Archive of published articles on June, 2008

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The Adwords Quality Score

24/06/2008

Recently I have received many questions about the Adwords Quality Score. I have wanted to write an article that explains the most important aspects of the quality score and which segments you have the most control over so I can use it as a resource with startups I work with.

First, lets discuss the segments that you control when building an Adwords campaign.

  1. Keywords – Like keyword research in SEO, paid search keywords are vital to reaching the correct audience. Competition can also be tough for highly searched words, so a long-tail strategy can also be useful to keep cost down. Regardless if they are high volume keywords or long-tail, they need to be relevant to your offering.
  2. Ads – One of the most important tasks in paid search is ad copy. These ads are displayed in the search engine results pages (SERPS) and are the only source of information that searchers have when deciding where to click. As you will read below, Google uses click through rate has a major gauge in the quality of your ads.
  3. Landing Page – This is the page that searchers will land on when they click your ad. You (should) build and control this page. Google will look at this page to determine if it is relevant to your keyword and ad.

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The Viral Expansion Loop

18/06/2008

One of the most powerful marketing effects your startup could produce is the viral expansion loop. The theory is simple, the execution is not. A viral expansion loop is exponential growth produced by users and the system was engineered to produce the viral loop (some happen on accident).

Fast Company did an article on Ning (a site that allows anyone to start a social network) and the effects of the viral expansion loop called Ning’s Infinite Ambition. It is a must read for anyone starting or running a business, even if the tactic is not relevant to your current situation.

The best example to understand the viral expansion loop is given in the article. Take a penny and double it every day for 30 days. By the end of 2 weeks you will have $81.92, and by the end of the 30 days you will have a staggering $5.4 million.

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Litmus Test of a Startup. Get Rid of your Marketing Team.

3/06/2008

And this is coming from a startup marketing manager. I have worked on quite a few startup products through the years and I keep witnessing the same trend. The startups that actually solve an issue or provide a unique service, don’t really need my help. I might give the initial push, but the product itself creates the snowball effect.

I’m not suggesting you get rid of your marketing guy completely. You will need someone to schedule all the interview appointments with the media.

The hardest part is getting your product to those few outlets that will start the avalanche.

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