Today’s PPC Chat was special as it was conducted in interview format.  Pat East (@pateast), President of Hanapin Marketing and organizer of the inaugural Hero Conf joined us to discuss the conference and one of the industry’s premier PPC blogs, PPC Hero (@ppchero).  The following is the transcribed interview:

(continue reading…)

An idea originating from a single tweet on Valentine’s Day (strictly coincidental, though I do love PPC) has escalated into a weekly PPC discussion conducted through Twitter among industry professionals.  PPC Chat, or #ppcchat (the hashtag used to identify the discussion), is a forum where those in the PPC industry can share, learn, and converse about all topics PPC.  The first chat occurred on Tuesday, April 5^th and has been growing in attendance each week.

PPC Chat occurs every Tuesday from 12 PM – 1 PM EST (9 AM on the west coast and 5 PM in London).  The format is quite simple as every week we present seven to eight questions about a specific PPC topic (links to Streamcaps and reviews of all previous chats can be found below courtesy of James Svoboda of WebRanking).  The questions are meant to engage and challenge the PPC audience as we critically think about the why and how of our industry.  Here are three reasons you should attend.

(continue reading…)

Hello PPC Chatters!

Now that Matt has successfully hosted 2 great PPC Chats with participation and insights from some truly talented pay per click professionals, we thought it might be time see where things are, and what improvements might be made. So this week we thought we’d implement a new recap of the weekly chat that we are calling the “PPC Chat Streamcap”. This new format will contain the questions asked, chatters responses and the Clever & Insightful Tip of the Week. Let us know what you think!

(continue reading…)

Week 2 of PPC Chat is in the books and what a discussion it was! This week’s theme was keywords. Everything from bid type to negative keywords was on the table. The chat began with a couple of questions about the different broad match keyword types.

Broad Match

Everyone pretty much agreed that AdWords modified broad match gives advertisers more control while still being able to cast a wider net.  Michelle Morgan commented that modified broad match makes it easier to target more qualified searchers while more importantly improving conversion rate over regular broad match.  Session based broad match on the other hand isn’t well received, especially when looking at search query reports.  Though we do see some conversions, CPA is sometimes too high to justify the exposed net.

(continue reading…)

PPC Chat is off and running as the inaugural event drew many attendees to discuss several prominent PPC topics.  Seven of the ten questions were asked in the hour and ten minute chat as we saw many great points raised.  Among the topics discussed were:

Audience Based Targeting

Many pointed out that Google’s Display Network (GDN) is making good improvements, but still lacks the user volunteered content that Facebook and LinkedIn have at their disposal.  Managed placements are still the best way to target audiences in the GDN.  Gathering user content could be the reason for Google’s recent social ventures, including +1 and better Gmail ads.  David Szetela also brought up the notion of “audience-need targeting” being better than keyword targeting, but again, not as effective as managed placements.

(continue reading…)

In early February I inquired about a Twitter PPC chat.  The response was great as many of you shared your excitement and willingness to participate.  The last month and a half has been extremely busy in my personal life, but I am now ready to devote my attention to making this PPC chat a reality.

The format for the PPC chat will be 10 questions, where I will act as the moderator. The tentative date for this inaugural PPC chat is Tuesday, April 5^th at 8 PM EST, and the hashtag for this event will be #ppcchat.  I apologize in advance to my UK colleagues as I know this time isn’t ideal for you.  Between all of our jobs and personal lives there is no perfect time for everyone, but for this chat I’ve chosen 8 PM with the stipulation that the time may change in the future.

I encourage you to leave comments below or email me at matt@theppcblog.com with questions you would like to discuss or any additional input you have regarding the chat.  This event is intended to benefit and enlighten all of us in the PPC industry, so let’s do our best to make it informative and enjoyable!