SEOs call these what?

Google Algorithm Update?

You do all realize that’s what this is.. you don’t hear SEOs saying they’ve been slapped do you?

Please dump the reference.. really! Slapped? Isn’t it time the Adwords community matured and started calling it the Adwords Algorithm Update?

Or let’s see..

Quality Score Update? Hmmm.. that makes sense.
QS Update? Short and Sweet

How about…

My Quarterly Dose of Quality Adjustments?

-Matt Levenhagen

P.S. I fought calling these slaps from day one, but I started saying it too - your subjected to something for so long it’s bound to happen.. I’m guilty, but maybe I can be the catalyst for change too.

P.S.S. This post is meant as a joke.. you can call it whatever you want and I’ll probably call it a slap too again.. but I’m just saying.

If you didn’t know, yes, some of us experienced one this last weekend; or maybe it’s not officially a slap (actually it took me a long time to even call these adjustments in the algo a slap, but since everyone uses it and understands what it references.. I guess I’ll fall in line ),

Whether it is or not, it’s at the very least a knock upside the head. I personally have a lot of work to do on a couple campaigns as all my best performing keywords are not inactive for search…

So what do we do? Every time one of these come along and I have campaigns affected I first ask myself..

“Does my page serve a good enough purpose for a visitor to stop off there before they go to the merchant… or would they be better off going direct?”

On more then one occasion I’ve had to answer that as ‘no’..

These days I do know the game and I’ve been plugging along just fine.. I have been adding relevant content etc., following their guidelines the best I know how.. But they must have once again tightened some factor up and away I went to $5-10 Minimum Bid requirements on some campaigns.

The ones most affected this time around for me were physical product sites I run.. Product pages and such. It is difficult to say.. to me I feel I’m providing some value, but apparently Google does not now.

But.. what are some things you can try when this happens? Here’s a short list:

1. There is an immediate desire to figure out the ‘why’. And there is a strong feeling to make immediate adjustments to try to get it to bounce back. But not so fast.. if you can do it without closing the door completely on what you have now, do it.. but sometimes Google makes mistakes or rolls something out and reverses it.. rolls back those changes; or makes adjustments tweaking the algo. So be careful there; don’t panic!
2. As the question I asked above.. does my page make sense - does it add value? And see if there are things you can do to provide more value on that page. Give Google a reason to give you a green light and cheap bids.
3. Try playing with your bids. You might be able to raise it up and coax it back down; you never know..
4. Play with your ads (but don’t delete any in the process in case you need to roll them back) - you might be able to affect the Quality Score enough to lower those bids..
5. Look at your keywords as well.. is there something you can do there? Target them better?.. or differently to pass Google’s test? Can you go the long tail route? Maybe they can be more targeted..
6. Consider all the other things you have control of in the Adwords Interface that contribute to the Quality Score
7. Review the Landing Page and Site Quality Score Guidelines
8. Go Direct to Merchant.. try it.
9. And as a last resort, consider starting from scratch on a new domain. Even move what you have currently to a fresh domain.

It’s all crystal clear for the most part right?.. 8O:?

Yes, some of you won’t have it that cut and dried and it won’t be an easy fix. I take the ’stay positive’ roll in this post, but I know when it’s YOUR money that has just been stripped from you that it’s not quite that easy to take it easy and slow.. and not panic.

But know this.. Everyone that I know that has gone through a slap and worked hard, tested their butts off, learned everything they could, applied it.. didn’t give up.. Didn’t get mad and made the necessary adjustments..

..They ALWAYS come back out the other end in better shape.

If you are going to advertise with Adwords, you must know that this is part of the game. A few times a year they are going to make adjustments to their algorithm. If you know and except that, then it’s easier to deal with.

I’ve always gotten excited actually when I’ve read people that were fed up and would never advertise with Google again; it’s music to some of our ears. It frees up some advertising space!

It’s like the move away from ‘Direct to Merchant’ campaigns when the ‘one URL rule’ came about. I loved it! Still do.. you would be surprised how many still make money driving traffic direct to the merchant.

I hope this one didn’t hit you to hard! If it did, just roll up your sleeves and you’ll be back on top in no time! Try and Stay Positive… and Good Luck!

-Matt Levenhagen

See: A Little AdWords Quality Score Sluething

Bill Slawski over at SEO by the Sea recently unearthed 3 patents filed by Google that map out the methods AdWords uses to determine the quality of an advertisement. As expected, the patents are mind-numbingly dry, but still we found them illuminating since the PPC Hero Team is constantly trying to breakdown the AdWords quality score to the most minute detail. As we are always looking to be of service to you, I read through these patents so that you wouldn’t have to. Here are the summaries and major points (from what I could decipher):

You’ll find some food for thought with the above analysis.. There are many factors that come into play and even though we may have an inkling of what they might factor in.. how much each weighs individually and how they interact collectively would be hard to ascertain.

Most of the major influences we already know and understand.. it’s the smaller blended factors… growing and accumulating as the algo develops… that will leave many Adwords Professional scratching their heads in wonderment trying to figure out why o why they are inactive and being asked to bid so much.

It’s not always just a matter of creating a better ad or making your landing page better.. there are factors that you don’t even have control over like the merchants you promote. Merchant sites could have penalties and hidden problems in their performance that you can’t know that are factored in.

But… having said all that, it is good to have a general awareness so you can do your best to try and win the game.

And… Also note patent filings are just that… it doesn’t necessary speak fact as to what they are or aren’t using or how much they are.

Food for thought.

-Matt “The Original Blaster” Levenhagen