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Manchester DM Kicks Off – Here’s What Happened at the First Event!

by Cedarwood Digital NewsGeneral Marketing

Last night we hosted our first-ever Manchester DM – and we couldn’t have asked for a better start.

Held at the Feel Good Club, the event brought together marketers from across the city for an evening of practical talks, casual networking and plenty of pizza. A huge thanks to everyone who came along, and to Evoluted for partnering with us to bring the event to life.

If you’ve been to our Sheffield or Nottingham DM events before, you’ll know what to expect: relaxed format, useful insight, and a real mix of experience levels in the room. Manchester’s first edition kept that same feel – and it’s safe to say the local marketing scene showed up.

The Line-Up

James Hayward-Browne (Co-Founder, Bottled Imagination) opened with a talk on building digital PR campaigns that work across channels – looking at what makes campaigns actually land, and how to spot the difference between noise and strategy.

Bethany Rathbone (Global Senior SEO Analyst, Dr Martens) followed with a deep dive into global ecommerce SEO – breaking down how to scale effectively without losing the detail that makes search work.

Chris Nightingale (Digital Marketing Director, ex-AO.com) wrapped things up with an honest look at moving from big-brand life to startup – full of lessons on agility, priorities, and where to focus when you’re building something new.

Why Manchester DM?

We started Manchester DM to create more space for digital marketers to connect without the usual pressure or polish. No hard sells, no overproduced presentations – just useful talks, honest discussion, and a community that learns from each other.

We’re planning to run these events every two months, bringing in speakers from different corners of digital marketing – from SEO, PPC and digital PR, to content, data, and brand strategy.

Whether you’re new to the industry or have been in it for years, we want Manchester DM to be a place where you can learn something new, meet people doing interesting work, and stay inspired.

We’ll be sharing dates for the next event soon – so keep an eye out, or sign up to our mailing list to stay in the loop.

Big thanks again to everyone who made the first event such a good one!

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Manchester DM #4 – B2B, SEO Reality Checks and the Skills Most Managers Miss

by Cedarwood Digital NewsGeneral Marketing

Last night saw the fourth instalment of Manchester DM — and with it, another round of genuinely useful talks, proper conversations, and the kind of honesty that’s hard to find in a webinar or polished conference session.

We kicked off with Abi Bellion-Carey, Head of Paid Media at Overdrive Digital, whose talk “B2B More Like Boring 2 Boring – Bringing Life Back to Your B2B Campaigns” pulled no punches. Abi broke down exactly why so much B2B content falls flat – and what to do instead. From knowing who you’re actually trying to reach (and why), to using trends in a smart way (yes, even TikTok), to making room for personality in even the driest of sectors, it was a brilliant reminder that B2B doesn’t have to mean boring.

Next up, Henry Smith, Head of SEO at Dark Horse, tackled “Stop Selling SEO Like It’s PPC.” His talk explored why SEO and PPC need to be measured differently, why we do both a disservice when we report them in the same way, and how to frame SEO’s longer-term value for stakeholders who are used to more immediate results. There was plenty in there for client leads, strategists and anyone who’s ever had to explain why SEO takes time.

Closing the evening was Paddy Moogan, Founder of The New Leader, with “The Effective Manager Framework: Four Core Skills That 82% of Managers Don’t Have.” Taking a step back from pure channel talk, Paddy’s session focused on what makes a good manager – especially in digital, where people often end up leading teams without any formal leadership training. From coaching to feedback to setting clear expectations, it was one of those talks that had people scribbling notes and quietly nodding along.

The Q&A at the end brought out some great discussion around team structures, reporting challenges and career development – and, as always, the post-event drinks turned into a mini strategy session in themselves.

It’s been great to see Manchester DM grow over these last few months – not just in numbers, but in the quality of conversation and the mix of people turning up. Agency, in-house, freelance, junior, senior – everyone’s got something to share, and that’s exactly what we set this up for.

We’ll be back again in two months with a new line-up and fresh topics. In the meantime, if you’ve got an idea for a future talk or want to get involved, just give us a shout.

Thanks again to Abi, Henry and Paddy for a cracking line-up – and to everyone who joined us for another full room and a great night.

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Manchester DM #3 – Data, SERPs and the Trust Factor

by Cedarwood Digital NewsGeneral Marketing

Manchester DM was back last night for round three – and it was another packed evening at the Feel Good Club, with a great crowd, plenty of energy, and three excellent talks that gave us plenty to think about.

The Talks

We kicked things off with Chris Jones, Senior PPC Analyst at Journey Further, whose talk “Innovate with Purpose: Data Integration for PPC Campaigns Built on Strong Foundations” made a clear case for combining innovation with solid fundamentals. Chris walked through how to use first-party data more effectively, why automation needs context, and how to make sure PPC campaigns are built on something more solid than just a smart bidding strategy.

Next up was Alex Moran, SEO Lead at Space & Time, with “Google Loves To Show Things You Don’t Want Them To. And How You Can Stop It.” He broke down the realities of modern SERPs, the unexpected ways Google surfaces content, and the tools and tactics you can use to protect your brand and guide what people actually see. It hit home for a lot of people – especially those managing multiple stakeholders and unpredictable search results.

Closing the night was Graham Allchurch, Head of Brand & Campaigns at Your Golf Travel, with “How To Gain The Trust Of Senior Leaders And Decision Makers – And Avoid The Marketing Doom Loop.” Graham brought a refreshing honesty to the conversation, sharing practical advice on influencing upwards, building credibility, and steering teams away from reactive, short-term thinking. It resonated with marketers at all levels – whether you’re reporting to the board or trying to shift internal priorities from within.

The Q&A that followed was lively – with questions on everything from reporting and cross-team buy-in, to how to get more visibility for work that doesn’t always show up in last-click data. After that, we stuck around for another drink, more pizza, and some genuinely useful conversations between people doing the work day in, day out.

Manchester DM is about exactly that – real conversations, smart ideas, and building a community where marketers can actually learn from each other. We’ll be back in two months with a brand new line-up, and we’re always on the lookout for new speakers and topics, so drop us a message if you’ve got something to share.

Thanks again to everyone who joined us – and to Chris, Alex and Graham for making this one such a strong edition.

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How To Add Negative Keywords To Performance Max Campaigns

by Paid Search

Incorporating negative keywords into a campaign can enhance ad relevance, increase CTR, lower CPC, and ultimately help save on budget. This raises the question, ‘can negative keywords be added to performance max campaigns?’. The short answer is yes, and the long answer is also yes, but it’s a bit complicated. There are currently two methods for adding negative keywords, with a third coming very soon. In this blog post, we’ll run you through them to help simplify the process and give your campaigns a boost.

Option 1: Adding negative keywords manually

The first option is to add the keywords manually. While straightforward, this approach does come with some limitations to be aware of before you begin. The main thing to bear in mind is that you can only add keywords at an account level, thereby excluding them from all campaigns, which is not always the best option. This can be frustrating if you want more granular control over your campaigns, and it could result in you unintentionally excluding valuable traffic from campaigns where those terms could be relevant.

With this in mind, to go ahead with the manual option, simply follow the steps below.

  • Begin by signing in to your Google Ads account and navigating to ‘Account Settings’.  
  • Once there, click the dropdown arrow for ‘Negative Keywords’. 
  • Click the blue plus button, and then insert the specific negative keywords you wish to implement. Lastly, click save.  

 Option 2: Using Google Support 

To add negative keywords to specific campaigns, you’ll need to use option 2, which requires you to contact Google support. 

  • Again, sign in to your Google Ads account, and click the ‘Help’ icon in the top left navigation bar. This will bring up the quick help panel, in which you scroll down and click ‘Contact Us’. 
  • In the ‘Tell us what you need help with’ bar, type something along the lines of “I want to add negative keywords to a performance max campaign”, then click ‘Next Step’. 
  • At this point, a page similar to the one below will appear, where you can select an option which matches your request, or simply ‘Other’, then click ‘Next step’ 
  • Here, you select the relevant  Google Ads account from the drop-down menu, and click the ‘Email’ icon. Then, input your contact name and the name of the company associated with the Google Ads account you just selected.
  •  In the ‘Summary of the issue’ section, adapt the message below to explain that you would like to add specific negative keywords to a specific campaign, and then submit your request. 

“On behalf of [company name], I authorise Google to implement the following adjustments in Google Ads account [google ads account number] without prior notification. Please link the negative keyword list, titled [negative keyword list name] to the campaign named [Performance Max campaign name]: 

[here paste your keyword list] 

Kind regards.” 

Option 3: Sit back and wait!

The last option is nice and easy; if you aren’t pushed for time, you can simply wait until the end of 2024.  Google has announced the launch of campaign-level negative keywords in Performance Max in late 2024, a significant update that will address many advertisers’ concerns. This adjustment will provide greater control over negative keyword exclusion and is designed to facilitate greater harmony with brand and audience preferences. 

If your PMax campaigns are currently performing well, waiting for the update may be a viable option for you. You can use this waiting period to analyse your current campaigns, identify crucial negative keywords, and prepare for the update.

In summary…

We’ve presented three options for you here, if you’re looking to start implementing negative keywords. The best approach for you will come down to your specific business needs and campaign performance. But, whichever route you take, it’s definitely worth looking into how negative keywords can help your campaign performance for several reasons:

  • By excluding irrelevant search terms, your ads are more likely to appear for searches that truly matter to your business; this can lead to higher click-through rates and better overall ad performance.
  • Negative keywords help prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches, reducing wasted ad spend on clicks that are unlikely to convert.
  • More relevant ads typically lead to better Quality Scores, which can result in lower costs per click and better ad positions.
  • Negative keywords can prevent your ads from appearing alongside content that might be detrimental to your brand image, or in contexts that are inappropriate for your product or service.

Need a hand?

Cedarwood Digital are a PPC agency based in Manchester, working with a range of clients, from SMEs to large multinationals. We know exactly how to maximise your marketing spend and extract the most from your campaigns. When it comes to paid advertising, sometimes it’s best to leave it to experts who know how to get the very most for your money.

If this sounds good to you, why not get in touch with us today?

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Manchester DM #2 – Strategy, Social Search & Standing Out

by Cedarwood Digital NewsGeneral Marketing

Manchester DM returned last night for round two – and it was another packed evening of smart ideas, honest conversations, and some very enthusiastic chat about content, strategy and social search.

Hosted again at the Feel Good Club, the second event kept the same laid-back format: three sharp talks, good people, and free drinks and pizza to keep things moving. It was great to see so many familiar faces back, along with plenty of first-timers.

The Talks

Aimee Jones – “Creating an SEO Strategy and Roadmap That Factors Business Priority, Seasonality, and Search Opportunity”
Aimee kicked things off with a practical, grounded look at building SEO strategies that don’t sit in a silo. She walked through how to prioritise activity based on real business goals, seasonal trends, and genuine search demand — not just gut feel or keyword volume.

Ray Saddiq – “Diversify Your Organic Traffic via Social Search”
Next up, Ray dived into the growing influence of platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts on organic discovery. He made a clear case for treating social search as a serious part of any traffic strategy — especially for brands seeing stagnation in traditional organic channels. A real eye-opener for anyone still on the fence about whether Gen Z really does use TikTok like Google.

Ellie Wraith – “Why SEOs & Digital PRs Must Prioritise Content Quality to Protect Brand Identity”*
Ellie closed the evening with a sharp, thoughtful talk on the role content quality plays in long-term brand health. From SEO copy to reactive PR pieces, she showed how cutting corners for quick wins can cost more in credibility than it’s worth. A great reminder that content isn’t just a vehicle for links or rankings — it’s how people meet your brand.

The Atmosphere

As always, the vibe was open and down-to-earth. No sales pitches, no corporate fluff – just three thoughtful talks and a room full of people who care about doing better digital marketing.

The Q&A sparked some great follow-ups, with questions covering how to actually get buy-in for content improvements, ways to measure social search performance, and what a “realistic” SEO roadmap looks like in a fast-moving team.

Afterwards, we stuck around for another hour of networking – with chats ranging from tech stacks and agency life to what people are testing right now. The pizza was, once again, gone within minutes.

What’s Next?

Manchester DM exists to bring the digital marketing community together – to learn from each other, share what’s working, and keep things real. We’ll be running these events every two months, with new topics and new speakers every time.

If you missed this one, don’t worry – we’ll be back soon. And if you’ve got an idea for a future talk, we’d love to hear it.

Thanks again to everyone who came along, asked questions, and made the second event even better than the first. See you at the next one.

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PPC Landing Page Best Practices: Tips for Better Conversion Rates

by Paid Search

With PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising, every click carries a cost. It is imperative to convert those hard-earned visitors into customers to maximise the return on investment (ROI) of your ad spend. In this blog post, we will explore essential strategies for conversion rate optimisation (CRO) in the context of PPC advertising. We will cover overall optimisation techniques, desktop-specific tactics, and mobile-specific approaches. By implementing these recommendations, you can enhance user experience, increase trust, and amplify the impact of your PPC campaigns.

 

Overall Optimisation:

💡Ease of Navigation: Simplify your website’s navigation structure and ensure that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for without having to click through to different pages and get lost in the website.

 

💡Streamlined Conversion Funnel: Optimise the conversion process by reducing friction and eliminating unnecessary steps. Make it easy for visitors to convert by simplifying forms, minimising data entry requirements, and providing clear instructions.

 

💡Trust Signals from Third-Party Reviewers: Incorporate testimonials, ratings, and reviews from reputable third-party sources. Positive feedback and social proof enhance trust in your brand, ultimately influencing purchase decisions.

 

💡Unique Selling Propositions (USPs): Clearly communicate your company’s unique value propositions to visitors. Highlight what sets your business apart from the competition and why customers should choose your products or services.

 

💡Address Pain Points: Identify common pain points or challenges faced by your target audience and emphasise how your offerings provide effective solutions. Focus on addressing customer needs to increase the likelihood of conversion.

 

💡Landing Page Relevance: Ensure your landing pages directly related to the keywords and messaging used in your PPC ads. Consistency between your ad and landing page creates a seamless user experience, increasing the likelihood of conversion. Users should find what they expect to see, fostering trust and minimising bounce rates. 

 

💡Speed and Performance: Mobile users expect fast-loading pages. Optimise your mobile landing pages to load quickly, keeping visitors engaged and reducing the chances of abandonment.

 

Desktop Optimisation:

💻Design-Driven Content: Desktop users often desire more comprehensive information before making a purchasing decision. Create visually appealing landing pages that incorporate detailed content, including product features, benefits, and customer testimonials.

 

💻Clear CTAs: Use visually appealing, attention-grabbing Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons that stand out from the surrounding content. Ensure that they are strategically placed to drive conversions and guide users towards desired actions.

 

💻A/B Testing: Continuously test different elements, such as headlines, images, colours, and CTAs, on your desktop landing pages. This iterative approach helps identify the most effective combinations that yield the highest conversion rates.

 

Mobile Optimisation:

📱Responsive Design: Ensure your landing pages are fully optimised for mobile devices, providing a seamless browsing experience. Responsive design guarantees that your PPC ads drive mobile users to mobile-friendly landing pages, reducing friction and improving conversion rates.

 

📱Thumb-Friendly CTAs: Optimise mobile CTAs by aligning them with users’ natural thumb placement. Placing important buttons within easy reach improves user experience and encourages conversions.

 

📱Visible Contact Information: Make sure that essential information like phone numbers and contact details are clearly visible on mobile devices. This enables users to quickly reach out and establishes trust and accessibility.

 

📱Minimise Scrolling and Text: Mobile users have limited screen space and attention spans. Reduce the amount of scrolling required and keep the text concise, ensuring key information and CTAs are visible without excessive scrolling.

 

📱Prominent CTAs: Place CTAs near the top of the mobile screen to capture users’ attention without the need for excessive scrolling. Make them highly visible and intuitive for quick and effortless conversions.

 

Conclusion:

PPC advertising requires a strategic approach to ensure that your investment translates into tangible business results. Conversion rate optimisation is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring, testing, and refinement. By implementing these conversion rate optimisation strategies, you can increase the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns, boost user engagement, and ultimately improve ROI. Remember to tailor your optimisations to both desktop and mobile users, leveraging the unique advantages and challenges each platform presents. Stay proactive, continuously monitor performance, and refine your campaigns based on user behaviour to unlock the full potential of your PPC advertising efforts.

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Challenging Digital KPI Metrics in PPC Advertising: Moving Beyond Vanity Metrics

by Paid Search

In PPC, it’s easy to get swept up in the numbers that look good in a dashboard but don’t actually mean much for the business. You might see a jump in leads or form fills, but when you check in with the sales team, nothing’s really changed. That’s because some KPIs sound impressive on the surface but don’t link to revenue in a meaningful way.

Here are a couple of the usual suspects, and how I talk about them with clients.

Where Vanity Metrics Fall Short

More Doesn’t Always Mean Better

A high number of leads might look positive, but if most of those people were never likely to buy, it’s just noise. Sales teams end up wasting time chasing poor-fit prospects, and marketing spend is spread thin with little to show for it. Quality matters far more than volume.

Not All Interest Is Equal

Not every form completion carries the same weight. Someone downloading a free guide isn’t in the same position as someone booking a demo or requesting a quote. Treating them as equal “leads” only gives you misleading data and skews your campaigns.

How To Approach This With Clients

Be Clear About the Limitations

When working with clients, it is crucial to educate them about the limitations of vanity metrics and the importance of focusing on metrics that align with the business’s bottom line. Explain that not all leads are created equal and emphasise the need to assess the quality and conversion potential of leads to drive actual revenue. 

Focus on Sales-Qualified Leads

Instead of fixating on increasing the overall number of leads, shift the emphasis to identifying and nurturing sales-qualified leads (SQLs). An SQL is a lead that has been vetted and determined to have a higher likelihood of converting into a paying customer/client. By focusing on increasing the percentage of SQLs within the lead pool, businesses can drive more effective marketing campaigns and maximise their return on investment (ROI).

Think Cost-Effectiveness, Not Just Volume

Highlight the cost-effectiveness of focusing on increasing the percentage of SQLs instead of simply aiming for higher lead numbers. Share examples to demonstrate how an increase in SQLs from, say, 20% to 40%, can result in a higher conversion rate and a more significant impact on the bottom line. This approach ensures that marketing efforts are optimised to generate revenue, rather than being diluted by a high volume of unqualified leads which can overload the internal teams. This becomes even more important when growing an account – as costs increase you want to ensure that the budget is being spent as effectively as possible to drive the best ROI. 

Why This Benefits Both Client & Agency

  • Agencies stand out by focusing on results that actually matter.

  • Clients value the honesty and know you’re not just padding out reports.

  • Conversations are more productive when both sides are looking at the same goals.

  • Stronger results naturally lead to longer-term working relationships.

Metrics like total leads and form completions aren’t completely irrelevant, but on their own they don’t tell you very much. The real test of PPC is whether those leads are qualified and likely to become customers. That’s what drives growth, and that’s where marketing proves its value.

At the end of the day, it isn’t about how many leads you can show in a spreadsheet. It’s about whether those leads are actually helping the business grow.

Remember, in digital marketing, true success lies not in the number of leads generated but in the quality of leads and their conversion potential.

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Maximising ROI: Importing Phone Call Vetted Leads into Google Ads

by Paid Search

In the digital age, businesses rely on various online marketing channels to generate leads and drive conversions. However, for certain industries, phone calls remain a vital source of qualified leads. To ensure a holistic view of lead generation and optimise marketing efforts, it’s crucial to import your qualified phone call leads back into Google Ads to enable you to track truly valuable leads. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of this approach and outline the steps to successfully import phone call vetted leads into Google Ads.

Benefits of Importing Phone Call Vetted Leads:

⚡Comprehensive Lead Tracking: Importing phone calls of leads that turned out to be qualified back into Google Ads allows you to consolidate your lead tracking efforts. By capturing and analysing both online and offline conversions, you gain a more comprehensive view of your marketing campaign’s effectiveness.

⚡Enhanced Conversion Attribution: Phone call conversions often represent high-value engagements. Importing these leads into Google Ads helps attribute conversions accurately, giving you insights into the true impact of your ad spend and optimising your return on investment (ROI).

⚡Refining Targeting and Optimisation: Incorporating phone call data enables you to identify patterns and trends related to high-converting leads. You can leverage this information to refine your audience targeting, ad messaging, and bidding strategies, leading to more effective campaigns.

⚡Closed-Loop Reporting: You can bridge the gap between offline and online activities, enabling closed-loop reporting. This allows you to assess the entire customer journey, from the initial ad impression to the phone call conversion, gaining valuable insights into your marketing funnel.

Steps to Import Phone Call Vetted Leads into Google Ads:

➡️Step 1: Set Up Conversion Tracking:

Ensure that you have conversion tracking set up in your Google Ads account. Create a conversion action specifically for phone call leads.

➡️Step 2: Track Phone Call Conversions:

Use call tracking software or a call analytics platform to track and record phone call conversions. Assign a unique phone number to each marketing campaign or channel to accurately attribute leads as well as record the GCLID.

➡️Step 3: Define Conversion Parameters:

Identify the parameters that determine a qualified phone call lead for your business. This could include call duration, intention to proceed or other relevant criteria.

➡️Step 4: Export Call Data:

Export the call data from your call tracking software or call analytics platform in a compatible format, such as a CSV file.

➡️Step 5: Prepare Import File:

Format the exported call data into a CSV file that aligns with Google Ads’ import requirements. Make sure to include required fields such as the GCLID and the date and time of the phone call, to allow Google to map this back to specific campaigns.

➡️Step 6: Import Call Data into Google Ads:

Access the Google Ads interface and navigate to Goals in the side bar menu. Under Conversions > Summary, click on the “Create conversion action” button to create a new conversion. Under your selected conversion category, click on “Add conversion actions” and select “Calls via uploads”.  Now navigate to Conversions > Uploads, click the “+” button and upload the CSV file containing your call data.

➡️Step 7: Map Data Fields:

Map the fields in your CSV file to the appropriate conversion tracking fields in Google Ads. Ensure accurate data mapping to facilitate seamless integration and reporting.

➡️Step 8: Verify and Save:

Review the imported call data to ensure accuracy. Save the settings, and Google Ads will begin attributing imported phone call leads to your campaigns.

Conclusion 

Importing phone call vetted leads into the Google Ads interface provides invaluable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. By consolidating online and offline conversions, you gain a comprehensive view of lead generation and can optimise your advertising efforts accordingly. Follow the outlined steps to seamlessly import phone call leads into Google Ads, enabling more accurate conversion tracking, refined targeting, and closed-loop reporting. Embrace this holistic approach to maximise your ROI and make data-driven decisions that drive business growth.

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Best Practices To Improve Your PPC Landing Page

by Paid Search

When you’re running PPC campaigns, the landing page can make or break your results. You can have the best ads in the world, but if the page people land on doesn’t feel trustworthy, doesn’t load properly, or doesn’t give them a clear next step, they’ll drop off.

Here are some straightforward ways to make your landing pages work harder for you.

Build Trust with Social Proof

People want to know they can trust your business before they hand over their details or money. Simple things like customer testimonials, client logos, industry accreditations, or even security badges all help reassure them.

Third-party reviews can be particularly powerful, sites like Trustpilot carry weight because they’re independent. Make a habit of asking customers to leave reviews and showcase them clearly on your site.

Match Your Ads and Your Landing Page

If someone clicks on an ad, they should land on a page that feels like a natural continuation of what they just saw. The message, the offer, even the design should line up. If it doesn’t, people second-guess whether they’re in the right place, and that’s when bounce rates creep up.

Get the Headline Right

Most visitors won’t read every line, they’ll skim. That’s why the headline matters so much. It needs to be clear, relevant to the ad they clicked, and instantly explain what you’re offering. A strong headline keeps people on the page long enough to consider your offer.

Keep Pages Quick and Light

Speed is everything. A slow page doesn’t just frustrate users, it drags down your quality score and pushes up your CPC. Compress images, clean up code, and test your load time regularly. Google reckons two seconds is the maximum acceptable for an e-commerce page, and that’s a good benchmark to aim for across the board.

Focus the Content

People clicking on PPC ads usually have higher intent, so you don’t need long-winded explanations. Keep the copy concise, focus on your key benefits, and use bullet points or visuals to make it easy to digest. Every word on the page should work towards conversion, if it doesn’t, cut it.

Make Your CTAs Clear

If you’re paying to get someone onto your site, don’t leave them guessing about what to do next. Use clear, direct calls to action like Shop Now, Request a Quote, or Sign Up Today. Make them stand out visually so they’re impossible to miss. And if you have more than one, make sure the priority action comes first.

Don’t Forget Mobile

A landing page that works on desktop might fall apart on mobile. Test across devices and screen sizes to make sure navigation is smooth. Keep CTAs easy to tap, avoid text-heavy layouts that require endless scrolling, and remember: on a small screen, space is limited. Strip things back and make speed the priority.

Test, Test, Test

Don’t assume you’ve nailed it first time. Run A/B tests on headlines, CTAs, layouts, and imagery to see what actually works. Use the data to refine your approach, and keep testing, even small changes can make a difference.

Track Your Conversions Properly

You can’t improve what you’re not measuring. Make sure your conversion tracking is set up correctly so you know which pages, ads, and campaigns are delivering. Track the key metrics, conversion rate, bounce rate, time on page, and use them to guide your next round of optimisation.

 

A well-optimised landing page is just as important as a well-built PPC campaign. By building trust, matching ad intent, keeping things fast and clear, and giving people a simple next step, you’ll get more value from every click. And don’t forget, optimisation isn’t a one-off job. Keep testing, keep measuring, and keep improving.

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Targeting Shopping Ads Only with Performance Max Campaigns

by Paid Search

Targeting Shopping Ads Only with Performance Max Campaigns

In the ever-evolving world of digital advertising, advertisers are often faced with the challenge of meeting the demands set by platforms like Google. With Google’s push to expand targeting options across various channels, advertisers are compelled to broaden their reach beyond traditional avenues. However, there is a workaround with Performance Max campaigns whereby advertisers can strategically focus their efforts solely on shopping ads while excluding other channels like Maps, YouTube, Discover & Display. In this blog post, we will explore how to set up Performance Max campaigns exclusively for shopping ads, highlighting the benefits and considerations of this approach.

 

Setting Up Performance Max Campaigns for Shopping Ads Only:

 

1️⃣ Campaign Creation: Start by creating a new Performance Max campaign within Google Ads.

2️⃣ Campaign Goals: Define your campaign goals, such as maximising sales or conversions, aligning with the specific objectives of your shopping ads.

3️⃣ Campaign Settings: Ensure that any “Automatically Created Assets” are unticked.

4️⃣ Bidding Strategy: Utilise a bidding strategy that aligns with your shopping goals and budget, ensuring it reflects your intention to serve ads exclusively on shopping platforms.

5️⃣ Asset Group: Ensure that all images, videos, logos headlines and descriptions are left empty. This is crucial as it makes sure that Google doesn’t have the correct assets to utilise on the other channels we want to exclude.

 

Benefits of Exclusively Targeting Shopping Ads with Performance Max Campaigns:

 

👍Precise Targeting: By setting up Performance Max campaigns solely for shopping ads, you can precisely target customers who are specifically interested in the products you offer. 

👍Simplified Campaign Management: Excluding other channels streamlines campaign management, allowing advertisers to focus their attention and efforts on optimising shopping ad performance.

👍Cost Efficiency: Since Performance Max campaigns are not serving on other channels, advertisers can allocate their budget more efficiently, ensuring maximum return on ad spend (ROAS) for shopping campaigns.

👍Increased Relevance: By exclusively targeting shopping platforms, your ads can be shown to users who are actively searching for or browsing products, thereby enhancing the relevance of your ads.

 

Considerations and Drawbacks:

 

👎Limited Reach: Excluding other channels narrows the reach of your ads, potentially reducing the overall impressions and exposure for your brand. This can be a drawback if you aim to maximise visibility beyond shopping platforms.

👎Reduced Inventory: By excluding non-shopping channels, you may miss out on potential conversions from users who may discover your products outside of dedicated shopping platforms.

👎Competitive Landscape: Since other advertisers may be utilising Performance Max campaigns for multiple channels, focusing exclusively on shopping ads may result in increased competition for limited shopping ad placements.

 

Conclusion:

 

The workaround for Performance Max campaigns offer advertisers the flexibility to focus their efforts exclusively on shopping ads, allowing for precise targeting and streamlined campaign management. By excluding non-shopping channels, advertisers can optimise their budget, increase ad relevance, and enhance conversions on dedicated shopping platforms. However, it’s essential to carefully consider the potential drawbacks, such as limited reach and increased competition within the shopping ad landscape. By weighing the benefits against the drawbacks and aligning them with your specific advertising goals, you can leverage Performance Max campaigns to effectively serve and optimise your shopping ads.

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Cedarwood Win Two UK Digital PR Awards!

by Cedarwood Digital NewsDigital PR & Outreach tips

We’re delighted to win not one, but two awards at the UK Digital PR Awards in 2023!

We took home:

🏆Digital PR Agency Of The Year

🏆Digital PR Campaign Of The Year – E-commerce

Here’s what the judges had to say:

MicrosoftTeams-image (16)
MicrosoftTeams-image (15)

Digital PR has been a huge area of success for Cedarwood over the last 12 months, so we’re over the moon that this is now being recognised in such a competitive space🎉.

A big congrats to the team, for all their hard work! 👏

MicrosoftTeams-image (18)

Leveraging Google Ads and SEO for Enhanced Online Visibility

by Paid SearchSEO

Leveraging Google Ads and SEO for Enhanced Online Visibility.

 

In the ever-evolving digital landscape, gaining organic visibility for your brand can be a challenging endeavour. However, with the right strategies, such as utilising Google Ads and optimising for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you can bridge gaps where organic visibility may be lacking. In this blog post, we will explore how leveraging Google Ads can enhance short-term visibility, especially against dominant competitors in the organic SERPs. Additionally, we will discuss how SEO can save costs for high-cost-per-click (CPC) keywords. By combining both PPC and SEO, businesses can establish a powerful and cost-effective marketing strategy.

 

Part 1: Using Google Ads to Cover Organic Visibility Gaps

 

1.1 Filling Organic Visibility Gaps:

When there are certain keywords or search queries where your client’s website lacks organic visibility, Google Ads can come to the rescue. By targeting these specific keywords through pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, you can ensure that your client’s ads appear prominently on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). This allows you to reach a wider audience and gain immediate visibility, driving more traffic to your client’s website.

 

1.2 Overcoming Dominant Competitors:

In highly competitive industries where larger competitors with high domain authority dominate the organic SERPs, it can be difficult for smaller businesses to break through. However, Google Ads can provide a level playing field by enabling you to bid on keywords that your competitors are targeting organically. By strategically outbidding them, you can position your client’s ads above their organic listings, gaining increased visibility and effectively challenging their dominance.

 

Part 2: Harnessing SEO to Save Costs for High CPC Keywords

 

2.1 Utilising Organic Visibility for High CPC Keywords:

If your client has strong organic visibility for high-cost-per-click keywords, they can save significant advertising costs. By leveraging their existing organic visibility through SEO efforts, they can capitalise on the traffic they are already receiving without having to pay for every click. This strategic approach enables your client to allocate their budget to other marketing initiatives or expand their online presence without incurring additional expenses.

 

2.2 Maximising Long-Term Growth:

SEO plays a crucial role in building sustainable organic visibility over time. By investing in optimising your website’s content, architecture, and backlink profile, you can improve organic rankings and drive continuous organic traffic. As a result, your reliance on paid advertising for high CPC keywords decreases, resulting in substantial cost savings in the long run. SEO acts as a foundation for consistent visibility and ongoing growth without solely depending on PPC campaigns.

 

Conclusion:

 

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, it’s essential to adapt and utilise the available tools to maximise your client’s visibility. By leveraging Google Ads to cover organic visibility gaps and utilising SEO to save costs for high CPC keywords, businesses can establish a comprehensive and cost-effective marketing strategy. Google Ads helps overcome organic limitations and effectively compete against dominant competitors in the digital landscape. On the other hand, SEO offers a sustainable approach, minimising dependence on paid advertising for high-cost keywords. Integrating both PPC and SEO ensures enhanced online visibility, targeted traffic, and optimised marketing budgets, leading to long-term success in a competitive market.