http://metricvoodoo.com/2009/02/the-most-misused-tool-in-pay-per-click/ Search engine marketing metrics + magic Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:34:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://metricvoodoo.com/2009/02/the-most-misused-tool-in-pay-per-click/comment-page-1/#comment-99 Shawn Livengood Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:44:28 +0000 http://metricvoodoo.com/?p=33#comment-99 This post reminds me of a panel I saw at SXSW this year. It was about how to be a successful blogger, but the lessons apply to paid search as well. One of the speakers said that a lot of people approach blogging by wanting to be the next Ted Koppel, Michael Arrington, Cory Doctorow, etc. The problem is that we already have a Ted Koppel, Michael Arrington, and Cory Doctorow - we don't need another one. To be a successful blogger, you need to be a true individual, and offer something to the world that no one else can. This applies to businesses that want to advertise online as well. Don't just copy your competion - learn from what they're NOT doing, and then go do that! This post reminds me of a panel I saw at SXSW this year. It was about how to be a successful blogger, but the lessons apply to paid search as well. One of the speakers said that a lot of people approach blogging by wanting to be the next Ted Koppel, Michael Arrington, Cory Doctorow, etc. The problem is that we already have a Ted Koppel, Michael Arrington, and Cory Doctorow – we don’t need another one. To be a successful blogger, you need to be a true individual, and offer something to the world that no one else can. This applies to businesses that want to advertise online as well. Don’t just copy your competion – learn from what they’re NOT doing, and then go do that!

]]> http://metricvoodoo.com/2009/02/the-most-misused-tool-in-pay-per-click/comment-page-1/#comment-83 Kalin Dudley Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:31:24 +0000 http://metricvoodoo.com/?p=33#comment-83 Great points, I have used Spyfu many times for researching client's competition however always find myself being asked "what is my competition spending?". This is not what the tool is useful for as it does not give accurate spend estimates. I have found that it does provide great insight however to your competitor's strategy which you highlight well. What keywords are they going after, what position and ad copy strategy are they using, and where are they landing people are all very useful to find possible areas of weakness. My favorite use of Spyfu is using the keyword list to see how smart the competitor's strategy is. If they have a keyword list full of unqualified terms and high position, usually a sign that the account is not being managed well or professionally. In that case, I usually do not want to look to deeply into what they are doing because it is probably not smart. On the other end, if they are showing up for a majority of qualified traffic based on the keyword list and there is variation on positioning, probably an account that is managed on a consistent basis. Thus, I look to see which terms they are aggressive on, and use this as insight to which terms they probably convert on. Everyone uses this tool differently and always great to get some insights from others. Great post, thanks... Great points, I have used Spyfu many times for researching client’s competition however always find myself being asked “what is my competition spending?”. This is not what the tool is useful for as it does not give accurate spend estimates. I have found that it does provide great insight however to your competitor’s strategy which you highlight well. What keywords are they going after, what position and ad copy strategy are they using, and where are they landing people are all very useful to find possible areas of weakness. My favorite use of Spyfu is using the keyword list to see how smart the competitor’s strategy is. If they have a keyword list full of unqualified terms and high position, usually a sign that the account is not being managed well or professionally. In that case, I usually do not want to look to deeply into what they are doing because it is probably not smart. On the other end, if they are showing up for a majority of qualified traffic based on the keyword list and there is variation on positioning, probably an account that is managed on a consistent basis. Thus, I look to see which terms they are aggressive on, and use this as insight to which terms they probably convert on. Everyone uses this tool differently and always great to get some insights from others. Great post, thanks…

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