How to Choose Effective Keywords for a PPC Campaign

Pay-per-click, or PPC advertising, is one of the more cost-effective methods for driving targeted traffic to your business’s website. However, having a successful PPC campaign depends heavily on choosing the right keywords. Selecting effective keywords helps to ensure your ads show up in front of the right people, maximizing the number of clicks you receive and improving conversion rates while keeping your costs under control. But how do you choose the right keywords? Keep reading for a few tips.

Understand Your Target Audience

You need to choose keywords that your ideal customer is going to search for—and to do that, you need to understand who, exactly, that ideal customer is. Is it someone looking for information, comparing products, or ready to make a purchase? Is it someone local, or someone searching from anywhere in the world? Aligning your keywords with what your ideal customer would search for helps ensure your ads reach the right users.

Research Keywords Thoroughly

Use keyword research tools to find relevant search terms for your business; Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs are just a few of the ones available. Start with broad industry terms, then refine your list based on the volume, competition, and cost-per-click of those terms. Prioritize keywords that balance high intent and traffic with manageable competition and reasonable costs.

Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that express a user’s intent more clearly. For example, instead of targeting "running shoes” (a term likely to have very high competition and cost), you could use "best running shoes for flat feet," which will not only be a more affordable search term to bid on, but will bring you a more specific kind of customer.

Check Out Competitor Keywords

Reviewing your competitors’ keyword strategies can help you to build your own PPC campaign. Tools like SpyFu and SEMrush allow you to see which keywords competitors are bidding on, so you can identify profitable opportunities and any potential gaps in your strategy.

Monitor and Adjust

PPC campaigns are not something you do just once. Regularly analyze the cost and performance of your PPC campaign, removing underperforming keywords and testing new ones to refine your strategy over time.

Following these tips when choosing your keywords can help you build a strong PPC campaign—one that drives more targeted traffic and improves the performance of your ads. But if maintaining a PPC campaign isn’t something you have the time for, or if you want to put it into the hands of an expert, find a PPC agency in Kansas City to help.