marți, 17 iunie 2014

Bulk Update Ad Group Labels with an AdWords Script

Bulk Update Ad Group Labels with an AdWords Script

Link to White.net

Bulk Update Ad Group Labels with an AdWords Script

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 12:55 AM PDT

AdWords Labels! They're so useful! At least they are once you've got them applied.

You can use them to segment ad groups by product types, or tag recently changed bids, or see how a multi-ad-group ad test is going with ease… but for some reason, two years after their announcement, you still can't bulk edit labels. You can't even see them in Editor. You've got to manually add them in the online interface.

You could use comments in Editor instead of labels, but it's hard to make this work if you're in a team: comments aren't shared automatically. Also you can't see totals, and there isn't an easy way to get a time series.

There is, however, an alternative: AdWords Scripts can read data from Google Doc spreadsheets, and they can create and apply labels – so all you need to do is have a bulk sheet in a Google Doc and let a Script do the hard work.

Here's how to do that to apply labels to ad groups.

The Google Doc

Just go to Google Drive, create a spreadsheet, and fill it in a bit like this:
A spreadsheet with columns 'Campaign', 'Ad Group', 'Label' and 'Notes'

Leave the 'Notes' column blank – it isn't for your notes, it's where the Script will say if it's applied the label, or if there's been a problem.

The AdWords Script

In your AdWords account go to 'Bulk operations', then 'Scripts', then click the red '+ SCRIPT' button. Name it something sensible (like 'Ad Group Labeller') and copy and paste in this code:

function main() {
// Applies labels to specified ad groups, based on a Google Doc Spreadsheet.
// From http://white.net/blog/bulk-update-ad-group-labels-adwords-script/

//Change this to your spreadsheet's URL!
var spreadsheetUrl = "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/YOUR-URL-HERE";

var inputSheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(spreadsheetUrl).getActiveSheet(); //The sheet in the Google Doc
var i = 2; //Integer for the loop
var numberOfLabels = inputSheet.getLastRow() //Number of rows in the sheet, which is the number of ad groups that want to be labelled

while (i <= numberOfLabels) //This loops through all the rows
{
if (inputSheet.getRange("D"+i).getValue() == "") //If there are no notes for the current row
{

var labelCampaignName = inputSheet.getRange("A" + i).getValue();
var labelAdGroupName = inputSheet.getRange("B" + i).getValue();
var labelText =inputSheet.getRange("C" + i).getValue();

var printToSpreadsheet = "-"
//This is a variable that records what will be noted in the spreadsheet for each ad group (whether the label has been added, or there was an error)

var adGroupIterator = AdWordsApp.adGroups() //Finds the ad groups with the specified name and campaign name
.withCondition("CampaignName = '" + labelCampaignName + "'")
.withCondition("Name = '" + labelAdGroupName +"'")
.get();

if (adGroupIterator.hasNext()) //If there is an ad group then the label will be applied
{
var adGroup = adGroupIterator.next();
AdWordsApp.createLabel(labelText); //Creates the label - if the label already exists then there may be an error, but the Script will continue
adGroup.applyLabel(labelText); //Applies the label to the group
printToSpreadsheet = "Done";
}
else
{
//This means the ad group iterator was empty, so there wasn't an ad group of the right name (or a campaign of the right name).
printToSpreadsheet = "Ad group not found"; //An error message will be recorded in the spreadsheet.
}

inputSheet.getRange("D" + i).setValue(printToSpreadsheet); //Writes into the Notes column in the spreadsheet
Logger.log("Label " + labelText + " applied to '" + labelAdGroupName + "' in '"+ labelCampaignName +"':" + printToSpreadsheet); //Also writes into the Log

}//End 'if there are notes'

i = i+1;

}//End while loop
}

Remember to change the spreadsheet URL, so that it looks at the right spreadsheet!

You need to click the 'Authorise now' button before the Script can run (don't worry – it won't make changes aside from adding labels). Then you can click 'Run script now' and see if it works.

The Results

Check your ad groups – they should be labelled!

Also check the Notes column in your Google Doc:
The spreadsheet, now with the Notes filled in

Here you see there's been a problem with the last ad group – it looks like I've mistyped the ad group name. So I can either add a row to the bottom of the spreadsheet with the correct ad group name, or I could apply the label manually.

If the Script timed out then there would be rows without anything in the Notes column: in that case you can just try running the Script again.

And next time you want to label a bunch of groups, you can replace the contents of the Doc with the new set of groups to label and run the Script again – without any more messing with code.

Note – You're Likely to See Errors in the Summary

When you run this Script there's likely to be errors saying "You’re already using this label name". That's because AdWords needs you to create a label before applying it to something, and I haven't worked out an efficient way to check if a label exists: so the Script just tries to create a new label every time, and if it already exists then there's an error message which is just ignored. If anyone has a better idea how to handle this, please comment!

On the other hand, you won't see errors in the summary if ad groups haven't been found: you need to check the Google Doc for that.

Alternatives

PPC Hero also have a Script for applying labels to keywords, but it applies the same label to a list of keywords (and the label text is hard-coded, so you'd need to change the code manually to make different labels), and it doesn't have a way of coping if the Script times out. Also it goes through all keywords and then checks if they match one in the list – I'm not sure if this is more efficient in general than my 'grab the data lots of times' approach, but I suspect it's not as good if you only want to label a few keywords in a large account.

Scripts for Labelling Keywords and Ads Coming Soon…

So, does this Script work for you? Are there other similar Scripts I haven't found yet? Have you found a more efficient way to work with labels? If you've got any comments then write in below…

Image credit: Tagged by JD Hancock

The post Bulk Update Ad Group Labels with an AdWords Script appeared first on White.net.

SMX Advanced 2014 – Seattle

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 09:48 AM PDT

What a great week this has been! Why you may ask? Well this week I attended SMX Advanced over in Seattle, one of the most talked about and recommended search marketing conferences in the world.

The week started off with a trip to the Moz office for a look around, followed by the SMX Advanced conference and networking sessions, ending on Thursday with me and Stuart beating Matt Cutts and partner in a game of pool.

Beating Matt Cutts from Google in Pool at SMX Advanced 2014

But it was the conference that I was here for, and I wasn’t disappointed. The content that was available was great from some very good marketers. The calibre of the attendees was also extremely good, with some interesting questions being asked and some great conversations had during the networking sessions.

In this post I have provided my thoughts and some key points from a selected number of sessions that I thought you would be most interested in, and would provide the most value.

The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors in 2014.

The very first session of the conference was extremely interesting with some of the points that came from it. With Marcus Tober, Marianne Sweeny and Matthew Brown providing some valuable insight from there own experiences and survey data.

One of the biggest take-aways from the session was to make sure that what ever you do, whether it is from a marketing or UX point of view make sure it is done for the user. All three of the speakers spoke about the importance of site speed, and ensuring that both the user.

Here are some of the key points from this session:

  • SEO has to be concerned with UX and UX has to be concerned about SEO.
  • Understand what Google are going to use when there are not enough links to rank a page but the page is of value.
  • Mobile usage is continuing to increase at a rapid rate, but how do you link to a page on a mobile?
  • 77% of URLs are different in search when comparing Mobile vs Desktop usage.
  • Don’t make the image to overpowering, as users prefer the content.
  • Content is important, but it is more important to have quality content. To understand whether you have quality content you need to conduct a content audit/inventory.
  • Update your content on a regular basis where possible without changing the URL. This is especially true for those evergreen pieces that can be updated and shared regularly.
  • Create content for where the user is, not for where you think the user is. You can understand this by looking at pageviews and page/folder level within your analytics.
  • You really need to be utilising structured data, but you need to have the right markup implemented as it could lead to you losing clicks.
  • Focus on entity optimisation! This a big focus for Google, so you need to get up to scratch and quickly.

Keyword research on Roids!

For me, this session was mainly about the second talk with Rae Hoffman (@sugarrae) talking about how she uses SEMrush alongside other tools to find opportunities for optimisation and content. Now I am not saying the other talks weren’t great, I just felt that they were more talks about what you could do rather than providing actionable data.

Here are some of the key points from this session:

  • The question is not whether mobile is an important part of the process. Its about understanding how each device influences the consumer differently.
  • Conduct keyword research to identify topics that relate to content opportunities.
  • Utilise Analytics to identify the top 50-100 landing pages. Once you have these put them into SEMrush to identify the keywords that they are ranking for.
  • Segment your keyword research into categories. These categories could include topics such as content marketing, category pages, related terms and opportunities.
  • Do you know your position value? Use SEMrush’s total traffic, and remove the top 10 traffic driving terms to understand what portion of traffic they are driving.
  • Utilise the domain analysis tool within SEMrush to identify any keywords that you may have missed but your competitors are targeting.
  • You need to have a realistic understanding of whether you are really going to rank for a target term or phrase. Within SEMrush, they provide a keyword relevance score that will help you make the right choices.

During the Q&A of the session, there were two questions that drew quite a bit of discussion. The first was “what is more importaint in keyword research, search volume or conversions?” This was a relatively straightforward question in my opinion, with the answer being conversion first, utilising conversion rates to understand the potential money that you are going to receive, but if that isn’t possible then revert back to potential traffic.

The second question was how to utilise keyword data within GWT. The panel agreed that utilising the data was important but that the data is lost on a regular occurrence because GWT only shows 90 days worth.

Set an alert for every 90 days to download ALL of your GWT data or you will just lose it. – Rae Hoffman

and here are the slides…

What SEMs should do for Mobile.

A theme in a lot of sessions at SMX Advanced was that mobile is coming quickly, and the majority are not ready. Go and have a look at the Apple website on a mobile? Did you know that they don’t have a mobile website? Do they actually need one? Well that is another question but it goes to show that if one of the biggest companies in the world don’t have it nailed down, then what hope do the others.

For this session, the main focus was on strategy and advertising but one point that stuck with me is that people are having issues with tracking. We use many different mobile devices before we make a purchase, which makes attributing a purchase extremely difficult. This problem is something that will continue, but we would hope to be solved in the very near future.

Here are some of the key points from this session:

  • The question is not whether mobile is an important part of the process. Its about understanding how each device influences the consumer differently.
  • A critical step for mobile planning is to ensure your entire strategy, not just across mobile or other. It needs to be about business goals.
  • Mobile search drives multiple types of conversions – set kpis realistic to campaign objectives.
    • Enable click to call / call tracking.
    • mobie coupon codes.
    • enable location extensions.
    • instore mobile offers.
  • Mobile search drives multiple conversions and can’t be measured in isolation.
  • Utlise mobile ad extensions within advertising to take up more real-estate.
  • Track calls using different numbers across devices & desktop.
  • There are still people who have flip phones and use WAP. This means that you need to advertise to using WAP text ads.
  • Use localised numbers rather than 0800 numbers. People like to see real numbers.
  • There are 3 major problems with mobile – low conversions / the SEM auction is broken / there are tracking issues.
  • It is very difficult to understand cross-device attribution as there is so many touch points across them all before a purchase/action is made.

One bit of information that shocked me the most was how quickly the click through rate changes from position one to two when comparing it to the current desktop studies.

Click through rate dropped by 45% from position 1 to 2 on mobile devices – Jaclyn Jordan

Creating blockbuster content

As you would expect with the changes over recent times, content has been a big part of all the sessions that I attended. There was a constant message throughout that content that goes viral will not happen each and every time. It takes time to understand what works for each audience, what piece of content is relevant to the consumer at the right time, and is different or better than anything else that is available.

Here are some of the key points from this session:

  • Quality of content is far more important than quantity.
  • Content going forward needs to be mobile friendly, load fast, have authorship markup, include social signals and allows engagement.
  • Long form content tends to get more interaction, better engagement, is shared more and linked to.
  • Having great social signals gives a much better indication of the quality of content, alongside authorship.
  • Use keyword research to help inform content not be the main focus of your content.
  • Determine what works? Social signals, engagement, links.
  • Ensure that you break up paragraphs for easy reading and use images to summarise concepts.
  • Images are meant to serve a purpose not to fill a space.
  • Use internal search for content ideas.
  • Ask your staff one question to gather as much information as possible. “What is the one question you get asked all the time?”.
  • Use research tools such as Google Instant, Uber Suggest and yahoo Answers to see what people are looking for, and then create it better.

Content takes time. It can’t be done on a trial basis. It needs to be created, tested and updated to make content work.

and here are the slides…

Executing a Flawless Content Marketing Strategy

Here are some of the key points from this session:

  • Mobile apps are the future of content marketing, but HTML 5 responsive versions.
  • You need to have a strong call to action, otherwise what is the point?
  • Make your content interactive and engaging and it will help with getting to your goals!
  • Smaller newspapers generally have a more engaged audience, so look to these for coverage of your content.
  • Use Facebook Graph search to find journalists and gather as much information as possible. Use LinkedIn and send InMail for pitching.
  • Pitch as early as possible to have a better chance of getting interest and coverage.
  • Once you have a relationship, nurture it. its not a one night stand! Say thank you, use social & email to stay in touch, be available.

and here are the slides…

You&A with Matt Cutts & Danny Sullivan

As you would expect this was by far the most popular session of the conference with so many attendees wanting to quiz Matt about what is going on at Google, and what is coming next. Once this session got going it was extremely fast paced, so I am afraid I haven’t got many notes to share, however Rae Hoffman did an amazing job of tweeting and then fleshing out the content, so I would recommend going to have a read here.

Conclusion

Was it worth it? Yes! Most definitely. I have learn’t and picked up a lot of useful information whilst also meeting new people within the industry on the otherside of the pond. Now that I have experienced it, I am hoping that I can go back in the future, possible as a speaker…

The post SMX Advanced 2014 – Seattle appeared first on White.net.
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