So you've run some online advertising campaigns
and now you want to check their performance.
In this video, we'll explain how to do this by tracking conversions.
We'll explain what conversions are, how to choose which conversions to measure,
and what technology is used to track them.
Let's hear about the impact on Rachel's kitchen.
We use conversion tracking specifically in Adwords and Bing ads.
This method is very useful for adapting and correcting campaigns.
For example, we recently had a broad match campaign where the
cost per conversion was outrageously high,
so we got clicks,
but the cost was quite high and we had to use a large portion of the budget
without making vital sales, which are essentially the return on investment. We
then simply paused the campaign, and
reallocated the budget to
more effective campaigns,
meaning we got a lot more sales for the investment.
One of the great advantages of search engine marketing
is that you can measure the benefits derived from your campaigns.
To do this, you track conversions,
which are the important actions you want site visitors to take,
using tools provided by search engines like Google or Bing.
We'll get to these tools right away. Let's
start with the question of how to choose which conversions to track.
Let's say you are a nature photographer who sells prints online.
What types of actions will be considered “conversions” on your website?
Obviously, ordering a print is an important conversion.
But what else would you like people to do on the site?
Your website probably has a contact form that
potential clients can use to ask questions, such as
if you have any more prints for sale
or if you are available to photograph special events. When
someone uses this form to submit a question, that's also a conversion.
What happens if you don't sell prints online,
but are wedding photographers
and most of the content on the site is your portfolio?
If you've added downloadable PDF testimonials to your site,
you can also track this download action as a conversion.
You can include a link on your website that will allow people to receive prices by email.
This is also a way for potential customers to become paying customers,
so it's worth tracking this action as a conversion as well.
In the two examples I gave, I mentioned several different conversions:
completing transactions, submitting contact forms, and downloads.
There are many more options.
Can you think about what conversions you would like to track for your business?
So how are these conversions actually tracked?
One option is to use the tools that search engines provide.
These tools will allow you or your webmaster
to add a short snippet of code to certain pages on your site.
This may sound complicated, especially if you don't have access to technical support,
but don't worry, I'll explain exactly how to do it.
Let's go back to the example of the nature photographer.
You want to track orders that have been placed, so you need to understand
where to add the conversion tracking code. It is
not a good idea to add the code to the home page.
If you do this, every time someone visits the site
the system will count a conversion.
Instead, you should add the conversion tracking code
to your order confirmation page.
This is the page that customers are shown after they place an order.
This is how you will know that a conversion has been made.
Later, you decide to track queries sent from the site.
Just like in the previous example,
here too you need to add the conversion tracking code
to the page that will be displayed to the visitor after they submit a question.
For example,
to a page that displays a message thanking the customer for the order. Does that
make sense?
For conversion tracking to work properly, you only
need to add the code
to the page that will be displayed to the user after they have taken the desired action.
After you add the code, you will start receiving reports on the
number of conversions you received.
This is important information that you can use to understand
whether your online campaigns are effective.
In summary,
with the help of online tools provided by search engines like Bing or Google,
you can measure the amount of online conversions and use this data to succeed.