The Clickable Search Engine Marketing Blog

Site Placement Basics 



Until recently, AdWords advertisers had little control over their content network ads. The lack of control led to untargeted ads with low conversions and high costs, especially relative to search network ads. As a result, the majority of advertisers began turning off content network ads and focusing their efforts on improving their search network ads instead. 



The introduction of the "Site placement" targeting option has ushered in a plethora of new features that gives advertisers control over nearly every last detail of their content placements. The new system enables advertisers to control bid pricing, specify demographic targeting and handpick the sites they'd like to see their ads appear on. 



How do I select the best placements for my business? 

Selecting your placements may seem like an overwhelming task, considering that Google's network includes thousands of sites from around the world. Luckily, there are a number of sorting options available to make the process a little less challenging.

1) Browse Categories  – Google has developed an intuitive hierarchal directory of sites  available in the Site Placement network. Here advertisers can browse  by categories such as Entertainment > Comics & Animation.  This is a great way to explore and discover new sites within the Site  Placement universe.

2) Describe Topics – This is a great option if you have an existing keyword list and are interested in searching  for sites specifically geared towards your keywords.

3) List URLs – This allows advertisers to simply  enter a list of sites they want ad space on. Keep in mind, only publishers currently participating in the Google Content Network are available through Site Placement. To avoid confusion, this method is not currently supported within Clickable. It’s best to find sites you’re interested in by browsing for them using the first method; this way, there’s no question that they’re available on the Content Network.

4) Select Demographics  – This is a good option for the advertiser less concerned with specific  sites or topics and more focused on reaching a specified audience.  The Demographic targeting tool allows you to set Gender, Age and Household  Income, among other advanced variables. This method is not currently available within Clickable, but will be in the future.

Vetting for Quality and Relevance

When selecting sites in the Site Placement system, you will be presented with some important details about each placement. In addition to the site name (URL), Google will provide you with an average impression share and the ad formats accepted by each site.

A few factors to consider before adding a site to your targeted list:

1) As advertisers we are motivated  by traffic--the more traffic the better, right? This may be true in  brand awareness campaigns, but it's not always the most efficient  way to spend your budget.

For example, in many cases Myspace.com is the top listed Site Placement domain– sure there is a potential for a lot of traffic, but is that traffic relevant to your business? Don't always go for the site promising the most traffic. Focus on building a list of specific niche sites closely related to your offerings. Highly targeted audiences are more likely to connect with your business.

2) Visit the sites before committing  your ad spend. When you decide to syndicate ads on a publisher site you are effectively "partnering" with the site. Are you comfortable with the content and the audience the site attracts?

3) Last but not least, be sure  that your ad format is accepted. By and large, this is not an issue  for advertisers focusing on text ads – virtually all publisers in the Google Network accept text ads. However, if you are planning on  using banner or video ads, verify that your ad's dimensions and format  are accepted. This information can be found in the "Ad Formats"  column located within the results list.

Tony, Clickable SEM Guru
 
Note: Clickable employees volunteer several hours a week to helping other search marketers succeed. "Clickable Gurus" participate in numerous online search communities to provide straightforward answers to numerous questions, and, each week, one of the gurus posts a search marketing tip to the Clickable Blog.