Before you proceed, have a tracking system in place. Define what success means to you. Be prepared for the multiple variables in online advertising that can impact a campaign’s success. Tracking points to evaluate may include some of the following:
– Per keyword or phrase
– Per engine (Google vs. Yahoo! vs. Bing)
– Per offer (“Free Trial,” “Save 20 Percent,” “Offer Expires by “)
– Site-targeted ads (pay-per-click ads on sites)
– Local ads
– Per landing page (You may test several landing pages to see what converts best by setting up unique URLs using Google URL Builder or a similar tool.)
– Time of day
– Day of week
– National
– Regional
– Geographic locations of traffic
– Frequency of ads viewed
– Interest groups
– Industries
– Web behaviors (sites visited, shopping habits, shopping trends)
– Traffic
– Conversions
– Conversion rate (percentage of visitors that take a desired action)
– Quality of conversions
– Return on investment
– Customer feedback
– Interactivity
– Google search network
– Google content network
