Google Grants/SEM for Nonprofits

Introductions

Agenda 1. 2. 3. 4.

How Grants Works and How it Differs from Paid Ads Grants Best Practices Keyword Match Types Remarketing

Appendix: 1. Resources 2. Suggested Reports

AdWords Ads Appear Near the Top of the Search Engine Results Pages.

Paid Ad Results

Free Organic Results

How Paid Search Works versus Grants Due to Grants restrictions, there is a limit to what you can do with your nonprofit account. Feature

Google Grants

Paid Search

Budget Caps

$329 per day per $10,000 account (if $229 spent one day, can’t use remaining $100 another day)

None

Max cost-per-click

$2.00

None

Ad Type

Only text ads

Text, image, banner, rich text

Ad position

Ad shows lower on a search page and are clicked less often

Can show in any position, depending upon CPA target

Campaign choices

Can only run keywordtargeted campaigns

Can target by keyword, location, demo, interests, etc.

Search partners

No

Can run ads on third-party search engines, such as AOL

Source: Adapted from Google Help Materials

5

Best Practices for Google Grants Best Practice

Detail

Target Your Audience

• • • •

Choose Right Keywords

Google Keyword Tool

Include Target Keywords in Your Ad Text or Headline

The keyword tool can help you determine high-traffic keyword opportunities.

Use a Relevant Landing Page

This can help increase the number of people who convert.

Use a Strong Call to Action (CTA)

Make sure it’s clear what you want people to do. Donate? Sign a petition?

Global or nationwide Regions/cities Languages Zip Code—Good for groups serving a small, limited geographic area

Use Conversion Tracking Source: Adapted from Google Help Materials

Anatomy of a Text Google Grants or Paid Search Ad

• Headline uses brand name • Site links offer more ways into the website • Clear call to action (Make a donation now.)

Google Keyword “Match Types” Explained • • • • •

Broad match Broad match modified Phrase match Exact match Negative keywords

Broad Match An organization working to save ducks should avoid a general word like “duck.” The following are terms that could trigger an ad with “duck” as a keyword: • Duck tape • Donald Duck videos • Duck hunter • Save ducks • Duck recipes

Phrase Match Appears Like This: “Donald Duck” Your ad would appear when the above appears in a person’s search query and would be triggered on the following: • Donald Duck • Donald Duck videos • I love Donald Duck The ad would not show if someone typed “Who was Donald the Duck?”

Broad Match Modified Appears Like This: +Donald +Duck •Can specify search terms that must be included in someone’s search query to trigger your ad. •Lets you use keywords that have more reach than phrase match and more control than broad match. •Created by adding a + symbol directly in front of one or more words. Each word proceeded by a + must appear in the user's search exactly or as a close variant. •Close variants will include misspellings, singular and plural forms of a word, abbreviations and acronyms. •Source: Adapted from Google Forum.

Exact Match Appears Like This: [Iced tea] The above would trigger an ad only with that phrase and not on a phrase like “iced tea recipe.” • Good match type to use if your phrase has more than one meaning.

Negative Keywords • A list of negative keywords can prevent your ads from showing on unrelated terms. • This list can be added into your AdWords account. An organization that saves ducks might want to use the following words to prevent adds from showing on the following: • Hunter • Donald • recipes

Helps organizations raise their online visibility and acquire supporters.

Google Adwords and Analytics, online strategy, content and social media. Contact Brett Gerstein [email protected] / 202-302-1502

Remarketing

Remarketing Explained • NOT part of Google Grants. • Displays text and image ads to your website visitors. • Ads appear on Google’s display network (92% reach, millions of sites).

Remarketing Explained • Also appear on mobile. • 320 x 50

Remarketing Explained • • • •

Need to add extra code from Adwords to your website. Google drops cookie on user’s computer. Minimum 100 cookies must be collected. Must update privacy policy on your website. Google “Adwords remarketing privacy policy” for ideas. • Opportunity to re-engage. – According to Forrester Research, 96% of people who visit a website leave without completing the action the marketer would have liked them to take. – Not necessarily the last click before donating though.

Remarketing Explained • Remarketing Lists – Tells Google what conditions must be met to show remarketing ads.

• Create remarketing lists in Adwords – Pages visited are most common type: • People who visited my donate page but did not donate. • People who have donated (December 31 appeal?). • People who visited pages on a specific topic.

• Create remarketing lists in Google Analytics – Google Analytics and Adwords account must be linked. – Based on metrics from your website. – Examples: • Based on location. • Based on number of site visits. • Font size.

Remarketing Explained • Set membership duration for your lists. – Determines how long someone stays on your list. • Example: 30 versus 60 days since last visit to your site.

– Try different ads depending on how long it’s been since they visited your site. – Try bidding higher for more recent visits.

Remarketing Explained

Remarketing Explained • Set frequency cap – Determines how often someone sees your ad to prevent burnout and “creepiness factor”.

– Consider starting with 2 impressions per week per campaign. – Check stats after ads have run for a while to determine when clicks drop off and set new threshold.

Remarketing Explained

• Info goes here

Remarketing Explained • Try creating multiple ads to combat fatigue. – Different sizes and creative.

Remarketing Explained • After lists are completed, create a new Remarketing Campaign in Adwords. • Create Ad Groups and import individual remarketing lists into them. • Place ads into your ad groups that resonate with people on your remarketing list. – Example: Help refugees in Syria ad targeting people who visited your Syria section.

• Try text ads too but image ads convert better. • Bidding – Bid higher for remarketing ads in general. – Bid even higher for past donors and more recent visitors.

Remarketing Explained

• Additional Opportunities: – Similar Remarketing Lists • Creates list of new people who never visited your website who are similar to those on your remarketing list. • Good for branding • Add them to a new campaign that is not focused on remarketing. • Can help grow traditional remarketing lists if they visit your website. • Must have 500 cookies.

Remarketing Explained – Remarketing Lists for Search Ads • Shows Google search ads to people on your remarketing lists. • Add remarketing list to existing search campaigns and use bid adjustment to increase bid for people who are on list. • Or create new campaign to bid on broad match keywords you normally wouldn’t and target with remarketing lists only. Ex. “charity”, “non profit”. • Must have 1,000 cookies (normal remarketing is 100).

Appendix

Resources

• Google Adwords Support: https://support.google.com/adwords • HubSpot: http://blog.hubspot.com/ • Search Engine Land: http://searchengineland.com/ • Search Engine Watch: http://searchenginewatch.com/ • WordStream: http://www.wordstream.com/blog • PPC Hero http://ww.ppchero.com

Suggested Reports to Review • • • •

CVR (conversion rate) AOV (Average order value) Grants spend versus revenue Search query reports