The Conversion Optimiser: Getting 1 Up on the Dating game

1upSearch uses Conversion Optimiser to Halve Cost per Conversion and drive ROI on the Display Network

1upSearch is a London-based agency that provides both PPC and SEO services to a range of high-profile clients including Haymarket Publishing, NHBC and Wordtracker. Founded in May 2006, 1upSearch has enjoyed rapid growth and its tailored approach, with an emphasis on measurability and return-on-investment, has won favour with its expanding customer base.

Ian Howie, Account Director, says "Our speciality is return-on-investment." Because of this 1upSearch view AdWords conversion tracking as a vital tool in running great-value advertising campaigns. Howie says, "My view is you cannot do PPC without conversion tracking. I mean you can, but you cannot do any kind of ROI. Even if it is just a branding exercise, measuring a conversion or interaction is so valuable because you can measure down to the keyword level." As such, a corner-stone of the 1upSearch approach was the use of conversion tracking data to adjust bids and ensure profitable campaigns.

1upSearch had used bid management tools before for its clients but with mixed results. "Some were convenient," Howie says, "But there didn’t seem to be much advantage in terms of actual bid management." 1upSearch began using Conversion Optimiser shortly after the Beta launch. One of the first major implementations of the tool was with an online dating client. "Obviously," says Howie, "The dating market is highly competitive." As such, the client was acutely aware of margins and wanted measureable PPC results. Howie describes the results: "It took about 2-3 weeks to really kick in but when it did, you notice a huge difference because it really does work. The bid management works out the best positions and gets you the best price." Conversions began to increase steadily from approximately 100 per week to over 400 within nine months. During the same period the cost per conversion halved, resulting in the campaign exceeding its target in terms of return-on-investment.

The success of Conversion Optimiser for 1upSearch across industries has ensured that it is a key tool when planning tailored solutions for its clients. One approach has been to combine the bid management tool with Display Network campaigns. Howie says, "Often what we’re hoping to achieve with the Display Network are the same goals as on search… but to do it cheaper." Though while the goals can be similar, he is keen to point out the importance of tailoring campaigns to the Display Network: "Your Display Network can’t just be your search network campaign redone. It’s got to be something special. For example, your ad title is very important as you don’t have keywords to play with." Another key factor is the continual refinement of Display Network campaigns. Howie says, "We treat sites like keywords. We see the sites coming in using the performance placement report and then we use the site-exclusion tool to take out the sites we don’t want… it is a hybrid of permission marketing. If the person is on a web page that we can identify as being very close to what we can offer, then we’ve got a good match, even a great match, in fact, like a keyword." Conversion Optimiser brings automation and analytical bidding to the constantly shifting face of the Display Network. Howie says, "It definitely has helped ROI on our Display Network campaigns."

For 1upSearch Conversion Optimiser has delivered the enviable benefits of boosting conversions, consistently lowering the cost per conversion and saving time. This last benefit has fundamentally changed the way that 1upSearch works as an agency. Howie explains, "It’s taken a lot of the laborious bid-management stuff away. It allows us to do more strategic work with other tools like Google Website Optimiser and Google Analytics… It introduces a higher level of consultancy." The time that would have been spent analysing large numbers of keywords can be reinvested in website optimisation; studying user behaviour and ensuring an effective conversion funnel. 1upSearch is envisaging further growth and Howie concludes, "I think Conversion Optimiser has added an extra 25% to our business. It’s added a lot of value… one of our clients is actually having too much success at the moment. We had to turn it off so that they could catch up with the number of conversions coming in."

About Conversion Optimiser

The Conversion Optimiser is an AdWords feature that manages your advertising costs around specific conversion goals. Specify a maximum cost per acquisition (CPA) bid and the Conversion Optimiser manages your CPC bids for you, making adjustments based on the likelihood of a conversion in each ad auction. In addition to saving time in monitoring and managing your CPC bids, Conversion Optimiser advertisers may see better performance than manual bidding alone because it factors in different conversion rates such as search query, user location and conversion history of particular sites for each CPC bid. For more information about Conversion Optimiser, visit https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=60150&hl=en_GB.

About Google AdWords

Google AdWords is currently used by thousands of businesses worldwide to gain new customers in a cost-effective way. AdWords uses keywords to target ad delivery precisely to web users seeking information about a particular product or service. The programme is based on cost-per-click (CPC) pricing, so advertisers only pay when an ad is clicked. Advertisers can take advantage of an extremely broad distribution network and choose the level of support and spending appropriate for their business. For more information on launching your own campaign or getting expert help, visit https://adwords.google.co.uk.