How Google AdWords Can Be Used As A Keyword Research Tool

Writing by Brick Marketing on Thursday, 18 of October , 2007 at 1:31 pm

Keyword research is as essential for PPC advertising as it is for building web pages. How you go about it can make or break your pay per click campaigns. That’s why I like to use Google AdWords.

This screenshot shows a list of keywords related to “Recover Lost Documents.” It also shows the useful information you can see when you use Google AdWords as your keyword research tool. As you can see, Google AdWords will show you the search volume for the previous month for any particular keyword, the average search volume, and advertiser competition. There’s no use debating which of these is the most valuable piece of information. You should use last month’s search volume and the advertiser competition data to determine what are your most valuable keywords.

Keyword Competition Vs. Search Volume

A high degree of competition and a low search volume means the keyword is oversaturated by competition. Not many searchers are looking for information on that topic while too many advertisers are competing for it. An example of this is, “data recovery software download.” I wouldn’t discard that altogether as a keyword, but I’d move it to the bottom of the list.A high value keyword, on the other hand, is one where the search volume - and you can use last month’s data or the average, whichever you prefer (a little more about this is a moment) - is high and the advertiser competition is low, as in the case of “flash data recovery.” Notice that the advertiser competition is high, but it’s not maxed out as is the case with “data recovery software download.” The search volume for last month is high relative to other keywords on the list even though it isn’t the most searched for term on the list. It is, however, a highly sought after keyword by searchers as well as advertisers, but the advertiser competition is not as stiff as it is for the most searched keywords. The lower competition number makes it a more desirable keyword.
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As said before, you can use Google AdWords’ latest search volume data or take the average. I would use the average only if there is a huge difference between the two. A big difference between the average search volume and the last month’s search volume would indicate that last month’s numbers are not indicative of the overall trend. Rather, it likely means that last month was an unusual month for they keyword among searchers. Either it was very popular compared to previous months or the search volume dropped off considerably relative to previous months. I would discount such wild fluctations and go with the average.

Keyword Relevancy

One final consideration: Which keywords are most relevant to your campaign? If “flash data recovery” has nothing at all to do with your business then you should discard it. No sense bidding on a keyword if it won’t benefit you. And if that means going for the most competitive keywords then you should go for those keywords that are relevant to your business.

Category: Google Adwords, PPC Keyword Research

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