Articles by Elizabeth Marsten
Elizabeth Marsten // 15 Jul, 2008
Do Not Waste PPC Display URLs
The display URL in any PPC ad is a great place to stuff additional keywords, attract attention to your ad and/or increase branding. So it is definitely not a space to be wasted or ignored. Next time instead of simply putting “www.yoursite.com” as the display URL, try some of these simple tests and see if… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 1 Jul, 2008
Get Started with the Google Content Network
When I first started in pay per click marketing the content network was considered a dark, black hole where clicks went to die and impressions soared. Nowadays there is a lot more success, a lot more transparency and a lot more of control that an advertisers can exert over their campaigns. So, when starting a… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 24 Jun, 2008
PPC FAQ – Bidding on Trademarked Terms
I answered some questions about PPC keywords last week then realized that you might find these useful. Ask your own question in the comments. Depending on how many questions I receive I’ll answer either all or the best ones in future blog posts. What about PPC bidding on branded, trademarked or copyrighted keywords? The fact… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 19 Jun, 2008
PPC FAQ – When to Stop Using PPC Keywords
I answered some questions about PPC keywords last week then realized that you might find these useful. Ask your own question in the comments. Depending on how many questions I receive I’ll answer either all or the best ones in future blog posts. How do you know which PPC keywords to stop using? Rolling right… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 12 Jun, 2008
PPC FAQ – Finding the Right Number of Keywords
I answered some questions about PPC keywords yesterday then realized that you might find these useful. I’ll keep posting PPC questions and answers over the next several days. Ask your own question in the comments. Depending on how many questions I receive I’ll answer either all or the best ones in future blog posts. How… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 11 Jun, 2008
PPC FAQ – Action Packed PPC Keyword Research
I answered a bunch of questions about PPC keywords and realized others may find these useful. I’ll post them here, on the Portent Interactive Blog, over the next several days. You can also ask your own question in the comments. Depending on how many questions I receive I’ll answer either all or the best ones… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 29 May, 2008
Create a Microsoft Windows Live Product Feed
As I promised last week, here are step by step instructions for creating a free MSN’s Live Product Search feed. In case you are not sure what a Live Search Product Feed is, we will prepare a list of items to include in Microsoft’s product search engine. First you will need an Windows Live account,… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 21 May, 2008
Create a Google Product Search Feed
Google Products are listed on the search engine result pages of Google’s Shopping category. Each listing is a product that was submitted by a merchant. Listing your own products is free, so why not try it out? Here’s how to set up your very own Google Product Feed. Go to www.google.com/base, click on "Data Feed"… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 12 May, 2008
Ask PPC Advertising Pushing Me Away
These days Ask.com seems to be flailing, desperately trying to control the bleeding of is its’ visitor base and PPC advertisers. In the world of PPC search engine marketing, I have found increasingly less value from Ask’s paid search advertising program and stopped using their service altogether for several clients. If you cannot get a… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 5 May, 2008
Google Leaks AdWords Quality Score
Much like the mystery of the Big Mac’s secret sauce and Colonel Sanders 11 herbs and spices, we’ve all speculated what exactly makes up the closely guarded formula that determines Google’s PPC Quality Score. What are all the factors? How much weight does each factors carry? How can I exploit this to my advantage?! Last… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 28 Apr, 2008
Make the Most of High Traffic Keywords
Once in awhile you get a client who’s site offers a lot of little specific products that is great for niche keywords but low traffic. Those keywords are great when they convert, but the real traffic is in the high competitive keywords that bring the visitors to the site. These visitors that search by the… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 21 Apr, 2008
Give MSN adCenter Support Four Stars
But give the actual interface a star and a half. (On a scale of four stars, Google being four.) Almost every time I call MSN adCenter support for my various issues, be it basic account editing, billing, ad approval, keyword status or a general “what just happened?!”, I get top notch support and “I’m sorries”.… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 11 Apr, 2008
How to Make MSN AdCenter Work with Google Analytics
Per my post last week regarding Solving the (not set) in Google Analytics and Yahoo, we’ll continue this week bridging the gap between MSN AdCenter and Google Analytics. I did ask a MSN AdCenter representative once how come my two biggest keywords (in impressions, spend and clicks) didn’t register at all in Google Analytics, but… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 7 Apr, 2008
Solving the (not set) in Google Analytics
Today’s tip comes from two sources: Alex L. Cohen and PPC Hero, with their mystery solving and publicly sharing their solution on how to import data and increasing compatibility between Yahoo PPC and Google Analytics. As with any search engine that isn’t Google, you have to expect a certain amount of disparity in reporting data… Read More
Elizabeth Marsten // 24 Mar, 2008
Sandwich Your PPC Ads with URLs
We all know that the biggest part of attracting a potential customer to clicking on your ad is the headline. They see that bold text, what they searched for and are drawn in like a moth to a flame. But in the continual quest that is a PPC Analyst’s career, we have to think of… Read More