Landing Page Load Time

Google will be counting page load times in their quality score starting in mid-June.  They are allowing users to see if that is affecting the score as of right now through keyword reporting.  For more information on this click here

Big Google Change Takes Place Next Week

Starting April 1st Google will enforce that the display url, destination url & landing page url all sync up.  For example VistaPrint Coupons has a display url of VistaPrintCoupons.com but Lands on VistaPrintCoupons.BlogSpot.com, this will be acceptable because the top level domain matches.  This will most likely affect re-directs and thin affiliates.

Search Performance during Holiday

As Google Posted earlier this week the performance of holiday related product starts to rise in mid-November and then peaks by Mid-December and quickly fades back to normal.  http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/11/clicks-conversions-and-christmas.html. The online Holiday Season peaks earlier than the retail season becuase of shipping and preparation of gifts ordered online.  For printed products such as holiday cards and christmas cards the season seems to follow the same path.

Optimized Landing Pages

PPC is more than just the front end of getting a user to click, it involves the back end as well.  The back end that I am referring to is the Landing Page through the conversion Funnel.  A couple of examples of good landing pages that get the user to click and right into the conversion funnel are this Checks page and this Post Cards page.  Both allow the user to view the product that they have searched for and get them as deep into the order process.  Another interest page is this on the site Auction Pal: http://www.auctionpal.com/sell/general . This page allows the user to immediately enter the information that they want and can get them to register within a few clicks.

Good Beginners SEM Link

http://www.freeforums.com/showthread.php?t=19740&highlight=PPC

 Useful Info for someone new to SEM.