Go Mobile! Series: A case study in optimizing mobile campaigns

More and more people are accessing the internet on their mobile devices. Take advantage of this trend by making sure that your ad campaigns are opted in to show on mobile devices with full internet browsers. If you’d like to take things to the next level, create separate mobile-focused campaigns so that you can optimize your keywords, ad text and landing pages for people using mobile devices.

To help you understand what mobile optimization looks like, we thought we'd share the approach that Razorfish, a global digital advertising agency, took for one of their retail clients:

• The Razorfish team started by duplicating the existing desktop campaigns and switching the settings to target mobile devices with full internet browsers.
• Since their client had a well-known brand name, they focused on branded keyword terms with enough traffic to help them learn quickly about what was working best for their campaigns.
• To measure performance, they tracked several conversion metrics including whether a mobile user looked up the brick and mortar store location or downloaded a coupon from the website. Right away, they saw a 7.5% lower cost per conversion on mobile devices, encouraging them to test ways to optimize their mobile campaigns.
• Razorfish tested whether variations in the campaign’s landing page would affect conversion rates. The team hypothesized that mobile users might be looking to take a specific action, and by starting the user’s experience closer to that action, the client would see better results. As it turned out, for this client, they saw much higher conversion rates when the user was directed to a landing page that showed nearby store locations.
• Finally, they tested variations in the ad text. Four versions of ad text were tested, including the original copy used in desktop campaigns. Each of the three new versions provided over 9.3% lift in conversion rate over the strongest performing copy in their desktop campaigns.

We hope you can learn from Razorfish's success and apply some of these strategies to your own mobile campaigns.

To learn more about the approach Razorfish took to optimize their client’s mobile ad campaigns, or read about other case studies, check out our Mobile Ads Success Stories.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Search Based Keyword Tool: 1 Minute Guide

As the end of the year approaches, you may be thinking about how to drive more traffic to your AdWords campaigns and in turn, to your website.

Millions of people use Google each day to find products and services by searching on various keywords. This means that by including all keywords that are relevant to your product or service in your campaigns, you can ensure you can ensure that you will reach a greater set of potential customers. To help you do this, you can use the Search-based Keyword Tool to quickly identify relevant keywords which aren't yet included in your AdWords campaigns.



Our 1 minute guide will show you how the tool works, as well as how it's already helped one AdWords advertiser to increase sales.

Watch the video today, and you'll be ready to start using the Search-based Keyword Tool right away.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew

AdWords & Analytics Sessions at SES Chicago

Next week on December 7th and 8th, you can catch presentations by the Google AdWords team at SES Chicago. We'll be offering practical tips on how to quickly improve your search and display ads performance in the following sessions:

• What's New and Exciting with Google Analytics: the latest tools and reports from our Analytics platform.

• Getting the Most Out of AdWords Optimization Tools: improve your campaigns with recently added AdWords features like the Opportunities tab, new data segmentation options, and custom alerts.

• The Next Generation of AdWords Bidding: Conversion Optimizer: learn how the Conversion Optimizer tool can help you achieve double digit percentage increases in conversions without increasing the cost per conversion.

Finally, if you want to learn more about AdWords optimization tools, you can also watch a video walkthrough of the improvements we've made to AdWords this year. Ariel Bardin, the lead Product Manager for the AdWords web interface, will take you through the major new features and give you tips on managing your campaigns more efficiently.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

Getting started guide for the Google Content Network

Google Content Network campaigns differ from Search campaigns in how they're set up, optimized, and tracked. If you've been interested in advertising on the Content Network but aren't sure how to get started, we now have a step-by-step Getting Started Guide to help you hit the ground running. You can think of it as a do-it-yourself instruction manual for how to best structure, optimize, and track your Content Network campaigns.

Not sure how to create an effective content campaign? You can refer to the campaign, ad group, and ad sections to find tips for optimal account structure.

Not sure what's working well? You can use the optimization section to determine which of your ads are performing well and which you should edit or delete. You can also take further control of your campaigns by learning how to select where your ads are shown and how to exclude certain sites and keywords.

Not sure how much to bid? Use the guide to learn more about how bidding works on the Content Network. You can also get tips to refine your bids and improve your performance.

Don't forget to check out our Content Network microsite for even more information on Content Network campaigns, including details on available ad formats and a list of some of the websites we partner with to show your ads.

Posted by Katrina Kurnit, Inside AdWords crew

Welcome to our Think2010 Series

In a mere few days, the 4th quarter will be upon us. Seems like just yesterday we were running our Do More with Less series to arm you with tools and tactics to show the 2009 recession who's boss.

As we start wrapping up 2009 and start thinking about what 2010 might hold, we're feeling optimistic. We're hoping we can transition from being your partner through the recession to being your partner through a recovery. That's why we're launching the Think2010: Getting Ahead of the Recovery series. For the next few months, we'll be devoting a weekly post to looking forward. The series will highlight wisdom from Googlers and outsiders alike, and offer opportunities for deeper learning. Over the course of the series you'll see posts on innovation, experimentation, speed, and deeper customer connections -- themes we believe will be critical to 2010 success.

In 2010 you'll likely have products to promote, news to share, and promotions to tout, so you'll need a targeting strategy that is as effective as those messages you have to get out the door. Precision and relevance will be as important as ever as you aim to (re)connect with customers and direct them your way. That's why we're focusing our first webinar of our Think 2010 series precisely on this topic.

Next Tuesday, Oct 6th, we'll be hosting a Think2010 webinar on “Using Data to Better Connect with Your Customers." If you haven't registered, take a look! Our very own Avinash Kaushik will set you out on the right foot for really (truly) making data actionable for decision-making next year -- and right now. He'll discuss core data sources to have in your 2010 targeting toolkit and show you how to capitalize on these tools for refining your targeting approach and honing in on your most relevant and valuable audiences. The webinar will also highlight how free tools like Google Trends for Websites, Insights for Search, and Ad Planner can help you be more efficient and help you confidently make decisions to maximize your return-on-investment.

As you scope your strategy and tailor your tactics for next year, we hope the Think2010: Getting Ahead of the Recovery series will be a good resource to help you charge ahead feeling informed and inspired.

Posted by Austin Rachlin, Inside AdWords crew

Stay Connected with your Google Industry Team on Twitter

Did you know that searches for "coupons" are up by as much as 95% year-over-year? Or that Google.com is highlighting TV and movie previews with our Video Plus Box product in the search results? Or even that "things to do" searches hit an all time high this summer?

The Google Auto, Media and Entertainment, Financial Services, Retail, Tech, and Travel teams are excited to announce the launch of our Twitter profiles.

Through the profiles, our teams will share:

• The latest industry trends and information
• Google insights and news
• Relevant product information and updates

To follow us, please click your industry: Auto, Media and Entertainment, Financial Services, Retail, Tech, and Travel

Posted by Austin Rachlin, Inside AdWords crew

Get on the (Google) Map!

As an AdWords advertiser, you're likely focused on making sure your paid advertising campaigns are performing well and delivering positive results - but have you also thought about taking advantage of the free ways you can promote your physical business location on Google and Google Maps as well? In this post, we'll show you how to ensure your business locations can be found on Google, and then we'll show you how to go a step further by promoting your locations with AdWords location extensions.

Free promotion

If your business already appears as a search result on Google.com and Google Maps, you can use Local Business Center to claim your listing and add additional information, such as photos, videos, business hours and more. It's completely free. If your business doesn't currently show at all, you can create a new listing, which is also free. Local Business Center recently launched a dashboard that lets you see how many users saw your listing, how many clicked on various links in your listing, and which search queries caused your listing to appear. To get you started with Local Business Center, we've put together some helpful tips on the kind of information you can and should include in your listing.

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Drive even more sales with paid promotion

In addition to ensuring your organic listings are up-to-date, you can use AdWords ads for additional promotion. Both location-targeted text ads and location extensions can appear on Google Search and Google Maps result pages. When you create location extensions, you'll be able to show your business addresses within your text ads. If you're a primary business owner, you can link your Local Business Center account with AdWords to ensure the most up-to-date information about your business is appearing within your ad. When you use extensions, you'll also be able to upload a custom icon that will appear when your ads show on Google Maps. This allows you to take a more active role in ensuring your business locations stand out when users look for businesses like yours in your area.

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So what are you waiting for? Take the first step and get yourself on the (Google) map by claiming or listing your business in Local Business Center.

Posted by Emel Mutlu, Inside AdWords crew

New Interface Thursdays: Tips for keyword management

Now that most advertisers are using the new interface exclusively, we want to share some efficiency tips to really unlock the potential of the new interface.

Focusing on what's important

In the Keywords tab you have several tools that help you focus on what matters to you.

First, you can customize columns to show only the metrics you care about and in the order you want. You can then use filters to focus on keywords that match a certain criteria. For example, you might only want to look at keywords that aren't converting well. Filters let you hone on what's important. You can find examples of good filters to try in this Help Center article.

And once you know what you're looking for, you can put AdWords on the look out. Using custom alerts you can tell AdWords what changes are important to you and be alerted when they happen both in your account and via email. For example, using filters you identify your best converting high volume keywords. You could create an alert to be notified if the conversion rate on those keywords drops compared to last week.

If you're working through a My Client Center account, note that you'll need to log in directly to an individual AdWords account to set custom alerts for now.

Changing many things at once

Once you've found what's important, the new interface makes it easier to make bulk changes to your keywords. First off you can select many keywords at once and click Edit to open up all fields for editing. To save time, you can do this all with your keyboard: select keywords with X, move up and down rows using J and K, and press E to get into edit mode. If you want to select a consecutive list of keywords, select the first keyword then hold the Shift key, and then click the last keyword you want selected.

While in edit mode, you can pause keywords, adjust your Max CPC, change the destination URL, and switch the match type. You can also copy bids and destination URLs to all rows. We've also recently added the ability to raise all applicable keyword bids to their first page CPC. From edit mode, just click Prefill all CPCs to first page bid.

You can also use spreadsheet editing to make bulk changes. Spreadsheet editing lets you work with your keywords as if you were using a spreadsheet. You can use formulas, copy and paste, and even find and replace. You'll find spreadsheet editing by clicking More actions then Spreadsheet edit. Remember that spreadsheet editing can only be done within an ad group.

Moving things around

Maintaining a good account structure is one of the keys to successful AdWords campaigns. So, from time to time, you may want to move things around a bit to create more refined, relevant sets of keywords and ads. This is where the copy feature comes in handy. Like spreadsheet editing, you'll also find copy under More actions.You can copy keywords to another ad group or campaign. When copying keywords, you have the option to also copy the bid and destination URL.

We hope these tips help you manage your keywords more effectively and improve your AdWords campaigns.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Inside AdWords crew

Improve your ads to capture more customers

Your keywords determine when your ad shows to potential customers, but it's the content of your ads that determines if users will actually click and visit your website. So we thought we'd share this short video with some best practices for creating winning ad text. You will see ideas for what you can test when writing your ads, which will help you to differentiate your business from the crowd and drive even more potential customers to your website.

(View video)

Did you like the video? We'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know. For more information, visit our entry on ad text optimization in the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

7 deadly sins of landing page design

Have you committed one of the "7 deadly sins of landing page design?"

Since it's the page visitors see after clicking your ad, your landing page is one of your most valuable tools. A bad landing page will drive visitors away, while a good one will turn AdWords clicks into customers. This is why we held a webinar on July 1st to expose the "7 deadly sins of landing page design", and explained how to fix them.

Tim Ash, one of our Website Optimizer Authorized Consultants, led this webinar and shared many insights and best practices to help advertisers improve their conversion rates. A recording of the webinar is now available for anyone who was not able to attend.

The recording is also available on the Website Optimizer Youtube Channel, where you can learn even more about improving your conversion rate with website testing.

We hope you will find these resources helpful as you improve your website landing pages to turn more clicks into customers.

Posted by Emel Mutlu, Inside AdWords crew

(Ad)Word of the Day: Ad Scheduling

If you want your ads to only run during certain times of the day or week, consider using ad scheduling, today's (Ad)Word of the Day.

Ad scheduling lets you control the days and times your ad campaigns appear. You may also choose an advanced mode, which allows you to raise or lower your bids for a campaign at certain times of the day.

Ad scheduling can help you better target your ads by selecting the times when you want to show ads. For example, if you offer special late night deals, you can set up an ad group to show those ads only between 10pm and 3am. You can also set different bids for different hours, so if you have better conversion rates during certain hours, you can set your bids higher to try and get more impressions and clicks during that time.

For more information, check out the article on ad scheduling in the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

Advertisers share their success stories and AdWords tips

After reorganizing their ad groups, ExecutiveChefEvents.com saw a 140% increase in their click-through rate (CTR). Many advertisers ask us how to improve their performance, and the answer is that simple one day projects, like the one ExecutiveChefEvents.com completed, can lead to big improvements in your performance.

Click on any of the video links below to see how these AdWords advertisers received more visitors to their websites, more paying customers, and more awareness about their businesses with a few simple changes to their campaigns. Each video will show you the problems the advertiser was having in their campaigns, how they improved their performance, and how you can do the same.

Expanding keywords: After adding keywords to their account, Adventures Cross Country saw a 55% increase in the number of people who filled out forms on their site. Watch the video and see how adding new keywords with consistent CPCs can help you reach more customers.

Organizing ad groups: After creating tightly themed ad groups, ExecutiveChefEvents.com saw an influx of visitors to their site and a 140% increase in their click-through rate. Watch the video and see how reorganizing your campaigns makes it easier for your customers to find you.

Testing new ads: After testing new ads, Studio 132 saw a 200% increase in CTR and a huge increase in phone calls for their services. Watch the video and see how testing ads with optimized rotation helps attract more potential customers.

Adjusting bids: After raising some keyword bids to meet or exceed their first page bid recommendations, MoonKnight Networks saw their call volume shoot up by 200%, with a 270% increase in CTR. Watch the video and see how adjusting bids can help you get more exposure and more clicks for your ads.

You can also view the entire playlist of videos here: www.google.com/optimization-success.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

Getting started with AdWords workbook

If you'd like more help getting started using AdWords, we'd like to show you the free Step by Step workbook that details the simple steps in building successful AdWords campaigns. The workbook breaks down advertising with AdWords into four steps:

• Organizing your campaign
• Picking the right keywords
• Writing targeted ads
• Putting it all together

Within each section you'll find definitions, tips, screenshots, and other helpful information to help you navigate your account and build your campaigns. Check out www.google.com/adwords/pdf/step_by_step.pdf to get started.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

6 tactics for maximizing your AdWords investment

The current economy has been tough on businesses and customers alike, and it can be a lot harder these days to connect with more price-concious customers. To reach these customers, our internal team of AdWords optimizers has come up with 6 tactics that will help your AdWords campaigns be more relevant to your customers.

1. Focus your ads on low prices and savings.

2. Use value-related keywords.

3. Make sure your ad groups are targeted and relevant.

4. Don't waste money on irrelevant clicks.

5. Make it easy for customers to buy.

6. Focus your money on your high-performers.

You can read more about each of these tips including examples and instructions at www.google.com/adwords/tactics and you can also view these tactics in a pdf format at www.google.com/adwords/tactics/top_tactics.pdf. We hope these tactics will help you continue to see good returns from your AdWords investment.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

New Interface Thursdays: Managing keywords and the Search Query Report

In this week's post, we'll take a deeper look into the Keywords tab in the new AdWords interface.

The Keywords tab lists the keywords within your account. Just like in the previous AdWords interface, you can add, edit, and create new keywords on the Keywords tab in your account. However, the new interface takes keyword management a step further with a feature called roll-up tabs. A Keywords tab is available at every level of your account, allowing you to see the keywords for a whole campaign, or even across all campaigns in a single list. This is helpful for tasks like identifying your top-performing keywords across your account.

You can also make changes to your keywords directly from any Keywords tab. For example, you can change a keyword's match type by clicking on the keyword and then selecting the desired match type from the drop-down.

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Additionally, you can pause and resume keywords, change your bid, or change the keyword itself on any Keywords tab across your account. If you want to make changes to multiple keywords at once, you'll want to use bulk editing. Select the keywords you want to change and then click the Edit button at the top of the table.

A nice feature of bulk editing is the Copy down button, which allows you to change bids across a number of keywords. For example, if you want to change your bids across multiple keywords rather than entering the bid manually for each one, you can click on the Copy down button next to the bid you're editing. Your bid will then be copied to all of the selected keywords. You can also copy down changes to keyword status or destination URLs.

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You can also find many of the features that we posted about in the past few weeks in the Keywords tab. If you want to quickly edit your keywords, remember that you have keyboard shortcuts at your disposal. You can also use customizable columns to look at the date in which you're interested. And, of course, you can filter your keywords, which can be especially helpful if you're looking at all the keywords in your account.

Another feature you can try on the Keywords tab is segmentation. By clicking the Filter and views button and then selecting Segment by Query Match Type, you can see the performance for each of your keywords broken out into broad, phrase, and exact match.

Using the Search Query Report

Earlier this week, we posted about the enhancements to the Search Query Report, which you can access directly from the Keywords tab in the new interface.

As a reminder, this report shows you the search terms that triggered your ads. To see the report, select the keywords of your choice and click See search terms, then Selected. You'll be presented with a list of search terms that triggered your ads for those keywords as well as metrics like CTR and conversion rate.

You can then make changes to your account directly from the report. For example, if you a see a search term that looks like a good fit, you can add it to your campaign. Just select the term and click Add as keyword. You'll also have the opportunity to set a specific bid and set the match type for the keyword. Likewise, if you see a search term that isn't a fit for your campaigns, you can add it as a negative keyword. When adding negative keywords, it's best to wait for data. You don't want to exclude a keyword too soon as you might miss out on relevant traffic. Also, you might try using a lower bid or using more targeted ad text before you exclude it completely.

When using this report, it can be tempting to tweak keywords that only have one or two clicks. If you want to get the most out of the Search Query Report, we recommend you focus on keywords with the most impressions and clicks. That's where you'll get the most value out of the changes you make.

Your feedback on the new interface

You've already given us lots of helpful feedback on what you like about the new interface, such as easier Content Network management and faster account navigation, and feedback on what needs improvement.

You can learn more about some of the top issues we're working to address by reading this article. We continue to work on changes to the new AdWords interface based on your feedback. Please continue to send us your feedback on the new interface using the Send Feedback link in the top corner of your account. Your feedback is very valuable to us as we continue to improve the new AdWords interface.

Posted by Austin Rachlin, Inside AdWords crew

New Interface Thursdays: Meet the Networks tab

In this edition of New Interface Thursdays we'll be talking about the Networks tab. The Networks tab replaces the Placements tab from the previous interface, and gives you more insight into where your ads are running. In the Networks tab, you can see your ads' performance across different networks like Google search, Search partners, and the Content Network.

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When looking at how your Content Network ads perform, you'll see that the new interface divides Content Network statistics into two groups: automatic placements and managed placements.

Automatic placements are pages in the Content Network where your ads have been contextually targeted. Contextual targeting matches the themes in your keyword list to relevant page content on the sites in our network. For instance, if you have 'ski equipment' as a keyword in your ad group, Google might contextually target your ads to a page talking about the best online ski equipment deals.

Managed placements are sites or specific URLs that you've singled out. With managed placements you can set a specific bid for a site. If a site is performing very well for you and you want to increase your exposure, you might bid higher for that placement. On the other hand, if a site isn't very relevant to your offer, you might lower your bid or exclude the site.

When you add a site to your managed placements, we still use your keywords to find contextually matching pages. You can think of it like a Venn diagram:

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Automatic Placements

Jumping back into the account, we can take a closer look at automatic placements. By clicking show details you'll see a table showing the sites on which your ads are running. If you've used the Placement Performance report in the previous interface this should look familiar to you. With the new interface you have this report right in your account.

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You can see that each site's performance is broken out. The green "Added" badges appear next to the sites which you've already added to your managed placements.

From this table, you have a few actions you can take. You can add a site to your managed placements with a separate bid for that site. If you want to see a breakdown of your performance on individual URLs where your ads were shown, you can select a site and click Show URL report. Also if a site doesn't meet your advertising goals, you can exclude it from your ad group or campaign.

Managed Placements

Your managed placements are shown in a similar table:

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Since you set specific bids for managed placements, this table has a Max CPC column. Like the rest of the new interface, you can make changes directly in the table. For example, if you want to change your bid for a placement, just click on the bid and enter a new one. As with your automatic placements, you can view a URL report to take a deeper look at where your ads are showing.

At the bottom of the Networks tab you'll find Exclusions. This area lists any placements that you've excluded to prevent your ads from running on them. You can exclude a placement at the ad group level or at the campaign level.

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That's it for our tour of the Networks tab. You can always find more information in the Help Center and at the New Interface site. 

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

Follow-up on the Content Network performance trends white paper

Last week, we released a study on performance trends on Google's Content Network. The study compared the cost per acquisition (CPA) on Google's Content and Search Networks and found that, for the median advertiser, the average CPAs were about the same on both channels. Since the release of the white paper, we've received some questions from our advertisers about why CPAs were similar and what actions you should take based on the findings in the white paper. We are addressing these questions in this post, and to better reflect the insights from the detailed analysis, we've made some clarifications to the executive summary and concluding paragraph of the white paper.

As the white paper indicates, the primary reason for similar cost-per-acquisition on the content and search networks is a result of our smart pricing system. Smart pricing is a feature that automatically reduces the price advertisers pay for clicks if our data shows that a click from a Content Network page is less likely to result in a conversion. This means that if our smart pricing system predicts a particular Content Network page is likely to have a low conversion rate, we will automatically reduce the price advertisers pay for that click. As the white paper indicates, the conversion rate on the Content Network sample was 27.9% lower than on the Search Network but this was offset by the fact that CPCs on content are 28.4% lower than search.

In terms of what actions you should take based on the findings in the white paper, we recommend you:

• Consider complementing your search campaigns with campaigns on the Content Network, if you haven't done so already. Remember that success on the Content Network starts with good campaign structure, so please refer to our optimization tips when setting up your campaigns.
• Use the new tools we offer for content optimization such as the Conversion Optimizer, Placement Performance Reports, and the Site and Category Exclusion tool. They can help you further tailor your Content Network performance to meet your advertising goals.

Of course, it's important to recognize that performance can vary from advertiser to advertiser, both in terms of CPA as well as conversion volume.

The report describes the experiences of those advertisers who adopted tools such as the Conversion Optimizer and Placement Performance Reports and continued to use them. We think that the evidence is strong that these tools have been useful to these advertisers.

We believe that search is still the most effective advertising medium for providing a strong base of conversions. At the same time, the Content Network can be a cost-effective way to gain additional conversions beyond those you get via search.

Posted by Emel Mutlu, Inside AdWords crew

Analytics and AdWords tips - Part 4 of 4

Last week we looked at finding your ROI for AdWords and also identifying keywords that aren't performing well. This week, in the last part of our series, the Google Analytics team will take a look at keywords that bring in revenue and also how to use Analytics to improve your ROI overall.

Which keywords drive revenue?

Just like you did with your poor performing keywords, go to the AdWords Campaigns report and click down to the Keyword level. Once you are in the AdWords Keywords report, click in the Revenue column header (you may have to click twice) so that the highest revenue keywords are listed first.

The high revenue keywords may or may not be your highest ROI keywords. If your ROI shows that you are losing or making little money on a high revenue keyword, you might want to adjust your strategy.

Using Analytics to improve overall website ROI

This series has shown you how to use Analytics to identify low and high performing keywords, find your highest revenue keywords, and weed out low performing keywords. Now that you're familiar with Analytics, you might want to explore some of the other ways it can help you improve your website's ROI. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

• Use Analytics to create an optimization plan to improve the conversion rate on your site
• Track your email marketing campaigns with Analytics
• Expand your keyword lists using Analytics with Insights for Search and the Search Based Keyword Tool
• Follow the 9 steps to becoming an Analytics Emperor
  
• Hire a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant to handle all your tracking for you
  

You can also find regular updates on how to improve your Analytics skills on the Google Analytics blog and Youtube Channel.

That's it for this series. Happy tracking.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

New Interface Thursdays: All about filters

Have you used filters in the new AdWords interface yet? Filters allow you to look at just the data you want within your account. You can use filters throughout your account and save them for later use.

Let's take a look at some of the cool things you can do with filters. First, no matter what tab you're in, you'll find filters under Filter and views.

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Setting up a filter is the same whether you're working with ad groups, keywords, or placement; though, the criteria you can filter by does depend on what you're trying to filter. For example, you can filter keywords by match type, but you can't filter ad groups by match type.

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To set up a filter, just specify the criteria you want. You can add additional rules to make your filter more specific. For example, you can set filters for clickthrough rate (CTR) and average position at the same time to see keywords with a high CTR appearing on the second page of search results. If you want to re-use the same filter repeatedly, you can save it by checking the Save Filter box.

Let's say we'd like to find high performing keywords across our account. Rather than hunting down all the keywords from ad group to ad group, we can just filter for high performance. Let's look for keywords with a CTR greater than 2% and conversion rate of at least 5%.

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Then, after we've filtered the list, we can make changes to our high performing keywords directly in the results table instead of having to click through to each ad group one by one.

Another place you might find filters very handy is in the Ads tab, which displays all your ads across your account, campaign, or ad group. Here's a way you could use filters to get better insight into your campaigns:

The Google Store has campaigns with two types of landing pages: product pages for a specific product like this t-shirt, and category pages for entire groups like all wearables. We'd like to know which type of page generates more sales. Since the URLs for our product pages are formatted differently than the URLs for our category pages, we can create a filter to show only ads that have category landing pages by filtering for destination URLs that start with http://www.googlestore.com/category.asp?

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With this filter, it's easy to see performance across all ads that drive traffic to our category pages. We can compare this to the performance we see on product pages. For the Google Store, we found that the category pages generate more sales than the product pages-- information that will help us improve our campaigns.

With filters on the Ads tab, you can also quickly identify ads with a specific approval status. This is a quick way to identify all pending or disapproved ads across your account.

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As you can see, filters have a lot of possible uses. We encourage you to try looking at your campaigns in different ways. You might be surprised at what you find. Happy filtering.

Posted by Austin Rachlin, Inside AdWords crew

Analytics and AdWords tips - Part 3 of 4

Once again we've asked the Google Analytics team to share some of their tips on how to use Analytics and AdWords together.  Last week we talked about how to link your two accounts and view your results.  To recap, the three steps you need to take are:

1) Link your AdWords and Analytics accounts (how-to video)

2) Configure goals (Help Center article)

3) Assign a value to your goals

This week we'll show you how to use Analytics reports to find your true return on investment (ROI) and identify poor performing keywords.

Which keywords lose money?

As we mentioned last time, the report for tracking keyword ROI is the AdWords Campaigns report in the Traffic Sources section. To identify the keywords that are losing you money, click the ROI column header twice so that the lowest ROI keywords are at the top of the list. Do you have any -100% ROI keywords? These are keywords on which you lost all of the money you spent (you paid for clicks on those keywords but no one completed actions on your site). But before you take any action in your AdWords account, consider how much you spent and whether you have enough data yet to make a decision. 

Very often, -100% ROI keywords are those that have only received a few clicks. You might want to wait until you receive more than one or two clicks on a keyword before you make any changes. And if you've only spent a few cents on a keyword, it's probably worth waiting to see if the keyword pays off.

If you want to learn more, you can check out this video on finding poor performing keywords.

Short date ranges may obscure your true ROI.

It’s generally not a good idea to make keyword changes on the basis of a few days worth of data. You’ll make better decisions if you also take into account your sales cycle and everything else you know about the specifics of your business online.

Consider your return customers – those that find you via an AdWords ad and then return later to buy again. You’ll miss these repeat conversions if you set too short of a date range. Also, it may take a few days for many of your visitors to become customers. By making decisions based on a date range that is shorter than your sales cycle, you might actually lower your ROI by discounting keywords that are actually profitable.

Try out different date ranges and see how your ROI is affected. Try the most recent days, week, month, and then look at this year’s data. You’ll have more – as well as more interesting – information upon which to base your decisions.

Next week we'll look at the Keywords Positions report and see how your ad position can affect performance.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew