Advertising on Bing? Thinking of advertising on Bing? Then you need to know what you are being charged for. A click on your ad might not achieve the result you expect, especially if you are used to advertising with Google AdWords.
First let's look at Google AdWords. When your ad displays on Google the ad headline becomes the link to our landing page (destination URL).
Your ad's link on Google: (highlighted in red)
This is good in my opinion because when someone clicks we know there is a very good chance they wanted to click the ad. This is supported by the fact that the ad headline is presented as a link - it is blue and underlined.
Okay, now let's look at your ad's link on Bing: (highlighted in red)
Wow! That's a big difference in the way Bing classifies your ad's link compared to Google!
Even if someone only clicks the white space around your ad
you receive the click and more importantly the cost. Looking at the link area this becomes a concern especially if someone is actually trying to click the next ad below and ends up on your site. I wonder if they will bounce?
I would also argue that being in the 1st ad position (as highlighted in the image above) has the additional effect that clicks on 'Sponsored sites' also sends a click your way. What if it is a competitor wanting to know how to advertise on Bing?
So now that you know what Bing considers a link (and a click on your ad) you can make an informed decision on how to proceed. You should definitely segment your analytics resports for Bing traffic and evaluate if there are any differences to your other CPC (Cost Per Click) campaigns.
Labels: Bing, Google AdWords
The following post outlines one method for achieving
automatic download and outbound link tracking for Google Analytics.
Although manually tagging files and links is the best way to track your downloads and outbound links, it is not very practical. Tagging more than a handful of links becomes painful.
Okay, so what are the downsides to automatic tracking?
- The JavaScript required to modify the links is going to add to the loading time of your site.
- If you have many, many files or links on a page it is going to take time for the script to run through your page and apply the tags to each file or link.
Quick steps:
- Download the following file (gatag.zip), unzip it and upload it to your server (in this example we have uploaded it into a folder called /javascript/).
- Place the following code above your Google Analytics Tracking Code:
<script src="/javascript/gatag.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
This script only works for the ga.js Google Analytics Tracking Code, if you are still using urchin.js you will need to update this first.
This script was originally developed by Goodwebpractices.com with the help of ShoreTel, MerryMan and Colm McBarron. Our version has had some slight modification from VKI Studios and ourselves, Mangold Sengers.
Your Google Analytics Tracking Code should now look something like this:
<script src="/javascript/gatag.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-123456-1");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}
</script>
Check your Google Analytics reports in 12 to 24 hours to ensure that file downloads and outbound links are tracking correctly. You should see your downloads and links being tracked into the Top Content and Content Drilldown reports e.g.
/downloads/path-to-file/file.pdf and
/outbound/www.externalsite.com/index.html
(Please note that this post outlines the tracking required for a standard Google Analytics installation, if you are tracking multiple domains or doing any advanced tracking you should consult your Google Analytics provider or get
professional Google Analytics support.)
Labels: ga.js, Google Analytics Tips
