Campaign Refinement Through Advanced SEM Tools
StrategyOver the years, Alta’s SEM agency has developed close relationships with the search engines. Due to these alliances, the engines often ask the agency to be involved with beta tests of new tools and ensure they are one of the first to know about future advancements. The agency used Google’s suite of research tools (Ad Planner, Insights and Trends) to enhance targeting. Yahoo!’s new geo-targeting functionality was used to enhance campaign delivery. MSN’s bid adjustment feature was used for time and day parting. Proprietary technology allowed the agency to set up order ID numbers and further sharpen geo-targeting techniques. And Google Website Optimizer was used to create better landing page designs. The overarching strategy was to use each and every tool available to better manage the Westwood College search campaigns.
Google Tool Suite
Ad Planner – Google Ad Planner is a research/media planning tool that connects advertisers to publishers. It provides data about various websites, such as user demographics and related searches. The SEM agency used Google Ad Planner to learn which other sites were being visited by Alta’s users. This knowledge gave the agency a better understanding of Alta’s audience and helped them to select appropriate sites to target within Google’s Content Network. The agency might have assumed that some of Alta’s audience would also be interested in interior design blogs or video game advice websites (Westwood College offers interior design and game design degrees); however, it would have been complete conjecture. Through Ad Planner, they discovered that Alta’s audience visited many seemingly incongruent sites, such as Cooks.com, VH1.com, MyFunCards.com and AutoTrader.com. Ad Planner helped the agency eliminate guesswork and reach the most relevant audience.
Google Ad Planner revealed information about demographics and sites associated with Westwood College.
Trend -- Google Trends allows one to see how often a particular topic has been searched over time, how frequently it has appeared in news stories and from which regions people searched it the most. The agency used this tool to find out trending data about Alta and their top competitors. This information was applied to the overall search strategy to further target geographic regions and optimize bid strategies.
Google Trends revealed geographic locations of searchers along with other sites they visited.
Insights – Google Insights allows one to compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties. Combined with the other Google search tools, Insights data helped the agency set geo-targeting parameters and provided further evidence for time/day parting techniques.
Source: Google Insights revealed search volume patterns across specific regions, categories and time frames.Campus-targeted PPC
Through the use of proprietary technology, the agency found a higher incidence of leads generating from areas where Westwood and Redstone had actual physical campuses. This not only applied to on-ground programs, but also to online learning programs. The agency removed targeting from entire states and, instead, began geo-targeted paid search campaigns to areas with campuses using Yahoo!’s new geo-targeting capability. Until recently, Yahoo! geo-targeting functionality was built around DMAs, which did not allow for a specific focus, especially in more populous regions. Yahoo! refined their geo-targeting to zoom in on certain cities and begin offering a zip code targeted beta feature.
Previously, Yahoo!’s geo-targeting was build around DMAs, which oftentimes stretched from hundreds of miles and included irrelevant traffic. Yahoo! now allows advertisers to zoom in on targeted cities and zip codes for even greater focus.Yahoo!’s new geo-targeting functionality allowed the SEM agency to provide more consistent and focused delivery of Westwood College ads. By focusing on small, localized areas, the agency was also able to bid on high-volume, generalized terms (e.g., "graphic design degree," "online college," "degree program," etc.), which carry an extremely high price tag and are not cost effective on a national level. Additionally, the agency included geo-modified terms and themes in ad copy, further increasing relevancy of ads and making them more appealing to searchers.
By adding geo-modified messaging, the ads appeared more tailored to each individual searcher.Day/Time Parting
Day and time parting is fairly obvious for a retail store with brick-and-mortar locations. For these businesses, most sales occur throughout the day at times when the store is open; therefore, a wise SEM agency would bid more aggressively during these times. But what about a school whose target student is a full-time employee between the ages of 17 and 35 looking to earn a degree so that they many further their current career or start fresh in a new direction? These individuals are not your typical four-year college type and their varied schedules result in random search habits. How then could the SEM agency leverage day and time parting?
Keeping with the theme of evaluating concrete information about actual searcher habits, the agency analyzed historical data provided by proprietary technology to determine the most popular time for various locations and degree programs. Next, they used MSN adCenter to target by day and time for each campaign (e.g., they bid more aggressively on interior design keywords from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Sundays).
For each degree program and campus campaign, the SEM agency increased bids on certain days at particular times within MSN adCenter.Order ID Tracking
The SEM agency’s main goal for Alta is increased leads, meaning the user signs up to receive more information about the school and how to apply. Alta’s ultimate goal, however, is to receive increased applications and starts(i.e., users that actually to the college and then start their education). Rather than simply sending Alta leads, which may or may not turn into applications, the agency hoped to link their efforts to the ultimate goal, thereby holding them more accountable for Alta’s success and helping them to improve online marketing efforts.
To do this, the agency developed an order ID tracking code, which identified the engine, campaign, ad group, keyword, degree program of interest and campus that resulted in an application. An order number was attached to each student that submitted a form requesting more information (lead). If that lead went on to complete an application, the order number followed. The order ID code was tracked by proprietary technology, allowing both Alta and the agency to see results on each end. The agency then matched up lead order numbers with application order numbers, which effectively showed how many applications were generated by their SEM efforts.Google Website Optimizer
Google Website Optimizer (GWO) is a multivariate landing page testing program that allows one to determine the best performing images, content and layout. The beta version of GWO was first released in late 2007 and the full version launched in April 2008. Alta’s SEM agency began working with the beta program immediately and Alta was the first client they began optimizing for.
Over the years, the agency had developed some 70 landing pages for Alta’s various campuses, schools and degree programs. Rather than develop intricate GWO tests for each and every page, they opted for a more streamlined experiment that drew on psychological aspects of prospective students. Focusing on the degree program landing pages for Westwood College and Redstone College, the agency hoped to develop a correlation between the type of searcher, program of choice and placement of the contact form on the page.
As most people know, contact forms are typically located on the right side of the page. Is this because, in English, we read left to right? Or is it because most people are right-handed and prefer to do things with or on their right side? Gears began turning in the SEM agency’s heads. They remembered from pysch 101 that the right side of the body is controlled by the left side of the brain and they also remembered that left-brained individuals are more logical and numbers focused. Could this mean that left-brained individuals would prefer Alta’s more analytical programs, such as accounting, paralegal and information systems security? The gears churned faster as they imagined the implications this could have for Alta and the SEM industry as a whole.
Common characteristics of hemisphere dominances.The agency hypothesized three things: 1. the lateralization of brain function (i.e., right-brained and left-brained) dictates which side of the page a user prefers to complete a form on; 2. a user’s brain lateralization can be determined by their degree program choice; and 3. right-brained degree program landing pages will perform better with the contact form on the left and vice versa.
Before further researching brain lateralization and how it relates to career choice, the agency got the experiments off and running. They developed A/B split tests using the original page with the form on the right versus the new page with the form on the left for all degree program pages.
The SEM agency created a mirror image of the original landing page (left) and tested the two layouts using Google Website Optimizer.Then they hit the books to learn more about hemisphere dominance. They discovered which careers are linked to each brain dominance and associated these with Alta’s degree programs (see chart "Right-Left Degree Programs").
Left-brain Westwood College degree programs versus right-brain Westwood College degree programs.
