Google’s Ad Extensions allow PPC advertisers to display more relevant information to users in their sponsored listings.

There are a number of different extensions which advertisers can choose to implement and they provide benefits such as the ability to give users the option to click through to a specific area of a site directly from the PPC ad, display relevant location information for brick and mortar businesses based on where the search is being conducted and display a click to call phone number for mobile devices.

Ad extensions don’t cost anything extra, an advertiser just pays the same amount that they would for a click on their regular ad.

Ad Sitelinks

An example Google Ad Sitelinks Ad Extension

Ad Sitelinks is an Ad Extension which includes additional relevant links to various areas of an advertiser’s site within the PPC advert.

This can prove to be useful as it gives the user even more information about the services that you offer and allows them to direct themselves to the page that they are most interested in rather than you (the advertiser) trying to make that decision for them.

This can potentially lead to increased conversion rates by reducing the number of steps, or clicks between an impression and a conversion and therefore reducing the risk of them abandoning the process

Location Extensions

An Example of a Google Location Extension

Location Extensions allow advertisers to display geographical information within their PPC ad, by showing users a map and the address(s) of that advertisers physical store locations.

The user has to expand the ad to view this additional information and Google shows the locations of the advertiser’s stores which are nearest to where the search is being conducted.

This feature is obviously most useful to those advertisers who have brick and mortar businesses. It is a useful Ad Extension as it provides the user with additional information that can enhance their search and allow them to view location information without having to navigate their way around the site.

Also it provides advertisers with an extra means of filtering out users who may ultimately decide not to deal with a particular business because of its location, therefore cutting down costs by discouraging these unwanted users from clicking on an ad.

Phone Extensions

An Example of a Google Phone Extension

Phone Extensions, quite simply display the advertisers pre-defined phone number within their PPC ad and when the user views this ad during a search conducted from a mobile device, they can click the number to call it directly.

The benefits of this feature are that a user can quickly and easily contact the business they are looking for and for those advertisers whose business models revolve around calls as conversions, once again the number of steps between an impression and a conversion is reduced.

Particularly with someone who is new to the concept, Pay Per Click or PPC, as an internet marketing advertising model can be confusing. Trying to get your head around the way it all works is hard enough without having to keep stopping and finding out what particular words and abbreviations actually mean.

This is why we have put together our PPC Jargon Buster, to provide beginners or even those that just aren’t quite experts yet, with a quick reference guide that will help you to easily get a grasp on some of the fundamental areas of PPC advertising.

So whether you are just starting out running your own PPC advertising campaign or even outsourcing a marketing agency/individual, this guide will explain some of the main points of reference that you will begin to encounter and ensure that the wool isn’t being pulled over your eyes by a slick talking, jargon wielding, PPC cowboy…… (careful, there are a lot of them out there.)

Why not add this page to your favourites so you can quickly refer back to it when you need to?

PPC: Pay Per Click

The Internet marketing model which allows advertisers to show adverts to users of search engines through the use of an auction based bidding system. When a user conducts a search using keywords that an advertiser has bid on, their advert will enter the auction and be shown to the user in the sponsored links section of the search results. The advertiser only pays if their ad is clicked.

SERP: Search Engine Results Page

The page that is shown when you conduct a search on a search engine.

Keywords:

The word or phrase that a user types into the search engine. An advertiser chooses which keywords their potential customers are most likely to search for and place a bid on them for their advert to be shown in that users search results. Keywords in other context can also be referred to as the Search Query.

CPC: Cost Per Click

The amount that an advertiser pays for one click on their advert. An advertiser sets their Maximum CPC for each keyword that they are bidding on, to define the highest amount they would be willing to pay for one click on their advert, when it is triggered by a search for that keyword. The auction based system means that advertisers don’t always have to pay the Max CPC so often the Average CPC is referred to as a way of identifying the average actual cost per click that they have been paying.

Impressions:

An impression means that your advert has been shown as a result of a user searching for a keyword that you are bidding on. Your Ad gets shown 20 times…you’ve had 20 impressions.

Clicks:

If your Ad gets shown in the search results and a user clicks on it, that’s one click. A well written Ad shown for a search on a relevant keyword is more likely to get a click (send a user to your website).

CTR: Click Through Rate

This is the ratio of how many clicks have been received compared to how many times an Ad has been shown, expressed as a percentage. A CTR of 100% means that every time your Ad has been shown, it has been clicked on and is virtually impossible to achieve.

Conversion:

A conversion is when a user completes the ultimate action that you want them to take. If you sell products from your website, a conversion would be when a user is shown your Ad, clicks on it to go through to your site and then completes a transaction to purchase one of your products. In that example 1 conversion equals 1 sale. A conversion could equal 1 sign up to your newsletter, 1 visit to a specified page on your site or whatever you want it to be.

Cost Per Conversion:

Sometimes referred to as CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), this is the average cost that you have had to spend on PPC advertising per each conversion that you have managed to generate.

Quality Score:

Quality Score is a value that Google attributes to every single individual keyword that an advertiser is bidding on and is indicative of how relevant a keyword is to a) the Ad that it is linked to and b) the web page that the Ad is linked to. A score of 1 – 10 can be assigned with 10 being the best. Quality Score can affect your position in the search results and the amount you have to pay. The main metric that affects your quality score for an individual keyword is its CTR. The higher the CTR, the higher the quality score (generally speaking).

Ad Rank:

The metric that Google uses to determine each advertisers position in the search results, the advertiser with the highest Ad Rank, appears in the highest position in the search results. Calculated by Quality Score x Max CPC, ultimately means that the higher your quality score, the less your Max CPC would have to be to appear in the same position as you would with a lower Quality Score.

For more assistance with PPC visit the 11 out of 10 PPC Management Page.

MailStrom, the email marketing solution by 11 Out Of 10 is now live and available to users. This is a cutting edge piece of email marketing software that provides users with an intuitive system allowing them to design, build and send out custom email marketing campaigns using our professional templates.

The MailStrom service also allows users to view detailed reports on the success of their email campaigns and therefore easily calculate an accurate Return On Investment (ROI). The reports track metrics such as number of opens, number of clicks, bounce rates and can also track conversions for e-commerce purposes, so you can directly attribute any number of sales from your site to a particular email marketing campaign and analyse its effectiveness.

This email marketing solution is also cost effective as we recognised the importance of providing our users with the flexibility to be able to use the service either on a “pay as you go” basis or to opt for an annual agreement.

MailStrom really is an all encompassing email marketing solution that has been designed to aid everyone from an absolute beginner to a seasoned email marketer. You do not need to be familiar with HTML to build your emails with our service as you can utilise our “WYSIWYG” editor and if you need a bit of extra help getting started, for a small extra cost, we can design a quality, bespoke HTML template in line with the look and feel of your website, which will be uploaded to our system, ready for you to use.

So if you are looking for a cost effective email marketing solution that allows you to build high quality, professional email marketing campaigns and also provides you with a detailed email marketing tracking and reporting system to effortlessly analyse the success and ROI of every email you send out, then MailStrom Email Marketing is the answer.

Visit MailStrom Email Marketing Manchester

The Judges Said

“For the first time this year, this category combined entries from both classic ecommerce businesses and companies that were using the web or mobile to deliver or significantly enhance their performance: quite a challenge to judge. However, the judges felt that the winner had applied an interesting online commercial model to a traditional offline leisure business and provided excellent evidence of how this had transformed the operation.”

Entrant’s Description

Pure Gym is a new concept in the leisure industry: a 24/7, contract free, no frills gym based in the heart of UK cities: This concept is underpinned by a new online management system. Processes that required human intervention or that hindered clients accessing facilities have been replaced by automated user-friendly procedures. The Pure Gym system is now being rolled out to support 20 more new gyms. The competitive advantage for Pure Gym is tremendous. Rival enterprises have recognised the danger posed by this new system and are now investing heavily in order to compete on price and service.

Shortlist 2010

• 11 Out Of 10 Ltd. with Pure Gym
• KMP Digitata with Jetparks.co.uk – Manchester Airport Budget Car Parking
• KMP Digitata with “Amy” – Asda’s Virtual Assistant
• Stardotstar with Nosey Parker

Judging Criteria

An entry in this category can be any digital project with a direct commercial objective, for example a B2C or B2B website or e-commerce project, or a mobile content business. Entrants should demonstrate the business benefits of the project (for the commissioning business if the entrant is an agency), by generating more business or new business, or by optimizing parts of the business process. (Pure marketing websites and projects should be entered in the Best Digital Marketing and Brand Development category.)

Quote from Phil Newton (Director)

“We are honoured to accept the Best E-Business project for the work we have done with Pure Gym. This is a fantastic achievement for our business to be recognised amongst some of the best agencies in our industry.“

11 Out Of 10 are proud to announce that we have been shortlisted in the Big Chip Awards 2010 for the Best E-Business Project.

The nomination in this category is for our work with Pure Gym 24 hour gyms and fitness centres.

Pure Gym is a new concept in the leisure industry: a 24/7, contract free, no frills gym based in the heart of UK cities and this concept is underpinned by a new online management system.

Client memberships can be completed within a matter of minutes – in the comfort of a client’s home or in the gym foyer – and thereafter entry can be gained with immediate effect.

The new system dispenses with the need for reception staff, card readers or any paper based systems to be employed. Gym membership is open 24/7 and all barriers to signing up at any time of the day has been removed.

Pure Gym already have established fitness centres in Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Wolverhampton and the new Sheffield gym opens in May. They plan to open 20 more no-frills gyms and fitness centres across the UK by 2014.