6 Tips for Optimizing Google AdWords Keywords

Optimizing keywords is an ongoing task for anyone who uses Google AdWords. While there's certainly a right way to research your initial keyword list, the simple truth is that no one knows for sure which keywords are going to perform the best until you test. And that's why we must optimize. Don't panic if you realize that several of your keywords are underperforming — in online marketing, that's par for the course. What matters more is that you constantly work on your keyword list to weed out the weak links. In the long run, this is how you'll put your ads in front of the most appropriate, likely customers. Here we'll review the six most important tips when optimizing Google AdWords keywords lists. 1. Don't Rush to Judgment It's tempting to hit the panic button when your ads go live and you don't get the results you want. However, getting enough data to gauge the effectiveness of your keywords takes time. Even the best keywords have stretches when they'll underperform. Nobody wants to spend money on ineffective advertising, but you won't do yourself any favors by killing off keywords too soon. Instead, relax and give your campaigns time to collect data. You're better off setting a modest advertising budget if you're worried about wasting money. But you can't optimize your keywords without a good amount of data, and you won't get that by making premature changes to your campaigns. 2. Find the Most Relevant Keywords Everyone loves relevant keywords. Perfectly relevant keywords help online shoppers find the goods and services they want most, and that's what makes Google's search engine so valuable for Web users. And when Google rewards relevance with cheaper costs per click, then that's great for online marketers like you — not to mention you're more likely to connect with more customers. Review your keyword list and add potential long-tail keywords, which are keyword phrases (often three to five words) that shoppers are likely to search for verbatim. Focus on buyer-intent keyword terms that include words such as "buy," "find" or "deals," these tend to be used by potential customers who are looking to make purchases. Focusing on relevance can help you convert your Web traffic into sales. 3. Make Sure Your Keywords are Relevant to Your Landing Pages Sometimes, a perfectly viable keyword can be hamstrung by your website. When people who search for that keyword in Google click your ad, are you showing them the most relevant page of your site? If your answer is "no," then you have two options: You can revise your landing page content to be more relevant to your keyword, or you can move your keyword to a more appropriate ad group. The best way forward depends entirely on your keyword list. Be careful about making changes to your landing pages that might diminish the relevance of other strong performing keywords. 4. Experiment With Keyword-Match Options Long-tail, exact-match keywords are great for connecting with your known, likely customers. However, these keywords aren't nearly as helpful when seeking new ways to reach online shoppers. For that, you'll need to cast a wider net that allows you to analyze and optimize more data. The best way to do this is by experimenting with broad- and phrase-match keywords. Broad-match keywords can result in your ad being returned on search queries you never might have considered, giving you all kinds of ideas of new keywords to try. The same is true for phrase-match keywords, but with phrase-match keywords you won't be casting such a wide net. Both match types have their place in helping you brainstorm additions to your keyword list. However, don't even think about casting a wider net until you've read the next point ... 5. Use Negative Keywords Negative keywords protect you from spending money on irrelevant traffic. These keywords are filters that block your ads from being shown in related search queries. If you're running ads for a beauty salon that sells shampoo, entering the negative keywords "dogs" and "cats" will save you the costs of clicks from folks who are shopping for their pets. It's really that simple. Like regular keywords, you can set broad-match, phrase-match and exact-match negative keywords. We recommend you build lists of all three to the best of your ability. Each of your ad groups should have its own negative keywords list. 6. Start With a Small List, Then Expand Optimizing your keywords is an ongoing chore, and efficient optimizing directly results in more leads and sales. On the other hand, inefficient optimizing is more likely to result in underperforming campaigns that undermine your advertising efforts. Why make optimizing more difficult than it needs to be? That's why we recommend starting with a small list of highly relevant, buyer-intent keywords until you get comfortable. As you develop a list of relevant, winning keywords, you'll want to expand your list so that you have more room for testing. But focus on strengthening the cores of your campaigns before worrying about broadening your reach. Conclusion As you gain more experience in online advertising, you'll come to realize that optimizing keywords is a never-ending task. You must constantly sharpen your best keywords while keeping an eye out for new possibilities. You must also tweak your ads and landing pages as your keyword list evolves. Eventually, that could mean splitting your keyword list into entirely new ad groups. There's no one way to optimize your keywords — it's always a moving target — but these tips can help you hit the mark. Want more Google AdWords tips and advice? I put together an AdWords checklist to help you get your campaigns set up for success. Click here to get my Google AdWords checklist.

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6 Tips for Optimizing Google AdWords Keywords

Phil Frost

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