#SMX #22B @TedIves

Step Back and Look at What You Should Be Measuring

Perfect Your SEM Testing

#SMX #22B @TedIves

• WhoamI?• Whydowetest?• Howshouldwetest?• Whatshouldwemeasure?• Whereshouldwemeasure?• Whenshouldwetest?

Agenda

#SMX #22B @TedIves

• AnonlinemarketingagencyoutofRhodeIsland(fourpeople)

• Wecouplebig-agencyresultsw/small-agencyattention–  Leverageoffshoreresources

–  Constantlydocumentandsystematize

–  Delivertremendousvalue&focusonclient-specificanalysesfor“movingthedial”

• PaidSearch,SEO,Analytics,Remarketing/Display,LinkedIn

• Clients:

Who am I?

#SMX #22B @TedIves

“As Seen in the Wall Street Journal”

#SMX #22B @TedIves

BUT…wecanonlytestwhatwecanmeasure!Thisquestioniseverything:Howdocustomersbuy?

Why do We Test? Answer: To get these to go up.

http://searchengineland.com/consider-the-ends-to-justify-the-means-in-ppc-117740http://searchengineland.com/ad-testing-are-you-using-the-wrong-success-metrics-123556

#SMX #22B @TedIves

• Writemultipleadsanddropthemintoadgroups• Measureresultsandalsodocross-adgrouptestingwithAdAlysis• UseUnbounceand/orOptimizelyforLandingPageTesting• Don’tforget…asuccessfultestmayactuallycause*worse*performance(!)• Whenyou’redonetesting,testsomethingelse!• Butunderstandthatmuchoftestinginvolves….waitingaroundforresults.

How Should We Test?

#SMX #22B @TedIves

•  Ifyou’redoingalotoftesting,justgetAdAlysis;itdoesitforyouautomatically.

•  Severalofthemostpopularadteststatisticscalculatorsonthewebareabsolutely*incorrect*.

•  Usethisinstead–it‘saccurate:http://www.cardinalpath.com/resources/tools/ppc-ad-testing-tool/#results

•  Ifyoureallyneedtodomulti-adgrouptestingoflandingpagesacrossmultiplelandingpagevariations,oneeasywaytocheatisbysimplyappending#ontheendofyourfinalURLstorepresenteachvariation.Makessummarizingeasier:foo.com/asdf.htm#v1foo.com/qrst.html#v2

What should we measure? (i.e. How can you reliably check statistical significance?)

#SMX #22B @TedIves

To test, first you need a willing subject…

Website:h*p://www.historicalbricks.comDesignedandimplementedby:h*p://lucemsolu<ons.com

#SMX #22B @TedIves

Test 1: Product vs. Ungated Form vs. Gated Form

#SMX #22B @TedIves

Manycustomersalsocomeinsimplyviaphone.Whatweneededtodowastomeasurebothformsubmissionsandphonecalls,somehow.Ourtheorywas…ifengagementishigherwiththeungatedpage…perhapsthesepeoplecancomebackandconvertlater…maybeevenviaphone.

Then we realized….the key question is: Where should we measure?

#SMX #22B @TedIves

• YoucaneasilygetlimitedphonetrackinginAdWordsbysimplyaddingcallextensions.

• Thetrickis,gettingthephonenumberonyoursitetochangebasedonthephonenumberthepersonsawinthesearchadinyourcallextension.

• AdWordscanswapoutthephonenumber;butitrequiressomeknowledgeofjavascript.

• CallRail,bycontrast,makesitveryeasy:•  Aniceone-linelibraryyoucallthatdoesalltheheavyliftingforswappingoutthenumber

•  GoogleAnalyticsintegration

•  Wordpressplugin

•  Youcantrackorganic(channel,notkeywords)anddirectinadditiontopaidsearchkeywords.

•  Justbecareful;iflocalsearchisimportanttoyou,don’tuseittotrackorganictraffic(NAPimplications)

Call Tracking

#SMX #22B @TedIves

Test 2: Ungated Form vs. Gated Form

#SMX #22B @TedIves

When should we test?

• Oneperspective:100%ofyourspendshouldalwaysbeundertest•  Butthismeans50%ofthetime,50%ofitisgoingtodo*worse*.Hmm…

•  Thisarguesforsomesmallerportionofspendbeingundertest(!)

• Anotherperspective:howmuchtestingcanyoumanage?•  Havingatooltomanagethetestingforyoumakesitmucheasiertorunandinterpretlotsoftests

• Whatdoestherestofthepanelthink?

#SMX #22B @TedIves

• Areyouevenmeasuringtherightthings?•  Considerphonetracking

•  Ifbuyingcycleincludesextensiveresearch,considerungatedlandingpages

•  Takeintoaccountengagementaswellasconversions

•  Don’tforgettorunattributionanalysesinGoogleAnalytics

• Makeiteasytoconvert!•  Askearly,andoften

•  Floatingcontactforms

•  Makephoneprominent

• Checkout:http://tedives.com/

Takeaways

#SMX #22B @TedIves

SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX!

THANK YOU!