Keyword-based Pay-Per-Click (PPC) online advertising is one of the most effective ways to generate traffic, or clicks, to a website and gain search page visibility. Since advertisers pay a "per click" price, determined by keyword bids, PPC ads should utilize only those keywords that generate the highest number of quality clicks possible for the monthly budget, or maximum cost-per-click set for the campaign. To do this effectively, PPC ads must be continually monitored and refined. Knowing what to look for when choosing and checking keywords can help deliver the most PPC bang for the buck.
Be Specific
Choose ad keywords that are specific to what the website offers. "Broad" search terms that show a high click rate often have far lower sales conversion rates than keywords relevant to the website's content. An online shoe store, for example, would generate more quality clicks using the keywords "discount Reeboks" or "wedge sandal sale" than it would using terms such as "buy shoes online" or even "discount shoe store". Google Adwords, Microsoft adCenter Labs, and the SEO Book Tools website all provide free keyword research, monitoring, and refinement tools to help with the search term selection process.
Niche Appeal
Websites that provide unique solutions to everyday problems or sell items that are hard to find have niche appeal. Further refining specific keywords and search terms to describe this niche appeal will increase the number of quality clicks. For example, the online shoe store that happens to sell hard-to- find high-top sneakers might fare better using the search terms "buy high-top sneakers" or "high-top sneaker sale" than it would using the terms "discount sneakers" or "sneaker sale."
Position vs. Cost Per Click
The most competitive keywords typically have the highest per-click rate and will pull ad positions of first, second, or third on the search pages. However, without a large advertising budget, top billing is hard to secure for any length of time. Keep in mind that any position on the first page is a good position and that, by monitoring cost-per-click rates accordingly and checking keywords regularly, PPC ads will move up naturally, much like organic ads do.
Check the Competition
Periodically checking PPC keywords against those used by competitor websites is a great way to refine current keyword lists and gather ideas for new words. One by one, enter words or phrases from current ads and keyword lists into the search bar of any search engine and write down the URLs shown on the first search page. Next, browse these competition sites to compare ad positions with keyword relevancy. For extra help, Google Adwords has a URL keyword search tool that will filter a site's most important keywords. The trick is to find low-cost, high-ranking keyword combinations that have the least amount of competition.
