New Ways to See AdWords Search Query Terms

As part of Google’s phasing out of the AdWords Report Center, the traditional ‘Search Query Performance’ report is no longer available. But there are new and better ways to get this critical data!

Using Google AdWords reports to track performance of the keywords you are bidding on is fundamental to search marketing success, and the ease with which this can be done is a source of delight for search marketers, especially when compared to measuring traditional forms of advertising.  If you are bidding on ‘industrial supplies’, for example, it is easy to get metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, cost per conversion and then make decisions that will lead to better performance.

But most folks also realize the additional value of being able to look behind the scenes to see the actual search queries that users are typing in and using that information to refine campaigns.  Because if you are bidding on ‘industrial supplies’ on anything other than exact match, your ad will be showing up for a lot of terms beyond strictly ‘industrial supplies’. These could be: ‘cheap industrial supplies‘, ‘industrial supplies oregon‘, ‘industrial equipment and supplies‘, ‘industrial painting supplies‘ and thousands of other variations. The value of having this deeper insight into the terms triggering your ads is obvious.

Not so very long ago in the short history of search engine marketing, this was data was not as accessible as many would’ve liked, served up only in a special report, with large chunks of information missing. (The infamous ‘other unique queries’.)

Times change (quickly) and this industry evolves (rapidly) and now more complete search query data is available from a couple of sources. At the same time, the traditional Search Query Performance report has been phased out of the AdWords Report Center – along with just about every other kind of report. So let’s look at how we can get at AdWords search query data now:

1. Within AdWords Keyword data in UI: Recent enhancements to the AdWords user interface include the ability to generate an ‘on the fly’ report on search terms.  From the ‘Keywords’ tab, you can select the ‘See search terms’ button to go to a report on search terms.  This shows all the search terms used, with indications as to which ones are currently being bid on.  The nice thing here is that you can instantly add keywords or even add negative keywords directly from this report.  And you can also download the report in CSV format.

3. Google Analytics AdWords data: With the new AdWords reporting enhancements to Google Analytics, it is easy to get a look at actual search terms being used. Simply go to ‘Traffic Sources’>’AdWords beta’>’Keywords’ and then use the second dimension box to select ‘Matched Search Query’. Here you get a nice side-by-side listing of keywords you are bidding on along with matched terms.  The additional advantage, of course, is that you get all that juicy post-click behavioural data, such as bounce rate, goal completions, and – if you have Ecommerce tracking set up – revenue.

So there are 2 ways that I know of to investigate AdWords search query data and use it to improve performance of your keyword advertising. Both of these methods offer some advanced flexibility and power compared to the old AdWords Search Query Performance report.

Gettin’ Certified: Google Analytics & AdWords

Observations on Google Analytics IQ and Google Advertising Professional Qualified Individual Exams

In the search marketing business we all work hard to deliver the goods and continuously improve our skills – we need to in order to  stay relevant in a rapidly changing environment and to demonstrate our value to our employers/clients.  We can let the quality of our work speak for itself, but  it can also be useful to have some more official validation of our general knowledge of our domain.  Which is where certification fits in.  Sometimes required by employers,  sometimes essential in establishing credibility with clients, and sometimes just good to have in the back pocket.

Recently I completed two certification exams in order to ‘prove my proficiency’ in the wonderful world of Google: Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) and Google Advertising Professional Exam.  So I thought I’d share my experiences and observations with others who may be pursuing either or both of these designations.

Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ)

The Google Analytics Individual Qualification was announced on the Google Analytics Blog in March, 2009.  It is earned simply by passing the Google Analytics IQ test.  This is meant to prove that you have proficiency in using Google Analytics.  The idea is to separate beginners/casual users – who can, after all, make quite effective use of Google Analytics due its user friendliness – from those that leverage GA more fully to enhance organizational performance and teach others to do so.

In order to prepare for the test, Google offers ‘Conversion University‘, delivered via a series of free, short, on-demand online videos.  This is a pretty comprehensive look at most of the key features of GA and provides a good grounding in how to use the program.  It is useful to go through the videos even if you have no intention of the writing the test, especially because the broken into highly digestible chunks.

Although recommended, you don’t need to go through Conversion University to get to the test – you can write the IQ Test anytime.  It is delivered online at your convenience, costs $50 and you have 90 minutes to complete about 100 multiple choice questions.  Once you pass, they send you a colorful certificate that you can print out and hang in your cubicle. Ta da…

Google Advertising Professional Exam

The Google Advertising Professional Exam is one of the requirements for becoming a Qualified Individual in the Google Advertising Professionals program.  (The other requirements relate to mainly to maintaining a minimum level of AdWords account activity.)

Again, Google provides some thorough resources for exam preparation through the AdWords Learning Center.  The Learning Center has a series of online lessons in 9 sections that are available both as video or text lessons.  Personally, I focused on the text lessons, which I expedited by clicking on the ‘Print Section’ link to see the whole section on one page, rather than broken up into a bunch of short pages.  A nice feature of the Learning Center is that there are short multiple choice quiz questions at the end of each lesson, which helps to a) reinforce the learning and b) prepare for the exam, which is very similar in style and content.

As with the Conversion University, the AdWords Learning Center contains a lot of good information on getting the most from AdWords and is useful even if you are not planning to write the exam.  It does, however, also have a lot of information that may not be relevant to you – such as billing policies in foreign countries or tactics for ‘selling’ AdWords to potential clients.

If it is recommended to take review Conversion University prior to taking the Google Analytics test, I would rate is as HIGHLY recommended to go through the Learning Center – at least the quizzes – before taking on the AdWords exam.  When you are ready, you can jump into the exam via the ‘Pro Center’ tab in your My Client Center.

The AdWords exam has a bit of a bad reputation for being sprinkled with questions that are of limited relevance and/or trickily worded to create ambiguous meaning.  This was an assessment conveyed to me by both colleagues and others in the industry, such as the bloggers at SEO Speedwagon (which is the best seo-related blog name I’ve come across in a while).  While there were definitely some of these questions cropping up, I seemed to me that Google may have responded to some of the criticisms and tightened up the test to make it a more accurate reflection of professional competence.  Overall, I found it a pretty accurate reflection of the Learning Center – even to the extent of some Learning Center quiz questions showing up in the exam.

Bottom Line

Based on my experience, and discussions with colleagues, there is about 9-12 hrs of study involved in each of these exams, but may be less depending on your level of knowledge/experience with these programs.

Both Google Analytics IQ and Google Advertising Pro qualifications have an expiry date: AdWords offers a better deal because it is good for 2 yrs, while you will have to retake the Google Analytics IQ exam in 18 mths to retain your status.

Hard to put a value on these certifications but they do represent tangible evidence that you probably know what you are talking about and can enhance the credibility of yourself and your organization.  Hey, if you can get Google to vouch for you, why not go for it?

AdWords Conversion Tracking in Two Flavors

Google AdWords recently made a change to how conversions are reported in the new AdWords interface, in order to provide richer information with regard to the full benefits of AdWords campaigns.  There are now two types of conversions, designated as ‘one-per-click‘ and ‘many-per-click‘.  This fairly straightforward and quite useful, and the AdWords crew has provided a pretty decent explanation of what it all means in an Inside Adwords blog entry and in an AdWords Help entry.

However, it is a departure from the past and I think it is fair to say that there has been some head scratching around the precise implications, mostly due to the cumbersome terminology.

Conversions in new Google AdWords interface

So here’s a scenario…

I search for ‘web analytics software’, see your ad, click on it and visit your site.  Your clearly written landing page with attractive call to action persuades me to download your white paper.  After I get a chance to read your thought-provoking white paper, I return to the site (within 30 days – before the AdWords cookie expires) and subscribe to your newsletter.

…and here’s how the conversions break down:

1. In the past, when AdWords reported on ‘conversions’, it was not necessarily the actual total number of conversions, but rather the number of clicks that led to one or more conversions.  Under this somewhat misleading system, the above scenario is counted as 1 conversion, since there was 1 click that led to both conversion events.

2. The new ’1-per-click’ conversion count corresponds to the old way of conversion counting: still counting clicks as opposed to events – a maximum of 1 conversion per-click.  If you have past trending data that you want to compare to, this is the number to go with.  Also, if you are more interested in the number of PPC visitors (roughly equivalent to ‘clicks’) that convert than the total number of conversion events, this is the number to use.  So for lead generation this is more applicable.

3. The new ‘many-per-click’ conversion count will be 2 – one each for the white paper download and the newsletter sign-up.  Now events are being counted, not just clicks.   This is helpful for e-commerce sites where you want to know the number of purchases that are attributable to AdWords, for example.  This terminology is also a tad confusing, though, because even if there is one conversion it will still be counted in the ‘many-per-click’ column, since ‘many-per-click’ doesn’t actually mean ‘many conversions on a click’ – it really means ‘total number of conversions.‘

Note that these are two separate ways of counting conversions, using different perspectives (clicks vs. events) so these numbers are not meaningfully added together.

We all know that those Google folks are uber-smart, and I’m not going to presume to tell them how to do their jobs, but I’m thinking a more clear and intuitive approach might be something like:

• ‘Conversion Clicks‘ instead of ’1-per-click conversions’
• ‘Conversion Events‘ instead of ‘many-per-click conversions’

This would tell us very simply: a) how many clicks led to conversions and b) how many total conversions occurred.  Useful information – no head scratching required.

New Google AdWords Interface: Countdown is On

Not quite ready to switch over completely to the new Google AdWords interface? Better get ready, because Google is advising advertisers that in 30 days (give or take) the old interface will be gone for good.

Google has been rolling out the new user interface for AdWords over the past 6-8 months, offering advertisers the opportunity to switch back and forth between the traditional interface and the beta version of the new interface.  The new interface has some attractive features and makes it much easier to move around from campaign to campaign, ad group to ad group, for example.  Some users prefer it to the traditional interface, some not so much. But whatever your preference, the old interface is on it’s way out.  Google is sending out emails to account holders advising them of the upcoming upgrade but stating that “you’ll have at least 30 days from the date of this email before you’ll be required to use the new interface.”

Old AdWords Interface

New AdWords Interface

Google has also provided some helpful resources to assist users in making the switch, these suggestions mentioned in the email:

* Review the new interface microsite to get a quick overview of the changes and watch videos demonstrating the improvements: http://www.google.com/adwords/newinterface/

* Our “Getting Started Guide” will give you an overview of major new features and their benefits. You can download a PDF at: http://www.google.com/adwords/newinterface/new_interface_guide.pdf

* Wondering how to complete common AdWords tasks in the new interface? Visit our “How to” guide at: http://www.google.com/adwords/newinterface/standard/ads-and-keywords.html

* Search a full set of frequently asked questions in the Help Center for the new interface: https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/

Despite some dissatisfaction, on balance this can be seen as an improvement that enables advertisers to more easily manage campaigns.  If you have any particular complaints or tips to offer, please let us know!