Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website

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dollar amount spent, highest profit (dollar amount spent minus cost per click), and

even a combination of multiple factors.

Once you have chosen your preferred performance measure, browse through

your PPC service’s campaign report and pull out the top 10 or so keywords based on

performance. You will list them, along with their performance values, in the Monthly

Report. See anything interesting or striking, like a new or unexpected performer? This

information may lead to new strategies in your ongoing campaign.

Campaign Analysis

Here is the place to record any changes that took place in your PPC campaigns this

month: keywords bumped up or down the totem pole or changes to ad copy.

This is also the place to make your recommendations or plans for future

changes: “Based on the success of our Purple Lampshade promotion, we will add a

purple lampshade ad starting next month” or “Thirteen keywords with high click-

throughs but low conversion rates will be dropped from the campaign.”

With your PPC campaign monitoring complete, you’re ready to finalize your

Monthly Report with some forward-thinking analysis and action items.

Friday: Action Items

Here is the section that everybody on your team will turn to when they get this report.

And even if you’re working alone, this to-do list will be an indispensable reference as

you move forward into the next month.

One of the challenges that we’ve faced time and time again in our SEO efforts

is writing reports that are complete and meaningful, readable, and most important,

actionable

. Yes, actionable—it may be a made-up word, but it sure is an important

idea in SEO.

To assemble your action items, review each of the previous sections of the

report. How is your organic search engine status? Do your pages still need basic opti-

mization? Are there keywords you want to drop or add to your PPC campaign? And

Pearl of Wisdom:

The best reports are not just repositories of information, they are also tools to

guide your team through the next steps.

Now:

Record your top-performing keywords in the Monthly Report.

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