Digital Gearbox

Driving Traffic - Driving Sales - Driving Growth

From Cupboard To Classroom: How Our Old Laptops Are Making A Difference!

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As a digital business, having good hardware is vital for our business as we’re heavily reliant on it to do our jobs! We spend 90% of our week attached to our laptops, and we need them to work fast to do our jobs as efficiently for our clients as possible. We invest in upgrading our equipment quite regularly to take advantage of new technologies that become available. As a result, over the years we have managed to accumulate quite the “graveyard” of equipment that was previously relegated to gathering dust in our storage cupboard, that is until we found much better home for it via The Alfan Foundation

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New Job, New Office, New Colleagues… My First Week As An Apprentice.

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The Story Of Me, The Apprentice, Finding This Apprenticeship.

My apprenticeship with Digital Gearbox came so quickly! And kinda out of the blue. I had quit my previous job for exams and in summer allowed myself some me time before starting my ‘adult’ life…

After 2 months of relaxing and no stress (apart from waiting for my exam results) I decided it was time to get my act together and to start looking for something. After about 2 weeks of looking for an apprenticeship in marketing or events I came across Digital Gearbox and QA Apprenticeships. After about a week and with help from QA Apprenticeships I was booked in for an interview with Digital Gearbox and the rest will be history…

So my first week with a new job, a new office and new colleagues and honestly I couldn’t be happier to have found Digital Gearbox. The job is in a industry I was really hoping to get into, the office has character and is a good space to work in and my colleagues, well, they are so friendly and were immediately so welcoming, even during the interview. I don’t think I could ask for anything more from a work place.

My First Day:

My first day was exciting! But of course I was feeling nervous; was I going to fit in, was I going to understand everything and was I going to enjoy it? I was so happy to join the team and start my apprenticeship.

Of course there are things I could and couldn’t do because of training and knowledge but I was set up with the basics. One of my tasks was to start Google’s Digital Garage course. It’s basically a free course provided by Google that enables you to learn the basics of the very complex digital marketing world, of which I am now entering! Even though I have only completed 2 out of 7 topics I have already learnt so so much! P.S. there are soooo many lessons within one topic!

I already on the first day felt that this is something I am really going to enjoy, especially working here, with this team and learning from them and college. And at the end of my first day I went home happy that this decision of an apprenticeship (and the fact it was with Digital Gearbox) was the right one. All of my worries of whether this was the right decision and whether I’d like it just flew out the window!

My Second Day

This day was even better than the first because I was more familiar with the daily running’s and the programmes used to get all our tasks done during the day. It’s always nice when you know what’s going on and how things work isn’t it?

The tasks set for me the day before and this day meant I was very very slowly being introduced to the industry and the business. The Digital Garage course was and still is probably the best way for me to be introduced to the basics and already by day 2 I was learning about PPC, SEO and SEM! It’s good! It’s exciting! I’m learning a little more each day and already has made me so keen for the next stages of my apprenticeship.

My Third Day

Half way through my first week! Wow it did feel like the days had flown by slightly. And the realisation that this is what I will be doing for a career has truly sunk in.

Each day I’m being introduced to new systems and programmes, new terminology and everything involved in digital marketing. Being presented with Google Ads on my screen was exciting but very overwhelming… so much data, so many numbers and so much to learn!

My Fourth Day

So nearly the end of my first week! I worked on a ray of things from this blog post to researching social media activity to working on the Digital Garage course. Although all of these are all small activities and I am yet to handle accounts (understandably) I am still loving it!! It is all building my foundations to become the best asset I can to this team!

My Last Day Of The First Week:

So my last day of my first week. My colleague Michael asked me to sum up my week with one word, and it took me a while to work out the right word because throughout the week I had felt so many emotions and experienced a lot of new things.

I thought of words like exciting and overwhelming, amazing and surprising but none seemed to sum up exactly how I felt towards my first week. I came to decision my word for the week was: INTRIGUING! Because I was fascinated by all the in depth knowledge digital marketers really need to know, the level of information that goes into a simple ad popping onto my screen when I look for a new pair of shoes. Which honestly I had never really thought about, let alone understand before this week had started. All I can say is that I love it here and I can’t wait for everything more to come.

If you want to know more about me or have a conversation then drop me an email at: isabella@digitalgearbox.co.uk or follow me on Linkedin  

Rocket Blog! July 2018

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In this, the first of our new monthly blog series we look at some of the biggest talking points from the world of Pay Per Click. In addition we’ll also share insights from our ongoing work, and what the team here at Digital Gearbox get up to!

Adwords No More!

Okay so this is a little misleading…

If you haven’t already heard (or read our recent article), Google recently unveiled their plans to rebrand their marketing platforms. Gone are the likes of Adwords and DoubleClick, replaced now with the much simpler sounding Google Ads and the Google Marketing Suite.

Why the change then? Well Google say this is to simplify their products, making them more accessible for wider audiences. We have to admit that dumping the “words” from Adwords is probably a smart move considering the wide array of different advertising options now available.

In reality this change really won’t change much. That’s unless you’ve only just made the transition to the new Adwords interface, then you’re in a completely new world…

Read more about Google Ads here

The New Interface Has Arrived (Kinda)

Like it or not the new Adwords interface has now been rolled out and is now the default Adwords interface. At Digital Gearbox we have a knack for embracing change as soon as it happens, so naturally we made the switch a long time ago!

If you’ve only just done so however you might find the new look a little daunting. A new interface always brings up new challenges, and while we’re still unable to find things (it took us ages to find the placements by URL!), everything is relatively straight forward after a couple hours of use.

The one issue we’ve experienced so far however is Google’s ever-annoying tendency to hide their automated settings (that are ALWAYS set by default), and their persistence of getting users to set goals for every new campaign. These settings might be useful to smaller businesses with lower budgets, but these can get quite annoying when managing bigger accounts!

Read more about the new Adwords experience here

Shop Until You Drop…Off

So a problem we’ve recently encountered is an issue with some of our Google Shopping Campaigns. Recently we changed the way one of our client’s websites pushes it’s products into Adwords. Previously we were using their Shopify product IDs, but this was presenting some issues and preventing us from applying new techniques such as Dynamic Remarketing.

Switching the focus to the product SKU numbers initially worked well, but it wasn’t long before performance from these campaigns started to fall. Like fall off cliff.

Upon investigation we realised that by pulling through a different ID all the optimisation we had previously put in place had been undone. Bids were effectively reset and the product segmentation had also reverted back to its previous state. How annoying!

We’re pleased to report that this has now been largely resolved. Just a word of warning for any marketer looking to make changes to their Google Shopping Campaign criteria!

Let’s Moan About Crappy Agencies!

Rant time! We don’t like bashing other PPC agencies; we’re not mean people and we generally love working with other agencies to help solve our client’s problems. Teamwork makes the dream work and all that jazz…

Recently we’ve been working on assembling a group MCC for a global B2B conglomerate. For the most part this process has been a lot of fun. Almost everyone we dealt with were lovely and did everything to help as we attempted to gather a massive pile of Adwords accounts – a daunting challenge initially!

We only had one issue. Our client’s American accounts are held by their former PPC supplier, and they’ve not been easy to deal with. Let’s just put it like that.

Firstly their advice to our contact was pretty poor, their reasons for not organising the multiple accounts in their care into a MCC were unclear and jargon-ridden, and their response time to our comms were sloooooow.

We still don’t have access to these accounts. Luckily the client is understanding and appreciating our efforts regardless. It’s just a shame that we’ve encountered such a roadblock from an old agency seemingly set on holding their former client’s accounts to ransom!

Have you experienced problems with a former PPC provider? Share your horror stories with us!

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That’s it from us this month! Have you got a question that you would like us to answer next month? Email us at info@digitalgearbox.co.uk, or send us a tweet @digitalgearbox

RIP AdWords: Google Set To Rebrand Flagship Marketing Platform

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rip adwords

After nearly two decades AdWords will cease to be. Well…sorta anyways.

Yesterday (Tuesday 26th June 2018) Google announced that flagship marketing brands AdWords and DoubleClick will be changing in a new effort to streamline its offerings.

Simplification and ease-of-use have long been marketing strategies for Google’s wide array of products. AdWords is universally known as the world’s most used PPC network with just over 4 million active advertisers, but the goal has always been for Google to push this number even higher.

So what does the rebrand mean?

  • Google Adwords will become Google Ads
  • DoubleClick advertiser products will now fall under the Google Marketing Platform, along with Google’s Analytics suite
  • DoubleClick for Publishers and Ad Exchange will be integrated into a new unified platform that will be known as Google Ad Manager

In a recent interview with Search Engine Land Google’s head of ads and commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy, said of the new branding:

“With Google Ads as opposed to Google AdWords, it is moving the imperceptible default opinion that you get as an advertiser when you hear ‘Google AdWords’ … you think, ‘Oh, Words. Search.’ It’s basically a slight cognitive dissonance to all the other great things that we are doing in terms of both the format and surfaces these ads can show. And so, Google Ads, in our opinion, is a much more straightforward representation of what Google advertising can provide. It’s that simplicity and alignment of the core message from the first instant you hear the name, which is the goal.”

Marketers should start seeing these changes over the course of the next month, just as the new AdWords interface finally replaces the old experience.

Our Take: 

The new changes, while interesting, won’t make a difference to the way these platforms work. Google’s aim to simplify might appear a genuine attempt to make the end user experience a better one, but we know Google love to try and ease users into accepting their recommended settings – something that will always benefit them and not the advertiser. Also announced was Google’s small business solution, Smart Campaigns. This sounds a lot like AdWords Express.

If it is, we would recommend advertisers avoid for now.

What are your thoughts on these developments? Are you excited for the new era of Google Ads?

The Beginner’s Guide to SEO for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

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Aaron from The Evergreen Agency in Bicester has kindly put together a handy beginner’s guide for those of you getting start on your SEO journey as well as focusing on your Adwords with Digital Gearbox.

Have a read of these tips and remember Aaron is actively helping lots of local businesses in Oxford with their SEO so do get in touch with him if he can help.

If you’ve recently set up a business, you’ll probably be starting from scratch when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Or perhaps you’re a long-running medium-sized company who’d like to get ahead of the competition by using the right keywords – and employing the right tactics! – to allow you to be found in online searches.

Whichever camp you fall in, this beginner’s guide to SEO may just help you be seen – and by the right people as well. Just follow these top tips, which you can implement in hardly any time at all.

Get Started with a ‘Google My Business’ Account

If you haven’t already, the first – and best – thing you can do to help your internet ranking, is to set up a Google My Business account. You can do so by clicking here, and once you’ve set it up, you’ll find it’s a one-stop-shop for company owners, like yourself, who are looking to increase visibility on Google. After all, if you’re hoping people will find the services you’re offering, you’ll need to give yourself a fighting chance. Competition is tough, so it’s vital that you stand out.

Identify Gaps in the Market

What’s your niche? If you don’t think you have one, sit down and really think about it. Even if you offer a seemingly ‘mainstream’ service, perhaps you have an usual or unique way of providing the consumer with said service. Maybe you can turn things around in 24 hours, for example, or perhaps you throw in some other incentives to sweeten the deal when people purchase a service or product from you? By doing some extensive keyword research, you may be able to identify some gaps in the market. Then, simply jump on the back of it by targeting keywords potential customers could be using. Google’s Keyword Planner will be your go-to source for this, so click the link for details.

Teach Yourself the Basics

Self-learning is huge at the moment – and it’s set to be an even bigger trend amongst small to medium-sized businesses, as we move through 2018 and beyond. If you don’t have the first clue about how to do SEO, check out Moz’s beginners guide to SEO. It teaches you the basics when it comes to SEO and it’s laid out in a straight-forward way, with an easy-to-digest format. If you don’t know where to begin, this course could really help you – and it’s been designed with SMEs in mind.

Make Use of Google Maps

Google really does have a host of resources for small to medium-sized businesses – and this one is no exception. You can claim your business address on Google Maps easily, so make sure you do so if you haven’t already. Giving your brand the authority it deserves, it’ll offer some reassurance to potential new customers, too. If your business address is visible online – and consumers can see you have physical premises – it means they’ll be more likely to put their trust in you and your services.

Make Sure You Deserve to Rank

I always tell my clients that in order to rank, you must deserve to do so. So, think about creating some quality content – on your own site, its blog, or even across social media, and you’ll soon achieve the hits you should be receiving.

Are you the owner of a small to medium-sized business? If you have some top tips for being seen online, let others know by commenting on this blog.