See How You Can Strengthen Your Keyword List with These 5 Tips
Having a solid, well-optimized paid search keyword list is crucial for successful PPC campaigns. The keywords you target drive impressions, clicks, and conversions, so they need to be thoroughly reviewed and refined on an ongoing basis. At Now Media Group, our expert digital marketing team offers data-driven PPC campaign management services to help clients craft optimized strategies that deliver results.
Having the proper search terms effectively targets customers searching for offerings like yours. Let’s examine some ways you can fine-tune these to boost performance. If you want to discuss improving your keyword approach, reach out to us at (858) 333-8950 to schedule your free audit.
Tip 1: Leverage Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are crucial for refining your PPC campaign. They prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches, saving your budget for more relevant clicks. Regularly review your search term reports to identify and add negative keywords.
How to Identify Negative Keywords:
- Monitor search query reports to find terms that aren’t being converted.
- Consider variations of broad-match keywords that might attract irrelevant traffic.
- Regularly update your negative keyword list based on ongoing campaign performance.
Example: If you’re selling high-end watches, you might want to add “cheap” or “affordable” as negative keywords to avoid clicks from bargain hunters.
Tip 2: Mine Search Query Reports
Search query reports provide valuable insight into terms people use to search and land on your ads. Review your search query reports regularly for opportunities to refine targeting. You may uncover other misspellings, industry terms, or product names you can add as new keywords or negatives. You can also find queries that lead to conversions to add more or search queries that don’t convert well to negative out.
Tip 3: Analyze Competitor Keywords
Understanding what keywords your competitors are targeting can provide valuable insights. Use tools like SpyFu or SEMrush to analyze competitor campaigns and identify high-performing keywords they are using. This can help you uncover new keyword opportunities and avoid wasting money on low-performing ones.
Steps to Analyze Competitors:
- Identify your top competitors in the market.
- Use keyword spy tools to extract their keyword lists.
- Analyze the performance metrics (CPC, search volume, CTR) of these keywords.
- Integrate the most relevant and high-performing keywords into your own list.
Tip 4: Segment Your Keyword List
Organizing your keywords into tightly themed ad groups can significantly improve the relevance of your ads, which leads to higher quality scores and lower costs per click. Segment your keywords based on:
- Product or Service Categories: Create separate ad groups for different products or services.
- Match Types: Use a mix of broad, phrase, and exact match keywords to control when your ads appear.
- User Intent: Group keywords by user intent, such as informational, navigational, or transactional.
Example: If you’re an e-commerce store selling electronics, create ad groups for “laptops,” “smartphones,” and “headphones” with keywords specific to each category.
Tip 5: Schedule Regular Reviews
PPC is not a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Continuously reviewing and optimizing your keyword list is essential for maintaining and improving performance. Conduct regular audits to:
- Pause Underperforming Keywords: Identify and pause keywords with low CTRs or high costs per conversion.
- Add New Keywords: Regularly add new keywords based on market trends, seasonal changes, and customer behavior.
- Adjust Bids: Optimize bids for high-performing keywords to maximize ROI.
- Test New Variations: Experiment with different keyword variations to find the most effective ones.
Bonus Pro Tip: Utilize A/B testing to compare the performance of different keywords and ad copies, and use the insights to refine your strategy.
Need to Strengthen Your PPC Game? Call Now Media Group Today!
If you’re looking to take your PPC campaigns to the next level by optimizing your targeting and keywords, the digital marketing experts at Now Media Group can help. We offer custom PPC solutions focused on driving results for your business.
Our data-driven approach means we’ll conduct an in-depth analysis of your search terms, ads, and landing pages to identify opportunities to improve performance. We handle everything from expanded keyword research to implementing negative keywords to A/B testing ads so you can focus on running your business.
If you’re ready to strengthen your PPC keyword list and see increased qualified traffic and conversions, contact Now Media Group today at (858) 333-8950 to get started amplifying your paid search strategy. Our dedicated digital marketing pros will help you meet your growth goals.