For any person using Facebook for contextual advertising, it has been a major source of frustration that it did not have conversion tracking or a means to determine if visitors were completing any actions on their site. Not having the option to track conversions limits the amount of analysis and optimization an advertiser can do to improve the performance of their ads. Using an analytics platform was one way to track certain goals that were completed; however, not every advertiser uses analytics.

Conversion coding enables advertisers to track certain goals as well as make strategic decisions on performance of ads. Testing different ad copy or targeting is beneficial for marketers so they can actually measure what is performing the best. On the flip side, they can also see what isn’t performing and make decisions to optimize the campaign. Larger search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and Business.com all offer conversion coding.

Facebook recently released a very limited beta program for conversion tracking. Not much is known about this beta, but it clearly shows that Facebook is looking to be a contender as a major advertising platform. By giving advertisers this tool, Facebook is making it easier to show how well ads can perform.

No longer is Facebook a valuable market for just for building brand awareness, it is moving toward becoming a portal in which advertisers can expect to see conversion driven success.

Valentine’s Day is getting closer and many marketers are gearing up for a busy season. During holiday seasons, it is important to determine when people are interested in your products. Using Google Insights for Search can help you determine when interest in your products or services is at its peak throughout the year.

For example, if you sell flowers, you know that the biggest time of the year for your business is Valentines Day. But when should you start ramping up your advertising? According to Google Insights for Search, the peak time for searches related to flowers was February 10-16 in 2008 and February 8-14 last year.

Using this tool can also help you uncover other peak seasons. It appears that the second week of May is also a high volume time for the flower industry. Mother’s Day is probably the result of the increased interest.

Using tools like Insights for Search, as well as analytic platforms, can help marketers plan for seasonality and peak times. Knowing what to expect can help advertisers know when to anticipate an increase in CPCs due to a rise in competition. Planning for marketing initiatives in advance can help allow for a smooth and profitable transition into a busy season.

Gone are the days of the simple text ads in Google AdWords, with a headline and 2 description lines and the display url. Google now offers several ways to enhance your sponsored ads.

First, geo-targeting ads to a specific location can strengthen your ad because the location will be displayed at the bottom of the ad. For example, this ad is geo-targeted to New York state.

Another way to spruce up your ads is to include the address on the bottom of the ad. This can be done by creating a local business ad. In order to create a local business ad, you will need to create a local business listing on Google. Including an address tells the searchers your exact location without having them look for it all over your site.

Incorporating product images into your sponsored ads is a powerful way to draw attention to your ad. This can be done by creating a Google Base account and linking it to your AdWords account through the Google Merchant Center.

There are many ways to make your sponsored ads on Google more enticing for searchers. No longer is effective ad writing and enticing offers enough. By incorporating these features you can literally stay on top of your competition.