Choosing the Right Keywords for Google Adwords

by Ben Goodman ***

We have all asked ourselves at one point, “why does it matter if I say this and not that?” We believe people will still know what we mean, anyway. However, if you’re advertising on Google — the biggest search engine on the internet — you are facing the same dilemma, only this time you aren’t exactly dealing with just people. With Google AdWords, knowing the right keywords to use can not only be good for your business, but save you more money.

Before getting into strategies, let’s discuss what Google AdWords is, how it works, and how it can be good for your business.

What is Google AdWords?

Google AdWords is an advertising system that functions on an auctioning scheme. Advertisers bid on certain keywords to get their ads on Google’s search results.

How Does Google Adwords Work?

The position of the ad depends on the ad rank, or the maximum bid times quality score.

Every time a search is done on Google, the search engine processes the request and runs the auction, determining the ad positions and each advertiser’s cost-per-click (CPC).

An advertiser’s real CPC is determined by the ad rank of the advertiser below your rank divided by your quality score plus $0.01. The higher quality score, the fewer advertisers have to pay for CPC. Therefore, ads with low quality scores are more expensive, having a higher CPC than ads with high quality scores.

While it may mean bad news for businesses when they use the wrong keywords, on the other side of the spectrum, it’s great news for Google because that’s how they earn. In 2017, their revenue totaled 31.91 billion US dollars, and a majority of their revenue comes from their advertising properties.

How Will This Be Good for My Business?

Google AdWords works especially well if you know and understand your business goals well. For example, if conversions are your goal, knowing how to manoeuvre AdWords can help you with that goal. In 2013, 1.5 million businesses made $111 billion in revenue from Google’s advertising and search properties. It is important to note, however, that there is no one-size-fits-all solution when coming up with the right way to utilize Google AdWords for your business.

This brings us to knowing the importance of choice keywords.

Since Google capitalizes on keywords and your business depends on appearing on the first page of the search results, it’s important to know what makes the right keywords and what makes them disconnected.

Specific Keywords

As much as possible, stay away from broad terms. Specific words can place your ad into a category of people looking for your exact product or service. For example, “nearby laundry services” is a specific keyword phrase. It will attract more people who are looking for places that offer laundry services near their area.
Keyword Matches

Google is a sophisticated search engine, offering to match keywords to searches. This includes broad match (triggering your ads when a person searches for any words that include your keywords), phrase match (triggering your ads when a person types a phrase that contains your entire keyword phrase), exact match (searches identical to your exact keyword phrase), and negative match (keywords used to exclude your ads from being triggered by a search).

Once you’ve identified helpful keywords for your ads, matching can help deliver better results for your ads.
Word Variations

Remember, people might not search the exact words you would, so it’s important to list variations of your keywords to help your searches. Variations include synonyms, alternative spellings, singular and plural versions of words, and commonly misspelled words.
Keyword Planner

If you’re running out of ideas for similar keywords, Google has a tool called Keyword Planner. It helps you discover new keywords, compare the most used keyword trends, and how their search volume changes over time.

Mastering the use of Google AdWords takes a lot of trial and error, and can cost a lot when not executed properly. If you’re unsure about advertising on Google, consider hiring an experienced team of digital marketing specialists who can help you set up your business.