that we need more businesses and PPC will help in it, but most of the time, we do not know the key metrics that we should focus upon to ensure returns in PPC- So, the question is what PPC goals are. Answering these questions will help you find your PPC goals-

What are you trying to accomplish with your Google AdWords spend?

What metrics are significant for ensuring returns for your business?

What outcome do you expect from your PPC campaign?

For a successful PPC marketing plan, you not only think of your business goals in general, but also think of the specific goals related to your PPC campaigns and spending-plan. Some of the common examples of PPC common goals are

PPC Goal- Increase Traffic to My Website

Now the befitting PPC marketing plan for this goal should be focusing on CTR.

PPC Goal- Increase Sales or Lead

For this PPC goal, your PPC plan should focus upon conversions.

PPC Goal: Raise Brand Awareness

This PPC goal asks for PPC Plans that utilize the Display Network & Remarketing

2. PPC marketing platforms best fit for your PPC goals

Two of the main PPC platforms are-

Google AdWords

AdWords is one of the most popular, preferred and largest pay-per-click platforms that run on Google, Display Network sites and other Search Partner sites. Google AdWords was launched in October 2000 and since then it is predominantly used by all kinds of businesses.

Bing Ads

Just like AdWords, Bing Ads is another pay-per-click platform that displays ads on the Yahoo and Bing networks. It is Keyword based advertising and it utilizes different Search Partners.

Some other PPC Online Ads that are gaining lots of popularity these days are-

Facebook

AdRoll

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

com/AdSonar

AdBlade

3. Key elements of a PPC Account Structure

Different elements of PPC Account Structure are-

Campaigns and Ad Groups

Execution of a PPC marketing plan begins by choosing keyword themes and then creating individual PPC campaigns according to that. For instance, if you wish to use PPC for a Coffee Table Business House, the campaign theme can be “Coffee Tables”, and in the themed categories, you may use following Ad groups- Coffee Table, Wooden Coffee Tables, Round Coffee Tables, Long Coffee Tables, etc.

Each of the ad groups may also incorporate different themed keyword variations, like, for Wooden Coffee Tables, Ad group may include Wooden Coffee Tables, Coffee Tables Wooden, Wooden Coffee Tables on Sale, etc.

Keywords

Keywords in a PPC Ads also ask for a match type that defines different queries for which your PPC ads will show. PPC Account structure incorporates seven keyword match types

Exact

Exact (Close Variant)

Phrase

Phrase (Close Variant)

Broad

Modified Broad

Broad (Session-Based)

The different match types with examples

Negative Keywords

To eradicate unqualified traffic, negative keywords are used in PPC. For instance, if you add ‘Free’ as a negative keyword, search results for the queries ‘Free Coffee Tables’ will not include your Ad. If you are selling High End Products, terms like “Cheap” or “Bargain” can be a useful negative keyword.

Audiences

Audiences are actually the groups of users segmented in different ways and they are created as per specific page views, pages per visit and time spent on site. Mostly audiences are used in remarketing. 

4. Types of Ad Copy available for a PPC Campaign

Different types of PPC Ad Copy are-

Text Ads

If you have created the Ad Groups, and right keywords are chosen, you are ready to write your ads. Things that your PPC Ad should include are targeted keyword theme, CTA and any value ads.

Ad structure and character limits of AdWords text ad are-

Headline– Up to 25 characters (including spaces)

Display URL– Up to 35 characters (including spaces)

Description Line 1– Up to 35 characters (including spaces)

Description Line 2– Up to 35 characters (including spaces)

Bing Ads text ad structure is also similar to AdWords ad but the description lines 1 and 2 can go up to 71 characters.

Text Ads should not have excessive capitalization or punctuation, plus, the root display URL has to match the root destination URL. For instance, a display URL of www.ABC.com should lead to a page on the www.ABC.com domain.

Product Listing Ads (PLAs)

These Ads are square units preferably used in E-commerce PPC campaigns, which include product titles, prices and images. These Ads use Google product feeds and they should be connected to a Google Merchant Center account. Bing Ads also include similar feature known as Product Ads, and for this, you need to use Bing Merchant Center account.

Image Ads

For Display Network PPC campaigns, you need to utilize image ads. Image Ads are shown within and around the content of thousands of sites across the Display Network.

19 total sizes for image ads are- 200 x 200, 240 x 400, 250 x 250, 250 x 360, 300 x 250, 336 x 280, 580 x 400, 120 x 600, 160 x 600, 300 x 600, 300 x 1050, 468 x 60, 728 x 90, 930 x 180, 970 x 90, 970 x 250, 980 x 120, 320 x 50, 320 x 100.

5. Key elements of PPC Ad Setting

Different Elements of PPC Ad Setting are-

Campaign Types

1.Search Network

2.Display Network

3.Search Network with Display Select

4.Shopping: Product Listing Ads 

Brand

Category

Condition

Item ID

Product Type

Custom Attributes

Device Targeting

Device targeting for a PPC campaign can be done on different devices such as-

• Desktops/Laptops
• Tablets
• Mobile Devices

Search engines consider Desktops, tablets and laptops similar and that is why same bid is applied to such platforms. While on the other hand, Mobile devices can use a bid modifier.

Location Targeting

Highly effective PPC Marketing Plan uses location targeting up to the zip code level. You can easily show your Ad in desired location by using location targeting in PPC campaigns.

You can also setup bid modifier as per the locations.

Ad Scheduling

You can run your Ad at desired times. Ad Scheduling varies as per businesses, as for an E-Commerce campaign, Ads should be run 24/7, while for a brick and mortar store, Ads should be shown in business hours. Ad Scheduling lets you show your Ads as per your preference. You can also set Bid Modifier in Ad Scheduling for both days and hours.

Budget

You can choose daily budget for your each individual campaign. You should create budgets as per your account goals.

Delivery Method

Two delivery methods for your PPC that you can consider while making PPC marketing plan are-

Standard

This one is good for you if you have budget restrictions, as in this your Ad will be shown as per your preference

Accelerated

This one is good for you if you do now have any budget restrictions and want to ensure your Ads to be shown for all the queries

Ad Delivery

Ad Delivery by Google offers you four options-

• Optimize for clicks
• Optimize for conversions
• Rotate evenly
• Rotate indefinitely

6. Different Ad Extensions in PPC

Ad extensions are used as additional details that let your audiences see supplementary information about your business that ultimately optimizes your PPC ads. Ad extensions help you improve the CTR of Ad headline. Some of the notable Ad Extensions in PPC are-

Sitelink Extensions

Such extensions help searchers navigate deeper into your website. Sitelink Extensions are manual additions that have to be relevant to the search term. Sitelink that has descriptions is called enhanced Sitelinks.

Location Extensions

Location extensions are used to show the business address. In best PPC plans, Google My Business account should be setup and connected to AdWords, and in this location-extension is preferably used.

Call Extensions

This extension let PPC ads have the ability to click-to-call, which allows mobile searchers have an easy way to call the business.

App Extensions

This extension is considered best for businesses thinking to optimize app downloads and engagements.

Consumer & Seller Ratings Annotations

This will help you promote business ratings as per the customer surveys. You can find this extension only in Google and you need to have at least 30 unique reviews in order to show in Google results.

Social Extensions Annotations

This one shows number of followers your business has on Google Plus. 

7. Measuring the Results in PPC

Different factors related to measuring results of your PPC campaign are-

Conversion Tracking

To gauge your account performance, it is must for you to create conversion goals. PPC platforms provide code snippets that you can place on key pages such as ‘Order Confirmation or Thank You’ pages. This will help you understand whether ad clicks are turning into conversions or not.

Different types of AdWords conversion tracking are-

Webpage

Calls from ads using call extensions

Clicks on a number on your mobile website

Mobile or tablet app

Calls to a Google forwarding number on your website

Imported goals (from third party platforms like Salesforce)

Google Analytics

To know your Post Click Behavior, linking your AdWords accounts to Google Analytics is one of the important parts of successful PPC marketing plan. Having this in your PPC planning sheet will help you get complete picture of the conversion funnel. For linking your accounts, you need to enter AdWords ID number in the “Admin” section of Google Analytics.

You can confirm the connection by navigating to “Account Settings” and then to “Linked accounts.” By using “View details” section, you can see the link.

You can also link the account to Webmaster Tools that will let you see how ads and the organic listings work.

Google Merchant Center

You need to connect Google Merchant Centre to AdWords run Google Shopping campaigns or PLAs. You should enter AdWords ID into the “Settings” section of the Google Merchant Center. In ‘Tools’ section of AdWords, you can see the Merchant Centre information.

8. Know the PPC Tools best fit for your PPC Marketing Plan

Here is the list of some of the best tools that help you run powerful PPC campaign-

Change History

• Change history is Google AdWords and Bing Ads PPC tool that catalogs past updates, which include bid changes, Sitelink additions, etc.
• Change History data comprises the log in email or the alias responsible for the modification along with the time and date of the change.

Keyword Planner

• The Keyword Planner is quite useful in discovering and planning PPC campaigns, keywords, and ad groups.
• Keyword planner also helps in performance data approximations, plus, you can use it for estimating starting bids and budgets for your PPC accounts.

Display Planner

• It designs Display Network campaigns.
• Display planner lists websites, topics, keywords, and interests as per your target audiences.

Ad Preview and Diagnostics

• This lets you know why your ad might not be displaying for any particular search term.
• It can also be used in the AdWords Interface and for this, you only need to enter the location and language, once you do this, the tool will populate results by running in backgrounds.

Labels

• Labels can be understood as Post-It notes and built-in documentation for PPC campaigns, keywords, Ads and ad groups.
• You can use it for ad creation dates, knowing top performing keywords, and so forth.
• If you have accounts with multiple account managers, Labels would be highly useful for you.

Automated Rules

• Automated rules are set via number of performance criteria and they can run on a schedule.
• These rules are used to alleviate the task of account management.

9. Shared Library in PPC AdWords

Shared library lets advertisers manage different changes across different PPC campaigns. Different elements of PPC shared library are-

You can use Ads throughout several PPC campaigns.

Audiences 

You can add audiences to Display along with Remarketing, and Remarketing Lists for Search Ads campaigns.

Bid Strategies

Bid strategies ensure automated bidding in which control is handed to the search engines. Different kinds of bid strategies are-

• Enhanced CPC
• Target Search Page Location
• Target CPA
• Maximize Clicks
• Target Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Budgets

The shared budget feature helps you shift fund between campaigns and saves the time spent on monitoring individual campaign budgets.

Campaign Negative Keywords 

It lets you save time by adding negative keywords to multiple campaigns.

Campaign Placement Exclusions 

Adding a list of campaign placement exclusions lets you share the list of certain websites that convert poorly across multiple Display campaigns.

10. Reporting in PPC 

Different elements of reporting you need to pay heed upon while making PPC marketing plan are-

Search Query Reports (SQRs)

SQRs can be used to find irrelevant search queries that should be added as negative keywords. It is also used to find new ideas for keyword expansion.

Placement Reports

This report shows the websites within the Display network where PPC ad was shown.

Auction Insights Report

This is used to find out what companies are competing against your business in the search auctions.

Segmentation Options

This lets you segment your day by device, time or even Google +1 annotations.

Filters are helpful when you need to review large campaigns by breaking them down into more digestible pieces for analysis.

Columns 

Columns are used to show pre-determined metrics. Data related to assisted conversations, conversion data calculations, competitive impression share metrics, etc. can be placed in columns.

Dimensions 

The dimensions tab makes it easy for advertisers to see segments of data.

I hope this guide helps you enjoy a great start in making the rewarding PPC marketing plan.

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How to Plan a Successful PPC Campaign

Important factors that will help increase the efficiency of your AdWords campaigns in 2018

Ad Copy: Provide a Variety of Ads to Choose From

These days you are required to give Google freedom of choice when it comes to ad creatives. When you provide several ad variations for the same keyword set (at least three variations are recommended now), it helps ensure the best user experience.

This is easier said than done; just think of the work required to write three ads for each of your 100 ad groups. However, we have some tips to make things easier.

Reimagine Your Current Ads

The easiest way to start, look at your existing ads and modify them. When it comes to ad copy, there is always something to improve and/or a different variable to test.

We recommend experimenting with unique selling propositions (USP). For example, if you were promoting an SEO tool, your USPs could be a free trial, the number of keywords in the database, SEO awards received, etc. Once you know what your USPs will be, it is time to figure out which one works best for your online audience.

Grab New Ideas From Competitors

The techniques listed above help expand your ad set, but only to a certain extent. Sooner or later, everyone runs out of inspiration. So the next step, borrow ideas from your competitors. Let’s take a look at how you can easily find and analyze hundreds of ads from your niche, all in a couple of clicks.

Use the new SEMrush Ads Builder tool for this. It helps you find ideas:

By keyword (Example: you sell bikes and want to see some ad examples of other bike shops).

By domain (Example: you know a competitor’s domain that sells bikes and want to explore their ads). 

If there is an ad you liked and you want to save it as a template, hit the ‘Use as template’ icon and fill in the "New Ad" pop-up box:

Here you can tweak ad copy making sure you stay within the character limits (1), get additional ideas for ads (2), get an instant ad preview (3) and, finally, assign the newly created ad to a determined campaign and ad group (4).

It is that simple. Lather, rinse and repeat until you are satisfied with the number of ad creatives you have collected.

Note: Check and make sure you have enabled “Ad rotation” in your AdWords account settings. Otherwise, all your efforts could end up being a waste of time.

Ad Formats: Use Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are a type of format that provides extra information about your product or service. Your ad gets “extended” and becomes more visible on the search results page. Sometimes you can hit the jackpot and occupy almost all the space above the fold:

Ad extensions positively influence click rate, and they help users get necessary information faster. Also, based on our experience, they contribute to raising quality score and, hence, to reducing CPC.

The extension types that benefit your ad most are:

• Sitelinks (1)

• Callouts (2)

• Structured Snippets (3)

Note: Up to three ad extensions can be displayed at once. If you add more, it will be up to Google to decide which three to choose.

Keyword Research: Clean Up Negative Keywords

Handling negative keywords has always been a challenge, but as of late, it is being watched with even more caution. There are two problems when it comes to negative keywords:

• You are using them where you shouldn't be (and losing traffic).
• You aren't using them where you should be (and losing money).

The first case is quite simple yet happens often. So for example, you have not sold tandem bikes for years (and had the word “tandem” in negative list), then you started to sell them again. But your PPC specialist forgot to remove the word from negatives, and now you are left wondering why you are not getting any traffic for this keyword. To avoid this situation, check your negative keyword lists regularly and bring the relevant keywords back to life.

The second problem is much more challenging, but is important to deal with because it can be a way to noticeably reduce your CPC.

Let’s say you sell downhill bikes, tandem bikes, BMX bikes and so on, and use keywords with broad or modified broad match in your campaigns. This is what your keywords and ads may look like:

When a user types in "downhill mountain bike", Google will look for relevant ads to display and find only two of your ads matching the query.

This can cause your ads to start competing against each other, making the competition level and the CPC grow.

The solution will be to add the words causing this unnecessary competition to the negative keyword list:

However, adding keywords manually will only work for relatively small keyword lists. Imagine you have dozens of product categories, there can be hundreds of intersections.

Inside our PPC Keyword tool, we have a handy feature that allows you to bring to light the conflicting keywords and add them to the negative list in one click.

Device Targeting: Integrate Mobile to Your Campaigns

According to Google’s studies, 69% of smartphone owners turn to mobile search first in the moment of need, 76% of those searching for something nearby visit a related business within a day and, finally, 28% of these searches result in a purchase.

Given these impressive stats, as of 2017, mobile campaigns are considered an important factor for evaluating the overall quality of advertisers’ AdWords accounts. For PPC specialists this means new opportunities, but also new challenges. Mobile users are different, and should not be treated as the desktop users. 


Apart from the evident need to have a fast and mobile-friendly website in 2017, there are two important things to do, if you want to win the mobile ad race:

1. Conduct Mobile-Specific Keyword Research

Many search terms are not equally popular on desktop and mobile. Their CPC may differ as well.

So, if you want your mobile campaigns to bring you meaningful results, mobile-specific keyword research is essential. A great deal of keyword research (finding related keywords and long-tail keywords, analyzing CPC and seasonal trends, etc.) can be done in SEMrush both for desktop and mobile.

And, with the mobile-first index looming on the horizon, we have added mobile analytics data for 17 countries (including the UK, Canada, Australia and non-English speaking countries) to our tools, so if you target customers outside the US, this update is for you. 

2. Adapt Your Ad Copy to Micro-Moments

The term “Wine bar” searched from desktop can mean someone is making plans for next Friday night. But, “Wine bar” searched from mobile (especially on a Friday night) is different; a person is much more likely to be ready for a party and searching for a place to go to immediately.


These “intent-rich” searches from mobile devices are called “micro-moments” and, according to Google, can be divided into four categories:

In micro-moments, time, screen space, and (often) speed of the Internet are limited. People want you to fulfill their needs without delay; this is what you need to express in your ad copy. Be very specific and deliver value explicitly when it comes to your mobile audience. Example:

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Bing Ads now supports call conversion imports

Call-tracking system Integrations allow advertisers to feature and optimize campaigns based on phone performance

Marketers running Bing Ads campaigns can now import call conversion data so they can tie calls back to campaign efforts for attribution.

Call-tracking systems (CTS) can now interoperate directly with Bing Ads and import call conversion data through Offline Conversion Import tool and related set of APIs. One of Bing’s first partners to support the new call conversion capability is CallTrackingMetrics.

Bing Ads first began supporting offline conversion imports in September of this year, enabling advertisers to attribute offline conversion events captured in their CRM systems.

The platform is looking forward to other call-tracking providers using our offline conversions capability to connect call conversion data back to Bing Ads. This enables better reporting insights, campaign optimizations and platform enhancements based on the wider impact of your search campaigns.

CallTrackingMetrics is one of the first call-tracking services to take part in the program. The machine can automatically send conversion and session information into Bing advertising campaigns.

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Highlight your top deals with promotion extensions

Promotion extensions can add more value to your Search Network text ads by highlighting your sales and promotions for people that are searching for the best deals your business has to offer. This article explains the benefits of promotion extensions and how they show with your search ads.

Use promotion extensions to attract customers that are searching for special offers and sales relevant to your business. Holidays or special events such as Back-to-school sales and Black Friday are great times to use promotion extensions.

Use promotion extensions to include monetary or percent discounts for your products or services. You can also include any requirements needed for your promotion such as coupon or discount codes for a specified time period or a spending limit.
You can add promotion extensions at the account, campaign, or ad group level. If you create promotion extensions at different levels (account, campaign, or ad group), the most specific will be used.

Promotion extensions are free to add—you’re only charged for clicks from people viewing your ad. The cost of a click on a promotion extension equals the cost of a click on the headline in the same ad. In other words, you'll be charged the same amount no matter which link in the same ad someone clicks. Promotion extensions offer more opportunities for your customers to click on and within your ad, but you won’t be charged for more than two clicks per ad impression. However, if someone quickly clicks on more than one link while viewing an ad, this gets treated as a second click and you won't get charged.

Test drive new ideas with ad variations

Sometimes small changes to your ad text—like adding a touch of holiday spirit or using a different call to action—can dramatically affect performance. That’s why today, we’re rolling out ad variations in the new AdWords experience: a fast and easy way to test changes across your text ads at scale.

For example, you may want to see how “Happy Holidays” performs when used in your text ads. With ad variations, you can test this change across thousands of ads in just a few clicks. In fact, some advertisers have set up variations for more than 1 million ads in less than a minute.

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How to Use the Facebook’s New Offline Activity Custom Audience Feature for Retargeting

To beat the competition Facebook always tries to innovate their advertising features.
Facebook again surprised advertisers by introducing this amazing feature called ‘Offline Activity’ custom audience... Read more

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Google adds price tracking features to flight search, hotel search and Google Trips

Google may also display a new tip above search results when room rates are higher than usual, or if the area is busier than usual due to a holiday, a music festival, or even a business conference, Google added. You can also subscribe to email price alerts by opting into Hotel Price Tracking on your phone. Read more

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