GOOGLE ADWORDS: OPPORTUNITIES TAB

Fitness Singles shapes up its AdWords campaigns with keyword ideas from the Opportunities tab When Opportunity Knocks

Who they are • www.Fitness-Singles.com • Online dating website • Buffalo, New York What they needed to do • Find new keywords • Drive traffic • Increase conversions What they did

• Began using the Opportunities tab to discover new keywords and keyword combinations What they accomplished • Found keywords and keyword

combinations they wouldn’t have thought of on their own • Saved time in selecting keywords • Boosted traffic and conversions

In 2003, Christopher Mattioli left his longstanding sales job – and today he couldn’t be happier. When his sales days were over, he decided to go it on his own and began researching ideas for starting a business. He looked into the online dating industry to discover that while it was still in its infancy, it was a fast-growing, $400 million per year business. It sounded attractive, yet Mattioli knew he would need to carve out his own unique niche to be successful. An avid runner, he seized on the idea of creating a site where athletic singles could find fitness dates and meet active, health-conscious partners. He is now CEO of Fitness Singles (www.Fitness-Singles.com), a rapidly growing online dating site that started with zero members in 2003 and now counts over one million users. “At the time, I thought Fitness Singles was either the best idea of all time or the worst,” he recalls. “Little did I know that within a few years, a million people would be using the service I created.”

A Fit and Growing Empire Today, Fitness Singles operates websites spanning the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand – and Mattioli plans to expand into other countries, too. He doesn’t just target gym rats. Instead, he welcomes people passionate about a diverse array of athletic pursuits from running and cycling to more exotic sports such as skydiving, fencing, Nordic skiing, and wind surfing. “Our users aren’t necessarily the next Olympic athletes,” says Mattioli, “though we do have Olympians and professional athletes among our members. Our goal is to try to match people with others who are at the same level of fitness activity. And whether they are looking for a yoga, running, or bodybuilding partner or any other kind of match in terms of athletic pursuits, Fitness Singles is the place to be.”

The Right Fuel Mattioli runs Google AdWords campaigns to keep his member base growing strong. Three different AdWords accounts, which he can only describe as “huge,” generate the bulk of his new leads and member sign-ups. “AdWords is so productive for us that we don’t bother limiting our budgets,” says Mattioli. For bidding, he uses Google’s Conversion Optimizer, an AdWords feature that allows him to specify his desired cost per acquisition (CPA).

Shaping Up Campaign Performance Always on the lookout for ways to improve his returns, Mattioli says he was intrigued when he saw the Opportunities tab for the first time in his AdWords account. Right away, he began investigating what it could do to boost the effectiveness of his campaigns. The Opportunities tab is designed to help AdWords users discover ways to potentially improve campaign returns. Ideas listed on this tab identify changes that users might consider for their accounts, including new ideas for keywords, keyword bids, and budgets. “We don’t limit our AdWords budgets and we use Conversion Optimizer to manage bids, but we immediately saw the potential to tap the Opportunities tab for keyword ideas,” says Mattioli. © Copyright 2010. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

GOOGLE ADWORDS: OPPORTUNITIES TAB

Google AdWords Google AdWords™ is a performance-based advertising program that enables businesses large and small to advertise on Google and its network of partner websites. Hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide use AdWords for text, image, video ads, and more priced on a costper-click (CPC) and cost-perimpression (CPM) basis. Built on an auction-based system, AdWords is a highly quantifiable and cost-effective way to reach potential customers. For more information, visit http://adwords.google.com.

Creating an Optimization Routine In selecting keywords for ad groups, the Opportunities tab has quickly become a mainstay for Mattioli. He notes that the more he defines and targets themes for his ad groups, the better the Opportunities tab delivers. “When I use fewer keywords and group them together as a targeted theme, the Opportunities tab shines and provides great input for keywords or keyword combinations I would never have thought of,” says Mattioli. “It’s a really great timesaver and a way to expand our keyword possibilities.” Mattioli appreciates the ease of browsing and exploring keyword ideas, selecting those that he thinks will yield the best results, and adding them to existing or new ad groups. He can easily click on one idea and scroll through a full list of keywords to add to an ad group. Keywords are shown along with monthly search estimates, which helps Chris evaluate which keywords would have the greatest impact on his account. “The Opportunities tab helps me identify previously unidentified keywords,” he says. “Google can often find new keywords that are relevant to our ads and that don't currently exist in our account.

The Opportunities tab helps me identify previously unidentified keywords...Google can often find new keywords that are relevant to our ads and that don’t currently exist in our account. Chris Mattioli, CEO, Fitness Singles

Flexing his Mental Muscle Through his experience using the Opportunities tab, Mattioli has unearthed several best practices. He has learned that it’s best to have a strong ad group structure to begin with, because it helps Google provide more targeted, valuable ideas. He continues to use the standard Keyword Tool in AdWords, but now uses it in conjunction with the Opportunities tab to find and optimize keyword selections. “The Keyword Tool and the Opportunities tab work well together – both provide great ideas for keywords that really perform,” he says. Today, however, he’s driving more traffic than ever and garnering more members, with less time commitment on his part – thanks to new keyword ideas in the Opportunities tab. Concludes Mattioli, “The Opportunities tab saves a lot of time, and it also helps you identify new keyword areas – even when you thought you had it covered.”

The Opportunities tab saves a lot of time, and it also helps you identify new keyword areas – even when you thought you had it covered. Chris Mattioli

© Copyright 2010. Google is a trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.