Luke Thomas’ brilliant goal for Leicester helped the Foxes to a 2-1 win at Manchester United this week, the left-back’s fine finish helping secure his side what could prove to be a vital three points in the race for Champions League football.
Thomas’ goal also saw the teenager join an exclusive list of Premier League youngsters, becoming just the 10th teenage talent in the division’s history to net an away goal at Old Trafford.
Following the defender’s goal, we’ve looked back at the 10 teenagers to score away goals at Manchester United in the Premier League.
Nick Barmby
Nick Barmby became the first teenager to score an away Premier League goal at Old Trafford, scoring for Tottenham in a 4-1 defeat at Manchester United in the league’s inaugural campaign.
The north London side proved little match for the Red Devils who were in the midst of a first title-winning campaign in 26 years, goals from Eric Cantona, Denis Irwin, Brian McClair and Paul Parker putting the home side four goals ahead inside the opening hour.
Barmby’s goal came two minutes from time as the youngster headed in, though it was little consolation for a Spurs side well beaten.
Darren Caskey
The following season and it was another Spurs talent who netted as a teenager at Manchester United, Darren Caskey scoring in a 2-1 defeat for Ossie Ardiles’ side.
United headed into the October 1993 clash as defending champions and looked on their way to three points after goals from summer signing Roy Keane and Lee Sharpe put the home side in control.
Caskey’s goal reduced the arrears just three minutes after Sharpe’s goal to set up a nervy finish, but the Red Devils held on to secure all three points against Spurs for a second successive season.
Michael Owen
Michael Owen’s rapid rise remains one of the most exciting teenage emergences of the Premier League era, the forward bursting onto the scene with Liverpool to become one of the division’s brightest talents.
Owen was in the midst of a first full season that saw the 18-year-old win the Premier League’s Golden Boot, finishing the campaign with 18 league goals including an equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
The lightning pace that defined Owen’s early game was evident as he burst beyond a hesitant Gary Pallister, lifting the ball over Peter Schmeichel to secure Liverpool a point at Old Trafford.
Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Anelka was another forward who lit up the Premier League whilst still a precociously talented teenager, arriving from PSG as a relative unknown before helping Arsenal to a domestic double during his debut campaign.
The following season saw the Frenchman explode with 17 league goals to be named as the PFA Young Player of the Year, including scoring in a 1-1 draw between the Gunners and title rivals Manchester United.
The two teams were locked together in a tight title race with this the first of four defining games in the season, Anelka opening the scoring with a high finish – after Dwight Yorke had earlier missed a penalty for United – before Andy Cole rescued a point for the hosts.
That equaliser proved pivotal as the Red Devils pipped Anelka and Arsenal to the title by a single point, whilst also eliminating the Gunners in the FA Cup semi-finals on their way to a historic treble.
Francis Jeffers emerged from the Everton ranks in the late nineties amid much excitement, the penalty-box poacher making his debut as a 16-year-old before growing into the side.
Jeffers scored six league goals in each of his three seasons as a regular, including a close-range effort to open the scoring at Manchester United during the 1999/2000 season.
Everton’s performance – much like Jeffers’ later career – fizzled out soon after however, the Toffees on the receiving end of a 5-1 thrashing as an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brace inspired a comeback win for the Premier League champions.
Kevin Nolan
Bolton returned to the Premier League after a three-season absence in 2001/02 and started impressively with three consecutive wins, though their finest result of the campaign came with a shock win at defending champions Manchester United.
Kevin Nolan equalised become the sixth Premier League teenager to score at Old Trafford, with Michael Ricketts scoring a late second as Bolton responded to Juan Sebastien Veron’s opener to stun the Red Devils.
Defeat for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side was one of six in the league at Old Trafford that season, their worst record since the 1977/78 campaign.
Jermain Defoe
West Ham also won at Manchester United during the 2001/02 season, Jermain Defoe scoring the only goal of the game for Glenn Roeder’s side.
Defoe came through the academy ranks with the Hammers and finished as their leading scorer as a teenager during that campaign, netting 14 times across all competitions.
He left for Tottenham in controversial circumstances following West Ham’s relegation the following season, later enjoying spells with Portsmouth and Sunderland to become the ninth-highest scoring player in Premier League history.
, but those guidelines are vague in many areas and contradictory in spots.
That makes things confusing for even the smartest marketer or business owner. Trying to understand some of GMBs guidelines is almost like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube in a dark room.
And the rules pertaining to Service Area Businesses (SABs) seem to be the most
confusing.
In this column, you’ll learn about the most common problems SABs experience in Google My Business — and how to solve them.
What is Unique About Service Area Businesses in GMB?
Service Area Businesses are those lacking a physical storefront location where customers can visit.
SABs have employees that go out to their customers and serve or service the customers at their locations.
Common examples of SABs include plumbers, landscapers, pest control companies, and locksmiths. Many of these Service Area Businesses are run out of the business owner’s home.
Violating these guidelines generally means trouble for them either instantly – such as when you verify your SAB listing with the GMB PIN postcard, and the listing immediately gets suspended — or down the road because of some other infraction.
Here are some of the common Google My Business Service Area Business problems and how to avoid the pitfalls associated with them.
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How to Correctly Claim Your GMB Service Area Business Listing
The old Google My Business claiming process was flawed for Service Area Businesses.
Google asked these businesses to enter their physical address during the early part of the claiming process.
The business owner would first enter the name of their business:
And then were immediately asked to enter their address.
The catch? There were two little checkboxes many people either skipped or didn’t know what they meant:
I deliver goods and services to my customers.
Hide my address (it’s not a store) Only show region.
Google didn’t do a very good job of explaining these checkboxes and their importance. They were easy to miss and you could select one without the other.
(So you could choose that you delivered goods and services but not check the “Hide my address” box.)
What this means is that there are a ton of SAB Google My Business listings out there online that are set up incorrectly.
Google does not
allow SAB businesses to display their home address or a non-storefront business address on GMB listings.
There are probably thousands and thousands (if not more) GMB SAB listings set up incorrectly from this flawed claiming process.
And because these business owners have likely not checked the frequently updated Google guidelines, they might not even realize their listings are in violation.
The good news is that Google has finally cleaned up this claiming process and made things a little clearer.
Let’s take a look at the new claiming process.
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The New SAB Claiming Process
First, the business is asked to enter their name and category:
Then they are asked if they want to add a location that customers can visit, like a store or office.
It’s a simple Yes or No radio button.
This is much clearer, although I think it would be even more helpful if they added a link to a section in the guidelines that clearly discussed the difference between a storefront (or physical location that customers come to) and a SAB.
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It would also be helpful if that page clearly stated that virtual offices or co-working space addresses are not allowed unless very specific criteria are met… but I’m jumping ahead of myself.
When the Service Area Business owner selects “No,” they are given the opportunity to list service areas:
It’s not until the very end of the process that they’re then asked for their address so that the verification postcard with the PIN number can be sent out to them.
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And the good thing? Google already knows that they are a Service Area Business, so when they go into their GMB dashboard, they are already set up as a SAB with no address displayed!
(Big improvement, huh?)
So this helps all the new service businesses claiming their GMB listings.
But what should all the SABs do if they already have their address displayed in their GMB listings?
Go Ahead – Delete Your Address Already!
If you run your business out of your home or out of a location where you don’t allow customers (and don’t have permanent signage and your staff working there during business hours), you must
delete your address from your GMB listing and select service areas.
You can select up to 20 service areas.
Keep in mind that the service areas you select should be within a two-hour drive from your location.
Also, fair warning: sometimes deleting your address can automatically trigger a suspension or can cause you to have to re-verify your listing.
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So before you delete your address, make sure you that you have formal proof of your business’s legitimacy in the way of documents with your company’s name and business address on them.
You’ll need to provide this to Google during the GMB listing reinstatement process, should you get suspended.
You will need to provide Google proof in the form of a business license, a record of your business from the Secretary of State or some other business governing body, a utility bill with your company’s name and address, photos of your service vehicles with signage on them, etc.
You will have to prove to Google that you are a legitimate business to get your listing reinstated if you get suspended.
But keep in mind that if you don’t delete your address from your GMB listing, you are very likely going to get suspended sooner rather than later anyway for violating GMBs guidelines.
It’s better to be proactive and follow the rules and explain to Google that you were correcting your errors instead of getting flat-out busted.
NOTE:
Google may need to review this change after you delete your address, so you may see a “Pending” notice or some other “Under Review” notice. If that notice doesn’t go away after 2-3 days, contact Google My Business Support
.
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Tip For Digital Marketing Agencies:
If you’re a digital marketing agency working with a SAB client and you need to confirm if they are violating the address rule or you’re doing some spam-fighting work on behalf of your client, Melissa.com’s address lookup feature
is a handy tool.
In the example below, it’s pretty obvious that this business is being run out of a home just from the photo that Google displays in the GMB listing:
But you can use Melissa.com’s lookup tool to confirm it:
If your client is violating the address rule, they need to log in to the GMB dashboard
, click on the “Info” section, and then click the pencil icon next to their address and delete their address.
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They’ll then be given the option to select service areas.
What Is a Google My Business Hybrid Business?
Before we move on, it’s best that we discuss what a Hybrid Business
is.
A Hybrid Business is a company that has a storefront with a physical store/location that customers come to, they have permanent signage and their employees are staffed at their location during stated business hours.
These businesses also go out to their customers to service them at their location.
Restaurants with indoor dining but also deliver food to people’s homes are one example.
A service example would be a home improvements store that has a showroom that people can shop at, but they have service technicians and delivery employees that go out to customers’ homes to make deliveries and service/fix appliances.
Hybrid Businesses can have the best of both worlds – they can show their address (as long as they have permanent signage at their storefront) – and can select service areas.
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If they don’t have permanent signage at their location, however, they can only be categorized as a SAB and they cannot
display their address in their GMB profile.
By the way, Google doesn’t consider vinyl signs to be permanent signage.
Employees, Extra Locations, and Metro Listings… Oh, My!
According to Google’s guidelines, Service Area Businesses should have one
profile for the central office or location with a designated service area.
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However, the guidelines also say that if you have different locations for your service business, with separate service areas and separate staff at each location, you’re allowed one profile for each location.
Additionally, the guidelines state that Service Area Businesses can only create one profile
’s overall service area shouldn’t be more than about a two-hour drive from where your business is based. For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate.
(Confused yet? Remember my analogy about solving the Rubik’s Cube in a dark room? Here’s where that comes into play…)
So this is where things get complex. Let’s break this down a bit, and I will give you a word of caution: Do not
try and push the limits or stretch these guidelines.
If you do violate or bend these rules, sooner or later, you will get busted by Google, a competitor, a digital marketing agency that works for one of your competitors, or by someone who just enjoys knocking off spammers.
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If you violate or push the boundaries of these rules, you will get suspended .
When it comes to Google My Business’s Guidelines, it is far better to be safe than sorry.
(I’ve seen sorry, and it was the business owners that did push the limits, violated Google’s guidelines, and got their GMB listings suspended. They dropped off Google’s local search altogether. And it’s not a pretty picture! Their phone stopped ringing and their website visitors disappeared. Believe me, it’s not worth the risk.)
I’ll explain each of these as best I can, based on my interpretation and experience. Feel free to consult other expert opinions as well…
Service Area Businesses Should Have One Profile for the Central Office or Location With a Designated Service Area
This makes sense for most Service Area Businesses.
Let’s face it, if you are a sole proprietor, you will have one location and that’s most likely your home or space/location that’s used for storage for your materials or equipment. It’s not suitable for customers to visit.
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You would claim only one Google My Business listing and not include your physical address in that listing. You can list up to 20 service areas.
Note:
The ranking for SABs on Google is based on the physical location of your business – the address that you used to verify your listing. Rankings have nothing to do with the service areas you select.
If You Have Different Locations for Your Service Business, With Separate Service Areas and Separate Staff at Each Location, You’re Allowed One Profile for Each Location
Again, this is not the time to go out and say, “Wahoo! I’m going to claim a bunch of GMB listings from my employee’s home addresses and dominate the local search results in my entire state or county!”
Not. Going. To. Happen. Don’t do it!
First, claiming GMB listings from your employee’s homes wouldn’t stand up to Google’s scrutiny when your listings get suspended. You would have no official proof that those locations were legally or officially your
business locations.
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So, again, this guideline would truly not fit most SABs.
The other caveats are that you must have separate service areas and separate staff at each location. You better be prepared to hire lots of people if you think you’re going to try and perhaps “game” the system with this tactic.
Again, if this truly and legitimately is not your business model – which for 98% of the SAB cases I can predict it is not – don’t set up your listings this way.
Service Area Businesses Can Only Create One Profile for the Metropolitan Area That They Serve
This one makes sense. Doesn’t it?
And lastly…
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The Boundaries of Your SABs GMB Profile’s Overall Service Area Shouldn’t Be More Than About a Two-Hour Drive From Where Your Business Is Based
For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate.
For most SABs, driving more than two hours to perform a service is a diminishing return. There are a few
service industries where that may not be the case (like the large-frame construction industry, for instance). So in those cases, you can set a larger service area.
But please don’t be like these people who literally had several countries as their service areas:
Don’t worry. They were taken down by Google. (See what happens when you break the rules?)
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Not-Real Offices: Let’s Get Real
I’ll lay out the hard truth for you, so brace yourself.
Businesses with a physical address often rank better than those that do not display their address.
That’s why it’s tempting for some Service Area Businesses to think they can game the system by renting out a UPS box address, a virtual office, or a co-working address just so they can have an “address” to put in that address field in their GMB listing.
But I will let you in on a little tip: Google knows where all the WeWork, Regus, and other major co-working and virtual offices are physically located. Have you heard of a little thing called Google Maps?
If you think you’re going to try and trick Google by adding one of those types of addresses to your GMB listing, you are just biding time until your listing gets suspended.
According to Google’s Guidelines, if your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn’t operate out of that location (a.k.a., a virtual office) that location is not eligible for a Business Profile on Google.
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And you can’t list an office at a co-working space unless that office has clear signage, receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed by your employees during stated business hours. (Your staff – not the co-working building’s staff.)
From my experience with working with suspensions and on the GMB Help Forum
, if you rent out space at one of these types of co-working places, Google expects you to rent out a dedicated office, have permanent signage outside the door of that office (and preferable have business signage in the lobby of the said office, too) and your company should be listed with your own suite number on the building’s directory.
And, of course, you must have your employee(s) there at that office during business hours.
If your listing gets suspended, Google will ask for photos and/or videos of all of these things – sometimes right down to a video of your happy employee in the entrance of your dedicated office’s lobby area – just as if a customer were walking in.
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So don’t mess with the bull.
How to Select the Best GMB Categories for a Service Area Business
When it comes to categories, select those most specific to your business. Since categories directly impact your rankings, selecting the right categories for your GMB listing is extra important.
For some Service Area Businesses, it makes sense to choose several different categories. You can choose up to ten, and some may need to be changed depending on the season or other circumstances.
Take an HVAC and a landscaper, for example. During the summer season, the HVAC company will want to be in the “air conditioning contractor” category and the landscaper would probably want the “landscaper” category as their primary.
However, when things get cold, they’d probably want to switch their categories around a bit. The HVAC would want to switch their primary category to “heating contractor” and the landscaper (who does snow removal during the winter months) would switch to “snow removal service.”
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Warning:
Changing your GMB categories can sometimes trigger a suspension or cause Google to re-verify your GMB listing.
Spammy SAB Categories
Service Area Businesses are prone to getting suspended due to the nature of their business and because there’s a lot of spam associated with Service Area Business listings.
It’s not uncommon to see fake SAB GMB listings.
These fake listings not only hurt consumers but also harm legitimate business owners. Here are just some
of the spammier SAB categories:
Garage Door Companies.
Plumbers.
Locksmiths.
Pest Control.
HVAC.
Tree Pruning.
Roofing.
Water Damage Restoration.
Flooring Contractors.
Foundation Repair.
Tree Service.
If you are in virtually any Service Area Business, you need to be prepared at all times for a suspension – even if you are following all of the rules.
Sometimes Google does a “sweep” and suspends a whole bunch of listings for no reason. You have to be prepared with your paperwork to fill out the reinstatement request form.
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Service Area Business Suspensions
Some industries are more likely to get their GMB listings suspended than others. These categories are known to have more spam and fake listings – which makes them more prone to suspensions.
Google and SEO professionals have been trying to crack down on spammy and fake GMB listings, so if you’re in one of these industries, it’s very possible that someone will report your profile if you are violating any Google My Business rules.
As I mentioned, these spammy categories are typically Service Area Business and include locksmiths, plumbers, pest control services, HVAC, etc.
But keep one thing in mind if you get busted using a virtual office or co-working space address: you simply can’t go in and delete that address and call it good.
You have to go in and replace that address with the address you actually operate out of (whether it’s your home or some other building that’s used for storage, chemicals, or equipment), then delete that address and finally add your service areas.
Then you’ll be ready to fill out the reinstatement request form.
In the reinstatement request form, thoroughly explain that you fixed the virtual office/co-working space address error, that you added your home address, then deleted your home address and added service areas.
You also must be prepared to submit legal/official documentation to prove that you run your business out of the address you entered.
You are the one that needs to prove to Google that you are a legitimate business – otherwise they can deny your reinstatement, and you’ll be off the grid.
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SAB Sob Stories
Over the years I’ve spent helping clients and answering questions on the GMB Help Forum, I’ve heard plenty of sob stories from Service Area Businesses that have had issues when they didn’t follow the guidelines.
I truly hope that after reading this article, you’re better prepared with your Service Area Business Google My Business profile.
Whether you notice or not, plenty of PPC ads utilize questions to get more engagement. The questions can be literal or rhetorical, but either way, they’re trying to get you to click so you can learn the answer.
In this article, we’ll discuss why you should consider asking questions in your PPC ads and provide tips about best practices in doing so.
Why Should You Use Questions in Your PPC Ads?
Questions are how people show interest in each other’s lives, and they’re a regular part of our everyday lives to boot. When ads use questions effectively, potential customers may feel like the brand cares about them and isn’t simply trying to sell them something.
That said, marketers can’t measure how customers feel. But, you can measure data to see if your questions in PPC ads are driving people to your page. Here are some reasons marketers have discovered questions in PPC ads work:
1. Get People’s Attention
A question can easily pique people’s interest, especially if it’s about a relatable struggle.
Let’s say you’re a marketing agency.
Try starting your PPC ads with statements like, “Do you want to increase your conversion rate?” or “Do you want to boost marketing results?”
The answers to these questions may seem like no-brainers. Yet, they can easily attract the attention of business owners who are desperately looking for ways to improve their sales results, as they want you to answer these questions for them without having to dig further.
is essential. If they feel like you’re talking at them, not with them, they have no reason to click, like, share, or comment.
So, if you ask a question they want an answer to or want to answer, you’re inviting them into the conversation, not giving them the hard sell.
Your ultimate goal is to convert people into paying customers, but engaging with them via questions could get them to want to purchase from you instead of the person who simply said: “buy our product.”
3. More Clicks on PPC Ads with Questions
Not only can questions pique interest, but they can tap into a feeling of social obligation. When you ask someone a question in “real life,” they often feel obligated to answer. While your PPC ad isn’t staring at a user anticipating an answer, the reader could feel like they need to respond.
Or, they could have that question themselves—maybe they even typed in that exact question, and that’s why they see your ad. It could feel like they asked you the question and are now the ones waiting for your answer!
Asking a question you want them to answer, like “Are you ready to take the leap?” or a question they may have asked, like “Why should I travel to Iceland?” could make them click.
Note: Be sure your PPC ad’s link actually answers the question, provides relevant information before they provide contact information, or is directly related to the query in another way. Don’t just send them to your homepage unless the answer is there.
4. Showcase Brand Personality
The questions you ask will give customers an idea about your brand identity
or personality.
Let’s take a look at the difference between these two questions:
“What’s your next six-figure move?”
“If you could travel anywhere for free, where would it be?”
The first question will likely give the impression that a business-savvy financial advisor or entrepreneur wrote the ad. It may even attract like-minded individuals who want to learn about generating passive income or building their own business.
The second question could let viewers see you as a company with a genuine interest in their dreams and futures. The “if you could” portion may also trigger viewers to share the dream destinations they’ve been saving up for, which could increase visibility if your PPC ad is on social media and not a search engine.
You only have one chance to make a good first impression, so be sure your question does that for you.
5 Times You Should Use Questions in PPC Ads
How can you utilize questions when making your PPC ads? Here are five ways you can use them to yield the results you want.
1. Use Questions to Make a Tough Sell
There are brand messages which are easy to communicate, like “Buy now to get 70 percent off your first order,” or “Sign up to get free access to our course.” These statements answer a question that didn’t even need to be asked: “Do you want something for cheap or free?” So, questions aren’t needed.
However, when you’re making a tough sell, peppering your ad with a few questions can help readers ease into the idea of consuming your content or opting into your business.
Let’s say you’re a blogger in the finance industry who wants to talk about the perks of investing. Money can be a touchy subject—even an intimidating one—for many. Using questions focusing on the perks of investing or reflecting things readers may already be wondering could draw them in.
You could write something like, “Do you want to abandon the 9-to-5 grind and be your own boss?” or “Do you want to retire in your 50s?”
These inquiries can get people to notice your ads because they’re exciting and relatable.
2. Use Questions as Conversation Starters
Think about the last time you approached a stranger in a social situation.
To avoid being awkward, you probably introduced yourself with your name and a brief statement, then asked a question like, “How do you know [insert mutual friend’s name]?”
It’s the same way for PPC ads.
Questions are a good starting point to introducing your business and the services you offer without putting on too much pressure.
For example, Ready Set Food’s PPC ads introduce the company by name and give some basic information. First-time parents who are concerned about their baby’s diets may already be interested in the topic, but the CTA “How Does It Work?” truly gets the conversation started.
3. Use Questions to Encourage Readers to Click the CTA
Asking a question reflecting the reader’s thoughts or addressing a pain point could lead them to click the call-to-action (CTA). The CTA could be the question itself, or the question could lead to the CTA.
A question that could be the CTA is reflected in the Ready, Set, Food ad above: How does it work?
Regent Atlantic’s PPC ad uses a question to lead readers to the CTA by asking, “Do you have a financial plan that works for you?” They then encourage people to click their ad to get the financial help they need.
4. Use Questions to Introduce Your Business
Including a question related to your businesses’ niche is a good starting point to establishing a relationship with your customers.
SEO agency Pushfire starts with the question, “Tired of SEO services that take shortcuts or attempt to game the latest algorithm?” Since SEO is a broad and complicated topic, the loaded question helps give a brief introduction of what their agency offers and how hard they’re willing to work for you.
5. Use a Question to Introduce a Solution
PPC ads can have questions that introduce problems the audience may already have.
Your products or services should provide the solution, immediately answering the question in a way that lets the audience know this. People are looking for solutions, not problems.
For example, Bookakery Boxes’ PPC ad starts with, “Looking for a gift that will last beyond Christmas?” Their answer is their subscription box program, which lets people give books to their loved ones throughout the year.
6 Tips for Using PPC Ad Questions Successfully
It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it. When it comes to questions in PPC ads, you need to know not just when to ask them but how and why you’re doing so.
1. Understand Your Message
What does your company stand for, and what does it offer? You need to answer these questions for yourself before you ask your audience anything.
The questions you ask readers should help them relate to your message.
For instance, if you run a travel agency focusing on affordability, you could ask, “Are you dreaming of a vacation but worried about the cost?”
Or, if you run a clothing store that donates a portion of all proceeds, you could ask, “Do you want to look great while helping others?”
In both of these, the audience knows what your company is all about from one simple question.
2. Keep Them to a Minimum
Chances are, we’ve all met someone who just constantly asks question after question, and eventually, they become background noise at best.
Questions are more effective when they are utilized infrequently.
Plus, asking too many questions could make your copy seem deceitful and spammy, like you’re trying to get answers out of them, not help them solve a problem. Not surprisingly, no one wants to see too many questions because we prefer to get answers or solutions.
Just include one question to maximize the impact of your ads.
3. Make the Questions Seem Natural
Questions are natural parts of human conversation, and copy should reflect that—and no more than that.
. Historically, it was best to have your long-tail keywords be verbatim in your copy; now, search engines are smart enough to understand context. Don’t wedge those questions in, especially repeatedly, just to fit your keywords.
There’s nothing wrong with adding questions every now and then. You want to make your PPC ad copy
seem like you’re encouraging a friend to make it more engaging and enticing. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Understand Your Audience
Picking the right question involves understanding your audience.
What are the most common dilemmas of your target audience? Why would they need your products or services? Formulating questions along these lines will help you create copy that resonates with your intended viewers.
5. Keep Questions Positive
Your questions should make people excited, not scared or unhappy. A question that only has a negative response could lead to a negative perception of your brand.
For example, the question “Do you want a house infested with rats?” could make readers uncomfortable and respond strongly with “no,” or even, “how dare you assume I would?” After all, it conjures an image of a house with a rat infestation and implies someone, somewhere, may say, “why yes, yes I do!”
In contrast, the question “Do you have rats and want them gone?” makes your intended message more concise and clear. Readers know you’re offering products and services designed to take care of a rat infestation without assuming they do have a house full of rats.
Plus, people want solutions to their problems, and positively phrased questions and responses offer those.
6. Only Ask When You Know What the Answer Will Be
When you ask someone to become engaged to be married, you’re likely already pretty sure they’ll say “yes.” The same goes when asking a reader to engage with your content—you need to be pretty sure the answer will be “yes.”
In other words, the “yes” should be so expected that the question is rhetorical.
For example, Plato’s Closet has a PPC ad with the words, “Ready to upgrade your closet?”
In this situation, people who read the copy are more likely to stop and stare because of the free shipping
option. The question just drove the message home.
Getting readers to respond “yes” to this early on, to the point where they click on the CTA
, may make them more likely to answer “yes” once they’ve reached your product page. They’re already pretty excited about the questions they’ve already responded affirmatively to.
Conclusion
Questions in PPC ads could help you engage with your readers in various ways.
They can introduce your business, engage your audience at a human level, or make them excited to learn more. It can also be used to bring up a solution to a problem, which may encourage your audience to respond to your CTA
.
Ask questions aligned with your main message. Make sure they seem natural and show you understand your target audience
.
As long as you keep these tips in mind, you could create PPC ads that produce excellent results.
How will you use questions to get more engagement with your PPC ads?
See How My Agency Can Drive
Massive
Amounts of Traffic to Your Website
SEO
– unlock massive amounts of SEO traffic. See real results.
Content Marketing
– our team creates epic content that will get shared, get links, and attract traffic.
Earwax Buildup is caused by oil that develops in your ear canal. This oily wax protects your ear from dust, bacteria, and other foreign substances that can enter the ear. Sometimes, your glands produce more wax than necessary. Instead of emerging from the ear canal naturally, it hardens. If you attempt to clean your ears, you can push the earwax deeper into the canal, causing more earwax buildup and a potential blockage.
Earwax Buildup and Blockage
If you notice the signs and symptoms of earwax blockage, talk to your doctor. The signs and symptoms could indicate another condition. You may think you can manage earwax on your own, but there’s no way to tell if you have excessive earwax without having somebody, generally, your physician, look in your ears.
Signs and symptoms, such as ear pain or decreased hearing, don’t necessarily mean you have earwax. You may have another medical condition affecting your ears that needs to be treated.
We say that earwax is involved when it has accumulated in the ear canal to the point that there are signs that something is wrong. It’s important to know that ears never need to be cleaned for most people – they are designed to clean themselves.
Earwax buildup and blockages often occur when people use cotton swabs or hairpins to clean their ears. This only pushes the earwax further into the ears and can also cause injury to the ear.
Causes of earwax buildup
Cotton swabs. The use of cotton swabs usually causes earwax buildup. They push the earwax back in and solidify it. Fingers. A few children (maybe 5%) typically produce more earwax than others. It usually comes out if not pushed back in my fingers. Earplugs. Wearing earplugs of any kind can also push back earwax.
Your doctor may remove excess earwax with a small, curved instrument called a curette or by suction during an ear inspection. If earwax is a recurring problem, your doctor may recommend that you use an earwax removal medication, such as carbamide peroxide (Debrox Earwax Removal Kit, Murine Earwax Removal System). Because these drops can irritate the eardrum and ear canal’s sensitive skin, use them only as directed.
How to safely clean your child’s ears:
A moderate amount of earwax is healthy, so cleaning the ears is usually not necessary. However, if your child’s ears are accumulating wax in the ear canal, you must know how to clean his or her ears safely. Everyone has earwax, but some people notice it in their ears – or in their children’s ears – more than others.
Signs and symptoms of earwax buildup
The buildup of earwax can lead to infection. If you frequently suffer from ear infections or a disease’s symptoms, you should see a doctor to determine if earwax buildup is the cause.
Indications of an ear infection consist of serious discomfort in the ear that might or may not go away, visible discharge from the ear, hearing loss, an odor coming from the ear, coughing, fever, or dizziness.
Earwax buildup can be uncomfortable and cause sudden or partial hearing loss (usually temporary). Other symptoms include ear pain, a feeling of fullness in the ear, and ringing or buzzing. Earwax buildup can also lead to infection.
Signs of infection include severe or persistent pain in the ear, discharge from the ear, hearing loss, dizziness, fever, cough, and an odor coming from the ear. If you have symptoms of an ear infection, you should see a doctor and seek treatment.
Are you feeling slight discomfort in your ear? Some signs can reveal if you have a buildup of earwax. It is advisable to clean your ears so that you can take care of your well-being and hearing. Earwax is a natural body mechanism formed to protect your ear canals and prevent any infection from entering the area.
However, when it is created in excess, you can experience some discomfort that is easily treatable. In this Onehowto article, we’ll explain how to know if you have earwax buildup by telling you a few of the most evident symptoms of this condition so you can clean it naturally.
How to get rid of excess earwax
It would be best if you don’t try to dig out earwax deposits yourself. However, you can often get rid of excess earwax yourself. Years ago, my doctor recommended a procedure using olive oil and warm water to remove a buildup of earwax at home safely. When I suspect that earwax has accumulated, I get out my equipment:
an eyedropper
a hand-held onion syringe
a little olive oil
I sterilize the eyedropper and syringe in boiling water, heat (to skin temperature) some oil on the stove, and use the eyedropper to put a few drops of the heated oil in each ear, tilting my head to the side so the oil can flow into the ear canal.
It is very tempting to treat earwax buildup at home, but we want to issue a word of caution. Please don’t try any home remedies to remove earwax. The best way to ensure your ears’ safety is to have a specialist examine your earwax deposits and determine the best treatment method. People do not need to visit a doctor frequently for the treatment of excessive earwax buildup.
Cleaning once a year at the doctor’s office should be sufficient to maintain ear health and proper earwax balance. If you have frequent earwax buildup, it is vital to see a doctor to ensure no underlying condition requires to be identified and treated.
If excessive earwax isn’t causing you any problems – pain, decreased hearing, or any of the other issues mentioned above – you can leave it alone. For many people, however, removing earwax is part of their regular hygiene routine. And some standard removal methods – like using cotton swabs or ear candles – can harm, but no good. If you wish to get rid of some of your earwax, here’s what you should consider.
Warning about ear candles
Do not clean your ears with hairpins, twisted napkin corners, or other long pointed objects. Do not insert cotton balls into the ear canal. They will only push the earwax deeper into the ear canal and cause a blockage. Do not use ear candles. The Food and Drug Administration issued a public warning in 2010 that using ear candles can cause serious injury.
The recent craze of ear candles is quite disturbing. Ear candles are marketed and sold to treat earwax buildup by removing earwax from the ears. Ear candling involves inserting a burning hollow candle into the ear to believe that the suction created by the lit candle will draw earwax out of the ear canal. These candles can cause injury to the ear and face, including.
Earwax in older adults
You may be at increased risk if you:
You have a health condition that may cause increased earwax formation, such as eczema.
You also increase your risk if you constantly put objects in your ear, such as a hearing aid
Older adults and people with thinking disorders (cognitive problems) also have an increased risk.
Although earwax serves a beneficial function, it can occasionally cause problems, most likely in the form of earwax blockage. This condition occurs in 1 in 10 children, 1 in 20 adults, and 1 in 3 older adults. Earwax blockage is typically caused by excessive production or improper cleaning of earwax. Remarkably, the most common cause of blockage is improper removal of earwax.
The use of foreign objects often pushes it deeper into the ear instead of flushing it out. Extensive headphones use to listen to music can also trigger earwax buildup, as the headphones can typically prevent the wax from falling out of the ear canal.
When earwax accumulates in the ear canal over a long period, the color gradually begins to darken. The longer the earwax stagnates, the darker the color becomes. According to some studies on earwax accumulation, older adults and men are more likely to be affected by earwax accumulation over time.
The older you get, the more chance that you will also develop dark earwax. This is because older people tend to have drier ears, which don’t hold earwax as quickly. This means that the accumulation can be more substantial. Black earwax can affect anyone, regardless of where you are from or where you come from. Usually, discolored earwax is the result of some of the following things.
How to remove earwax at home
People who use hearing aids or headphones are also more prone to earwax buildup, as these devices can block the exit of earwax from the ear canal. Consult With Us before attempting to remove earwax at home, as you do not want to cause further damage to your ear. Using a cotton bud or other objects to get rid of earwax can push it further into the ear canal.
In some cases, your doctor may send patients home with an earwax removal kit. Earwax removal kits can also be purchased over-the-counter at most drugstores. These kits usually consist of a liquid that softens earwax and a small rubber ball syringe.
You are given instructions on how often to apply the liquid to your ear canals and leave it in your ears for a while to soften the wax. Bubbling and fizzy sensations in your ears are normal during application.
Then, gently rinse your ears with warm water using the bucket syringe to remove the earwax. It may take several days for your ear to become plugged entirely with earwax.
Earwax can be eliminated in numerous methods; a few of these techniques can be done in your home. Cleaning the outside of the ear by wiping it with a cloth and placing cerumenolytic solutions (solutions to dissolve wax) in the ear.
These solutions include baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin, peroxide-based ear drops (such as debrox®), hydrogen peroxide, and saline. Irrigating or spraying the ear. This involves flushing out the ear canal with a syringe of water or saline, usually after the earwax has been softened or dissolved by a cerumenolytic.
Should you use ear candles?
Ear candles are sold as an easy solution for people who want to get rid of their earwax. This technique involves inserting a lighted, hollow, cone-shaped candle made of beeswax into the ear.
This is supposed to draw the wax and other impurities out of the ear. However, as Gabriel discovered, after the candle is lit, a waxy deposit can be found in the center, even if the candle was not near an ear. Instead, the wax has come from inside the candle itself.
Remove the wax manually with special instruments. This should only be attempted by a physician who can use a cerumen spoon, forceps, or suction. Note: Irrigation should not be performed by or on individuals who have or suspect they have a perforation (hole) in the eardrum or tubes in the affected ear(s).
Readily available suction devices for home use (such as wax-vac) are not practical for most people and are therefore not recommended. Ear candles, which are touted as a natural way to remove earwax, are not only ineffective but can also cause injury to the ear. Injuries include burns to the pinna and ear canal and perforation of the eardrum.
Do not insert objects smaller than your elbow into the ear canal. Also, never put anything in your ears to remove earwax – including cotton swabs and candles. Use a damp cloth to wipe the outer part of your ear and remove earwax. If the audiologist recommends it, you can use a home rinse. Do not apply pressure when rinsing your ears, and use only an irrigation kit recommended by the audiologist.
What Is Earwax Buildup?
Earwax buildup can cause temporary reduced hearing and can cause pain in the ear, earache, or infection. If you notice earwax buildup, contact Dr. White. He can remove the earwax with a unique instrument in a short and painless procedure. Depending on your circumstances, Dr. White may also prescribe prescription ear drops or use ear irrigation equipment to flush the ear canal.
Earwax buildup can happen to anyone but it is more likely to occur in:
People who use hearing aids or earplugs.
People who put cotton swabs or other objects in their ears
People with developmental disabilities
People with ear canals are shaped in a way that interferes with natural earwax drainage.
When it comes to comprehensive ear cleaning, you should trust your hearing care professional with this task. While a light cleaning of your ears while at home is fine, if you have earwax buildup or other hearing problems, your hearing healthcare professional can not only treat your issues but also determine the cause.
When to Seek Medical Care for Earwax
Objects or insects in the ear can be brought into the ear by the patient or by an insect crawling into the ear. Earwax can also cause ear problems if cotton swabs are used too often to clean the ears. Symptoms of an object blocking the ear include inflammation and tenderness, redness, or discharge of pus or blood. When to see a doctor about an object or insect in the ear is included in the article information.
This content is accurate and true to the best of our knowledge. It is not a substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, or nutritional advice from a licensed physician. Medications, supplements, and natural remedies can have dangerous side effects. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, consult a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek help immediately if you are experiencing a medical emergency.
Ears are designed to clean themselves, so most people do not need to clean them manually. If you try to remove earwax with cotton swabs or hairpins, you are at a higher risk of earwax impaction. About 12 million people in the United States seek medical help for this condition each year. Other contributing factors may include: A bony blockage, such as an osteoma.
Earwax Treatment and Self-Care at Home
There are several safe, natural ways to remove earwax at home; however, treatment by a doctor or other medical professional may still be necessary.
Home cerumen treatments are not uncommon, and many of the above treatments are available over-the-counter alone or in-ear wax removal kits. Cotton earplugs are not associated with cerumen impaction, but they have been associated with impaction and otitis externa and should be avoided.
Ear candling should also be avoided. Ear candling involves inserting a hollow candle into the external auditory canal and lighting it, with the patient lying on the opposite ear. In theory, the combination of heat and suction should remove earwax. However, in one study, ear candles did not produce suction or remove earwax and resulted in candle wax blockage in individuals who previously had clean ear canals.
Hi all, long time no see! In the midst of my health kick last year I discovered I was expecting this little bundle of joy and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so spent my time focusing on my health and my family 🤗 but I’m back, focusing on fitness and a healthy lifestyle for my little ones 💙 only upside to gestational diabetes is that I’ve started my journey 2 stone (28 lbs) lighter than the start of my journey last year 🙌 let’s do this! 💃😆
Hi all, long time no see! In the midst of my health kick last year I discovered I was expecting this little bundle of joy and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so spent my time focusing on my health and my family 🤗 but I’m back, focusing on fitness and a healthy lifestyle for my little ones 💙 only upside to gestational diabetes is that I’ve started my journey 2 stone (28 lbs) lighter than the start of my journey last year 🙌 let’s do this! 💃😆
Whether you notice or not, plenty of PPC ads utilize questions to get more engagement. The questions can be literal or rhetorical, but either way, they’re trying to get you to click so you can learn the answer.
In this article, we’ll discuss why you should consider asking questions in your PPC ads and provide tips about best practices in doing so.
Why Should You Use Questions in Your PPC Ads?
Questions are how people show interest in each other’s lives, and they’re a regular part of our everyday lives to boot. When ads use questions effectively, potential customers may feel like the brand cares about them and isn’t simply trying to sell them something.
That said, marketers can’t measure how customers feel. But, you can measure data to see if your questions in PPC ads are driving people to your page. Here are some reasons marketers have discovered questions in PPC ads work:
1. Get People’s Attention
A question can easily pique people’s interest, especially if it’s about a relatable struggle.
Let’s say you’re a marketing agency.
Try starting your PPC ads with statements like, “Do you want to increase your conversion rate?” or “Do you want to boost marketing results?”
The answers to these questions may seem like no-brainers. Yet, they can easily attract the attention of business owners who are desperately looking for ways to improve their sales results, as they want you to answer these questions for them without having to dig further.
is essential. If they feel like you’re talking at them, not with them, they have no reason to click, like, share, or comment.
So, if you ask a question they want an answer to or want to answer, you’re inviting them into the conversation, not giving them the hard sell.
Your ultimate goal is to convert people into paying customers, but engaging with them via questions could get them to want to purchase from you instead of the person who simply said: “buy our product.”
3. More Clicks on PPC Ads with Questions
Not only can questions pique interest, but they can tap into a feeling of social obligation. When you ask someone a question in “real life,” they often feel obligated to answer. While your PPC ad isn’t staring at a user anticipating an answer, the reader could feel like they need to respond.
Or, they could have that question themselves—maybe they even typed in that exact question, and that’s why they see your ad. It could feel like they asked you the question and are now the ones waiting for your answer!
Asking a question you want them to answer, like “Are you ready to take the leap?” or a question they may have asked, like “Why should I travel to Iceland?” could make them click.
Note: Be sure your PPC ad’s link actually answers the question, provides relevant information before they provide contact information, or is directly related to the query in another way. Don’t just send them to your homepage unless the answer is there.
4. Showcase Brand Personality
The questions you ask will give customers an idea about your brand identity
or personality.
Let’s take a look at the difference between these two questions:
“What’s your next six-figure move?”
“If you could travel anywhere for free, where would it be?”
The first question will likely give the impression that a business-savvy financial advisor or entrepreneur wrote the ad. It may even attract like-minded individuals who want to learn about generating passive income or building their own business.
The second question could let viewers see you as a company with a genuine interest in their dreams and futures. The “if you could” portion may also trigger viewers to share the dream destinations they’ve been saving up for, which could increase visibility if your PPC ad is on social media and not a search engine.
You only have one chance to make a good first impression, so be sure your question does that for you.
5 Times You Should Use Questions in PPC Ads
How can you utilize questions when making your PPC ads? Here are five ways you can use them to yield the results you want.
1. Use Questions to Make a Tough Sell
There are brand messages which are easy to communicate, like “Buy now to get 70 percent off your first order,” or “Sign up to get free access to our course.” These statements answer a question that didn’t even need to be asked: “Do you want something for cheap or free?” So, questions aren’t needed.
However, when you’re making a tough sell, peppering your ad with a few questions can help readers ease into the idea of consuming your content or opting into your business.
Let’s say you’re a blogger in the finance industry who wants to talk about the perks of investing. Money can be a touchy subject—even an intimidating one—for many. Using questions focusing on the perks of investing or reflecting things readers may already be wondering could draw them in.
You could write something like, “Do you want to abandon the 9-to-5 grind and be your own boss?” or “Do you want to retire in your 50s?”
These inquiries can get people to notice your ads because they’re exciting and relatable.
2. Use Questions as Conversation Starters
Think about the last time you approached a stranger in a social situation.
To avoid being awkward, you probably introduced yourself with your name and a brief statement, then asked a question like, “How do you know [insert mutual friend’s name]?”
It’s the same way for PPC ads.
Questions are a good starting point to introducing your business and the services you offer without putting on too much pressure.
For example, Ready Set Food’s PPC ads introduce the company by name and give some basic information. First-time parents who are concerned about their baby’s diets may already be interested in the topic, but the CTA “How Does It Work?” truly gets the conversation started.
3. Use Questions to Encourage Readers to Click the CTA
Asking a question reflecting the reader’s thoughts or addressing a pain point could lead them to click the call-to-action (CTA). The CTA could be the question itself, or the question could lead to the CTA.
A question that could be the CTA is reflected in the Ready, Set, Food ad above: How does it work?
Regent Atlantic’s PPC ad uses a question to lead readers to the CTA by asking, “Do you have a financial plan that works for you?” They then encourage people to click their ad to get the financial help they need.
4. Use Questions to Introduce Your Business
Including a question related to your businesses’ niche is a good starting point to establishing a relationship with your customers.
SEO agency Pushfire starts with the question, “Tired of SEO services that take shortcuts or attempt to game the latest algorithm?” Since SEO is a broad and complicated topic, the loaded question helps give a brief introduction of what their agency offers and how hard they’re willing to work for you.
5. Use a Question to Introduce a Solution
PPC ads can have questions that introduce problems the audience may already have.
Your products or services should provide the solution, immediately answering the question in a way that lets the audience know this. People are looking for solutions, not problems.
For example, Bookakery Boxes’ PPC ad starts with, “Looking for a gift that will last beyond Christmas?” Their answer is their subscription box program, which lets people give books to their loved ones throughout the year.
6 Tips for Using PPC Ad Questions Successfully
It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it. When it comes to questions in PPC ads, you need to know not just when to ask them but how and why you’re doing so.
1. Understand Your Message
What does your company stand for, and what does it offer? You need to answer these questions for yourself before you ask your audience anything.
The questions you ask readers should help them relate to your message.
For instance, if you run a travel agency focusing on affordability, you could ask, “Are you dreaming of a vacation but worried about the cost?”
Or, if you run a clothing store that donates a portion of all proceeds, you could ask, “Do you want to look great while helping others?”
In both of these, the audience knows what your company is all about from one simple question.
2. Keep Them to a Minimum
Chances are, we’ve all met someone who just constantly asks question after question, and eventually, they become background noise at best.
Questions are more effective when they are utilized infrequently.
Plus, asking too many questions could make your copy seem deceitful and spammy, like you’re trying to get answers out of them, not help them solve a problem. Not surprisingly, no one wants to see too many questions because we prefer to get answers or solutions.
Just include one question to maximize the impact of your ads.
3. Make the Questions Seem Natural
Questions are natural parts of human conversation, and copy should reflect that—and no more than that.
. Historically, it was best to have your long-tail keywords be verbatim in your copy; now, search engines are smart enough to understand context. Don’t wedge those questions in, especially repeatedly, just to fit your keywords.
There’s nothing wrong with adding questions every now and then. You want to make your PPC ad copy
seem like you’re encouraging a friend to make it more engaging and enticing. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Understand Your Audience
Picking the right question involves understanding your audience.
What are the most common dilemmas of your target audience? Why would they need your products or services? Formulating questions along these lines will help you create copy that resonates with your intended viewers.
5. Keep Questions Positive
Your questions should make people excited, not scared or unhappy. A question that only has a negative response could lead to a negative perception of your brand.
For example, the question “Do you want a house infested with rats?” could make readers uncomfortable and respond strongly with “no,” or even, “how dare you assume I would?” After all, it conjures an image of a house with a rat infestation and implies someone, somewhere, may say, “why yes, yes I do!”
In contrast, the question “Do you have rats and want them gone?” makes your intended message more concise and clear. Readers know you’re offering products and services designed to take care of a rat infestation without assuming they do have a house full of rats.
Plus, people want solutions to their problems, and positively phrased questions and responses offer those.
6. Only Ask When You Know What the Answer Will Be
When you ask someone to become engaged to be married, you’re likely already pretty sure they’ll say “yes.” The same goes when asking a reader to engage with your content—you need to be pretty sure the answer will be “yes.”
In other words, the “yes” should be so expected that the question is rhetorical.
For example, Plato’s Closet has a PPC ad with the words, “Ready to upgrade your closet?”
In this situation, people who read the copy are more likely to stop and stare because of the free shipping
option. The question just drove the message home.
Getting readers to respond “yes” to this early on, to the point where they click on the CTA
, may make them more likely to answer “yes” once they’ve reached your product page. They’re already pretty excited about the questions they’ve already responded affirmatively to.
Conclusion
Questions in PPC ads could help you engage with your readers in various ways.
They can introduce your business, engage your audience at a human level, or make them excited to learn more. It can also be used to bring up a solution to a problem, which may encourage your audience to respond to your CTA
.
Ask questions aligned with your main message. Make sure they seem natural and show you understand your target audience
.
As long as you keep these tips in mind, you could create PPC ads that produce excellent results.
How will you use questions to get more engagement with your PPC ads?
See How My Agency Can Drive
Massive
Amounts of Traffic to Your Website
SEO
– unlock massive amounts of SEO traffic. See real results.
Content Marketing
– our team creates epic content that will get shared, get links, and attract traffic.
Luke Thomas’ brilliant goal for Leicester helped the Foxes to a 2-1 win at Manchester United this week, the left-back’s fine finish helping secure his side what could prove to be a vital three points in the race for Champions League football.
Thomas’ goal also saw the teenager join an exclusive list of Premier League youngsters, becoming just the 10th teenage talent in the division’s history to net an away goal at Old Trafford.
Following the defender’s goal, we’ve looked back at the 10 teenagers to score away goals at Manchester United in the Premier League.
Nick Barmby
Nick Barmby became the first teenager to score an away Premier League goal at Old Trafford, scoring for Tottenham in a 4-1 defeat at Manchester United in the league’s inaugural campaign.
The north London side proved little match for the Red Devils who were in the midst of a first title-winning campaign in 26 years, goals from Eric Cantona, Denis Irwin, Brian McClair and Paul Parker putting the home side four goals ahead inside the opening hour.
Barmby’s goal came two minutes from time as the youngster headed in, though it was little consolation for a Spurs side well beaten.
Darren Caskey
The following season and it was another Spurs talent who netted as a teenager at Manchester United, Darren Caskey scoring in a 2-1 defeat for Ossie Ardiles’ side.
United headed into the October 1993 clash as defending champions and looked on their way to three points after goals from summer signing Roy Keane and Lee Sharpe put the home side in control.
Caskey’s goal reduced the arrears just three minutes after Sharpe’s goal to set up a nervy finish, but the Red Devils held on to secure all three points against Spurs for a second successive season.
Michael Owen
Michael Owen’s rapid rise remains one of the most exciting teenage emergences of the Premier League era, the forward bursting onto the scene with Liverpool to become one of the division’s brightest talents.
Owen was in the midst of a first full season that saw the 18-year-old win the Premier League’s Golden Boot, finishing the campaign with 18 league goals including an equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
The lightning pace that defined Owen’s early game was evident as he burst beyond a hesitant Gary Pallister, lifting the ball over Peter Schmeichel to secure Liverpool a point at Old Trafford.
Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Anelka was another forward who lit up the Premier League whilst still a precociously talented teenager, arriving from PSG as a relative unknown before helping Arsenal to a domestic double during his debut campaign.
The following season saw the Frenchman explode with 17 league goals to be named as the PFA Young Player of the Year, including scoring in a 1-1 draw between the Gunners and title rivals Manchester United.
The two teams were locked together in a tight title race with this the first of four defining games in the season, Anelka opening the scoring with a high finish – after Dwight Yorke had earlier missed a penalty for United – before Andy Cole rescued a point for the hosts.
That equaliser proved pivotal as the Red Devils pipped Anelka and Arsenal to the title by a single point, whilst also eliminating the Gunners in the FA Cup semi-finals on their way to a historic treble.
Francis Jeffers emerged from the Everton ranks in the late nineties amid much excitement, the penalty-box poacher making his debut as a 16-year-old before growing into the side.
Jeffers scored six league goals in each of his three seasons as a regular, including a close-range effort to open the scoring at Manchester United during the 1999/2000 season.
Everton’s performance – much like Jeffers’ later career – fizzled out soon after however, the Toffees on the receiving end of a 5-1 thrashing as an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brace inspired a comeback win for the Premier League champions.
Kevin Nolan
Bolton returned to the Premier League after a three-season absence in 2001/02 and started impressively with three consecutive wins, though their finest result of the campaign came with a shock win at defending champions Manchester United.
Kevin Nolan equalised become the sixth Premier League teenager to score at Old Trafford, with Michael Ricketts scoring a late second as Bolton responded to Juan Sebastien Veron’s opener to stun the Red Devils.
Defeat for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side was one of six in the league at Old Trafford that season, their worst record since the 1977/78 campaign.
Jermain Defoe
West Ham also won at Manchester United during the 2001/02 season, Jermain Defoe scoring the only goal of the game for Glenn Roeder’s side.
Defoe came through the academy ranks with the Hammers and finished as their leading scorer as a teenager during that campaign, netting 14 times across all competitions.
He left for Tottenham in controversial circumstances following West Ham’s relegation the following season, later enjoying spells with Portsmouth and Sunderland to become the ninth-highest scoring player in Premier League history.
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
When you’re trying to make the sale, you want to be as tactful as possible. You want to talk to your customer at the exact time they want what you’re selling.
This means going beyond storing their basic contact information and tracking points of contact, rebuttals, and previous sales deals.
That’s where contact management software can be one of your most valuable sales tools. It helps you streamline your sales process so that you can close sales faster, keep your most valuable customers, and grow your business.
But how do you find the right contact manager to integrate into your sales system?
In this extensive guide, I review five of the top contact management tools on the market and walk you through the best features as well as their price points.
. Contact management is one of the foundational services included with this suite, but you will find tools for sales, marketing, and customer service teams.
For a free product, it’s unbelievably rich.
Focusing in on just the list of contact management tasks you can do for free with HubSpot’s software still gives you a long list. You can keep track of contact website activity, deals, company insights, manage ticketing, manage ads, email tracking and notifications, and even messenger integrations.
HubSpot’s free contact management software is an excellent stepping stone toward more varied and growth-oriented contact management as your business grows since you can always upgrade to one of their paid CRM plans without having to migrate.
If you’re getting started with contact management and want to do more with your contacts in terms of sales strategy on a budget, I recommend you start onboarding HubSpot’s free tools for a strong beginning.
A small or mid-sized business doesn’t always have use for tools built with enterprises in mind. Bigin
takes the prize for a simple yet reliable contact manager you can easily start with.
A single dashboard unifies all your data points so you can make strategic decisions at a glance and manage everyone on your roster. It helps to think of it as your own personal yellow pages except for ten times more useful.
You can do things like adding your preferred tags to contacts to find what you’re looking for quickly, glance over at your expected revenue numbers, and see all your pending tasks.
Bigin makes it easier for you to close deals by scheduling follow-up activities and then closely monitoring results, all on an intuitive dashboard.
Bigin’s simplicity bleeds into its pricing structure, too. Here’s a quick overview:
Free
Single user
500 contacts
One pipeline
Express – $7/user per month
50,000 contacts
5 pipelines
Add 10,000 additional contacts for $1/month
Up to 20 custom fields per module and 10 custom dashboards
It’s that simple. One user with one pipeline can manage up to 500 contacts free, forever. And the paid tier isn’t tough to stomach, either.
is loved not just for the wide array of CMS tools it offers but because it makes the whole contact management and sales process straightforward and visual. It’s been used by over 90,000 companies in more than 170 countries and business giants like Vimeo, Amazon, and Re/Max.
Pipedrive is a highly intuitive system that easily updates and automates contact tasks and sales calls. The easy drag-and-drop features and their clean and approachable interface make them an easily adaptable and usable system.
With a visual dashboard in mind, they don’t falter in the features department, as it offers plenty of tools for powerful contact management like task automation, lead pipelines, and smart lists that track the last time you contacted a prospect.
You can always try Pipedrive free for 14 days. It doesn’t hurt to spend a few days trying out the software’s ins and outs to see if they’re a good company match. Otherwise, the ricing plans break into four tiers:
is a dynamic CMS that emphasizes the analytical and reporting aspects of contact management.
The last thing you want is to grow a robust list of leads and then have no idea what to do with them due to lack of data. Zendesk’s analytics make it possible for you to engage in better conversations with your prospects with their pre-built analytics features.
With them, you can track rep activities, call response times, and live chat interactions. Their rich reporting features ensure you keep a finger on every touchpoint of your sales cycle. This makes it easy to increase the ROI of each sales rep on your team.
Zendesk’s price breakdowns can get specific depending on the solutions and features you’re looking for. The contact and relationship management tiers start at $19 per seat.
Contact management software that scales with you and offers powerful tools to take you beyond the basics? There’s a tool for that. It’s called Salesforce.
The point of a CMS is to increase the efficiency of your daily operations, so you’re never blindsided by lost sales or missed relationship-building opportunities.
Salesforce does that by offering the tools to build a good contact management base. This means contact history, survey answers, and email responses. But they take it a step further with their social data tool to keep track of what your customer is saying about products and services.
Not only that, but Salesforce makes it easy to collaborate with everyone in your business. You can share documents, comments, analytics and insights, sales history, and any other information relevant to your ROI.
On-the-go contact management is also possible with its mobile app. You can hop on a call armed with plenty of preemptive information about your customer from anywhere. This awesome array of tools makes Salesforce not only a contact management tool but a sales closing system, too, which is why it’s made it on my top five picks.
Here’s a breakdown of each plan they offer:
Essential – $25
Professional – $75
Enterprise – $150
Unlimited – $300
Each plan comes with:
Account, contact, lead, and opportunity management
Email integration with Gmail and Outlook
Access to the Salesforce mobile app and all it’s features
The higher the tier, the more access to customizable features and tools you’ll have. Thankfully, you don’t have to jump right into a plan without testing how they work first.
Salesforce also gives you the option of testing any pricing tier first before committing.
and see what plan fits your contact management needs the best.
What I Looked at to Find the Best Contact Management Software
Choosing the best contact management software goes beyond making sure they provide the standard contact management software (CMS) tools like sales tracking, customer notes, emails, and sales history.
Your business is unique, which means your CMS needs are also unique. Because of this, it’s hard to pinpoint a one-size-fits-all CMS that you can use in any given sales scenario or industry.
You also have to consider the size of your team, your plans for scaling and revenue growth, and what functionalities are non-negotiable in your given industry.
Beyond that, there are a few specific key factors to think through when trying to make the best choice in a sea of software. Use these criteria to ensure you’re making the best contact management investment possible.
Reporting and Analytics Capabilities
Some contact management systems put more emphasis on sales reporting and analytics than others. This can prove to be a valuable asset or just an extra feature to your team, depending on how you handle your sales process.
These days, contact management software is increasingly robust in terms of the analytics it can gather to help you make the best sales decisions. Some of them can measure everything from live chat interactions to sales calls, email responses, and even what you’re prospective customers say on social media about you or your competitor’s product or service.
Deciding how deep you need your contact management analytics to go will ultimately depend on your sales goals and budget. Consulting with your sales team can be a sound idea in the process of making a final decision.
Sales Process and Software Fit
The sales process you use to sell printers isn’t necessarily the same one you’d use to sell premium car parts. This also means you’ll want to find a CMS that fits every unique point of sale your team goes through continuously.
If done right, this can mean higher ROI, shorter sales cycles, and more revenue. This is where it’s a good idea to take the time to test drive every prospective CMS that looks appealing to your sales team. Most of them have the option for a demo or a 14-day free trial.
These trials exist for a reason. I highly recommend you take advantage of them before you commit.
User Experience
The more scalable integrations and features a CMS has, the more likely it is to have a big learning curve. This is important to take into account when thinking about onboarding your sales team to the system successfully.
Besides that, the user experience for both your front-facing customer features like contact forms and chatbots and the backend features your sales team will have to interact with daily is also a crucial part of the process as far as ease of use goes.
An array of powerful features is pretty much useless if your sales team continually runs into trouble using them, or if integrations prove too clunky to operate properly.
This also raises questions about what support features your preferred CMS provides and whether they offer any accompanying training options like forums, live chats, or even training webinars.
Summary
Finding the right contact management system can make the difference between constant sales, shorter sales cycles, and more efficient business growth all around.
But it starts with figuring out what your sales needs are, how you go through your sales strategy, and what you need to optimize for higher ROI. Once you’ve figured out your key needs, you can start narrowing down your list of prospects.
My recommendations are all excellent products, but they each have their strong suit:
Whether you notice or not, plenty of PPC ads utilize questions to get more engagement. The questions can be literal or rhetorical, but either way, they’re trying to get you to click so you can learn the answer.
In this article, we’ll discuss why you should consider asking questions in your PPC ads and provide tips about best practices in doing so.
Why Should You Use Questions in Your PPC Ads?
Questions are how people show interest in each other’s lives, and they’re a regular part of our everyday lives to boot. When ads use questions effectively, potential customers may feel like the brand cares about them and isn’t simply trying to sell them something.
That said, marketers can’t measure how customers feel. But, you can measure data to see if your questions in PPC ads are driving people to your page. Here are some reasons marketers have discovered questions in PPC ads work:
1. Get People’s Attention
A question can easily pique people’s interest, especially if it’s about a relatable struggle.
Let’s say you’re a marketing agency.
Try starting your PPC ads with statements like, “Do you want to increase your conversion rate?” or “Do you want to boost marketing results?”
The answers to these questions may seem like no-brainers. Yet, they can easily attract the attention of business owners who are desperately looking for ways to improve their sales results, as they want you to answer these questions for them without having to dig further.
is essential. If they feel like you’re talking at them, not with them, they have no reason to click, like, share, or comment.
So, if you ask a question they want an answer to or want to answer, you’re inviting them into the conversation, not giving them the hard sell.
Your ultimate goal is to convert people into paying customers, but engaging with them via questions could get them to want to purchase from you instead of the person who simply said: “buy our product.”
3. More Clicks on PPC Ads with Questions
Not only can questions pique interest, but they can tap into a feeling of social obligation. When you ask someone a question in “real life,” they often feel obligated to answer. While your PPC ad isn’t staring at a user anticipating an answer, the reader could feel like they need to respond.
Or, they could have that question themselves—maybe they even typed in that exact question, and that’s why they see your ad. It could feel like they asked you the question and are now the ones waiting for your answer!
Asking a question you want them to answer, like “Are you ready to take the leap?” or a question they may have asked, like “Why should I travel to Iceland?” could make them click.
Note: Be sure your PPC ad’s link actually answers the question, provides relevant information before they provide contact information, or is directly related to the query in another way. Don’t just send them to your homepage unless the answer is there.
4. Showcase Brand Personality
The questions you ask will give customers an idea about your brand identity
or personality.
Let’s take a look at the difference between these two questions:
“What’s your next six-figure move?”
“If you could travel anywhere for free, where would it be?”
The first question will likely give the impression that a business-savvy financial advisor or entrepreneur wrote the ad. It may even attract like-minded individuals who want to learn about generating passive income or building their own business.
The second question could let viewers see you as a company with a genuine interest in their dreams and futures. The “if you could” portion may also trigger viewers to share the dream destinations they’ve been saving up for, which could increase visibility if your PPC ad is on social media and not a search engine.
You only have one chance to make a good first impression, so be sure your question does that for you.
5 Times You Should Use Questions in PPC Ads
How can you utilize questions when making your PPC ads? Here are five ways you can use them to yield the results you want.
1. Use Questions to Make a Tough Sell
There are brand messages which are easy to communicate, like “Buy now to get 70 percent off your first order,” or “Sign up to get free access to our course.” These statements answer a question that didn’t even need to be asked: “Do you want something for cheap or free?” So, questions aren’t needed.
However, when you’re making a tough sell, peppering your ad with a few questions can help readers ease into the idea of consuming your content or opting into your business.
Let’s say you’re a blogger in the finance industry who wants to talk about the perks of investing. Money can be a touchy subject—even an intimidating one—for many. Using questions focusing on the perks of investing or reflecting things readers may already be wondering could draw them in.
You could write something like, “Do you want to abandon the 9-to-5 grind and be your own boss?” or “Do you want to retire in your 50s?”
These inquiries can get people to notice your ads because they’re exciting and relatable.
2. Use Questions as Conversation Starters
Think about the last time you approached a stranger in a social situation.
To avoid being awkward, you probably introduced yourself with your name and a brief statement, then asked a question like, “How do you know [insert mutual friend’s name]?”
It’s the same way for PPC ads.
Questions are a good starting point to introducing your business and the services you offer without putting on too much pressure.
For example, Ready Set Food’s PPC ads introduce the company by name and give some basic information. First-time parents who are concerned about their baby’s diets may already be interested in the topic, but the CTA “How Does It Work?” truly gets the conversation started.
3. Use Questions to Encourage Readers to Click the CTA
Asking a question reflecting the reader’s thoughts or addressing a pain point could lead them to click the call-to-action (CTA). The CTA could be the question itself, or the question could lead to the CTA.
A question that could be the CTA is reflected in the Ready, Set, Food ad above: How does it work?
Regent Atlantic’s PPC ad uses a question to lead readers to the CTA by asking, “Do you have a financial plan that works for you?” They then encourage people to click their ad to get the financial help they need.
4. Use Questions to Introduce Your Business
Including a question related to your businesses’ niche is a good starting point to establishing a relationship with your customers.
SEO agency Pushfire starts with the question, “Tired of SEO services that take shortcuts or attempt to game the latest algorithm?” Since SEO is a broad and complicated topic, the loaded question helps give a brief introduction of what their agency offers and how hard they’re willing to work for you.
5. Use a Question to Introduce a Solution
PPC ads can have questions that introduce problems the audience may already have.
Your products or services should provide the solution, immediately answering the question in a way that lets the audience know this. People are looking for solutions, not problems.
For example, Bookakery Boxes’ PPC ad starts with, “Looking for a gift that will last beyond Christmas?” Their answer is their subscription box program, which lets people give books to their loved ones throughout the year.
6 Tips for Using PPC Ad Questions Successfully
It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it. When it comes to questions in PPC ads, you need to know not just when to ask them but how and why you’re doing so.
1. Understand Your Message
What does your company stand for, and what does it offer? You need to answer these questions for yourself before you ask your audience anything.
The questions you ask readers should help them relate to your message.
For instance, if you run a travel agency focusing on affordability, you could ask, “Are you dreaming of a vacation but worried about the cost?”
Or, if you run a clothing store that donates a portion of all proceeds, you could ask, “Do you want to look great while helping others?”
In both of these, the audience knows what your company is all about from one simple question.
2. Keep Them to a Minimum
Chances are, we’ve all met someone who just constantly asks question after question, and eventually, they become background noise at best.
Questions are more effective when they are utilized infrequently.
Plus, asking too many questions could make your copy seem deceitful and spammy, like you’re trying to get answers out of them, not help them solve a problem. Not surprisingly, no one wants to see too many questions because we prefer to get answers or solutions.
Just include one question to maximize the impact of your ads.
3. Make the Questions Seem Natural
Questions are natural parts of human conversation, and copy should reflect that—and no more than that.
. Historically, it was best to have your long-tail keywords be verbatim in your copy; now, search engines are smart enough to understand context. Don’t wedge those questions in, especially repeatedly, just to fit your keywords.
There’s nothing wrong with adding questions every now and then. You want to make your PPC ad copy
seem like you’re encouraging a friend to make it more engaging and enticing. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Understand Your Audience
Picking the right question involves understanding your audience.
What are the most common dilemmas of your target audience? Why would they need your products or services? Formulating questions along these lines will help you create copy that resonates with your intended viewers.
5. Keep Questions Positive
Your questions should make people excited, not scared or unhappy. A question that only has a negative response could lead to a negative perception of your brand.
For example, the question “Do you want a house infested with rats?” could make readers uncomfortable and respond strongly with “no,” or even, “how dare you assume I would?” After all, it conjures an image of a house with a rat infestation and implies someone, somewhere, may say, “why yes, yes I do!”
In contrast, the question “Do you have rats and want them gone?” makes your intended message more concise and clear. Readers know you’re offering products and services designed to take care of a rat infestation without assuming they do have a house full of rats.
Plus, people want solutions to their problems, and positively phrased questions and responses offer those.
6. Only Ask When You Know What the Answer Will Be
When you ask someone to become engaged to be married, you’re likely already pretty sure they’ll say “yes.” The same goes when asking a reader to engage with your content—you need to be pretty sure the answer will be “yes.”
In other words, the “yes” should be so expected that the question is rhetorical.
For example, Plato’s Closet has a PPC ad with the words, “Ready to upgrade your closet?”
In this situation, people who read the copy are more likely to stop and stare because of the free shipping
option. The question just drove the message home.
Getting readers to respond “yes” to this early on, to the point where they click on the CTA
, may make them more likely to answer “yes” once they’ve reached your product page. They’re already pretty excited about the questions they’ve already responded affirmatively to.
Conclusion
Questions in PPC ads could help you engage with your readers in various ways.
They can introduce your business, engage your audience at a human level, or make them excited to learn more. It can also be used to bring up a solution to a problem, which may encourage your audience to respond to your CTA
.
Ask questions aligned with your main message. Make sure they seem natural and show you understand your target audience
.
As long as you keep these tips in mind, you could create PPC ads that produce excellent results.
How will you use questions to get more engagement with your PPC ads?
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