Search Engine Optimization Book

SEO BOOK

Customer Tracking and Bid Management

How Tracking Works:

If you are paying by the click, you need to know what each of those clicks is doing.

From the second they click until they leave or purchase.

If your server is already equipped with great tracking software it is easy to add a tracking tag on the back of your ads. Instead of your Overture listing going to http://www.domain.com/salespage.html have it go to http://www.domain.com/salespage.html.source=ov+add=6+keyword=fred.

Tracking Software:

My favorite log file analyzer is ClickTracks. It displays the webpage in a viewable browser highlighting the click ratio for each of the links.

ClickTracks

also allows you to set up custom tracking tags to view traffic through different visitor paths. While the software is expensive to some at $500, it is a steal for some larger commercial websites.

Some other popular conversion tracking software options are

Keyword Max

,

Urchin

,

Index Tools

, &

WebSideStory

ConversionRuler

is inexpensive suitable software if you are primarily concerned with tracking pay per click results. ConversionRuler starts out around $20 a month.

Overture and Google also provide built in conversion tracking software which they provide free.

Google also created a free cross platform conversion tracking tool which comes with their AdWords product. It works for tracking email ads, banner ads, and various PPC search engine ads.

There are also free tracking services such as

Extreme Tracking

and

SiteMeter

if you want to access referrer stats easily, but I would not recommend using them for tracking any of your pay per click statistics.

If you are a heavy spender on pay per click you will most likely want to use bid management software.

Bid Management Software:

There are automated software programs which will track your bids and change them multiple times a day so that you achieve optimal efficiency with your ads.

These programs can do various things such as: list your site relative to another website, bid gap management (list your site right where the first large bid gap is),

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