By Clay Sinclair
For the purposes of this document, we’ll assume your
PPC campaigns are already set
up and that you’re not a novice at this. Below are some tips,
definitions and best practices to help you get the most from your
MSN adCenter campaigns.
Campaign Organization:
As noted briefly above, we’re going to assume that your campaigns
are already set up and running. But there are some fundamental
strategies that need to be followed.
MSN allows you to categorize your keywords and ads into Campaigns and Orders.
An "Order" is equal to an Ad Group in Google.
adCenter – Keywords.
When setting up your keywords in MSN, set everything up as a
Broad Match. Their system will automatically map your keyword
according to the fashion the keyword was queried. For example -
if your keyword is Dog Collar (broad match) and someone types in
"green dog collar" they will trigger your keyword and report it
as a broad match click. Now the same keyword when someone types
in "dog collar" will trigger and be reported as an exact match on
your reports. But if you set it up as an Exact Match for example
and a query is typed in of "collar dog" your keyword won't be
triggered. So, why not just set up all match types when setting
up an account?
Because their system has a single keyword entry with different
match type options for that single keyword. With that said, you
can only put a single tracking parameter on each keyword which
would only report in 3 party software as whatever match type you
code your URL string - which could (and will) provide inaccurate
data. It's best to set up all keywords as broad match, gather
some data and determine if your have higher conversion rates with
particular keywords and specific match types with each keyword.
When uploading your keywords, be SURE to use the different
Parameters available to help with your ad copy.
{param1}destination URL - {param2} Dynamic Text (for your Titles.
IF your keyword is longer than 25 characters, write a version of
the keyword in here. eg. if your keyword is "travel information
for California" type in - Travel Info For California.) and
{param3} Dynamic Text (optional for individual description
lines).
MSN adCenter – Ad Copy Best Practices.
Again - best practice dictates the use of keywords in your titles (and even descriptions). MSN has a Keyword insertion
feature, but unfortunately doesn't have the default text feature in case your inserted keyword exceeds their 25 character limit.
So what happens then if you use that command in your title line, but your keyword is longer than 25 characters? MSN will not
let that ad show which will also kill that keyword until your fix that title line.
The best work around I've discovered is using those parameters mentioned in the Keyword Set Up portion above. By using the {param2} command in
your title line, you can now display your keyword or a custom title because of the {param2} line you filled in during the keyword set up.
Descriptions are 70 characters like Google and the same rules apply. So, if a single description will suffice for all your keywords in that order
enter it one time in the ad text set up portion of the campaign set up. Otherwise you can use the {param3}command to pull
your individual descriptions you entered during the keyword set up.
Now that the more complex portion of your campaigns are set up – don’t forget to A/B Test your ad copy, keyword match types and landing pages – documenting your results - for optimum performance.
This is a huge task that can be time consuming and difficult to accomplish if you don’t have the expertise or the tools to do it correctly. Contact us today for a fast, free proposal. 888.451.6063 or email us at info@ppce.net.
For an impressive look at PPCE and their capabilities, review their PPC Management Proven Success page.
And don’t forget the
PPC Case Study linked in the footer of the site!
Contact PPCE today at 888.451.6063 or email us at
info@ppce.net
