Using the content network

Yesterday, I received a mail form one of my contacts that included the following sentence: "So you are Ohad from the blog. It's about time you updated it". I've taken this advice and this post is for you Alon.

Google Adwords allows advertisers to use the content network in addition to the search network, but most advertisers complain that they can't justify using the content network as it brings very low conversions. What I found was that if you separate your content network into another campaign and manage it as a different entity that does not behave like the search network, it can become a very useful channel. While this does not necessarily work for all my clients, for some of my campaigns the content network brought a better ROI then the search network.

The next campaign you open, try the following process:
1. create a campaign for the search network only and run it for a week.
2. optimize this campaign as you go along adding keywords and modifying ads.
3. After a week, copy this campaign into a new campaign targeted only at the content network
4. When adding a new keyword to the search network, make sure that it is also added to the content network

Let me know if it works for you

Google analytics videos

I came across a series of 3 posts in the Conversation Marketing blog about using Google analytics.
If you are not using it yet, Google analytics is one of the best free web statistics software available on the market. The 3 posts include videos on the setup and usage of the analytics.

You might want to check out all three:
1. Setup
2. Essentials
3. Content and navigation

Adwords Editor 3.0 released

If you are managing multiple adwords campaigns, then you are probably using the Adwords Editor application. The adwords editor is a windows application that allows mass changes to be performed on adwords accounts. The new version of the adwords editor has just been released for download and contains several features that were really needed in the past such as: word count and CPM campaign management.

If you are already using it, just upgrade your version.
If not then now is the time to start and get better control of your campaigns

Alexa now shows geographical info on sites

I just saw that Alexa added geographic information on their website.
This means that you can now see what countries your visitors are coming from as well as see the relative alexa rank your site has by country.

For example, my blog is ranked 429,364 but in Israel it's rank is 44,870
See for yourself in the alexa report on Ohad's Internet News

Does this make Quantcast irrelevant? What other info can I get using Quantcast that I can't get from Alexa?

My LinkedIn network

My LinkedIn Network is over 140,000 users. This means that I can use my network to contact lots of people when looking for an introduction or a reference.
Is this what I use LinkedIn for? No, LinkedIn is a good way to let people find you. While my network is large (1.5% of the available network in LinkedIn), I have no use for it on a daily basis.

So what am I using LinkedIn for?
1. Contact management - Keeping in touch with my direct contacts.
2. Visibility - Allowing people to find me online to offer new business opportunities.
3. Fun - I was a member of a network by the name of 6 degrees which tried to achieve the same purpose. It failed due to hardware and bandwidth issues. That was about 6 years ago and I really enjoyed feeling like everyone in the world was connected to me via 6 degrees of separation.

What are you using LinkedIn for?

LinkedIn - Managing My Contacts

I've been using LinkedIn for a few month now. In case you are not familiar with it, LinkedIn is an online network of business professionals all around the world. LinkedIn allows me to publish my profile online and manage my contact through them.
LinkedIn is based on connection circles, which means that you can see your list of contact, their list of contacts (2 degrees separated from you) and so on. While this model has been tried in the past and failed, LinkedIn targeted the business community and has become a leading tool for it.

Posting my profile online enables me to connect (and reconnect) with my contacts.

Contact me if you want through: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ohadgliksman

Adwords Tip: Use the ARROW

Here is a very nice insight by ShoeMoney on dynamic keyword ads.
According to ShoeMoney, if you place your dynamic keyword at the beginning of the ad title, again at the end of the first line and finally in the beginning of the second line, you get an arrow like shape from these keywords which increases CTR rates.

Interested? Read more here