How to Cheat Google AdWords Select!
Part I by Derek Vaughan
Are you one of the 150,000 webmasters and advertisers using Google's AdWords Select - keyword targeted text advertising to drive traffic to your web site? If so, then you may be able to save a bundle by cheating Google! Okay, so it's not exactly cheating per se - but if you're not using all the tools and tricks that AdWords affords you, then you are definitely leaving money on the table - and when your competitors see the results, they will think that you've somehow cheated the AdWords system. This series of articles will show you systematically how to:
- Generate the absolute best keyword list for your target market;
- Use simple techniques to vastly expand your productive keyword list;
- Create highly clickable copy for your ad;
- Precisely limit the distribution of your ad to only those prospects who are most interested;
- Beat the competition with creative bidding strategies;
- Dramatically reduce costs of your campaigns while increasing clickthroughs.
Generating Your Keyword List in 5 Easy Steps
In order to get the most out of the AdWords Select program, you simply must have a great keyword list. If your keyword list is not deep enough, you will be doomed to pay top dollar on only a few highly-trafficked phrases that garner top dollar bids. So, what are the steps to developing a great keyword list?
First things first: you need your core list of targeted keywords and search phrases. These are the terms that your customers will type in to find your goods and services. Let's say that you have an online store that sells handheld organizers like the Palm Pilot. Take a minute and think about how you would go about searching for a personal digital assistant (PDA) online. Would search on the term 'digital device'? How about 'PDA'? Maybe 'Palm Pilot' or 'Palm V'? Would you try 'personal electronics'? My point is that there are many, many, many, many different and distinct search terms that will get you where you want to go. So how do you determine which search terms to use when advertising your goods and services? Follow these step by step instructions:
- Write down the top search terms that you can think of that describe your business or service. I suggest keeping this list on a spreadsheet if at all possible. This will make it easier to organize and submit later.
- Use the Overture 'Search Suggestion Tool' to get an idea of the popularity of each search term and enter this number under a 'monthly impressions' column in your spreadsheet. It is located here.
In our example above, I found that recently the search terms we thought up were searched as follows:
| pda | 420,800 |
| palm pilot | 75,982 |
| palm V | 3,899 |
| digital device | 376 |
| personal electronics | 250 |
- Use the Search Suggestion Tool to lengthen your list of search terms. Not only does the Search Suggestion Tool reveal the number of searches for any given search phrase, it also displays any closely related search terms. NOTE: Another excellent resource is found at www.wordtracker.com. At $199 for an annual membership, this service will reveal which terms are most searched for on the web, and also give suggestions for alternative search phrases. Again in our example, typing in 'palm pilot' also shows a list of search terms (suggestions) and the number of times the associated terms were searched for at Overture in the previous month:
| palm pilot software | 6,960 |
| palm pilot game | 5,486 |
| palm pilot free game | 5,478 |
| palm pilot free ware | 2,315 |
| palm pilot free software | 2,203 |
| palm pilot downloads | 1,995 |
| free palm pilot downloads | 1,931 |
| palm pilot accessory | 1,291 |
| palm pilot share ware | 985 |
Add all of the new relevant terms and monthly impressions to your spreadsheet list. Be creative! Type in any series of words that you think might lead someone to your product or service. Use a thesaurus and a dictionary to assist you.
- Go back to your list - and it should be pretty lengthy by now - and add modifying words that are relevant to your product or service. Such as: cheap, discount, low cost, free, premium, authentic, etc. and check the Search Suggestion Tool to assess the number of searches conducted the previous month. Enter the terms and data into your spreadsheet under 'monthly impressions'.
In our example, if you use the keyword 'Palm Pilot', why not consider using 'discount Palm Pilot' or 'cheap Palm Pilot' or 'low cost Palm Pilot' if they apply to your business? The purpose of these activities is to generate the longest possible list of relevant search terms possible. Why? Remember, you only pay when someone actually clicks on your message. You pay nothing extra to simply list more keywords. Additionally, the more keywords you have, and the more specific the search phrases are, the more likely that your visitor will be truly interested in your product or service. For example: 'pda' is a very general search term. Anyone interested in handheld organizers might search using this term. However, 'Palm V' is a more targeted search term. These customers are narrowed to a particular brand and model. The search phrase 'discount Palm V' is even more targeted - and will attract price conscious Palm V shoppers.
A longer list of relevant search phrases also increases the likelihood that you will attract some visitors to your site at a lower cost. That is because it is often possible to bid less for a click if the search term is less popular. More search terms, bid at a lower cost, mean more traffic to your site for fewer advertising dollars.
- At this point in the process you should have a fairly comprehensive list of targeted search terms and phrases. I suggest sorting the terms on your spreadsheet by 'monthly impressions' to get a sense of which terms are most popular. These are the terms that can end up costing you the most advertising dollars if you choose to bid for a high ranking.
Congratulations! You have now generated a comprehensive keyword list that will get you ahead of your competitors. In the next installment we'll look at some rarely used techniques to ensure that your clickthrough rates are among the highest in your category.