How to Find and Build Powerful EDU Backlinks

No matter what you call them (EDU, edu, .edu, EDU TLDs), backlinks from edu websites are often viewed as the cream of the crop in the SEO realm.

Building links to these types of sites can make even the most seasoned link builder smile more than they did at their own college graduation. Nevertheless, this reaction may seem overblown to those unfamiliar with the power of edu backlinks.

Why are edu backlinks so sought after and how could someone relatively new to link building find these opportunities and build these powerful links?

Why are EDU Backlinks Powerful?

Before we get into finding these edu linking opportunities and building powerful backlinks to your site, it is important to understand why they are so powerful.

While some may theorize that Google values these types of links simply because they are edu domains, there is no proof of this – in fact, Googler John Mu actually wrote just the opposite in a Google Group.

screenshot taken 2/10

However, the true value in edu backlinks comes from the same place as any other authoritative site on the web. Sites with edu domains typically have high authority as they have been around for a long time and have many trusted and quality sites linking to them.

This is why many of these sites are viewed as authoritative by Google and this where the power in building backlinks from them exists.

How to Find EDU Backlink Opportunities

Finding the appropriate edu domains is the first step in implementing the necessary strategies to build these powerful backlinks. The list of appropriate sites will vary depending on the particular strategy you are employing, but to get started there are some advanced search modifiers you can use to compile a basic list of target sites.

For example, using the modifier “site:.edu” will narrow your results down to edu domains.

However, you can use these modifiers to get even more specific and find the best possible targets for your niche.
Here is an example of a search string a local restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin might use to find potential edu domains to link to.

screenshot 2/10

As you can see, the SERP returns only edu domains in the Milwaukee area.

Keep in mind that, as with all link building, when you are building these edu backlinks you should keep relevancy and usefulness (to the audience/user) in mind. You should focus on finding places where your links would make sense and add value. By doing this you can build truly powerful links.

Tactics for Building Powerful EDU Backlinks

Now let’s take a look at some of the strategies you can implement and how to get edu backlinks. Part of the reason many edu domains are viewed as authoritative is that they do not typically hang out in bad link neighborhoods and they do not simply hand out backlinks. To acquire a backlink from one of these sites, you need to add value. Here are some different techniques you can use to add value to edu domains and get the links you want.

Local Link Building

One of the best strategies you can use to gain some quality edu backlinks is start locally. If the site you are building links to is a local business, start by targeting some local schools and colleges. Look for sites that contain something like a “Local Resources” or “Local Businesses” and ask that you be included.

screenshot of http://www.millsaps.edu/news_events/commencement_local_dining.php 2/10

You can even take things a step further on the relevancy scale if you can find a local section of the site that pertains to your company’s particular niche i.e. restaurants (local dining) or hotels (local accommodations).

Offer Discounts to Faculty/Staff

Another effective strategy for building edu backlinks is to offer discounts to faculty and staff of specific universities. It is important to remember that Google frowns upon paying for links, so you should not be exchanging discounts for links. Rather, inform the person in charge of discounts at the school (typically someone in the Human Resources Dept.) that their faculty/staff are eligible for a discount for your business and they will most likely be happy to link to your business as this makes it easier for their employees to get your discount.

Again, if you are a local business you should be contacting local colleges. For an e-commerce site, it is really up to you to include as many schools as you want for the discount.

screenshot of http://usfweb2.usf.edu/human-resources/azindex/perks.asp 2/10

Typically the webmaster will include a description of the discount you are offering and backlink to your site.

Offer/Create a Scholarship

Alternatively, you can provide value to the students of the school you hope to receive a backlink from by creating a scholarship. Not only will the students benefit, but colleges are usually open to making more scholarships available to students as it makes their institution more affordable.

screenshot of http://www.cdrewu.edu/admissions/financial-aid-and-scholarships/scholarships/list 2/10

Look for a section of the site labeled External/Outside Scholarships and ask if you can include a short description of your scholarship with a link back to your site. It might be a good idea to create a specific landing page for the scholarship that you can link to naturally. In the above example, you can see the college linked to commercial sites like Tylenol and Campus Explorer.

Interview Prominent Faculty/Staff

Another way to naturally build an edu backlink to your site is by interviewing a prominent member of the university’s staff or faculty. This is a great example of egobait as this person’s employer (the college) will most likely want to promote how talented their employee is by linking to the interview. By hosting the interview on your site, you can obtain an edu backlink.

screenshot of http://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2012/04/11/professor-interview-with-in-the-make/ 2/10

Again it is important to keep relevancy in mind here. For example, try to find a professor who teaches subjects that are closely related to your niche.

Create a Careers/Jobs Page

Creating a careers/jobs page can be another effective way to get edu backlinks. By creating this page you can post job openings at your company and create a linkable asset at the same time.

screenshot of http://www.usm.edu/geography-geology/careers-and-jobs 2/10

College career centers often provide links to job openings that could be pertinent to their students/alumni. It may be possible to get even more relevant here if you can find a specific department posting jobs related to your industry. Furthermore, if you are a local business it would be wise to start with local schools.

Create a Resource Specific to your Niche

As mentioned before, edu link building, and all link building for that matter, is about adding value. Creating a valuable resource specific to your industry will give you something that an edu website would be willing to link to. Examples would be an in-depth case study or educational white paper that would provide valuable information to students.

screenshot of http://www.gru.edu/green/resources.php 2/10

In this example, Cheap Car Insurance.net created this resource on environmentally friendly cars. They were able to get an edu backlink by finding a place on GRU’s website where the resource would be relevant and valuable.

This is why it is useful to target the specific department relevant to your niche and see if they have a resource page where your link would be helpful.

Broken Link Building

Finally, the 404/dead link building strategy can be used to get edu backlinks as well.

screenshot of https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/check-my-links/ojkcdipcgfaekbeaelaapakgnjflfglf?hl=en-GB 2/10

Utilizing a tool like Check My Links can help you find broken links quickly and easily. This strategy can be combined with your aforementioned resource by finding an edu with a resource page that has broken links. Simply point out the broken links to the site’s webmaster and ask that they replace them with your relevant resource.

screenshot of http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/chinalawcenter_resources.htmhttp://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/chinalawcenter_resources.htm 2/10

Check My Links will highlight the link that is 404ing for you and you can even see in this example there is a helpful link that will direct you right to the webmaster.

Backlinks from edu’s can be very powerful and valuable to your SEO efforts. However, it is important to remember that their value doesn’t come from simply being an edu domain. You still want to make sure the sites that link to you are authoritative and trusted. Due to the fact these sites are typically high quality, it will not be easy to build links to them and you’re not going to get the links if you don’t do the work. However, by following the strategies listed here and ensuring you can add value to the sites you pursue, you can find viable edu backlink opportunities.

How to Build Powerful Find and Edu Backlinks

Whatsoever ( EDI, was . Edu Edu TLD ) call them , edu backlinks from web sites is seen as genellikleseo alandamahsulünkre .

Even these types of sites that link building link builder decently made ​​their college graduation can smile more . However , these reactions to those unfamiliar with edu gerigüc may appear grainy .

Why edu backlink link building and how many wanted to find a relatively new one , and that these opportunities can forge stronger connections ?

Why Edu Backlinks are strong ?

We connect opportunities and building strong backlinks to your site before finding this edu , it is important to understand that they are so powerful .

There are some effects edu links because Google theorize that such values ​​, even though there is no evidence of this - in fact, Google employee , John Mu sadeceters actually wrote a Google Group .

John M Find and Powerful Edu Backlinks How to Build
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However, edu back on degerçek değeriweb olarakayn any other place comes from an authorized site . EDU sites that effect is usually a long time and as a high authority sites are linking to them very reliable and high quality .

Many of these sites are seen as authoritative by Google , and this is where they got the power back from binadab This is why .

Edu Backlinks How to Find Opportunities

Edu to find suitable areas to create this powerful içingerekl strategies uygulanmasındailk step back . Sitelerinliste appropriate strategies vary depending on the istihdambelirl , but to begin to compile a basic list of target sites can use some advanced search modifiers are .

For example, the modifier " site . : EDI using" edu effect will be to narrow down the results .

Find and edu -changer 637x45 How To Build Powerful Edu Backlinks

However, even into more specific and niche possible that regulators can use to find targets .
Here's a search string is an example of a local restaurant in Milwaukee , Wisconsin to connect you can use to find potential edu effects .

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As you can see , serpmilwauke in the field, only to give the effect .

Edu back link building buildings like this all of the time , mind you ( viewer / user) should keep the relevance and usefulness , remember. You will add value to the links where to find sensible and should focus on . By doing this you build a really strong connection .

Powerful EDU Backlink Building Tactics

Wishing You can apply strategies and how to get back to take a look at some . Edu so many effects as authorized görülüyorned any part thereof is not typically hang out in a bad neighborhood links and to distribute them is they do not just come back . To gain a backlink from one of these sites , you need to add value . Edu link here to get the effect that you can use to add value and istediğinizl There are some different techniques .

Local Link Building

Some quality edu one of the best strategy to win back kullanabileceğiniz starts locally . If you are building links to local job sites , some local schools and colleges begin by targeting . "Local Resources" or " Local Businesses " contains something like Search site and ask to be included .

Local 637x457 How to Find and strong Edu Backlink Builder
http://www.millsaps.edu/news_events/commencement_local_dining.php 2/10 screenshots

If that is your company's specific niche restaurants (local food ) or hotels ( local accommodation ) and if you can find the local chapter of ilgilidirsit bilealak scale can take things a step further .

Faculty / Staff Discount Offer

Another effective strategy for building back to faculty and staff of private universities to offer discounts . It is important to remember paying for links , so you should not be shopping discounts for connection to Google frowns upon . Rather, their faculty / staff for your business eligible for a discount olduğuokul discount responsible ( Human Resources Department is typically one ) person to inform and probably makes this like your business to connect will be happy easier as employees to get discounts .

Again if you are a local business , local colleges should be contacted . An e - commerce site for buind to include many schools as you want to do really up to you .

Find discounts and Powerful Edu Backlinks How To Build 637x804
http://usfweb2.usf.edu/human-resources/azindex/perks.asp 2/10 screenshots

Offer a backlink to your site olanind Genelliklewebmast and I will include a description .

Offer / Create a Scholarship

Alternatively, you get a backlink for creating a scholarship could provide value to umutokulöğrenci . The benefit of students , but colleges generally more appropriate as it makes their organizations more scholarships to students does not stay open .

Find Scholarships and Powerful Edu Backlinks How To Build 637x733
http://www.cdrewu.edu/admissions/financial-aid-and-scholarships/scholarships/list 2/10 screenshots

External / External Scholarships etiketlisit looking at a part of the scholarship with a link back to your site , and you can include a short description ask . These natural to create a specific landing page for bağlayabilirsinizburs be a good idea . In the above example , universities linked to commercial sites such as Tylenol and Campus Explorer you can see .

Interview Prominent Faculty / Staff

Natural edu backlink to your site to create a another yoluüniversit a prominent member of the staff or faculty meetings is required. This is likely to encourage their işçimülakat how talented you'll want to connect to that person's employer ( college) is a great example as egobait . Sitenizderöportaj By hosting , you can get an edu backlink .

Edu Backlinks find and how to build strong 637x467 Interviews
http://blogs.chapman.edu/wilkinson/2012/04/11/professor-interview-with-in-the-make/ 2/10 screenshots

Again, relevance is important to keep in mind . For example, a professor who teaches topics closely related to your niche try to find out .

Career / Job Create a Page

A career / job was to create the page can be another effective way to get back . This page can be sent or transmitted by creating jobs in your company at the time to create a linkable assets .

Find careers page and Powerful Edu Backlinks 637x492 How to Build
http://www.usm.edu/geography-geology/careers-and-jobs 2/10 screenshots

College career centers often their students / graduates will be eligible to provide links to job openings . If you work with the industry if you can find a special section about posting here may be able to get more affordable . Also if you are a local business , local schools would be wise to start with .

Please create a specific source Niche

As mentioned earlier , edu link building and link building all about it , about added value . You have to create a valuable source of industry-specific website for a link would be willing to will give you something . Examples of an in-depth case studies will provide valuable information to students or educational white paper will be .

Find and Edu Backlinks How to Build Powerful Resource 637x506
http://www.gru.edu/green/resources.php 2/10 screenshots

In this example, Cheap Car Insurance.net has created these resources in environmentally friendly vehicles . Bunlarkaynak , relevant, and will be valuable in finding GRI site were able to get an edu backlink .

A part of this niche target ilgilibelirl and links that will help them have a resource page that is why it is useful to see .

Broken Link Building

Finally, 404/dead edu link building strategies used to undo as well .

Edu Backlinks 637x410 find my links and how to build strong control
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/check-my-links/ojkcdipcgfaekbeaelaapakgnjflfglf?hl=en-gb 2/10 screenshots

Using a tool such as my Links can help you find broken links, quickly and easily check . With this strategy, a link to the source page has a broken sources can be combined with the aforementioned finding . Sadecesit mark the webmasterkırık links and ask them instead of them related resources .

CML 637x595 How to Find and strong Edu Backlink Builder
screenshot http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/chinalawcenter_resources.htmhttp://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/chinalawcenter_resources.htm 2/10

My Links control 404ing olanbağlantı highlight for you and will guide you useful even doğruwebmast there is a link , you can see in this example .

Edu back from the year very strong and could be valuable for SEO efforts . However, their value does not just come from being an edu domain is important to remember . Linksite you sure you still want to be competent and reliable . Due to these sites are usually in high kaliteliasl them will not be easy to build links and link sizeiş not going to get the yoksal . However, by watching listelenenstrateji here and you can add value to takipsite , providing a suitable edu backlink you can find deals .

LinkedIn’s Blogging Platform Is Now Open To Users, Not Just Influencers

Ryan Roslansky of LinkedIn announced yesterday their publishing platform, which had previously only been available to LinkedIn “influencers”, is now available to regular users. When a LinkedIn user publishes a piece of original content it them becomes a part of that user’s professional profile and immediately shared with their network.

If you enjoy content posted by other users who are not in your network, Roslansky says you will be able to follow them and receive future updates. Of course, users who aren’t in your network will be able to follow you on LinkedIn as well, which allows everyone the opportunity to build an entirely new audience.

The LinkedIn Influencer program started in the fall of 2012 with its prime focus being on having industry thought leaders share their expertise. According to Roslansky, the average Influencer post drives more than 31,000 views and receives more than 250 likes and 80 comments.

As of yesterday, 25,000 members will have the ability to publish content on LinkedIn. If you’re one of them, you will get an email that looks something like this:

The invitation will vary according to what topic LinkedIn believes you are influential about. They will be expanding the capability to all members in multiple languages over the next few weeks and months.

LinkedIn is clearly taking their publishing platform seriously and making every effort to ensure the content published is useful and relevant to users. Within LinkedIn’s Publishing Plaftorm Help Center you’ll find a set of rights and responsibilities stating posts will be removed if they are not deemed beneficial to the community:

LinkedIn discourages and may disable posts that self-servingly advertise a service, business, political cause or other organization or cause that does not benefit the broader LinkedIn community.

Stealing, or “sharing”, others’ content is also strongly discouraged:

Most content on the internet belong to someone, and unless you have clear permission from the owner to share it, you shouldn’t include it in your posts.

However, you can republish your own content on LinkedIn that you have personally published elsewhere, and any content you publish on LinkedIn remains your own. They certainly have all the makings of a great publishing platform, the only questions left are: will anyone actually use it, will anyone engage with the content, and how valuable will it be to your content marketing strategy in the long run?

Will you be publishing content on LinkedIn now that you have the option to do so? Let me know your thoughts on this new blogging platform.

Matt Cutts Explains What Google Search Would Be Like Without Backlinks As A Ranking Tool

Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, answers a question about backlinks in his latest Webmaster Help video where a user writes in to ask:

Hi Matt, does the big G have a version of the search engine that totally excludes any backlink relevance? I’m wondering what search would look like and am curious to try it out.

There’s no version of Google matching that description that is exposed to the public. However, Google has run experiments like this internally and Matt says the quality is much worse.

Even though some noise and a lot of spam gets through into Google search rankings as a result of backlink building, Matt says for the most part backlinks are still a huge win when it comes to returning quality search results.

Google has played around with the idea of turning off backlink relevance, but at least for now it’s still an important indicator that helps Google return the best, most relevant, and most topical set of search results.

To hear Matt’s very brief answer in his own words, please see the video below

Could you imagine a Google search where backlinks didn’t matter? Unfortunately I’m sure spammers would find something else to abuse in no time. In fact, maybe if Google let us take a look at their experimental search results that disregard backlinks we’d all be thanking Google for being so strict about them.

Kind of fun to think about anyway, makes you wonder what other kind of experiments Google has going on .

Hacking AdWords: Winning at AdWords the Weird Way

As search marketers, we spend a lot of time analyzing crazy SEO algorithms (hello, Panda and Penguin) and constantly trying to reverse-engineer ranking factors in an attempt to increase our organic rankings.

Yet when it comes to paid search, there's not nearly as much research, despite the fact that PPC, like SEO, is largely driven by an algorithm (Quality Score) which determines ad position, cost per click and many other factors.

By understanding how Quality Score works, AdWords can be cracked.

In my article today, I'll quantify the impact of Quality Score on your cost per click and cost per conversion. I'll also explain to you (mathematically!) how Google calculates your Quality Score. Finally, I'll share my three best tips on how to raise your Quality Scores, all in an effort to help you hack AdWords to improve your ROI.

Warning – lots of data ahead. Let's begin!

How Quality Score Impacts Ad Position

Quality Score is how Google grades the relevancy of keywords and ads in your AdWords account. It’s reported on a scale of 1-10, from awful to amazing.

Why does Google care about ad quality? It's obviously in no one's best interests to show irrelevant ads that don't appeal to users in the SERPs and throughout their network. Google only gets paid if people click on your ads, so they favor ads that people are likely to click. It's that simple.

This means that bidding higher doesn't always result in a higher position, because Max Bid is only part of the equation. Ads are ranked using “Ad Rank,” which is mostly the product of Max Bid * Quality Score (plus some other factors).

In the following figure, notice how Advertiser 1 can get the top ad spot on the SERP, even though his Max CPC Bid—at $2—is lower than Advertiser 2's Max Bid of $4.

Key Takeaway: Quality Score greatly impacts ad exposure. In fact, Google doesn't even bother showing ads with low Quality Scores.

How Quality Score Impacts CPC

Quality Score also plays a very important role in determining how much you're charged per click. A now famous video by Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist, helped clarify this point. Your cost per click is calculated using the formula: [Ad Rank of the ad below yours / your Quality Score] + $0.01. Here's an example of how this works:

Key Takeaway: The higher your Quality Score, the greater your CPC discount. Conversely, lower Quality Scores result in much higher costs per click. Consider this a CPC tax for running dumb ads.

What Is A Good Quality Score?

If you're getting perfect 10s on all of your keyword Quality Scores, let me know, because I've yet to see this in any account. Typically, you'll get a mix. I analyzed a few hundred accounts to figure out what the typical Quality Score distribution looks like in 2013 and found that 7 is the most prevalent score.

Note that the impression-weighted Quality Score here for the average AdWords account is around 5/10. Using this information, along with some basic arithmetic and the formula for calculating CPC, we can compute the economic value of having an above average Quality Score (or the penalty of having one below average).

Given that the average Quality Score is 5/10, the value of having a Quality Score of 10 is a discount of 50% on your CPC. The penalty of having a below average Quality Score of 1/10 is that your CPC is increased by 400%, on average. I've also included the marginal savings or cost increases for a 1-point increase or decrease in Quality Score.

It's also worth noting that over the last 5 years, the average Quality Score has drifted lower. In 2009, the average Quality Score was 7/10. Today, it's just 5/10. As a result, above average Quality Scores are worth much more than they were in the past!

Impact Of Quality Score On Cost Per Acquisition

Most people doing PPC advertising are doing either e-commerce or lead generation/direct response marketing – they usually care more about cost per conversion or acquisition (CPA) than cost per click. After all, if you can turn a greater profit with a higher volume of clicks at $50 per click than $20, it makes sense.

To quantify the relationship between CPA and Quality Score, we manually compiled CPA data from several hundred WordStream client accounts, representing about $100 million in annualized spend.

We then plotted the average cost-per-acquisition (conversion) versus the impression-weighted Quality Score for each campaign. Here's what it looked like:

The data reveals that there is a very strong relationship between average cost per conversion and average Quality Score. The higher your Quality Score, the lower your CPA will be, on average.

The following table shows the impact of Quality Score on Cost Per Action (not conversion or acquisition) in comparison to the average Quality Score of 5/10.

Note that if your Quality Score is below average, you'll basically pay a penalty – up to 64% more per conversion than your average advertiser. In a nutshell, for every Quality Score point above the average 5/10 score, your CPA will drop by 16%, on average. Conversely, for every Quality Score point below the average of 5/10, your CPA will rise by 16%.

It's worth pointing out that I didn't see a big difference in average conversion rates vs. Quality Scores. I found that keywords with high Quality Scores converted only slightly better than low Quality Score keywords.

Key Takeaway: Lower CPAs are primarily driven by lower costs per click, which are a direct result of your Quality Score.

How Is Quality Score Calculated?

Hopefully by now, you're convinced that Quality Score has a huge impact on most of the important metrics in your account. So how does Google calculate this magical Quality Score?

A simple plot of Quality Score vs. CTR for a few hundred campaigns reveals a pretty strong relationship between the two.

Basically, the higher your CTR, the higher your Quality Score. Yet there's still a bit of noise here by way of variance. What's happening is that CTRs vary wildly based on average position: higher ad positions are predisposed to getting much higher CTRs, and low ad positions are likewise predisposed to low CTRs.

Here's what the same data looks like when I account for different ad positions:

Notice there is a negative relationship between Average Position and account Quality Score along a constant CTR (the regressions shift upwards as position increases). This makes sense—if an ad in the first position has the same CTR as an ad in the third position, the ad in the third position likely has better relevance and consequently a higher QS.

Just as before, CTR has a logarithmic relationship with QS and improving CTR has diminishing returns in improving QS; improving CTR from 1% to 2% improves QS more than improving CTR from 2% to 3 or 4%.

The above graph shows that returns diminish faster for higher positions. Therefore, improving CTR from 1% to 2% for an ad in the third position raises QS by roughly 75%, whereas the same improvement in the number one ad only raises QS by roughly 60%.

For the top four positions (1.0 -4.0), CTR is a major indicator of QS, with roughly 50% correlation between the two variables. In the lower positions (4.0 and below), that correlation diminishes to roughly 30 to 35%, indicating that other issues (like poor landing page relevancy or ad relevancy) may have a larger weight on their poor QS.

I didn't see any strong direct relationship between QS and Average Position (R-squared = -.0000005, signaling no correlation), which means that you can't buy a higher Quality Score simply by raising your keyword bids.

Key Takeaways:

• The higher your CTR, the higher your QS, though CTRs are influenced by ad position, which is a by-product of QS.
• There are diminishing returns in improving CTRs when it comes to QS and returns diminish faster the higher the ad position.
• CTR is a major indicator of QS in the top four ad positions.
• You can't buy a higher QS by increasing your Max Bid.

Expected CTR And The Effect Of Position On Quality Score

As we know, CTR has an exponential relationship with average position. I can figure out the average CTR in paid search by looking at a few accounts and seeing what happens, on average. Let’s call this the Expected CTR. It's a rough definition, but a simple regression shows [CTR = .0673e^-.305(Avg. Position)], [R-squared =.2721]:

Using this Expected CTR formula, we can work out how the CTRs of these accounts compare with how we'd expect them to perform with their peers in similar positions.

Below, I've plotted [Actual Search CTR – Expected Search CTR] / [Expected Search CTR vs. QS]. In short, as you travel from left to right along the x-axis, accounts improve their CTRs relative to their peers in similar positions, with 0% having “expected” CTRs for their position.

Adding 100% to all these x values makes all these values positive, allowing us to perform a logarithmic regression:

Key Takeaways:

• QS isn't really affected by position. Instead, it's affected by our CTR relative to our position. This is an important and substantial difference, because Google would like you to believe that CTR drives QS, to encourage people into higher positions. Increasing your bids may drive you into a better position and may increase your CTR, but likely won’t improve your QS.
• Those with an Expected CTR in their position likely have an average QS (around 5.5).
• Improving CTR below this Expected CTR drastically improves QS, but improving CTR above this metric has quickly diminishing returns.

What Does It All Mean? Key Takeaways

WOW, are you exhausted? I am. Seriously though, I hope what you take away from this, beyond the very specific points I'll leave you with below, is that AdWords is, indeed, hackable. It's not some completely mystical, automagical realm where advertisers plod along on the strings held by a benevolent God named Google. Nor are you entirely at the mercy of malevolent competitors and the money-hungry platform.

So how the heck do you start taking real, meaningful steps towards higher Quality Scores, better performance and a greater return on your AdWords investment? Here are my best tips.

5. Get to Know Quality Score and Give It the Attention It Deserves

Hopefully by now, you're convinced that:

• Quality Score is a key AdWords metric that governs CPC, Ad Position, and thus pretty much all the other important metrics, including cost per conversion.
• Quality Score is calculated primarily based on the CTR of your keywords/ads relative to the expected CTR for your current ad position.
• Google expects rather high CTRs of your ads!

Sounds like CTR is pretty important, doesn't it? Look at your Quality Scores through a CTR lens and focus on getting your CPC/CPA down and your positioning up through better CTRs.

4. Focus on Commercial Intent Keywords for Raising CTRs

CTRs on PPC ads vary wildly from 0.1% to +70%. What is the discriminating factor?

Commercial intent. People are far more willing to click on ads if they're looking to buy things.

Keywords with high commercial intent, such as branded keywords or actual products and services (e.g. Nikon d800, stainless steel dishwasher, PPC management software, etc.) have much higher CTRs than informational keyword searches (who won the battle of 1812, how do you wash dishes, how to take good pictures, etc.), where people are far less likely to click on ads due to the informational nature of the query. They're in the very early stages of their buying journey (if they're even going to become a buyer) and aren't yet interested in being sold to.

Also, bid on your own branded terms! This will help raise your accounts' average Quality Score.

3. Look for AdWords Jackpots

Another great way to raise CTRs is to look for AdWords Jackpots (my own terminology), which is what I call it when all of the paid search ads for a search query are the same or are pretty similar, like this:

I call this “hitting the AdWords Jackpot” because it's just like hitting a row of lucky 7's when playing the slots in Vegas – because there are valuable optimization opportunities to be had here!

These jackpots generally arise due to a complete lack of marketing creativity on the part of the SEM manager, or excessive usage of Dynamic Keyword Insertion. AdWords Jackpots represent a great opportunity for an SEM manager to do some good old-fashioned marketing and optimize ad text in such a way to differentiate one's products or service offerings among a crowded pool of similar ad listings. Then you’ll stand out and get all the clicks.

2. Get Serious About Your Ad Spend

At the risk of generalizing here, where people generally get tripped up in AdWords is that they greatly underestimate the expected CTR Google has for their ads; in other words, your 1% CTR keyword isn't as good as you think it is. PPC marketers can also be incredibly lazy and write pretty dumb ads.

Recently, I looked into the account history logs of a few hundred accounts and found that there's not a heck of a lot of stuff happening in the typical AdWords account.

It is only through diligent and ongoing optimization—adding negative keywords, trying out different ads, etc.—that you can improve your CTRs. Only 1% of small business advertisers made weekly changes within their AdWords account in the last quarter. That is a massive opportunity for 99% of advertisers to roll up their sleeves and get busy outbidding, out-writing, out-testing and outperforming their competitors. The good news is that the bar is very low and spending just 20 minutes every week on PPC over a quarter would put you in the top 1% of most active advertisers!

1. Truly Integrate Your Efforts Across SEO, Content & PPC

Google so greatly rewards high CTR/Quality Score ads (and conversely penalizes keywords with lousy CTRs) that an awesome hybrid solution becomes apparent: use your content marketing efforts to cover informational keywords with SEO content and commercial keywords via PPC.

This strategy also makes sense in that it's getting harder to rank on commercial keywords for organic terms, as massive, blinged-out Product Listing Ads typically take >85% of the above the fold browser space. Plus, that information-rich content is a perfect match for informational queries. This strategy of using both PPC and SEO for different query types is what I do for my own PPC.

In Summary…

AdWords, like other marketing channels out there, isn't just a brainless coin-operated system as many believe it to be. Your ability to pick keywords and write great ads has a tremendous impact on the ROI of your campaigns. AdWords is hackable and you are in control of your PPC destiny.

I hope a deeper understanding of the inner workings of Quality Score and just how deeply CTRs affect your AdWords performance is the catalyst you need to start making substantial changes in how you do paid search.

Which of the tips above do you think will be the easiest—or the most complicated—to put into action? Are you reaping the rewards of high Quality Scores or suffering penalties due to low Quality Scores? Share your thoughts below!