6 PPC Tasks That Are Ideal for an Intern

Internships are a well-established way for college students or recent graduates to gain experience in their field of choice. Some would say that an internship is the most useful class you can take in college. I interned at my local TV station when I was in school, and it helped me to get my first "real" job.

I interned for free, but nowadays most interns are paid. Still, interns are viewed as "cheap labor," and in most cases they're paid less than a full-time employee. But "cheap" doesn't have to mean "menial."

In PPC, as in many careers, some tasks aren't difficult, but are time-consuming. For busy PPC managers, there are things we need to do but don't have time to do.

Enter the PPC intern. Interns are often more tech-savvy than some of us who are more "seasoned," which means they can quickly and easily create nicely formatted Excel sheets and Word documents. And a good intern will be eager to learn – a good trait for someone who is about to spend a lot of time doing PPC work.

Here are six PPC tasks that are ideal for an intern, along with the skills the intern will learn.

1. Keyword Research

Keywords are the cornerstone of PPC, and keyword research is a critical skill for PPC managers. It can also take a lot of time to do. An intern can pare down a large list of keyword suggestions, saving time for the PPC manager.

I'm not suggesting that the intern make the final decision on keywords – that's the PPC manager's job. But anything that saves time is good.

Skills learned: PPC fundamentals.

2. Search Query Reports

Search query reports go hand in hand with keyword research – it's a necessary task, but can be a rabbit-hole time-suck. Have your intern identify potential positive and negative keywords.

Skills learned: PPC fundamentals.

3. Competitor Research

Staying on top of PPC competitors can feel like a full-time job. Again, tools can help with this, but reports still need to be reviewed, and actual SERPs need to be checked.

Have your intern regularly pull data from competitive tools. They should also run AdWords Auction Insights reports on a regular basis. Not only are the individual reports helpful, but an intern can create graphs that show changes over time – insight that can help predict or forestall a competitor strike.

Skills learned: Search marketing fundamentals.

4. Ad Copy Test Ideas

You've been running an account for a while, faithfully updating your ad copy tests each month. After a year or so of doing this, don't be surprised if you run out of new ideas to test. Your fresh-faced intern can help!

Have your intern brainstorm new ideas for ad copy. Remember, there are very few bad ideas when it comes to ad copy – as long as it's true and relevant, it's probably worth testing.

Skills learned: PPC fundamentals and creative yet concise thinking.

5. Audits

If your intern is HTML-savvy, have them audit your site (or your client's site). Ask them to place a test order or fill out a test form, and have them check conversion tracking codes at each step.

Interns can also perform PPC account audits, at least to some extent. Have them find ad groups with too many keywords, or keywords with poor quality scores.

Skills learned: PPC fundamentals.

6. Reporting

Reporting can be the bane of a PPC manager's existence, especially in the agency world. The first few days of the month can be consumed by reporting tasks, even with automation tools.

With a little direction, interns can pull reporting data and help organize it so it flows well. It's so much easier for a PPC manager to just add analysis and insight to a report when he or she isn't bogged down in downloading stats from AdWords.

A nice benefit of using an intern for reporting is that they've been using Excel, Word, and PowerPoint most of their lives. For those of us who aren't Microsoft Office formatting wizards, an intern can be a blessing simply by making a report that looks professional.

Skills learned: Clear communication of data and insight.

Have You Used an Intern to Help With PPC?

Next month, I'll share six more PPC tasks that are ideal for interns. Have you used an intern to help with PPC? What did you have them do? How did it work out?

Original Article Post by Melissa Mackey @ Search Engine Watch

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Local Keyword Research: 3 Ways to Use Google

The foundation to any search marketing campaign begins with extensive keyword research to identify what search queries are likely to drive the highest ROI. The tools available for mining and identifying these keywords are extensive, but often the best place to start is at the search engines themselves.

1. Google Autocomplete

Google Autocomplete can often be a good resource when conducting any keyword research, and that goes double for local keyword research.

Google's Autocomplete essentially gives the user a list of similar options based on the keyword typed in using an algorithm that aims to match user intent and indexed pages. These will help you identify new opportunities that are most related to your primary keywords.


In the image above, Google is suggesting keywords related to "Chicago shoe". Creating content related to the Chicago Shoe Expo may be an opportunity previously overlooked by local businesses looking to attract new customers.
Note: Because this is customized based on history and a user's account, you will want to log out and delete your web history before utilizing for any research.

2. Google's Shifting Search Queries

As Google continues to roll out updates, it will keep changing the way searches are performed.

Recently a colleague of mine identified how Google is changing search terms as searchers click on a link to Google Maps from a search results page on Google.com. Once on Google Maps, clicking to view the top results changes the search query yet again.

Here's a quick example using "shoe stores in Chicago" as the starting keyword:



When you click on Maps, Google changes the search query to "shoe stores near Chicago, IL."



Once you click on "Go to list of top results," the search changes to "shoe stores" on a revised version of Google Places.



Knowing which queries Google is pushing users toward is another good place to start when defining what keywords to build SEM campaigns around.

3. Search Patterns by Location of User

You can also look at specific geographic locations and their effect on what searchers see. Changing your location to New York City yields different results in Google's Autocomplete suggestions when compared to Chicago.



Alternatively, using the term sneakers in lieu of shoes provides still more different suggestions.

 

Summary

When using Google for local keyword research, queries can differ based on Autocomplete, geographic location, regional usage, and even what part of Google you're using; so make sure to use all of them.

As Google continues to refine the local part of their index, more opportunities for discovering new keyword opportunities will present themselves to marketers savvy enough to take advantage of them.

Article Post @ Search Engine Watch

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