Counting Conversions with Yahoo's Search Marketing Tool

So, how are you supposed to know what's working and what's not with your ad campaigns. Well, Yahoo has their own search marketing tool you can use to measure those conversions called "Conversion Counter". The tool is free to use as part of your Yahoo Search Marketing account.

With Conversion Counter, you can track how successful your ad campaigns really are. This tool will show you how many clicks it takes for someone to convert.

So what is a conversion? A conversion happens when someone clicks on your ad, visits your website and performs the "wanted action". That "action" can range from just registering to use your site, making a purchase, signing up for your newsletter, or downloading something. Conversion is the wanted response from your ad campaigns. Some type of action is performed after clicking through to your website.

You'll find Conversion Counter under the administration tab in your Yahoo marketing account. It can track results from "Sponsored Search", and their "Content Match" programs. Don't click the activate button until you have pasted the necessary code onto your "conversion page". The conversion page of your site is usually the confirmation page or thank you page that appears after someone purchases or signs up at your site.

By using what's called "event tags", you can track different conversion events such as tracking a newsletter sign up, a download, or an actual purchase. It can even record "assists" which will tell you the number of times a particular keyword or phrase in your pay-per-click campaign assisted in a conversion.

You can also assign a revenue value to be associated with each conversion. This will tell you how profitable your campaign keywords really are. There are two options:

1) Constant Average Value: You specify a specific dollar amount to be used with each conversion.
2) Dynamic Value: The dollar amount is dynamically updated. This is a good choice if you sell multiple products at different prices.

Conversion Counter also tracks the type of visitor that converts:

1) New - (1st time visitor)
2) Returning - (Someone who's been there before)
3) Customer - (At least one conversion before)
4) Repeat Customer - (2 or more conversions in past)
5) Cookies Off - (Those with cookies off)

Having access to this sort of information is invaluable to any marketing campaign.

The code on your page is invisible to those using your website. The information being tracked will appear under the "reports and campaigns" section of your Yahoo account.

If you use Yahoo Search Marketing and haven't been tracking your conversions, now that you know how easy it is you have no excuse not to implement it. Knowing how well your site is converting browsers into customers, and which keywords are performing best, can help you to make more informed decisions when it comes to your next marketing campaign. And that's information you can literally bank on.

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By Merle- The pay-per-click Authority when it comes to using paid search engine advertising. With helpful articles, how-to's and tips that will help you make the most from your advertising investment. Download a FREE "How To" ebook at.... www.PayPerClickResearch.com