Selecting the right keywords is the most important step in setting up a PPC campaign for your micro-entrepreneurial business. With the right keywords, you can attract better prospects to your website or sales page with your PPC ads.
Start by creating a list of keywords that are relevant to your target audience. You’ll need to make a list of keywords you’re willing to pay for so your ad appears when your target audience makes a query for that word.
Find keywords with large amounts of search queries that have a low cost-per-click. For example, having your ad show on Google for the keyword “buy balloon” may cost you $3.28 per click, however, the keyword “Buy party balloon” may cost you as little as $1.59 per click. The right keywords can save you a lot of money.
The following is a simple three-step strategy to help you start so you can select the best keywords for your ads.
Step 1: Find keywords for your list
Start by researching words that are common in your industry. A great tool to search for keywords is Google’s keyword tool. Type a word or phrase into the tool, and Google will generate hundreds of similar keywords for you.
Look through the words the tool provides and make a list of keywords relevant to your micro-entrepreneurial business. Look for terms with high global search volume and aim to gather at least 100 keywords onto your list to start.
Step 2: Estimate traffic for your new keywords
After you narrow down your list of selected keywords, alter the keywords so you can reduce estimated prices per click. The best way to do this is to make slight variations to expensive keywords.
For example, from the preceding example, you can add a word, such as the word party to “buy party balloons,” which reduced the price per click by roughly 50 percent and still attracted the same customer base. Use Google’s traffic estimator tool to help you estimate traffic for the words on your keyword list.
Step 3: Set up your AdWords account
You can utilize this information to set up your AdWords account to start your advertising campaign. Go to Google’s AdWords page, and make sure you first view the tutorials on creating your ads, deciding how they will appear, and attracting your customers.
If you want additional help in finding the best keywords, these resources can help. You can actually find out what your competitors are bidding for, how much money they are spending on PPC marketing, some top-performing text ads, and more.