This post is Part 3 of a three-part series. To get caught-up, see Part 1 here, and Part 2 here.
Part Three: Ideal Positions’ New Reporting Suite!
Ever since Ideal Positions began offering Read-Only Access to Google AdWords accounts there has been a tremendous amount of feedback, both positive and negative. The positive feedback was expected; many business owners find the level of transparency that Ideal Positions offers to be a breath of fresh air when compared to other providers they have tried in the past. Providing access to Google AdWords directly ensures that the data is completely uncorrupted by any conflicts of interest, which can only be a good thing!
Admittedly, we may have been a little short-sighted in that we didn’t anticipate a common negative reaction to this level of transparency: Google AdWords reporting isn’t the most user-friendly, easy-to-use interface. We know that many of Ideal Positions’ clients enjoy the services we offer partly because those clients don’t have to worry about navigating or monitoring the labyrinth that is the Google AdWords Web Interface. So, in an effort to provide greater transparency, I must admit that we may have fallen a little short of the mark by over-complicated the reporting process. As an Internet marketing agency, Ideal Positions isn’t afraid to admit when we may have made a mistake, and I believe that fact serves to further accentuate the level of transparencey and honesty you get when working with us.
In light of this experience, Ideal Positions is proud to announce a new, custom-built in-house reporting suite that is significantly easier to use than the Google AdWords reporting! Our staff is really excited about all the hard work our developers have put into designing this new reporting suite, and we’re excited to enhance our clients’ experience by providing the metrics they care about the most in a simplified, easy-to-view format. This new reporting pulls data directly from Google Adwords and bing Ads, so it is still 100% unadulterated. Data is pulled automatically using existing features available in Google AdWords and bing Ads, combined with custom software built by Ideal Positions’ in-house developers. There is no data entry involved, and as such there is no room for typos or other “human error.”
What Data is Available in the New Reporting Suite?
Using the new reporting suite, you will be able to view the total number of clicks (how many times your ads were clicked on), the total number of impressions (how many times your ads were viewed), and the Clickthrough Rate (CTR) from Ideal Positions’ service, broken-down by keyword and by search engine. With nearly two years of feedback from clients that have had access to the Google AdWords accounts that Ideal Positions uses to advertise their websites, we believe that this will be just enough reporting to be of value to our clients without over-complicating the reports to the point of obfuscation. To see how these clicks are performing once the user gets to your site, Ideal Positions recommends the use of Google Analytics.
In addition to providing reporting for the Google AdWords account that Ideal Positions uses to drive traffic to your website, the new reporting suite will now allow you to see how many clicks and impressions you are receiving from bing Ads! Better yet, the reporting for both Google AdWords and bing Ads is now available all in one report. You will no longer need to contact Ideal Positions to get a traffic report for bing Ads, that data is now available all in one place.
New Reporting Suite Will Launch in Q1 2014
At the time of this publication, Ideal Positions’ new reporting suite is almost ready for prime-time. To get early access when the new suite launches in Q1 of 2014, like Ideal Positions on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us to your circles on Google+. More updates will follow in the coming weeks and months.
Lead Attribution and The Future of Ideal Positions’ New Reporting Suite
Reporting on clicks, impressions, and Clickthrough Rate is only the beginning. Over time, Ideal Positions plans to integrate automated lead attribution into the reporting suite, giving our clients even more direct access to metrics that specifically measure how many phone calls, contact form submissions, newsletter signups, downloads, and online purchases that are directly attributable to Ideal Positions’ advertising services.
We’ve already set the wheels in motion to begin offering advanced call tracking using Google Analytics and Ideal Positions’ new reporting suite beginning in 2014. Using dynamically-generated phone numbers, combined with custom-built landing pages expertly designed just for Search Engine Marketing, Ideal Positions will be able to track roughly how many phone calls you receive from our service, and even show which keywords were most responsible for generating the phone calls. This data can be used over time to refine the allocation of advertising spend to the avenues that generate the most revenue for our clients.
Additionally, we plan on integrating contact form submission tracking into the new reporting suite, also beginning in 2014. For those of you that get more form submissions than phone calls, this system will play a key role in reporting roughly how many submissions are directly attributable to Ideal Positions’ services, and the data can be reported right there in the new reporting suite alongside the rest of your campaign performance metrics.
Over time, we hope to create a one-stop reporting system for our clients to use that will provide the same level of transparency that Ideal Positions has become known for, while keeping a refreshing level of simplicity that will save advertisers both time and money.