AdWords Examples - Targeting your keywords

In this fourth and last part of the series “AdWords Examples,” we’ll examine how to select and then evaluate keywords. If you missed the previous parts in the series you can find them here: Campaigns, Ad groups and Ads.

In this series we’ve been following Lisa, who has been creating a campaign specific to lava lamps in the Google Store. To ensure people can find her lava lamps on Google.com, Lisa makes a list of relevant keywords that closely match the theme of her ad group:

lava lamp

buy lava lamps

google lava lamp

lava lamps for sale

cool lava lamp

green lava lamp

red lava lamp

blue lava lamp

yellow lava lamp

electric lava lamp

best lava lamp

office lava lamp

The following image shows what it may look like when an ad written specifically for the lava lamps in the Google Store is shown for a relevant search. Lisa has been able to achieve this by creating a tightly themed ad group with related keywords and ad text, which, along with strategic bidding and Quality Score, has increased the likelihood of having her ads appear as they do here:

How to choose keywords

When choosing keywords there are several good strategies:

• First and foremost it is important to think like the customer. In this case, you may ask yourself the question “If I really wanted to buy a cool lava lamp, for what would I search?” Then write these ideas down and try to expand on them, using synonyms and alternative ways of saying it. 
• You can also get additional keyword ideas by using the Google Keyword Tool, which helps you generate keywords based on your initial ideas. In this case a good alternative keyword that is not already in the above keyword list could e.g. be ‘google motion lamp’. You can find the tool in the Opportunities tab. Here’s how you can use the Keyword Tool. If you discover some good keywords you would like to use, it’s never too late to add them. Here’s how you can add more keywords to your existing ad groups.
• Use negative keywords: if Lisa knows that a keyword is less likely to lead to a sale, she may exclude the keyword from her ad group or campaign. In the ad group for lava lamps, Lisa might consider using ‘make your own lavalamp’ or ‘DIY lavalamp’ as negative keywords, which would prevent her ads from showing to users who make such searches. Discover how to use negative keywords here.

See a number of other useful tips about keyword selection in our article How to build the best keywords list.

We hope you find these examples useful and that you feel better equipped to regularly improve and optimize your current campaigns.

Posted by Gorjan Dimitrov - The Help Center Team