paid search
10 Things I Learned About SEM From the Movies
by Amy Yates on 06/21/2010 at 11:27 am in Performance Marketing
“Yo, Adrian.” I’ll admit it: I’m a total geek and I love to learn new things. So much so, I try to tackle something new every year. The guitar didn’t last long because I didn’t like calluses on my fingers. Golf lessons in July weren’t my best idea either, especially in [...]
Full StorySee Us at SMX West 2010: 3 Days, 6 Panels!
by Sarah Strauss on 02/15/2010 at 8:00 am in Conferences, Range News, Speaking
The Range team is excited to be hitting SMX West 2010 (March 2-4 in Santa Clara, CA) strong this year! Join us and check out our experts speaking on these panels.
Full StoryIn the BINGinning
by Blake Suggs on 07/22/2009 at 2:56 pm in Industry News, Opinion Editorial, Within Range
Needless to say, there has been much ado about Microsoft’s recent release of BING. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about the initial release, what it means to advertiser and agencies and what we can all expect as far as how it’s going to affect the way we do business. One of the most exciting aspects of BING, at least for me, was the travel engine platform. The way Microsoft made it sound, advertisers were going to have tons of opportunities to expand sales to the Microsoft travel audience. What we have found in our initial foray is a bit different, though.
Full StoryWhat’s the Deal with All These Retreads?
by Jeremy Hull on 07/15/2009 at 1:44 pm in Commentary, Observations, PPC, Within Range
Is paid search out of ideas? Don’t get me wrong, I love paid search. It’s my specialty. It’s logical, predictable, and organized, which appeals to my OCD nature. Social media and mobile may be the next “big things,” but from my vantage point, they’re still very nebulous and unorganized. Give me a basic paid search campaign any day, and I’ll sculpt it into something that will make you some money. That being said, I can’t help but feel paid search as a whole is getting a little stale. The past several years have seen lots of new ideas and innovations—improved targeting, more control, the capability for real-time changes—the list is actually kind of long. However, recently it seems like every time I hear about a new paid search feature from any of the major engines I get a strange feeling of déjà vu.
Full StoryThe Long Tail: Not Just for Paid Search Anymore!
by Herndon Hasty on 06/25/2009 at 3:45 pm in Online Strategies, SEO, SEO Best Practices
I started my life in search engine marketing on the paid side of the search equation. With ROI being at the bottom line of every decision made from keyword selection, match type strategies, campaign organization and, of course, bidding, amassing wins using long tail keywords was one of my favorite approaches. Good paid practitioners are constantly fighting to find ways to get those one or two keywords that drive huge traffic a little more efficient, but there’s really nothing like coming in to see a line like this in the previous day’s results.
Full StoryPaint or Potato Chips?
by Kevin Freemore on 06/22/2009 at 5:27 pm in Brand Management, PPC, PPC Strategies
Do a search for “eating paint chips” and take a look at how many paid search ads come up. There’s an ad for Healthy All-Natural chips, which you might want to consider if you really are interested in eating Kelly-Moore Latex Sour Cream and Onions. There are also a number of well known paint companies that are advertising and hopefully not intending for their brand of paint to be used as a snack. And who knows–there may come a day when paint is flavored and non-toxic. Glue is ok to eat now, right? Anyway, you get the idea. It took me a whole minute to find an example of this, and believe me, there were plenty more that were way worse. Now, ask yourself a few questions. What does this do to my search performance and what does it do to my brand image?
Full StoryDoes It Make Sense To Run Branded Paid Search?
by Jeff LeVan on 05/20/2009 at 6:14 pm in Brand Management, Nonbrand Strategy, PPC, PPC Strategies
Does it make sense to run branded paid search? If you run branded search are you just taking credit for conversions that would have happened anyway? Is running just non-brand the way to go because it drives purely incremental revenue? Even if it kills your paid search ROI, these are valid questions to consider. It’s important to think about how paid search impacts a client’s business as a whole, not just boast about glitzy 50-to-1 ROI numbers from just running brand. These are the issues that we tried to consider when devising a test to determine whether or not it makes sense for a particular business to run branded paid search.
Full Story