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In running Paid Search campaigns for our clients a frequent question we receive is whether a) they can bid on their competitors brand terms and b) whether they should.

Back in June 09, Google announced a major change to its trademark policy which meant that keywords (in a search query) could not be protected by a trademark.  This effectively allowed competitors to begin bidding on previously trademarked keywords without causing an investigation by Google (and subsequently being removed).

Whilst you can now bid on trademarked terms you are still not allowed to use trademarked terms in advert copy unless you have authorisation from the trademark owner.

So, yes it is not “illegal” to bid on your competitor’s terms.  Your ads will not be taken down by Google as long as your adverts are clearly marketing your own business and not impersonating the brand you are bidding on.

Now, let’s analyse the “should”…

As I always tell my clients, the choice of bidding on your competitors brand terms depends on the goals and strategy of your business.  Yes, bidding on competitors brand terms will increase your brand visibility and drive quality leads that may not have found you previously, but I would ask you to consider the possible negative effects:

1. As you would be bidding on another company’s brand term, your website would have a very low relevancy to that search query.  Google would therefore penalise you with a low quality score, meaning that your first page minimum bids would be very high.  This would not be cheap traffic, and will negatively affect the quality score of your overall campaign.

2. If you begin bidding on a competitors brand term, it would be a natural reaction for them to start bidding on your brand term.  You need to think about the potential reduction in visitors and conversions this may have where you are listed in the natural listings for your brand term.

3. If competitors begin to bid on your brand term you will need to (if you have not already) start bidding on your own brand term to ensure that you are protecting your brand, and losing as little traffic as possible to your competitors advert.  This may mean that additional budget would need to be allocated to paid search.

If your business can a) stomach the high/increased costs and b) take a hit on your natural traffic, then bidding on your competitor’s terms may be highly effective for you.

Whatever your paid search strategy, I would always recommend testing each and every element of it.  Therefore if you choose to begin bidding on your competitors brand terms I would recommend that you test it for a month and then analyse performance.

Key points to remember are:

1. Don’t be disconcerted by small traffic volumes from competitors brand terms.  The traffic volumes are not going to be incredibly high (and the bounce rates most probably quite high) because people are looking for a specific brand/company and not necessarily wanting to be distracted by another company.

2. TURN OFF KEYWORD INSERTION for any ad groups that contain competitors brand terms.  If you use keyword insertion in your ad titles, the competitor’s term will come up in your advert which can get you in trouble for impersonating the brand and/or trying to falsely lead traffic to your site on the assumption you are another company.  Google sees this as both a poor user experience and an infringement on trademark laws.  This is very important – don’t overlook this otherwise you will have their lawyers on the phone!

So, as you can see there is no definitive yes or no answer to whether bidding on competitors brand terms is a good or bad thing.  However, think about the points above and if you choose to begin bidding on competitors terms TEST the results and then analyse the data.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below or pop me a direct message on twitter

With so much jargon and terminology surrounding the ethos of social media, I felt I should take this opportunity to explain our objectives as a Digital Marketing Agency and how we want our clients to succeed in social spaces.

ROI is obviously the biggest goal for any client embarking on social media. While I am not going to skirt around this key point, this post is to illustrate the vast benefits of “good” social media and how this in the long run WILL aid your ROI, search engine rankings and overall kudos.

This naturally leads into the definition of ‘Social Capital’ or ‘Whuffie’ (to those of you that are familiar with Tara Hunts book The Whuffie Factor). Social capital is an ideal that suggests your online reputation is the new economy. It’s about being very publicly helpful, back scratching, so to speak, among the influential circles that you mix in online, as well as being the bigger person and engaging not only with your peers and followers, but your competition too.

On top of this, consider what you can give away for free that will enrich others, for example free ‘How to’ guides, videos, or an exclusive look at a new product. Make people feel special, important and that they are getting not only a stellar service from you, but a level of unique treatment. This will not only make you stand out but it encourages people to come back to your site, use you again and most importantly your fans will spread this message to their peers.

There is no price that you can put on word of mouth marketing. It is one of the most successful marketing methods so now that feedback, reviews, comments and tweets are an influential step for a potential customer to consider, the sentiment surrounding a brand needs to be positive and their attitude both transparent and helpful. Basically the more “Whuffie” you have the bigger part of the social pie you will acquire.

Wikipedia says: “Whuffie has replaced money, providing a motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person’s Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation, and Whuffie is lost and gained according to a person’s favorable or unfavorable actions. The question is, who determines which actions are favorable or unfavorable? In Down and Out, the answer is public opinion.” Down and out was written by Cory Doctorow’s.

Insight into how people use social media platforms compliments good social capital. Research will reveal the best social spaces a brand should be active in and community mapping will help to identify not only these places (when married against the demographic break down of a target audience) but also the people, fans and evangelists that already have an influential reach to your potential customers. The way that social media is evolving suggests that in the future we will no longer have to find brands, they will find us. This is why it is of paramount importance to be in these relevant social spaces where people are spending time online, LISTENING to them and engaging with them.

A recent blog post by Brian Solis reiterates the importance of this when he revealed that “social media accounts for 18% of search information”. It has been suggested that there are seven steps a customer takes before that ‘back of the net moment’ happens and a transaction goes through. So, if as a brand you are with your customers at every step of the way, not only are you on hand with helpful advice in a variety of places, you also leave little option for a competitor to divert them because your wonderful social media efforts are also dominating the search engine results page (SERP). This is called ‘Universal Search’; where a range of content types and sources of information can be found in the search results. Big brands have been loosing out on unique traffic to their sites for the last three years and it is no coincidence that this has happened at the same time that social media has experienced a massive upward trajectory.

Becoming part of the buzz literally means to have a voice and opinion on what is trending at the moment on Google, Twitter, etc. How can this translate to your brand? Is it relevant? It’s surprising the slant you can give on a topic in the news. A blog does not always have to be about a shiny new product launch; we want our clients to become a voice of authority in the industry and therefore to have an opinion on some topical news is a great addition and will aid your chances to be ranked along with everyone else looking for and talking about a certain product. Don’t be reactive; be proactive and get in there first!

Finally, listening is a huge element of good social media practice. A Facebook fan page or Twitter stream is no use if all that you are doing is pushing products. Marketing and advertising has evolved to become, dare I say, slightly more civilised so if all you do is shout, people stop listening (translate this to ‘unfollows’ on Twitter or fans leaving your Facebook group and you get the idea).

There are many tools such as Tweetdeck and Addictomatic that can make listening really easy - you can respond immediately putting the product/service that people are asking for directly into their hands. Customer service is also advantageous if carried out in the public domain. If the conversation sours you can translate this to a private place. But overall it looks great to publicly resolve issues, you will become respected and your ‘Social Capital’ will go up a level.

Either way, you can not let the conversation go on whilst you bury your head in the sand. While the concept of social media being uncontrollable is daunting for some, it is happening, with or without you. So get involved.

What are bounce rates and how do they affect me? I hear you ask…

Well, for starters, Google Analytics defines a bounce as any visit where the visitor arrives on a site and views only one page before they exit. So, in the eyes of a search engine, high bounce rates are a good indicator of a poor site experience or perhaps demonstrate the site’s lack of relevance to the search query entered by the user. Therefore, this means that bounce rates could be a significant factor affecting search engine rankings.

So, the relevance of bounce rates to you, as a site owner, is that not only will high bounce rates potentially reduce your rankings, but it also means you’re losing out on conversions.

But where can I find out how bouncy my site is? (Unfortunately not a particularly technical term but I like it)

You can take a look at bounce rates for specific pages on your site via its Google Analytics account. When investigating bounce rates on your site, keep in mind that in Internet terms, 50% is a moderate bounce rate so a page with a bounce rate below this is good news.

However, if you find that your pages have bounce rates higher than the 50% bench mark then you may wish to take some action to encourage visitors to move past the entry page and peruse the site further.

But how do I improve my bounce rates?

Hey presto! You’re in luck…below I have compiled some points you should consider in order to improve your page bounce rates and ultimately increase rankings and conversions. So sit up straight and pay attention…pens at the ready? Let’s go…

Navigation and Layout

• Is the navigation and page layout consistent with the rest of the site?

• Are there links to related pages (or products on an e-commerce site) to encourage navigation through the site?

• Is the key information positioned above the fold of the page? A gripping image as an eye catcher and a short teaser paragraph are also key for encouraging visitors to stay on the site / convert for you.

• Is there a sufficient amount of white space? Are there too many distractions putting the visitor off completing a conversion?

Copy

• Think about the layout of your copy…Is the text broken up? Do you use bullet points? Have you bolded out important words? Think about making your copy as easy to read as possible for visitors.

• Does the page include visible calls to action encouraging visitors to take a particular action? It is especially important that these appear above the fold of the page.

• Are titles within your page copy bold and clear at the top of the page so the visitor can clearly see what the page is about?

• Is there a sufficient amount of optimised content on the page to engage visitors? We usually recommend approximately 150 – 200 words per page. Remember to include relevant keywords in your copy.

• Is the font a reasonable size making your content easier to read?

General

• Are your contact details visible on every page in case the visitor has a question regarding your services or products? Can visitors tell how to contact you?

• Do you provide good quality, high resolution images?

• Does the site offer a search function in case the visitor cannot find what they are looking for on the landing page?

Points to consider for an e-commerce product page

• Can visitors tell what to click on to place an order? Is there a “Buy now” button available above the fold of the page?

• Can visitors find price information on the product?

• Is there a sufficient description of the product / service on offer?

When considering your bounce rates please be aware that although the lower the bounce rate the better, this does not account for visitors who may be finding your site and contacting you straight away. These visitors may still be enquiring however as they do not navigate through your site, they will also be classed as a bouncing visitor.

All in all, anything which improves the usability of your website will have a positive knock on effect on your bounce rates and will likely increase conversions. Implementing any of the recommendations above is a quick, simple and effective way of improving bounce rates on your site, so what are you waiting for? Jump to it!

Hands up please those of you who’ve subscribed to a highly anticipated newsletter, to then be let down by its content? Worse still, receive a newsletter with content aimed for a different target audience (FYI: I have often received promotions for women’s wear since subscribing to a very large, online fashion retailer). Both outcomes are frustrating, but both can be prevented.

We encourage all of our clients’ to introduce an E-newsletter if there’s significant benefit in doing so, but time and effort is required to launch and manage one. However, there are a host of individual benefits that a well engineered E-newsletter provides which can collectively meet your commercial objectives. A newsletter is no longer hard copy information that people divert to the nearest bin; it is personalised, compelling content all at the click of a button. So, here are my top 10 benefits of an E-newsletter:

1. It’s an extremely quick, cost-effective way to communicate with your demographic (compared to print)
2. It amplifies your business’s brand and reputation – showcasing your authority on up-to-the-minute industry news
3. It extends the loyalty and commitment of your customer base
4. It offers immediate, trackable results
5. It identifies ‘undeliverables’ which can be rectified and resent
6. It ensures a higher response rate due to the researched target audience
7. It supports your overall marketing, advertising and sales agenda
8. It is perfect for linking back to specific pages on your site or blog, encouraging quality, targeted traffic
9. It serves as a vehicle for promotional content, competitions and news feeds
10. It is similar to an online press release in the way that it can extend your media reach

So, could an E-newsletter do wonders for your business? I’m fairly sure that one of your key business goals is customer retention, so all of the benefits above essentially join forces in keeping your existing customers happy, as well as up-to-speed with company/industry developments – but what about gaining new customers?

Well, this is where I suggest you be controlled and cautious with your mailing. As I mentioned at the start, it’s annoying when a subscriber receives the wrong content, but you will severely lose trust and opportunity if you bombard prospective customers with irrelevant ’salesy’ emails. Do comprehensive market research, combined with a quality (not quantity) mailing list and you’re almost ready to go.

Give your E-newsletter value and a voice
You know the benefits and your customers and commercial goals, now you need to fill your E-newsletter with, well, news. This is of course your choice, but it’s very important that the content is insightful, educational and fun.

All about the Intro
I would certainly recommend a personalised introduction, for example: “Hi Matt…with the colder months now upon us, we want to make sure you’re wrapped up well this winter. Check out our favourite cardigans and jackets that we think you’ll love…” etc, etc. This personal approach will go a long way, and compel your customer to read on.

Pearls of wisdom
Share any useful tips, advice and ‘How to’s’, as this will enhance your service or product. By incorporating our “top tip of the month’ or ‘five ways to cook with Asparagus’ it will reinforce authority within your industry and create a distinct, consistent voice. And, if you’re producing content in-house regularly, say as bloggers, then that can also be fed into the newsletter.

Look who’s talking
You can go one step further by accommodating a ‘Meet the team’ or ‘Staff Profile’ each month so your customers can put a face to a name. I don’t know about you, but I always like to know who I’m working with, but this will also give you an advantage when mailing your newsletter to a prospective list.

So, I think you’re pretty much good to go. The layout of your E-newsletter will of course reflect your brand and website, but remember that this is an opportunity to be flexible, creative and have a little bit of fun. Every business wants a positive and strong identity that extends to their customers in a refreshing and personal way. An E-newsletter is one the most inexpensive ways to communicate with your target audience, but more importantly, the most effective. So, what you waiting for?

It is only natural that when running a Paid Search campaign you will have an inclination to check the search engine results page (SERP) to ensure that a) your adverts are actually appearing and b) where they are positioned in the listings. However, by searching in this way, did you know you can actually negatively affect the performance of your campaign?

Why? Well, every time your advert is displayed, your campaign reports an ‘impression’. And because you are unlikely to click on your own advert (that would be rather silly!), this impression that you create does not lead to a click on your advert. Google, in particular, measures the performance of your adverts, in part, by comparing the number of times the advert is shown (impression) compared to the number of times it is actually clicked. This is called the click through rate or CTR. Therefore, if you are continuously searching for your own adverts and not clicking on them you will lower the CTR.  A low CTR can negatively impact upon the ‘Quality Score’ given against the advert, which in turn can actually increase the click costs. (Phew - that’s quite a difficult thing to explain in plain English!).

To reduce the impact of a less favourable Quality Score and a misrepresentation of the number of impressions you receive in your reporting; you can use an ‘Ad Preview Tool’ to view your ads as they would appear on the SERP’s without accruing any actual impressions.

An ‘Ad Preview Tool’ is available for both Google and Microsoft Ad Center campaigns.

How to use the Google Ad Preview Tool:

You can view the Google Ad Preview Tool here.

To use the tool, enter the search query you want to check.

Ensure the domain, i.e. Google.co.uk and the Language, i.e. English is selected.

Under Location, you will need to select UK if it is targeted to the UK.  Alternatively you can enter the co-ordinates of your geo-targeted campaign.

Co-ordinates should be entered in the following format:

12.334466,-1.7788555

You can get the co-ordinates for your campaign under the Campaigns Tab, then under Settings.  You can then copy and paste one set of co-ordinates as per the above example under the ‘Locations’ section.
When you press ‘Preview Ads’, you should then see your ad displayed as it would on Google Search.

**Please Note**

If your daily budget has exhausted for the day, you will not see your ad appear.

If you have ad scheduling set up and you are checking your ad during the time it is set to be offline, then you will not be able to view your ad.

Also, if your budget is not sufficient to allow for all day visibility, Google will spread your ad delivery across the whole day to ensure your budget is not exhausted too early.  This again could lead to you not being able to view your ad.

How to View the Microsoft AdCenter Ad Preview Tool:

For Microsoft Ad Centre, you need to log in to your actual account and click on the ‘Campaigns’ tab.  Go to the top right hand corner and you will see the ‘Ad Preview Tool’.

You simply enter the keywords you want to view your ad for in the keyword box and press ‘preview ads’.

There you go, easy as pie! You know now how to avoid the possibility of negatively impacting your campaign with the use of this rather clever tool.

Need help? I’m on Twitter and always happy to answer any questions.