Top Ecommerce Articles from May

With a Bank Holiday Weekend approaching we thought you might like a bit of light reading for when you get bored of ice creams, sunshine and BBQs.

Here's a selection of some of the best ecommerce articles and blogs from around the web.

1. Google is changing their enhanced bid functionality, which may mean your cost per clicks could go up dramatically. Get the low down here: Enhanced CPC - The Latest Changes
2. Great insights into the need for - and the how-to of - international SEO - International SEO 5 Ways to Scale Performance
3. Can placing online orders ever be too easy? This article argues in favour of 'positive friction' - Why Increasingly Efficient UX Might Not Always Be A Good Thing
4. Google Optimize - Google's simple new split test tool - is now available for everyone. Here's a fairly dense but useful article explaining how to decide what to test and how to test: Conversion Optimisation - Research First Then Test
5. Does your current hosting solution mean you're leaving money on the table at Christmas? - 40% of Ecommerce Sites Crash During Seasonal Peaks

Need to know more? Visit our website here or send us an email to discuss your ecommerce needs. 

Adwords Changes - What They Mean For You

At the end of February Google removed the Adwords ads from the right hand side of Google search results. If you search now you’ll see three, maybe four, ads above the organic results, and PLAs and Knowledge Graph results on the right hand side. PPC results on Mobile will be largely unaffected.

So far there is very little data on how the changes will affect PPC/SEO. We’ve put together a checklist for you to make sure you are ahead of any seismic shifts in the PPC landscape.

What does this mean for my PPC campaigns?

• Check your average position - You should already be targeting the top three positions in the paid results. Increase your bids if your average position has dropped in the last three weeks.
• Improve your targeting - The big winners will be advertisers who aren’t bidding on generic keywords. If you are in a small niche, bid on long-tail keywords. Your brand terms won't be affected.
• Improve your ads - More ads will now show ad extensions. This is a great opportunity to update your Sitelinks and Callout extensions.
• Invest in Google Shopping - These change don’t affect PLAs. Now is a good time to set up Google Shopping as these ads will now be more prominent.
• Don’t neglect your reporting - It's easy to set up Adwords and never check in to see how it's doing. Use this opportunity to make sure you are getting the most bang for your buck from your Adwords.

Need help updating your PPC or making it work? We can help. Drop us a line at info@moneyspyder.co.uk.

PPC Review Case Study

TeamSeer Adwords Review

TeamSeer is a market leading absence management software provider. Their long term Adwords Campaigns weren’t generating as many leads as they had been a year earlier. As a marketing channel, something had to be done.

Method

Using Analytics we reviewed year-on-year performance and identified the factors that had changed that might explain the decline in performance. We also undertook Keyword Research to assess how relevant their 1+ year old keyword mix still was to the market.

Results

Once we put the numbers on context we found that traffic levels had remained constant but the conversion rate had been slipping.

We sat down with them and took them through our list of recommendations. There was a set of immediate changes that would improve conversion and traffic relevance as well as a list of longer term areas to improve and test. Particular areas for optimisation were bid price, ad copy and keyword relevance.

Outcome

Improvements were instantaneous. The new bidding strategy and keyword work increased click through rates and conversions increased 80%. We are now working with them to reduce cost per conversion and increase keyword relevance.

 

“MoneySpyder’s Adwords Review gave us immediate perspective on what was wrong with our campaigns. We were able to make changes that had a positive impact within days.”

- Peter Wake, TeamSeer

Click to find out more about our Adwords Review and SEO Audit.

If you need help with your online marketing strategy, give us a ring on 0207 492 1929 or email info@moneyspyder.co.uk.