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Tag: paid search

  • Instagram is “Ad” it Again!

    Screen Shot 2014-03-06 at 11.46.49 AM

    Does it seem like, eventually, everything turns into a platform for advertising? For social media, that seems to be the trend when comparing networks over the years. Everything from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, and Pandora have all followed the same trend. Using a great business plan (and a lot of foresight), they open their online “doors,” create a massive following, and after a few years succumb to the massive potential profit that is advertising.

    Instagram Ads

    Even though it took some time, it is clear that the mega success of our beloved Instagram has followed suit. After Facebook bought the ultra popular image sharing platform for a cool $1 billion, they didn’t waste time reaping a return on their investment. In late 2013, Instagram announced that they would start releasing “sponsored” posts that would look and feel like the other images users were already sharing. The Beta version of these sponsored posts were designed to “underwhelm” users so that they might not even know they were looking at an advertisement.

    Who Sponsors Posts?

    Screen Shot 2014-03-06 at 11.47.44 AM
    These sponsored posts were only given to a select number of brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Macy’s, Michael Kors, Lexus, and Levis, in order to test out consumer reactions. However, recent studies show that these advertisements were highly successful due to the limited number of competitors on the site, the quality of the advertisement, and the fact that it is an image instead of text. Many advertisers understand that images are far more powerful than words, which is why Instagram, along with its huge user base, is an ideal platform for marketing.

    Personalized Ads

    But how will Instagram know what brands you like or images you’re drawn to? The beauty and genius of the merger is that Facebook already knows everything about you! Between the information Facebook has already collected about you (likes, interests, hobbies, etc.) and the images that you like and follow on Instagram, advertisers are able to put more customized and targeted ads in front of you. The hope is that these ads will be so successful that companies will eventually pay more to advertise. So watch out, you might actually start seeing ads that you enjoy!

    Have you seen an ad on Instagram that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments!

  • LocalU Is Coming To Dallas!

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    Local businesses and small business marketers in the Dallas / Fort Worth area are in for a treat! The traveling road show of local online marketing, LocalU, is making its way to Dallas, TX on Thursday, January 23. I had the opportunity to attend LocalU when they came to New Orleans, and we even invited some of our clients to attend.

    Audubon Nature Institute’s Lani McWilliams even provided us her key takeaways from the event – there’s so much info presented at these events that she couldn’t even narrow it down to just 10. These top 14 takeaways are just a small sampling of the info that you will learn at LocalU to help market small businesses online.

    What You’ll Learn:

    LocalU, my friends, is a must see seminar if you want to learn all things related to local business marketing online, including:

    • local search engine optimization
    • social media
    • review management
    • paid online advertising

    … and, at $89 with the discount code LocalU, it’s a steal-of-a-deal!

    Who You’ll See:

    At the half day / four hour event, you will hear from the brightest minds in local online marketing including:

    • Search Influence’s own CEO, Will Scott
    • Mike Blumenthal
    • Mary Bowling
    • David Mihm
    • Mike Ramsey
    • Ed Reese
    • Aaron Weiche

    When and Where:

    LocalU Dallas
    Thursday, January 23
    Pegasus Ballroom/Magnolia Hotel on Commerce St.
    Check-in: 8:00 am
    Sessions: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm

    The faculty hopes to see you there!

    Buy tickets here!

     

     

  • Top 3 Things to Check in AdWords “Dimensions” Tab

    The Dimensions tab in AdWords is a very useful area. You can really dig into a variety of different data sets to analyze your PPC performance. This data can give you valuable information on how best to optimize your campaign to maximize your budget, especially if you are limited by budget. There are a TON of things you can see and analyze in the Dimensions tab, but below are my three favorites.

    1. Paid & Organic

    A recently added feature, this table shows how your paid and organic results performed for every search that triggered an ad or organic listing. You can view your click through rates (CTR) for both paid and organic searches individually, but also the CTR for when you have both an ad and an organic listing displaying in the SERPs. This tool can be great to convince clients the value of paid search (even if they have great organic results!). You can also use this to gather some keyword data for making decisions for your SEO campaign given that Google’s decision to make all organic searches (not provided).

    Best Use: Gather information on how your ads perform when they are shown with your organic results.

    Learn how to link your AdWords account and Webmaster Tools account to view this data.

    2. Time > Day of the Week

    This report shows you all stats for each day of the week over your selected date range. You can determine which day performs the best by meeting your defined KPIs. You can then adjust your bids based on the performance you see. Are Tuesdays and Wednesdays higher converting than Saturdays? Focus on those days!

    Best Use: Determine which day of the week is highest converting, and spend budget there.

    3. Time > Hour of day

    Shows you cummulative stats for hours of the day for the selected date range. As with the above, you can determine which hours of the day best meet your goals (impressions, clicks, conversions) and adjust your bids accordingly. Be mindful that if you are limited by budget, the hours later in the day may have lower performance due to the budget constraints. You may want to test day parting for hours later in the day if you cannot adjust your daily or monthly budget to determine if those later hours are actually more successful.

    Best Use: Determine which hours of the day convert best and set up dayparting to spend more budget during these times.

    Check out the dimensions tab for yourself and get familiar with the data that is available. There are many more reports available that give you actionable information to better optimize your campaigns. Which are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!

  • 3 Easy Steps to Launch a Successful PPC Campaign

    I’ve been in online advertising for about 8 years now. In that time, I’ve launched hundreds of accounts and thousands of search campaigns. Not all of them have gone as smoothly as I would like to believe. Instead of relying on my years of knowledge, I have a blueprint that I follow to ensure there is a successful launch.

    Here’s an easy 3-step beginner guide to to launching a successful campaign that your clients (and boss) will be proud of.

    Step 1. Check You Campaigns Settings

    One of the most important parts of setting up a paid search account is checking all of your campaign settings. This is especially important when using something like the Bing Ads’ import feature or creating new campaigns in AdWords Editor.

    • Location
      • Make sure your location is targeting where you or the client have specified. While you could use geo-modified keywords for a state or region, you are likely to see a lower CTR due to poor ad relevancy and low conversion rates.
    • Language
      • Make sure the language you are targeting matches your location targeting and your ad content. If you are targeting a bilingual region such as Quebec, it is best practice to create a French and an English campaign with ad content in the appropriate language. Serve French ads to French speakers and English ads to…you get the point. 🙂
    • Ad Networks
      • This is a big mistake for a lot of new advertisers — your campaigns should never target more than one network at a time. While it is perfectly fine to advertise text ads on the display network, you do not want your low CTR from the display network negatively impacting your search text ads.
    • Device Targeting
      • On July 22nd, this setting will be non-existent, but you must be sure to check you bid adjustments for mobile devices. Not all businesses or websites lend themselves to mobile devices, and despite Google’s certainty that mobile is the future, there is no reason to overbid on a low-performing segment.

    enhanced-campaign-mobile-bidding

     

    Step 2. Assembled the Ad Groups

    good keyword themes

    • Keyword Themes
      • How your keywords relate to your ad content, the search query, and the landing page really matter. While it isn’t the biggest factor in quality score (CTR is still 70% of the a good QS), keyword theming it majorly important to relate your service/product/whatever to the searcher. Over- and under-simplifying themes is a common mistake that even a lot of veteran PPC advertisers make, so don’t be discourage if you aren’t sure where to start.  The best way to determine how keywords should be grouped is by figuring out what they mean to the searcher and what the searcher is expecting to see.
    • Keywords Match Types
      • Like keyword theming, this has a lot to do with anticipating what question a user is going to ask a search engine and how. I am a huge fan of exact and phrase match because if gives you the best CTR and limits the amount of negative keyword research you’ll have to do. However, for the PPC noob I would recommend using modified broad match with a hefty list of negatives to eliminate search noise. If you follow this advice your quality score and wallet will thank you.
    • Ad Content
      • One of the most important elements of a good launch is good ad content. When writing ad content, the most important things is answering the search query’s question. It is equally important to show why you answer the question better than your competition. Including value props, calls-to-action, and relevant ad extensions will help you get the click.

     

    Step 3. Set Up Conversion Tracking and Analytics Integration 

    • Conversion Trackers
      • This is probably the most overlooked and financially dangerous thing to forget when setting up a PPC campaign. Whether you consider a conversion a click-to-call, a form submission, or even view of keypage, you have to set up conversion tracking. With both AdWords and Bing Ads this is a simple process — you just insert a snippet of code onto your determined conversion page. This is typically the last action you want a visitor to do on your site before leaving your site.
    • Google Analytics
      • Undeniably the most powerful free analytics tool available. Google Analytics allows you to see what your PPC visitors are doing on your site. Having this knowledge will allow you make data driven decision about on-page factors such as images, content, or layout. One of my personal favorite reports is Visitor Flow. This report shows the path a visitor takes on your site and what information you should include on your landing pages.

    That’s it!

    Setting up a new PPC campaign can become daunting and confusing. Using these three steps will help you stay on track and not waste time or money. A properly set up campaign will ensure you can make better ROI decisions without backtracking and guesswork.

    Pro-Tip: If you have a hard monthly cost and want to effectively manage your spend use the shared library’s Budget feature. It will allow you to assign a set daily spend to multiple campaigns. It will alleviate the stress of manually adjusting each campaigns’ daily spend. Be sure to check your performance though. If you start seeing more opportunity in a particular account you may want to separate it from the others and assign an individual budget.

    Share Budgets for PPC Campaigns

  • 5 for Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

    Round 1-01Google AdWords Announces Enhanced Campaigns -Search Engine Watch
    Google announced Enhanced Campaigns this month, much to the dismay of some and delight of most. The Enhanced Campaigns work to simplify mobile marketing – sounds good, right? So why are some advertisers viewing this update negatively? Check out our blog post by resident Google AdWords Expert to learn why.

    The Ultimate Guide for Monitoring your Reputation Online  -Search Engine Journal
    Here’s an infographic Beyonce might be interested in. We’ve all had unflattering or embarrassing photos taken. Reputation monitoring is something we all need to think about in these days of hyped-up connectivity online. This infographic explains the steps businesses and individuals need to take to protect their image online.

    A Glimpse into Facebook Graph Search -Search Engine Journal
    A step-by-step tutorial explaining the new features of Facebook Graph Search. Options to search include: My friends, Photos of my friends, Restaurants nearby, Games my friends play, Music my friends like, and Photos I have liked. Different filters will help you hone down the results even further, based on things like ‘Employer’, ‘Likes’, ‘Following’, and ‘Married to’. Want to find people in your area who are interested in the things you like? Here’s your chance.

    40 Important Local Search Questions Answered -SEOmoz
    Local search is increasingly playing a bigger part in search engine optimization. The takeaway from this piece? “Even though local has arrived, it’s still a mess.” In an attempt to de-mystify this genuinely confusing piece of the puzzle, Mike Ramsey has kindly compiled the 40 most important questions and their answers concerning Local Search.

    How Unique Does Content Need to Be to Perform Well in Search Engines?  -SEOmoz
    Here’s a great questions we’ve been running into a lot lately: “What is meant by duplicate content and how unique do I have to be?” First, let’s qualify that navigation, ads, footer, sidebars, etc., don’t count. This leaves us with the on-page content. Copying internal or external sources can be a problem – but as long as you’re adding unique value it’s not duplicative.

  • AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: Naughty or Nice for SMBs & Agencies?

    Yesterday, Google announced what might be the largest restructuring of the AdWords platform to date: Enhanced Campaigns. Building on (and some say attempting to boost) the influx of mobile advertisements on AdWords, Enhanced Campaigns are an attempt to simplify the mobile pay-per-click management process by removing barriers to ROI calculation for SMB advertisers. While many advertisers are less than enthused about the changes, Search Influence welcomes the new features, streamlined campaign creation process, and simpler campaign management and assessment that Enhanced Campaigns brings to the table.

    Nice!

    The official blog post on Inside AdWords is clear about the goals of Enhanced Campaigns: simplify mobile and multi-touch marketing for the part-time advertiser. Citing a study on the new world of multi-screen browsing, Google claims 90% of consumers “move sequentially” between several devices during the conversion funnel.

    Google highlights three refinements to existing AdWords features that will be live for everyone starting in June: (1) laser-targeted bid adjustment based on location, device, time of day, “and more” within a single campaign; (2) easy management of one campaign across multiple devices, which is in contrast to the previous recommended best practice of duplicating identical campaigns for different device targeting; and (3) more accurate click-to-call data and conversion measurement across devices. These changes allow advertisers to more easily set up mobile campaigns, a strategy Wordstream founder and CTO Larry Kim says only 4% of advertisers participated in despite lower costs-per-click and, in our experience, high conversion rates from calls.

    The new bidding system is based on a percentage of a basic bid which covers the equivalent of today’s national desktop campaigns. This bid can be multiplied by -100% to 300% depending on device targeted and -90% to 900% depending on geographic area or time targeted. This allows advertisers to avoid tedious duplication of campaigns simply for different targeting, while making it much easier on “part-timers” and campaigns with limited budgets to run on multiple devices and control who sees their ads.

    Combined with the recently-simplified Remarketing Lists in Analytics, the upcoming Universal Analytics, and the storyline offered in a post on SEER Interactive, it becomes clear that the other shoe dropping with Enhanced Campaigns is the continued march toward multi-touch lead attribution.

    AdWords is also dropping the direct fee for Google-offered click-to-call numbers in mobile search ads, tracking only calls over one minute as a conversion. This has been a point of contention for marketers who know that a click on a phone number and a call connected are very different things.

    Naughty!

    Not everyone is excited about the changes brought by Enhanced Campaigns. Many advertisers are concerned about the cost-per-click increase that will come with a variety of new advertisers not effectively managing their bids using combined campaigns. According to an Adobe study, the gap between mobile and desktop costs-per-click dropped by 15% between the 3rd and 4th quarters 2012, meaning that there’s already less of an advantage to advertising on mobile. Automatically setting advertisers to run on mobile means that despite the availability of new bidding tactics, less savvy advertisers will inflate the ad auction and lead the platform to be less profitable for everyone.

    Others are concerned that Google won’t be able to effectively manage the preferences expressed in the myriad targeting options provided by Enhanced Campaigns. Per Google’s Guide to Upgrading to Enhanced Campaigns, Quality Scores in upgraded campaigns are reported at a bird’s-eye view, making it difficult to see what targeting is driving increases or decreases of an already-opaque metric. Similarly, the inability to separate out tablets from desktop searchers makes some wary; there are some markets that would be highly affected by this, such as downloads of a desktop program. While this is concerning to some, it may also outline an overarching corporate goal of Google: to make the world fast and universally accessible — contrary to ideas like single-platform apps and solutions off the cloud.

    Misconceptions: Looks Naughty, but Is Nice!

     

    But some, seeing the change as a step backward for targeting, have unfairly found fault with the update. Enhanced Campaigns eliminates confusion by changing locations of settings.  Many have said that the “mobile-only campaign” has disappeared from AdWords. On the contrary, AdWords provides a checkbox to help Google figure out what device an ad should be shown. Furthermore, ads with extensions such as App Store downloads that only make sense on certain mobile carriers and operating systems will be automatically targeted to those devices.

    There’s also some worry about other platforms following suit. As BingAds has matured as a platform and international search engines have found monetization easier with cost-per-click ad auctions, it might follow that this grand experiment by Google will shape the industry. Yet BingAds has tried to forge its own path in the paid search realm; I can’t see them blindly following Google with its targeting any more than it already has — to wit, only slightly. But while the industry as a whole might not change, it is important to note the Google has over search ads, especially on mobile devices.

    How to Win with AdWords Enhanced Campaigns

    Best practices can already be parsed out from what has been released about AdWords Enhanced Campaigns, but they aren’t necessarily far divorced from current ones.

    1. Follow Google’s guide to transitioning your account to Enhanced Campaigns
    2. Be sure to take advantage of all appropriate ad extensions, which allow you to target you ads appropriately to device and location
    3. Ensure you’re using the most up-to-date version of AdWords Editor to effectively Enhance your Campaigns.
    4. Anticipate a variety of devices coming to your site by providing dynamic content and alternate conversion paths based on device
    5. Provide natural redirection to and from your mobile site if it’s required for your business to avoid issues when desktop ads show on mobile or vice versa
    6. Now more than ever, bid appropriately for your location, device, and time of day — the best strategy in a second-price auction like AdWords is to bid what that website visit is actually worth to you

    We’re looking forward to learning more as marketers start experimenting with these new tools. What do you think? Will this change the way you’re doing PPC?

  • Why You Should Start a PPC Campaign Today

    PPC Questions & Answers for Small Businesses

    I get a lot of questions from clients about starting or maintaining a paid search or Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign. While we at SI are undoubtedly convinced of the positive impact a paid search campaign can have on a small business, others need more information before committing. Some of the most frequently asked questions about a paid search campaign include:

    • “What are the advantages and disadvantages of a PPC campaign?”
    • “Why should I do PPC if I rank in the first position organically?” in the same sense, “Should I start a PPC campaign until I start ranking organically?”
    • “Why should I pay for people to click on my website when they are already looking for my brand?”
    • “How will this help my business, and what should I expect for an ROI?”

    So, what are the answers to these important questions facing small businesses? Here’s my take:

    What are the advantages and disadvantages of a PPC campaign?

    1. Starting a PPC campaign allows you to show up in the Google search results for search terms that you may not rank for organically.
    2. A PPC campaign allows you to set daily and monthly budgets for the keywords and areas you want to target. If you are selling a product or service that is sold out or fully booked, you can allocate your budget to a different product or service with a simple click.
    3. You also have more control over the locations where your ads show. With SEO, you are building overall site authority, and while you may be targeting specific geo-modified keywords, you could potentially rank in other locations. With paid search, you can set your preferred locations as well as the exact geo-modified keywords you want to target.
    4. One of the main benefits of a paid search campaign is that results can be instantaneous. While it typically takes 30-60 days to fully optimize a campaign to see optimal results, you can begin receiving leads or making sales the first day your ads are live.

    Will paid search marketing ads still help me if I rank in the first position organically?

    The answer to this is, of course, “YES!” — but let me tell you why.

    1. For terms that you do rank for organically, having a paid ad allows you to claim more “real estate” on the search engine results page and increases the likelihood that people will come to your site. People tend to believe your site is more authoritative because Google allows you to show up more than once on the page. According to Search Engine Watch, 34 percent of paid search clicks occur when the same website ranks organically on the page. If the paid search ad is paused, only 11 percent of the traffic generated by the ads will be replaced by the organic clicks.
    2. Having a paid search campaign gives you the ability to control your message through your ad copy and change it easily and often if necessary. You can create unique ads for specials and seasonal offerings and have them rank in top positions quickly. This allows your ads to always be relevant.
    3. PPC also gives you the ability to control the message and content of the landing page to which you send your visitors. You can optimize this landing page for conversions and sales, with less focus on keyword-related content.
    4. Finally, you have the ability to test ad content, landing pages and keywords on a larger scale. You can determine which calls to action are driving traffic and which keywords convert the best in a shorter time frame. Then, you can apply this knowledge to your SEO campaign.

    Side Note: Running a paid search campaign will NOT improve your organic rankings.

    Should I start a PPC campaign until I start ranking organically?

    You should most certainly start a PPC campaign immediately. However, see the question above for why you should continue the campaign even if you rank in the first position organically.

    Why should I pay for people to click on my website when they are looking for my brand?

    Besides the points mentioned above, there are many reasons to bid on branded keywords.

    1. Competitors may be bidding on your branded terms and you will want to ensure you are showing in the top position for your brand.
    2. Branded clicks are very inexpensive, as you are going to be the most relevant result for your brand, and Google will “reward” you for that.
    3. People searching for your brand are more likely to convert, and you want to be where they are searching.

    How will this help my business, and what should I expect for an ROI?

    Search Influence tracks all aspects of a paid search campaign, similar to how we track success for SEO. We provide call tracking numbers for campaigns and set up form tracking to attribute leads directly to paid search campaigns. Our monthly reports include a list of leads, cost per lead, clicks, click through rates, and average cost per click (among other factors). This helps our clients determine if the leads we provide are valuable and what leads are becoming actual customers. ROI will vary depending on industry, but we strive to provide a positive ROI for every client.

    So if you are wondering if you should start a paid search campaign, the answer is almost certainly “Yes!” With effective research, targeting and analysis, you can have a successful campaign that will generate leads and sales for your business.

    I’d love to hear your opinions on PPC, so leave a comment below!

  • When Keeping It Relevant Goes Wrong

    Brenda Johnson Knows What's Up

    I’ve been actively creating and managing Google AdWords campaigns for over five years. In that time, I’ve made a lot of mistakes with everything from keyword selection to match type to ad content. It happens — if no one ever made a mistake on AdWords, we would all be PPC success stories, and that’s certainly not the case. So when I typically see mistakes with sponsored ads, I take a screenshot, write a short heads-up email to the advertiser explaining their mistake, and keep it rollin’. However, over the weekend I came across what could possibly be the worst targeting and most confusing landing page I’ve ever seen on AdWords.

    While I was searching for “delaware county oh plastic surgery” (before you start reading too much into this, no, I was not looking for a plastic surgeon. I am quite comfortable with my stout lil’ man-child body), I came across this gem of an ad…

    Find the Bad Ad

    (more…)

  • Google Adwords Certification: The Breakdown

    Getting Google Adwords Certified can be an invaluable update to your resume. Why? With this professional SEO accreditation, you’re making sure you’re doing everything you can to increase your worth to your clients or company.

    Whether you are planning to start a paid search campaign for your business or if you’re just trying to understand what your PPC manager is always talking about, Adwords certification is an extremely beneficial feather in your cap. However, don’t think you can just roll out of bed, think “I’ll get certified today!” and pass the test with ease.

    To officially become Google Adwords Certified, you must pass both the Advertising Fundamentals exam and one advanced-level exam. Everyone on the account management team here at Search Influence has decided to take on the challenge to get individually certified.  Luckily we have two Google Adwords gurus, Anthony Coleman and Doug Thomas, to answer our never-ending questions while studying.

    To make studying easier, Google has set up a Google AdWords Certification Program Learning Center, where you can find “lesson plans” for each Google Adword exam. Reading all the chapters (from start to finish) for each exam may be a bit time-consuming, but very worth it. I highly recommend the interactive e-learning lessons that are scattered throughout the chapters. Most e-learning lessons have quizzes to test your knowledge before taking the actual exam.

    The first test is 113 questions with 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the exam. You must get an 85% on the first test, which cost $50, and you must pass the first exam before moving on to the advanced.  After passing the exams, you are certified for two years.  Don’t worry if you don’t pass the exam the first time: you can always retake it. However, you must pay the $50 fee each time.

    VS

    You can become a qualified individual or a qualified company within the Google Professional Certification program. To qualify for an Individual Certification, you must pass both the Fundamentals exam and one of the three advanced exams.  Also, you must accept the program Terms and Conditions (which happens automatically by enrolling in the program).  Also, there is no minimum spend requirement to be Individually Qualified.

    Doug and Anthony have already qualified Search Influence for a Company Certification. To qualify for a Company Certification, a company must have managed at least a $10,000 spend over 90 days, starting the day the AdWords account is linked to the My Client Center. The company must have at least one individually qualified employee and accept the program Terms and Conditions.

    The Google Partner Search tool helps potential advertisers find a Certified AdWords Professional. People enter their estimated budget, along with the type of help they need, then Google compiles a list of certified professionals. Certified Partners receive a badge showing their qualification, while those who are Individually Qualified receive a certificate when they pass the necessary exams.

    Tips for Taking the Exam
    • Study. This is easy to put off, but during the exam you’ll be asked a question that you would only know if you read the exam learning materials. Luckily, the study materials are broken out according to which exams they’re covered on.

    • Take the exam in a quiet area with no distractions. Get out of the house with no family, pets or TV shows to divert your focus from the exam.

    • You cannot access any other part of your computer until you have completed the exam. Make sure you save and close everything you have open on your computer because once you start the test, it blocks you out of everything and you can’t pause the timer on the exam.

    • One beneficial feature about the exam is that you can mark questions for review and come back to them later. I loved this because if I didn’t know the answer to a question, I marked it for review and moved on to the next.

    Google is a tricky minx. I noticed when taking the first exam that some questions have multiple right answers, but Google wants you to choose the best right answer. Watch out for those questions and always go with your gut feeling.
    You can sign up here to take the exam. Good luck!

  • 3 PPC Keyword Research Strategies to Break Free From Organic

    ppc keyword research strategies
    Battle for the Planets? The Difference is more Power Rangers.

    Organic and paid search are both, at the core, about the search queries. These queries are, of course, sought by optimizing for or bidding on certain keywords. These keywords, found using keyword research tools such as Google’s or Wordstream’s and then turned into a comprehensive list using your favorite keyword expansion tool.

    Organic keyword research focuses on traffic, looking for quality descriptors for the products, service, or content offered to the visitor. These descriptors are filtered for the search phrases that are the best fitting and for “low-hanging fruit,” ones with low competition and high value to the business.

    However, strategies for paid research must be different, because the mediums are used in a different way. In addition to search traffic, competition and metrics that might be overlooked or generalized, like average CPC, must be included in the research. Furthermore, these three additional discovery strategies can help create a more robust keyword profile.

    Three Keyword Discovery Strategies

    General

    Unlike in organic search, general keywords play a central role. Organic keywords, especially for businesses, tend to be of the general pattern *geographic area* *keyword*. However, because a paid search campaign can geotarget its ads, any search using the non-geomodified keyword from the targeted area would also trigger the ad. Thus, someone in Montana searching {window cleaner} will see ads targeted to Montana Window Cleaner.

    General keywords focusing on the domain name and business name are also useful for brand marketing. There is a bit of a debate over whether PPC clicks cannibalize organic clicks for this kind of keyword. A few theories and strategies have arisen, with of course the best answer being “What’s best for you,” though problems can arise with attribution.

    Long-Tail

    Long-tail keywords, searches like {cost of criminal lawyer} or {home security free installation}, while relatively low traffic, are specific searches that strengthen the depth of the research. This way, deep searches you wouldn’t optimize for organic search can be explored and taken advantage of. These deep searches are largely of two types, researching and buying. Phrases like {cost of …}, {buy …},  or client-specific long-tail terms like car models can be used to serve ads leveraging the search intent of the viewer.

    Match Types

    The three match types are Broad, [Exact], and “Phrase.” These three types are even more important to the research than for organic search, as it can affect CPC.

    Broad keywords would trigger on longer-tail searches, synonyms, common misspellings, and word reversals. The broad keyword Criminal Lawyer would show ads on the queries {criminal law}, {attorney for criminal case}, or {criminal lawyer new orleans}.

    To save on CPC, [Exact] keywords will run ads on the keywords only in that order, so [criminal lawyer] would trigger on the searches {cost of criminal lawyer} but not {lawyer for criminal case}.

    “Phrase” Keywords display ads solely on the phrase entered. The keyword “criminal lawyer new orleans” would show solely on that term, and none others. This one is less necessary for PPC research.

    Facebook and Display

    The final addendum for any PPC keyword research is that you have to take into account for display ads, whether through Adsense or social media platforms. These ads, though not for paid search, are the bread and butter for retargeting and remarketing or brand awareness. Approaching this match types as keywords may not yield much, but treating broad keywords as categories or thinking laterally and approaching the keywords from demographics and related interests could solidify a bland targeting spectrum.

    With the “reimagining” of Keyword Research strategies focused around these three concepts (and one quick point), your ROI will skyrocket from the CTR and quality score increases that come with a well-curated keyword list. What tricks have you used to get the most out of your keywords?