The Google Adwords keyword tool is a free tool that gives you keyword suggestions.

I’ve always assumed that the suggestions are a full list taken from things people searched for in Google.

But I just discovered that it’s only a partial list.

Here’s an example. I put these two keyword phrases into the tool:
jasmine
waltraud


The results I got back showed me 150 results. The first two were the words I typed: jasmine and waltraud.

The other 148 were all related to jasmine: jasmine tea, jasmine plant, paul jasmine, etc. There were no other results related to waltraud.

I reasoned that maybe it only shows you 150 results.

So then I changed my keywords to:
jasmine doll
waltraud


Now I got back 86 results. There were 31 results relating to waltraud including:
waltraud klasnic
suzuki waltraud
waltraud reiner
waltraud hanl dolls


Now I refined the search even more. I typed in waltraud hanl. I got back 6 results including:
waltraud hanl dolls
waltraud hanl doll


It’s interesting to note here that “waltraud hanl doll” was not a result I got back when I searched for waltraud and jasmine doll.

Why not? From my first search it’s clear that Google can return 150 results. So when I got 86 results for jamine doll and waltraud, why didn’t it include “waltraud hanl doll” and give me more than 86?

I’m going to assume that the more general your search, the more likely that Google will show you results that got more impressions.

So the moral is:
1. Don’t assume the keyword tool is showing you everything that was searched for.
2. Do multiple searches when you use the tool—the more detailed, the better.

Posted by susb8383 under Google Adwords | No Comments »

I started using Google Adwords in 2004, after buying Perry Marshall’s Definitive Guide to Google Adwords.

I just discovered something yesterday that I did not know, and which affected my Adwords campaigns in a negative way.

But first, a little background.

When you bid on a keyword or phrase, there are three types of matching that Google can do: exact, phrase, and broad.

Exact
You do this by putting your keyword phrase in square brackets, and Google will match it exactly. So if you bid on [red widget], your ad will only show if the user types in “red widget,” not “red widgets” or “widget red,” or even “I want a red widget.”

Phrase
You do this by putting your phrase in quotes. Google will match the phrase exactly, but there can other words before and after. So “red widget” will show your ad for queries including

red widget
I once had a red widget

but not
red is the color my favorite widget.

Broad
You do this by not putting anything around your keyword phrase.

Up until recently, the broad match meant that Google will shows ads if the query matched the words of your phrase, but there can be extra words in between. They can even be in a different order. So if you bid on red widget, Google will show your ad for
red widget
my favorite widget is red
red is my widget of choice
etc.


For most people, this information isn’t new.

However, here’s what happened to me.

I have a campaign that has the broad match of the phrase lifelike baby dolls

A few days ago, I got an email from the affiliate manager for the company that makes the dolls. He sent me a screen shot that shows my ad was being displayed when someone typed in the term “ashton drake.”

Now, the Ashton Drake Galleries is owned by the affiliate company and is a trademarked term. I’m not allowed to bid on any variation of it. But it looked like I had bid on that term because my ad was showing for that.

Fortunately the affiliate manager asked me politely to stop bidding on Ashton Drake, rather than just terminating my relationship! I added ashton drake as a negative keyword which stopped my ad from showing. But I couldn’t figure out why it showed in the first place because my phrase of lifelike baby dolls doesn’t have those words in it.

The answer came with a little internet sleuthing.

Apparently this past June, Google rolled out a new “feature” that influences the broad match. I’ve seen this new feature referred to Automatic Matching, Expanded Broad Match, or Expanded Phrase Matching.

According to a blog I just found, if your ctr qualifies Google will use up your excess budget by showing your ads for keywords that are not in your list if it thinks those words are relevant. The bad thing about it is,
1. You have no way of turning it off other than to not use broad match at all (The Google rep says you’re supposed to be able to turn it off in the campaign settings, but since it’s so new, this hasn’t been implemented yet)
2. You have no way of seeing the keywords Google has expanded to.
3. It means your budget will always be reached!

What other words besides ashton drake is Google showing my ad for?

I used the Google Keyword Tool to try to make some sense of it. I tried doing a Google search for some of the phrases found under “Additional Keywords to Consider” but that doesn’t seem to be where Google gets its extended phrases from.

According to the blog post, Google comes up with these extended phrases by analyzing your site.

That sounds like a good thing, but the extended matching really isn’t. Ideally your ad and landing page should be geared to your ad. So if someone searches for lifelike baby doll, your ad contains lifelike baby doll and your landing page has a heading of Lifelike Baby Doll.

When Google shows your ad for a different phrase, you have no way of making your ad content and your landing page match that search phrase.

So now I’m going to go through all my campaigns and remove any broad match keywords I have. That’ll be pretty tedious.

I really wish Google would add an on/off check box for extended phrase matching.

Here are some of the blog posts that I referred to:
Foliovision.com
socialmediatoday.com
Site Creations.com.

Posted by susb8383 under Google Adwords | 1 Comment »

I keep going back and forth between wanting to sell my own products (either having a supplier that drop ships or storing inventory in a spare room) and just being an affiliate.

I started out just with affiliate sales—having Google Ads that send the customer to a vendor site through my affiliate link. But then when the Google slap hit, I decided to try setting up my own ecommerce site and selling my own products.

The problem with that is now I have inventory I haven’t been able to sell. I’m leaning towards affiliate sales again.

Here are some pros and cons to each:

Selling and Storing Own Products

I’ve tried my hand at both selling products that are drop shipped and storing my own inventory. Some of the same pros and cons exist for both.

• Pro: You have more control over the analytics.
  If you use a tool such as Google Analytics, you can see exactly where you traffic is coming from that converts and make changes accordingly.
• Pro: You can be in touch with customers easily.
  Don’t know why people aren’t buying from you? Put up a live chat box or a prominent Contact Us link and try to find out.
  
• Pro: Higher profit margin
  Your profit is basically the amount you charged the customer minus the cost you paid the supplier. Normally this is higher.
• Pro: Keyword freedom
  You can bid on any keywords you want.
• Con: Customer Relations
  Since the product is “coming from you,” you have to deal with customer questions and problems.
• Con: Stocking Inventory
  Even if you’re using a drop shipper, you should still stock some items at home in case the supplier runs out. And if you’re not using a drop shipper, that stock takes up a lot of room! My husband’s favorite phrase is, “so when are we getting all those squirrel feeders out of the garage, exactly?”
• Con: Shipping Products
  Since the customer is ordering from you directly, it means that you have to go to the post office or FedEx drop box in the rain, late at night, etc. (An aside, I tried scheduling a pick up from the post office, but it didn’t work. They never came. Can’t trust it to get the order out.) Even if you’re using a drop shipper, you still have to constantly check to see if orders came in that need processing.
• Con: Bigger Expense
  Many suppliers require an initial purchase of a few hundred dollars. If you don’t sell that inventory, you’re out the money. Even one supplier who would drop ship a single order required me to purchase six first, just to make sure I was really a serious reseller and wasn’t just trying to buy the product for personal use at wholesale prices.

Affiliate Sales

• Pro: Customer Relations are from Vendor
  Your part in the transaction is invisible so you never have to deal with answering client questions.
• Pro: Shipping is from the Vendor
  No going to the post office when you feel like watching the Red Sox game.
• Pro: Make Money While you Sleep

Once you set up your ads, it runs on autopilot. So you can have people “buying” your products while you sleep.
• Pro: Less Financial Risk
Since I only pay money when someone clicks on my ad, I’m only paying for a potential buyer and I don’t have to pay for inventory I might not sell.
• Con: More Restrictions on Keywords

After the Google Slap, vendors started restricting the keywords I can bid on more and more. I made a good amount of money in the past bidding on the product name, such as Go To My PC. But now that’s a restricted phrase, so my conversions went way, way down.
• Con: Limited Analytics

Since you can’t put conversion tracking tags on the vendor site, it isn’t easy to relate who bought from the vendor with what keyword they searched for. I did post about a little technique to help with this.

Posted by susb8383 under Affiliate Marketing | No Comments »