A successful PPC campaign relies heavily on keyword research, which involves selecting the most effective keywords to bid on for maximizing clicks and conversions. It requires both a scientific and artistic approach, utilizing available tools and understanding customer behavior to predict their search terms. This ensures your ads appear at the right time and in the right place: precisely when users search for your products or services.

This guide presents methods to acquire, refine, and organize your PPC keywords, ultimately enhancing the targeting and effectiveness of your pay-per-click campaigns.

Starting Point: Generating a PPC Keyword List

Your keyword research should start with your website landing pages, the destinations for your ads (our Free Keyword Tool can assist you!). Analyze each page and gather relevant keywords from the content. A well-crafted website should provide a substantial list of keywords directly related to your offerings.

Keywords can be classified into these types:

• Brand terms: Keywords containing your brand name and trademarked terms.
• Generic terms: Terms related to your products (e-commerce keywords) or services.
• Related terms: Terms indirectly related to your offerings but potentially searched by your target audience.
• Competitor terms: Brand names of competitors offering similar products or services. For instance, a campaign for Nike running shoes might have a list like this:

Important: Bidding on competitor brand terms is usually costly and can deplete a limited budget rapidly. Unless you have ample funds and/or are running a targeted “conquest” campaign, carefully assess the return on investment. Here are more keyword brainstorming tips: Think like your customers. What would they search online to find your website? Start broad, then get specific. For example: Shirts -> women’s shirts -> women’s long-sleeve shirts -> women’s black long-sleeve shirts Include variations and synonyms. Search engines may not always connect related terms (like “sneakers” and “running shoes”). Include them, especially for Exact match types. Add short forms, abbreviations, and plurals. For “womens long-sleeve shirts,” consider variations like:

• Women’s long-sleeve shirts
• Women’s long-sleeve tees
• Women’s long-sleeve Ts
• Women’s long-sleeve t-shirts
• Women’s long-sleeved shirt
• Ladies long-sleeve shirt Think about keyword specificity. Broad terms (single words or short phrases) have higher search volume but may lack relevance. Specific, long-tail keywords have lower volume but higher user intent and lower competition. Include keywords related to your offerings to attract potential customers. If you sell dog food, include terms like dog grooming, breeds, health issues, sitters, and accessories. Use “concatenation” to combine word lists using tools like mergewords or Found’s Ultimate PPC Keyword Concatenation Tool, or Excel’s =CONCATENATE() function. By listing your product and modifiers in columns, the tool generates all possible combinations.

Account for misspellings and alternate spellings, as people don’t always use perfect grammar. However, avoid misspelled keywords with Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to maintain ad professionalism. Create separate ad groups for misspellings. Note that Google is increasingly proficient at recognizing misspellings. Optimize for voice search by incorporating longer, conversational phrases. For example, instead of “Thai restaurants New York,” consider “what’s the best Thai restaurant in New York?” or “where can I get Thai food in New York?” Include variations like “How can I…?” “How do you…?” “Where can I…?” and “What is…?”

Expanding and Refining Your List with Keyword Research Tools

After creating a preliminary list, utilize keyword research tools to identify keywords worth keeping. Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner (within Google Ads) and nexus-security’s free Keyword Suggestion Tool provide insights into keyword popularity and search volume.

The Google Ads Keyword Planner also provides a “Competition” ranking (high, medium, or low), indicating advertiser competition for specific terms. In the example, “mens jogging shoes” has low search volume but also lower competition. Aim for high-volume, low-competition keywords to maximize traffic without excessive costs. Some tools, like the Keyword Planner, suggest additional keyword ideas. Free online tools like Ubersuggest and Soovle also offer keyword variations. MORE: The 8 Best Keyword Research Tools for PPC & SEO Remove keywords with minimal search volume or excessively high competition. Keyword tools help refine your list and uncover new relevant terms. Identify budget-draining keywords with a free account audit using our Google Ads Performance Grader today!

Categorizing and Organizing Your PPC Keywords

After compiling your keyword list, organize it into small, focused groups of related keywords. These groups will become your ad groups in Google Ads (or other platforms). For simple product/service lists, structure ad groups to mirror your website. A dog food campaign could look like this: Brand – Purina Dog Food Brand – IAMS Dog Food Brand – Royal Canin Dog Food Generic – Dog Food Generic – Dog Food – Chicken Generic – Dog Food – Beef Generic – Dog Food – Kibble Generic – Puppy Food Well-defined ad groups simplify:

• Performance measurement for each keyword.
• List adjustments (pruning or expanding).
• Creating highly specific and relevant ads. Small, focused ad groups significantly benefit your account, improving relevance, Quality Scores, ad rankings, and cost-per-click/conversion. Effective keyword organization contributes to a healthier PPC account with improved Quality Scores. MORE: 4 Steps to Better Keyword Grouping

Remember Negative Keywords

When creating your keyword list, incorporate negative keywords - search terms you want to exclude from your ads. They are crucial for cost control and maintaining ad relevance. Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing alongside irrelevant or inappropriate search queries, safeguarding your brand image. For instance, a luxury furniture seller targeting affluent customers would add negatives like “cheap” and “free.” Exclude terms similar but unrelated to your business, like “hair dryer” if you sell washers and dryers. Tips for finding negative keywords:

1. Monitor your search query reports. Identify irrelevant terms triggering your ads and add them as negatives.
2. Understand negative match types. Broad match excludes any query containing your negative term, while phrase and exact match target more specific queries with long-tail negative keywords.
3. Research negative keyword options proactively. Identifying potential negatives before campaign launch saves money. Tools are available to help you find them based on your current keywords.
4. Apply multi-level negatives. Some negatives might apply across ad groups or campaigns.
5. Avoid overusing negatives. While crucial, excessive or improperly used negatives can harm your reach. Ensure that each negative truly indicates an unlikely conversion. Finally, remain persistent! Keyword research is an ongoing process. Dedicate around 15% of your PPC management time to it, regularly adding keywords, setting negatives, and experimenting with match types. This consistent effort will result in a stronger and more relevant PPC account over time.