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If you are looking to improve your conversions on Google Ads, you need to have the right strategy. In today’s world, competitors from all over the globe are trying to reach the same prospects and customers. However, constructing a viable plan is easier said than done.
There are various aspects of running a great pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, such as your ad copy, relevance, images, landing page, and follow-up techniques. But the first and perhaps most important step is identifying the right keywords to target and finding best keywords for google ads.
Knowing how to shortlist best keywords for Google Ads campaigns and how to target the right keywords for Google Ads will allow you to reach more interested customers with relevant content and offers, spend less money, and waste less time. That way, you can gain an advantage over the competition in your market.
In this article, we’ll discuss proven and powerful keyword strategies that you can implement right away. Let’s get started.
One of the most critical elements of your paid search process is the account structure and then how to find the right keywords. The proper structure means that your keywords, ads, and landing pages align with your business goals.
Finding the right Google Ads account structure can be like finding a needle in a haystack. There are many different approaches, which vary depending on your goals, budget, location, company size, and industry. So, let’s talk about different ways you might want to structure your campaigns, depending on your specific situation.
You must be thinking you must go for higher search volume or low competition keyword? We’ll start with two different scenarios and in both cases high-intended keywords are being used:
This ad group has one keyword, with a search volume of 10. The cost-per-click (CPC) is $10.
This ad group has ten keywords, each with a search volume of 1. The CPC is $1 each.
Which ad structure should be adopted, based on the two use cases above?
Remember that keyword search volume refers to the number of times that a search was conducted for a particular keyword over the course of a month.
That’s why this is such an important aspect to consider. For a keyword to be worth targeting and paying for, it needs to provide an ample number of searches. Otherwise, it could mean that not enough people have an interest in that particular keyword or phrase so that it wouldn’t generate enough of a return on your investment.
However, Scenario B above represents a way that you counteract this issue. Instead of bidding on high search volume keywords (that are more expensive), you can target multiple low volume keywords. This approach expands your audience and makes testing different keywords less expensive. You can show the same ad to various people that used different searches terms which are also intended.
This strategy of bidding on multiple low volume keywords to show your ads to enough people can be more friendly to your budget. Frequently, high intent keywords (those used by people who are further down the sales funnel and closer to converting) will have lower volume.
So you must be thinking how to finalize best keywords for Google Ads? Either one of the scenarios above is correct but if you look at the deeper perspective both scenarios are equal.
Use case scenario A has 1 high search volume keyword and Scenario B have 10 low search volume keywords. Both scenarios are equal because:
1 High Search Volume Keyword (10 Search Volume) = 10 Low Search Volume Keywords (each of 1 Search Volume)
For instance, there are likely to be more people searching for “types of roofing materials” at any given point in time than people searching for “buy a new roof now.” While the high intent “buy” keyword is likely to bring higher conversions, it will cost significantly more to bid on, and your search volume will be diminished considerably.
As you may have noticed, both account structures discussed above offer potential advantages to your Google Ads campaigns. But how do you decide which one is right for your business?
Let’s consider a few key factors to look at when choosing keywords based on their search volumes:
You cannot go for all keywords for Google Ads for any industry. Different keyword volumes are going to be more effective for various industries. For instance, a highly specialized service such as laser eye surgery isn’t likely to have as many searches as a generic product such as paper towels.
Thanks to a myriad of PPC tools — both free and paid to find best keywords— there is no excuse for not having at least a cursory understanding of keyword competition. While higher volume keywords can bring more traffic to your landing page, they are also much more competitive and costly than lower volume keywords. The right balance is both an art and a science.
You need to ask yourself what your goals are for the ad campaign you’re running. If you simply want “get your name before the people” and do a broad awareness campaign, then high intent keywords aren’t as important yet. However, if you have a very “direct response” oriented campaign, then you don’t want to waste money on people who are too early in the buying cycle.
The following graphic nicely summarizes the main takeaway of this section:
Search volume is a critical aspect when deciding how to choose keywords for Google Ads. However, it is not the only thing to focus on to pick keywords. Sometimes, you need to look at other aspects of your campaign in order to target the best keywords.
Here are two instances in particular when you might want to make keyword search volume a lower priority while doing research for Google Ads keywords:
Despite a low search volume, it is a wise move to bid on keywords with a lot of buying intent, because while there may be fewer people searching for them, those who use these terms will be more likely to convert. You will be better at knowing how to choose keywords for Google Ads if you keep this in mind.
You might have spent months or years honing in on your target audience. You can pick up on insights and needs that your audience has. From this, you might think of new keywords that the competitors aren’t even aware of, giving you a decisive advantage and early lead.
Let’s say that “blue jeans” is our exact match keyword being used in Scenario A. And in Scenario B, we have 10 exact match keywords being used.
In Scenario B, our CPC is $1. Therefore, we have multiple ways to get conversions at low costs. This could bring a better return on investment (ROI). And we know that when considering how to choose keywords for Google Ads, the final ROI should not be ignored.
The numerous keywords provide broad reach even though each keyword has a relatively low volume. By having different keywords, you also expand how you can convert your audience by choosing the right keywords for google ads campaign.
Google’s traditional recommendations suggest adding in 10-20 keywords in an ad group. Google says this is the best approach because these keywords then form a pool of search terms that potential customers might use when searching for products or services that your ad could be shown for.
If you select keywords and you want to focus on single keyword ad group, what if it keeps on increasing, there comes the possibility of having hundreds of thousands of low search volume keywords but it would become difficult to manage to every time creating a new ad group.
Reporting and its managing will be huge enough. If you have hundreds of campaigns you can’t manage such ad groups on a daily basis if millions of keywords are coming. You need to have a smart tool for this which could suggest pulling the sample of keywords out of hundreds of thousands and provide some smart actions to take on them on a daily or weekly basis.
It’s important to understand that lower competition is to be expected with lower search volume. However, higher buying intentions will factor in conversions better. Your conversion rate depends on multiple factors.
Your landing page is going to have a massive impact on your campaign performance. The copy, images, videos, and other elements will determine whether people convert. However, getting them to your webpage in the first place is the first step. And depending on which keywords they used, their likelihood of converting will be higher or lower.
Use the formula below to calculate your conversion rate:
Conversion rate = (conversions / total visitors) * 100%
Since the total number of visitors is crucial for conversions, scenario B will often get you higher conversions than scenario A.
Certain keywords will drive users farther down your process into the funnel. For this reason, you need to be smart about the keywords you select for your ad group. Make sure that your user knows what they are getting and that you are providing it for them.
When you notice that a keyword has a higher volume, it is a good sign. This indicates that more customers have an interest in this topic and that they are using Google to learn more about it. High search volume keywords can raise awareness so that your profile across the web expands. It could even result in higher organic rankings in search engines. But we need to weigh all sides to know how to choose keywords for Google Ads:
Pros
Cons
If a keyword is marked as “low search volume’ then there is very little traffic resulting from it. That means it’s not that relevant to most people searching. To counteract this, Google will temporarily deactivate these keywords to prevent them from showing your ads.
This is to help preserve your budget for higher-performing keywords. Still, low volume keywords can be an excellent way to discover untapped needs that your market has or rising demand for a particular product or service.
Pros
Cons
There could be reasons why high-volume phrases don’t bring better results because people might not even be bidding on it. These will have a higher CPC and perhaps still not increase your conversions. Beware of these “trap” keywords.
On the other hand, you might notice that a particular keyword seems relevant to your audience based on your research and experience while doing research for Google Ads keywords. Quite often, you can use these terms with lower CPCs and effectively attract leads and conversions at a better rate that fits your budget.
You might sell a very specific kind of product. Thus, your impressions for certain keywords won’t be huge. You have a narrow target market that knows what they want on a specific level, which won’t be the majority of people. If your strategy revolves around long-tail keywords, then don’t be scared off by low numbers.
On the other hand, if your product is generic and can help a large number of people, higher volume keywords are often worth it even with the increased CPC. Remember to constantly evaluate your target market and judge your campaigns based on their needs, instead of just what everyone else is doing.
Typically, the amount you can afford to spend on ads will increase with your price. If you have an inexpensive product, however, it might not make sense to bid high on keywords because the profit margin simply isn’t there.
Always keep your end campaign goal in mind. If you are simply gaining awareness in the market, you might just consider your Google Ads to be a price of entry, and the total conversions won’t be the defining metric.
Some Google Ads campaigns simply seek to gain exposure, and thus the value is in the long term sales process. But if you sell one-off products or lower cost items that are more transactional, you need to be more stringent on your ad costs and how they relate to your bottom line.
Your clickthrough rate (CTR) and CPC for a given keyword are great starting points. But the real test of these phrases will be in the conversions they deliver.
If your keywords are not delivering qualified clicks or leads, then it doesn’t matter how many people are searching for them you need to focus on conversion rate optimization. At the end of the day, you have to look down your funnel to determine which keywords delivered the best profits. A lower volume keyword could generate clicks and conversions at a better price, despite the smaller market.
Shorter keywords are incredibly competitive simply because of the larger numbers of visits they can represent. But, the ROI can be relatively low. With long-tail keywords, you can narrow down your target market better.
This allows you to deliver more precise ads and landing pages. You can reach customers faster than your competition since fewer companies will be paying attention to these long-tail phrases. Remember that it is unlikely for you to be the only company in your industry. So any ability to have a “monopoly” on a corner of the market immediately reduces your competition costs.
How to choose keywords for Google Ads is about more than the words you bid on themselves. It also heavily involves setting up these campaigns and ad groups in a way that maximizes your ROI from keywords.
To help you get the most out of your Google Ads, let’s look at some best practices to use as you formulate your ad groups:
You want to avoid waiting until the end to organize your campaigns and groups. First of all, the data will have a different meaning once you organize them. By having them in the right arrangement from the start, you can trust that the data you’re seeing is more relevant to your campaign goals.
Instead of just creating different ad groups, use new campaigns for significant differences. For instance, you should have different campaigns depending on location or budget. Or if you have different products, like shoes and shirts, each should have its own campaign as well.
Knowing how to choose keywords for Google Ads is a challenge in and of itself. If you already know that you have the right keywords, ask yourself if you need different campaigns or ad groups.
If you’re targeting the same locations for all of them, for instance, then simply use one campaign and different keywords for ads. The same goes if you want all your ads to share one budget. This can significantly reduce headaches and the time required to analyze your campaigns down the line.
Pick a narrow theme for every ad group, if possible. Then, you can use more specific keywords in your headlines, ad copy, landing pages, and more. This is because people are more likely to click on an ad that contains the precise keyword they were searching for, as its common sense would dictate that it’s more relevant to them.
Remember, the searcher only cares about the course of action that will help them the most in the least amount of time. Put yourself in your prospects’ shoes.
The secret of how to choose keywords for Google Ads is that you won’t get the perfect results you hoped for the first time. It often takes many different ads, ad groups, and campaigns to achieve the conversions you wanted. Thus, give your ad groups a chance to approach your market from at least three different angles.
You might discover that one keyword offers far better costs than the others. That means you’ve just effectively split-tested your ads for free.
When you start out with PPC advertising, it can take a little while to find the right mix of keyword match types for your campaigns. It’s tempting to focus on those that promise the biggest reach, however, that would be a mistake.
If the keywords you choose aren’t relevant to the user intent of your target audience, you’ll only attract the wrong kind of traffic. Instead of attracting qualified leads who may convert, you’ll bring in visitors that have little to no intention of answering your call-to-action.
It is important to create a balance between reach and relevance in your keyword list, so you attract the kind of traffic – and lots of it!
Keyword relevance is a qualitative measure that lets marketers know how important a keyword is to their bottom line.
You can use this value to organize an extensive list by segmenting your keywords into tightly-related groups and displaying them in order of keyword relevance.
Keyword reach is the potential audience that a specific keyword can help your ad connect with. It is intrinsically tied to keyword search volume.
If you pick a keyword that receives 3,000 monthly searches instead of one that receives 300, then you can potentially reach an audience ten times the size by including the more popular keyword in your ad copy. However, there are many other factors to consider here.
Typically, when the elements of your campaign are aligned with user intent, your ads will resonate with more viewers. Your ad and the subsequent landing page will correlate with each other, and with what people are looking for.
As a result, relevant ads tend to earn a higher quality score. This means you can expect a higher ad position and lower costs.
Somebody in the research phase may search with generic terms, before using brand names and specific search terms as they get familiar with products and move closer to a conversion.
Similarly, returning customers may lean towards their favorite brand names instead of searching generic products.
It’s best to balance your use of generic and branded keywords so you can capture a wide range of customers, which will increase conversion opportunities.
If you are a new business or have a new product, it’s important that you expand your generic keyword strategy to attract more new users. By investing in your brand keyword strategy, you can retain customers or build brand awareness around an already existing product.
A keyword match type is a method that search engines use to match user search queries with the keywords you bid on. Match types give us control over our keywords, but we must look to find the optimum balance of reach and relevance with our list.
As you move through the match type funnel, the reach increases, but relevancy is compromised. There are four types to consider.
Broad match is the default for Google Ads keywords. If you have the broad match keyword “blue Nike shorts”, the search engine can match your ad for any individual word in that term.
Pros:
Cons:
Modified broad offers the reach of broad match with more control. For example, a modified broad match of ‘blue Nike shorts’ will tell the search engine that all three terms must be present, even in a different order or with other terms.
Pros:
Cons:
With Phrase Match, user search queries must match your keyword, but it can be part of a longer query. For example, it will show if the user types “dark blue Nike shorts for men”.
Pros:
Cons:
If you want to invest in relevancy above all else, exact match type keywords will help you match user search terms exactly as they are typed.
Pros:
Cons:
Attracting quality traffic is essential for your business website to thrive. Furthermore, it’s crucial that you have some brand awareness when choosing your keywords, as this ensures you will get good reach.
For novice advertisers, it’s best to organize your account as follows:
By structuring your account like this, your search queries will get started on the right foot. With most of your spend committed to a high level of targeting, you assure you will attract qualified traffic, but also have some room for low-cost keyword discovery.
Over time, you can add negative keywords and new terms to your list, helping to filter out irrelevant traffic and refine your list for the optimum balance of reach and relevance, which leads to a better quality score.
If you are a PPC marketer, you must understand how to choose keywords for Google Ads. As the most popular and competitive platform, Google Ads can bring incredible results in the form of leads, subscriptions, purchases, and more. However, you can’t simply jump in and hope to get lucky with your ads.
You and your team need a viable strategy that will work today and in the future. Now you know when to target high volume or low volume keywords depending on your organization’s goals. Plus, you understand how to identify your market and create campaigns that serve their interests.
Use the advice above to ensure your Google Ads campaigns are relevant, cost-effective, and aligned with your business goals. Before you know it, you could see your conversions skyrocket as you grow exponentially.
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