The following article delves into the three main reasons most companies struggle to gain Facebook “fans” and offers tips and tricks to get your brand not just “liked” but loved.

Read this article…

There are a zillion ways to do this. Here are two that are easy to implement and will be good enough for most of us.

Let’s say you just bought a billboard, or an ad in local newspaper or magazine, and you want to know if this type of advertising will drive traffic to your site where people can learn more about your company, services or products. You could use something like “mycompany.com/newspaper” and track the traffic to that URL. But most people won’t bother typing in the extra stuff, unless there is some special content there or other incentive. Plus it’s hard to remember. Domain forwarding to the rescue!

Probably a better option is to use a special, dedicated domain name for that particular ad. Something like “MyCompanyNC.com” or “GetMyCompany.com.” You get the picture. Just add a simple modifier or possibly use an altogether different but descriptive term (e.g. “SpringfieldPlumbers.com” instead of “JohnsonPlumbing.com”).

Now what? Well, you use domain forwarding or redirecting, call it whatever, and point that thing to a special page, or tracking URL, on your real site. I’m going to outline two different ways to do this that are fairly easy for non-techie types to implement. In fact, you can even combine the two if you want, but that might get tricky.

Option 1

Tracking a Domain Redirect with a Landing Page with Google Analytics

1. Register the new domain that will be in your ad.
2. If you don’t already have it, install Google Analytics on your main site.
3. Create a landing page on your real site: “mycompany.com/landingpage.html” (Name it whatever you want, but make sure the Google Analytics tracking code is added to this page.)
4. Go back to registrar you used to register the new domain. Edit the “host record” settings to redirect it to the landing page you just created on the real site.
5. Use the new domain in your print, billboard, etc. ad.
6. Check Google Analytics for results: Content > Landing Pages

Option 2 (This assumes your site is running WordPress. High five if it is.)

Tracking a Domain Redirect with WordPress and the Redirection Plugin

1. Register the new domain that will be in your ad.
2. Install the Redirection plugin for WordPress.
3. Create a fake tracking URL for your real site and add the redirect using the plugin: “mycompany.com/billboard” (Name it whatever you want, but make sure you the exact same URL in the next step.)
4. Go back to registrar you used to register the new domain. Edit the “host record” settings to redirect it to  a fake tracking URL for your real site: “mycompany.com/billboard”
5. Use the new domain in your print, billboard, etc. ad.
6. Check WordPress admin panel for results: Log in > Tools > Redirection

How easy is that? Questions? We’re here to help.

Yeah, that’s a long headline. But it’s the truth, Ruth. Don’t let the Google Goliath kick sand in your face! Watch the video to hear the whole story. The entire email exchange between Google Adwords staff and me is below.

This is happening to a lot of people. Read Google’s own forums to see how many people are having their pay-per-click Adwords accounts shut down even though they have done nothing wrong. I’m glad they turned this account back on, but I’m disappointed they didn’t address their original, and incorrect, claim that my account was “related to another account, which has repeatedly violated our Landing page policy and site guidelines.”

Instead of admitting that they had made a mistake they said the site had “low landing page score” because it was “down” when they reviewed it. There is no evidence of that. Adwords always indicated a Landing Page Quality Score of 7 or higher.

I waited almost two weeks before asking Google’s customer service to check into it. They replied within a day. Their responsiveness was appreciated, but their response was not. I was going to bold highlights and insert some jokes, but I think I’ll let the emails speak for themselves.

See the entire email thread after the jump.

Jan 9

From: tracysigler@gmail.com
Subject: Ad Approvals and Policies (NewUI)
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:24:45 +0000

Hello, I’m trying to run two ads for a non-profit. QS is high for everything. I posted them over 10 days ago and they are still “Pending Review.” There are no technical issues. I’ve had an Adwords account for years and have never experienced a delay like this. This is urgent for us because it’s seasonal campaign. Thanks for your help. I appreciate whatever you can do.

Jan 10

Hello Tracy,

Thank you for your email. I understand that you are concerned about your ads being queued for review. I apologize for the delay in response.

It has come to our attention that your Google AdWords account Customer ID XXX-XXX-XXXX is related to another account, which has repeatedly violated our Landing page policy and site guidelines.

You can visit this link for more information
https://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164786

As a result, your account has been suspended and your ads will no
 longer run on Google. Additionally, please do not open any new AdWords accounts. If you do, your newly opened accounts will be suspended upon registration, and your account fee will not be refunded.

Our review is extensive, and we take many factors into consideration
 to ensure that we’re reaching an accurate conclusion. As noted in our Terms and Conditions, Google reserves the right to terminate advertisements for any reason.  To view our Terms and
 Conditions, please visit
 https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/tsandcsfinder

If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/, where you’ll find answers to many frequently asked questions. We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

Sincerely,

XXXX X
The Google AdWords Team

Jan 11

Hello XXXX,

This is incorrect. My account has _never_ been “related” to another account and I have not had a problem with repeated policy violations.

Can you please tell me what information you have about this so I can work to clear it up?

Thanks again for your help.

Tracy Sigler

Jan 13

Hello Tracy,

Thank you for your reply. I understand your concern.

Based on your reply, I’ve decided to escalate your issue to our technical
team, which will perform a thorough investigation to determine the cause
of the issue.

These investigations can take some time, but I’ll contact you to let you
know when our specialists have found a resolution.

I sincerely appreciate your patience while we investigate for you. Please
don’t hesitate to reply directly to this email if you have more
information to add.

If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at
http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/, where you’ll find answers to many
frequently asked questions. We look forward to providing you with the most
effective advertising available.

Sincerely,

XXXX X
The Google AdWords Team

Jan 20

Hello Tracy,

Thank you for your continued patience. Your sites have been re enabled
after being reviewed by one of our AdWords Specialists.

I’ve confirmed that your site had a low landing page quality score because
it was down at the time we reviewed it. Because your site is back up, you
should see improvements to your Quality Scores soon, reflected by higher
Quality Score details for your keywords in their Keyword Analysis fields.
Find directions for viewing this field at
http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=150568.
You might want to ask your web hosting provider how to prevent future
interruptions to your site’s service.

Keep in mind that we’re constantly improving the way the AdWords system
evaluates landing page quality, and there’s no guarantee that your Quality
Score won’t be affected by a poor landing page quality in the future. To
prevent this from happening, we recommend ensuring that your site complies
with our landing page quality guidelines, found at
http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46675.

If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at
http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/, where you’ll find answers to many
frequently asked questions. We look forward to providing you with the most
effective advertising available.

Sincerely,

Niky K
The Google AdWords Team