The basis of a good PPC campaign is choosing the right list of keywords. It’s vital to be sure that you’ve searched and researched high quality keywords and phrases to get the best results. Make a long list, and check out all the avenues open to you. Start with a very popular keyword - for instance, “credit”. Lots of people search for this word every day. However, it’s hard to rank well for this term, since it’s also used by plenty of other advertisers. How can you improve your chances? Broaden your scope to include related terms.
Think about how searchers might be interpreting the keyword in question. Someone looking for the word “credit” may be trying to find out how to get a credit report, how to improve their credit, what lenders will offer loans to someone with poor credit, or how to consolidate credit card bills. Once you’ve got a list of concepts that the word might be related to, it’s time to condense them down.
These longer concepts become a series of terms that people search for, all related to your basic keyword. “Credit” becomes “free credit report”, “get better credit”, “bad credit loan” and “consolidate credit cards”. There are lots of other options, and these words are just a little different from the original keyword. You can keep expanding from there.
Try to stick with the basics and don’t over think the whole campaign. Perhaps you can start to ad specific company names to the list, but remember that it has to relate to the word “credit”. Your list should be starting to grow by now and you might even be able to divide it up into different keyword groups.
Add an extension, such as .org, .net, or .com to the end of the search term, or consider the extension of a country you’re targeting. It doesn’t even matter if that domain doesn’t exist. Some people still type this kind of search term in. You’ll expose them to your ads, increasing your chances of a well targeted click.
Some people think that very general words are a winning formula, but it actually works in the opposite way. The competition for these types of words is huge. Try to stay with related terms and rephrased keyword combination. You can turn “free credit report” into “credit report free” while it seems like the same thins each phrase will reach a different audience. Consider what your target market is going to type into their search engine.
It’s not all there is to a good PPC campaign, but a good keyword list is the foundation of one that works. Explore all your options and pick the right words, then track their progress to be sure your campaign is a successful one.
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