PPC Takeaways From Pubcon

Besides the “Awesome” yeti shirts and amazing buffets there was much to takeaway from this years Pubcon conference. I was fortunate to attend and represent Utah PPC. Many of the industry leaders in PPC attended. They shared their tips and tricks to help us master Adwords and take accounts to the next level. There were plenty of interesting speakers. Among them were; David Szetela, John Ellis and Kevin Lee. Many of these speakers had several opportunities to speak in numerous sessions and were also available after to answer questions one on one. Sitting in on as many sessions as I could here are a few of my PPC takeaways from Pubcon.

As PPC managers we are constantly analyzing data and generating reports for our clients. John Ellis offered great insights on creating automated reports using Google analytics data. John stressed using Google Sheets and app scripts together to create custom reports. Since most of us have clients with different goals and needs, these reports make it easy to customize and include different data for each PPC account. These reports can be tailored to each client and provide only the information that matters. The reports can be customized to include different templates, business logos, color schemes…etc. Using app scripts and Google Sheets can change the way we do reporting. To learn more visit https://developers.google.com/analytics/solutions/report-automation-magic Advantages of using Google Analytics to create reports using app scripts include:

• Fast & Easy to gather data
• No limitations as far as building a template
• Custom Designs, visualizations, dashboards
• Live Reports

Watch a Google Analytic professional Now David Szetela was the “Conversion Optimizer” King! If there were any PPC managers out there wondering about Conversion Optimizer and missed Pubcon, Szetela’s session was informative. So what is Conversion Optimizer? Conversion Optimizer Changes your bids automatically every time an ad is displayed. What you do is set a target CPA goal and CO takes control. CO will find the optimal CPC to reach your target CPA. Not every account is eligible for CO, Google sends out an alert within Adwords when a campaign is eligible. Among the various tips David shared here are some important takeaways:

•  CO is most effective with a lot of conversions
• Wait until you’ve reached 30 conversion or more over a span of 30 days. This allows Google to work more effectively.
• After 2-3 weeks regulate by changing Target CPA.

 One of the main PPC topics at Pubcon was Google’s new Adrank Change that took place on October 22. Ad extensions will now impact your Adrank. In the words of Kevin Lee, “Its time to test ad extensions to see which ones produce best results and how they will give you the ability to trigger ads or not.” By including ad extensions into your campaigns there will be an increased opportunity to achieve a higher Quality Score. The pros of having an increased Quality Score are; the possibility to experience lower CPCs at the same position, lowered billed CPC or a better Average position. Kevin Lee emphasized that an increase in Quality Score can lift conversions. If searchers find your ads and landing pages to be more relevant you can experience:

• Higher Average Positions
• Less Expensive Clicks
• Higher Conversion Rates
• Increased Volume with better ROI

Before ending Kevin encouraged everyone to stay educated on best practices. To find more information on the new Adrank change and recommendations for using extensions follow the link below. http://adwords.blogspot.com/2013/10/improving-ad-rank.html As with any conference there is a plethora of notes taken and to dos. The next task is to put those notes to good use by testing new ideas, tools and theories. Thanks to all the Pubcon speakers who shared their insights and strategies. Any other insights or takeaways please don’t hesitate to share.