GOOGLE ADWORDS KEYWORDS:
Identifying the single most important factor in achieving Google AdWords success is tricky, but the keywords are the obvious starting point. Get them wrong and your ads may not only remain hidden from the right people, but could also be shown to the wrong people.
Although there are plenty of other factors that play a part, it is clear that the whole of the AdWords process begins with and rests upon the keywords.
Generally speaking, there are two different ways of approaching your keyword lists. Either you use a very small number of highly targeted keywords, or you use a large number, where hundreds or more is the norm.
Which is the right approach? As in most things Google AdWords related, there are two ways of doing things. The wrong way, and the potentially right way.
In other words, the right length for your keyword list is somewhere between the two extremes. Usually. But I know you’re not going to be happy with that, so let’s delve a little deeper.
Highly targeted lists usually employ tight matching options. Perhaps a very small number of keywords, all of which are exact or sometimes phrase matched.
Some argue that this is the right approach. That it is more prudent to be safe, and you’re unlikely to waste much money this way. Usually.
The problem is that you’re unlikely to make much either, and the ultimate goal of an AdWords account isn’t to save money. It’s to make it.
The fact is that any form of money making carries an element of risk, and advertising is certainly no different. But you usually need to strike the right balance between caution and risk taking.
Some people argue that a huge keyword list is the way to go, because the more bait you scatter, the more likely it is that something will bite. But the problem with this approach is that much of your bait is likely to be lost along the way, or eaten by fish that you have no interest in catching.
Again, balance is the key.
For me, the process begins as simply as possible. I often start my keyword research using little more than my copy of Microsoft’s One Note (seriously useful software) and my brain. (I won’t comment on usefulness of the latter).
I like to scribble down a list of features, benefits, user groups, usage scenarios, basically anything regarding the itch that needs to be scratched, and/or where to find the itchy people!
Once I have this basic list, I fall back on a little more common sense, and brainstorm a list of variations. Synonyms, slang, regional variations, combinations, plurals, misspellings and so on. The more the merrier, at this point.
When it comes to using these keywords in your Google AdWords account, keep a careful eye on the matching options that you choose. It’s usually a bad idea to leave everything broad matched.
Some keywords will also work well using multiple match options. Example: You may get more impressions using spam blocking, “spam blocking” and [spam blocking].
I know. It shouldn’t work that way, but it usually does. Welcome to the world of Google AdWords.
It’s also worth noting that your keywords may be used in different contexts than your software, so make sure you keep an eye out for that. We once worked with a company who had been bidding on a phrase matched keyword that happened to be the name of a band! They had wasted a fair amount of money on some totally untargeted traffic. You’d think that the ad text would have worked as a filter, but it didn’t.
If you follow all of the above instructions, you’ll usually end up with a fairly massive list of keywords. The problem is that you may well find your ad group unwieldy and difficult to tame.
Because of this, there are a series of steps that will not only improve how you handle your list, but will usually also improve your click through rates and overall return on investment.
First of all, when you add your new keywords, give them a while to generate some solid data, but keep a careful eye on them during this time. Look out for any that are generating more impressions than you expected, and if any catch your attention, make sure you understand why.
Aside from any big blunders (for example your software’s called White House and you only used broad match), you should give the new keywords a full week at the absolute minimum, and wherever possible try to work with units of seven days.
Once you have some data, go into your ad group and order by impressions, and take a careful look at both ends of the scale.
For the high impressions, do the click through rates match accordingly? Any surprises? And at the lower end of the scale, look for keywords that generate zero impressions – preferably after at least two weeks if not longer. Get rid of them. All they’re doing is cluttering your account and possibly hurting your quality score.
Once you’ve done this, you are ready to split the keywords into their own campaigns and/or ad groups, each of which will be grouped around new themes. Effectively you’re dragging and dropping from the existing group/s into the new, but Google don’t make this process particularly easy.
Once you’ve done this, you need to write new ads around these keyword groups.
The result? A large list gets broken into several smaller lists, all of which are grouped around their own features, themes, user groups or subjects. And the new ads are an exact match for their keywords. As you already know, relevance is usually the key to Google AdWords success.
The process then begins again, at least if you have the time to spend on it. As well as ensuring that your ads and keywords are well matched, this method allows you to only work with the keywords that are worthwhile. Would you rather write ads for a keyword that gets 11 or 1,100 impressions a day?
Although this process is time consuming and tedious, it is a rock solid technique for expanding the scope of your AdWords account, increasing your list of keywords, pruning the deadwood and having ads that are tightly built around targeted keywords.
One final note. The word “usually” has been used more than ten times in this article. Why? Because much of the Google AdWords system is hidden from view. They don’t want you or me to be in complete and total control of all aspects of their account, as this wouldn’t be to their advantage. Sometimes there seems to be a random factor, and what works for ten accounts may not work for the eleventh. But the above techniques work well more often than not. Usually.
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WHAT’S WITH THE LONG TAIL?:
It’s not an unusual scenario. We take on a new client, and at the beginning of the SEO process, we start discussing keywords. The client is adamant – his main keyword is “funky software”, and that’s what he wants to rank for. Number one on Google, that’s his goal. Every page on his site is already set up for “funky software”. Identical page titles on each page proclaim that this is indeed the home of the coolest “funky software” on the web, and if you’re interested in “funky software”, this is the place to be.
There’s only one problem. There are approximately 1.2 million other sites trying to sell “funky software”, and at the moment, this particular client is ranking squarely at #52. To be honest, with an average to low number of incoming links and a PageRank of 3, ranking in the top ten isn’t going to happen any time soon. As for #1 – well, forget it. With a lot of hard work, yes, we could definitely increase the rankings, but it’s going to take time – and this client wants to see results next week. Tomorrow, preferably. But here’s the unfortunate truth: ranking at number one for one single phrase, no matter how good it is, is no definite recipe for success and high sales. In fact, focusing too much on a single keyword is never, ever a good idea. Even two or three different terms aren’t going to bring you happiness and early retirement.
So what do we tell our clients? Diversify, diversify, diversify. Forget about that one term you’ve got your heart set on. Do your keyword research, and use as wide a variety of different terms as possible. In itself, this is a great thing – but it’s what happens afterwards that’s really interesting. You see, when your site is properly optimised for a multitude of different phrases, you’ll start seeing visitors for terms that you’d never even dreamed of. Maybe it’s just one or two visitors per phrase, but there are literally hundreds of those small, narrow, perfectly targeted phrases. In addition to this, you’ll almost certainly find that these visits convert to sales more often than those “funky software” searchers you were so desperate for.
This is what people are talking about when they mention the “long tail”. This is something of a buzzword nowadays, but it’s what we’ve been preaching to our clients for years. It’s nothing new, and it’s something that all the big online sellers have known for a long time. As an example, did you know that Amazon makes 57% of its sales outside the obvious, big and popular search terms? Well, they do – and so should you.
We see this with our clients, too, especially once we’ve worked with them to improve and optimise their sites. When we look at the traffic they receive from the search engines, the top ten or fifteen predictable, popular phrases are always at the top, bringing in large numbers of visitors. It would be easy to say “See! I knew they were our best keywords!” and leave it at that. But then you scroll down the list…and further down…and even further. Hundreds and hundreds of phrases that only one person searched for – and when you add them up, you usually find that they actually bring in as much, or more, traffic than all the obvious phrases put together.
Why does this work? Because people are individuals, and you can’t predict all their actions. You might think all your customers search for “photo editing software”, but your next potential customer will search for “software to make photos smaller for email”. You think you’re selling “organizer software”, but what people are looking for is “tool to help me control my time better”. The great thing is that as long as your site is set up for a wide variety of terms, chances are you’ll rank very highly for these narrow, extremely targeted phrases. All you need to do, as always, is think about your target audience. What do they want, and how do they really use your software? Start there, and build your keyword research around that principle. The long tail sales will follow on from there.
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ON A LIGHTER NOTE:
Last week saw our US partner, Aaron, flying in for our annual get together.
Between the never-ending meetings and planning sessions, we also found time to take Aaron out and about in deepest, darkest Hampshire. That’s “old” Hampshire by the way.
He seemed to enjoy most of his time here, but couldn’t fail to notice a few interesting things. First of all, he was struck by how small the portions of food are in restaurants. Wartime rations are long behind us, so I may be right in thinking that you get bigger portions in the US. Right?
He also noticed that people in general are more friendly, or more annoying depending on your state of mind. Aside from that, his main issues were with the large number of dogs everywhere, and the UK’s addiction to awful, terrible, low-quality (but addictive) junk TV. Do a Google Search for Big Brother and you’ll see what I mean. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though.
Next month, however, it’ll be my turn to be the fish out of water, when I do my annual Englishman in SIC bit. (www.sic.org). My accent will be enjoyed or mocked (depending on the context), my inability to deal with Denver’s scorching summer weather will cause no small amount of amusement, and flattering comparisons will be made between myself and Sean Connery. Okay this is only one person, but sometimes you have to milk these things.
I suspect that Aaron will enjoy the shoe being on the other foot, and will no doubt exploit it to the full. So if you bump into a trembling, pale Englishman at SIC, please be nice to me. Hope to see you there.
The Competitive Edge newsletter is a monthly in-depth look at the issues faced by independent software developers today.
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