Google AdWords - Website Optimiser

Google is developing a tool that lets you test different versions of your website content. The tool determines which versions customers respond to so that you convert more of your website traffic into sales.

It’s in beta test at the moment and I’ve just been accepted as a tester. I’ll use my own website for the testing at first. Early feedback from other participants has been very positive so I’m keen to see it in action for myself.

It made me think about a hierarchy of levels particularly in relation to pay-per-click campaigns.

1. Getting traffic to the website
2. Targeting potential customers and getting them to the website
3. Avoiding unwanted traffic
4. Converting website visitors into customers
5. Continuously improving the return on investment
6. Integrating results with other marketing efforts and focusing on the lifetime value of the customer

This is a big topic so I’ll cover each level in more detail over the next couple of weeks. All pay-per-click managers will get traffic to the website but a campaign will only be successful for the business if:

• It is targeted effectively which means separate ad groups for each target group, targeted ad copy, targeted keywords for each group rather than relying on a few broad matches.
• Unwanted traffic is avoided wherever possible by using negative keywords (eg eliminating searches that contain “free” or “cheap” if this isn’t appropriate for your product or services) and qualifying people wherever possible in the ad copy.
• Landing pages convert into sales. At the very least each ad must link to the most appropriate page on the website depending on the person’s search query. This isn’t usually the website home page.
• Every aspect of the campaign is tested on an ongoing basis and the results used to improve the return on investment. This can include reorganising ad groups, removing unprofitable keywords, removing low performing ads and testing different landing pages. This is where the new website optimiser will come in.

Here’s more information about the website optimiser.