One of the most common mistakes business owners commit when creating their keyword list is including words that they think are relevant to the products and services that they are offering. The key to finding the most effective keywords is in understanding what the customer needs and is searching for, whenever a query is made. Determining what keywords customers use to find you’re your products and services will allow you create better ads and greatly improve the results of your pay per click campaign.
Business owners may think that certain terms are relevant to what they are selling, but since it is their product, the keywords they choose may be what they want the customer to know about it, and not what the customer is actually searching for. The business owner must put himself in the shoes of the customer and think like one.
Compared to the marketer, the average customer would not know technical terms associated with a certain product. For example, a person looking to buy a lawnmower would simply search “lawn mower” or maybe “electric lawnmower”, not “self-propelled double bladed lawnmower”.
Do a lot of research. One way to come up with a keyword list is to ask other people what they would most likely enter as a search term when they want to find your product. You will notice that most of those words are simple, easy to remember, and common, everyday words that are related to your product or service.
A more systematic method of finding good keywords is by using data from Google Analytics and Search Query Performance reports. With Google’s Search Query Performance report, details of the actual queries will show the business owner what exact keywords were used to reach their site. Since the Search Query Performance only provides limited information, the use of Analytics is also essential.
The use of Google Analytics will provide you with valuable information regarding your customer’s search behavior. Analyzing the reports will show you which of your pages are most visited for your organic keywords. Also, these reports will give you clues as to the profiles of your customers. Understanding this profile will help you come up with words highly relevant to the target’s demographics. Ads targeted to a certain country need to include terms that appeal to its culture and must use a language that they understand.
Changes in search behavior can also often be observed when certain events or circumstances occur. Annual holidays often result in the same click-through patterns so having this information on hand can guide the business owner in creating special ads as preparation for the coming holiday season. Since these patterns are repetitive, they will help in predicting user behavior before it actually happens. This vital information can help prevent slow traffic and increase sales for a business site by showing the marketer which words would be in demand for the season and which would not.
The main goal of a PPC campaign is conversion so knowing what the customers want, and using these terms in paid ads will increase the chances of successful clicks. A business must not rush to put keywords that he feels are relevant, but take time to find out what the customer really needs. Without the right keywords, a PPC ad might attract the wrong audience or not get any click at all. On the other hand, using the keywords most relevant to the customers can produce ad copy that will make it hard for them to resist.
