Keywords Archives - Leverage Marketing

In which we answer queries from our recent webinars

Every month, we get great questions in our ongoing series of advertiser webinars. Even if you’ve never had a chance to attend one of these sessions, this info is too good to keep to ourselves. With this post about keywords we continue to share those questions and their answers with you.

Q: Is there a limit to the number of keywords you can have?

A: Advertisers can have as many as 1,000 ad groups per campaign, and 1,000 keywords and 20 ads per ad group. Our user interface allows you to add up to 500 keywords at a time. Keep in mind that while these are the maximum number of components you can have, you may want to consider the effort required to manage and track a large amount of keywords in each of your ad groups. As a general best practice, you may want to consider having only 20 keywords per ad group.

Q: Is there a tool I can use to find relevant keywords?

A: Your account offers several robust keyword generation tools. Just follow these steps:

Click the “Campaigns” tab.
Select a campaign.
Select an ad group.
Click the blue “+ Add Keywords” drop-down menu (next to the “Ads” tab).
Choose one of the three options and follow the instructions to generate or add new keywords to this ad group.

Your three methods to add keywords include:

“Quick Add,” which lets you simply type in keywords when you already know exactly which ones you want to add.
“Choose from List,” where our system makes keyword selections that are related to current ads and keywords in the ad group—you just check the boxes next to the ones you want to add.
“Research Keywords,” where you enter words or phrases that describe the products or services on your website and our system offers keyword selections. You can also enter your site’s URL and our system will “crawl” the page and offer keyword suggestions.

Q: How should I organize my keywords in ad groups?

A: There are many different ways to organize keywords, but these three best practices can get you started:

Make sure all keywords in an ad group are very closely related to one another. The “tighter” the ad group is, the more likely you are to write ads that relate to all of your keywords.
Don’t put the same keywords in multiple ad groups, because they will compete against themselves. Two exceptions to this practice are using the same keywords in both geo-targeted and non-geo-targeted campaigns, or using the same keyword for different seasonal campaigns. For example, you can use the keyword “gift baskets” for both a Valentine’s Day campaign and a Mother’s Day campaign.
Keep what’s working! Remove, or just move, low performers so they don’t negatively impact your ad quality and you don’t waste too much time monitoring them.

Q: Does the order of keywords matter? What about abbreviations, plurals and misspellings?

A: The order in which your keywords are added to you account does not matter. We look at plural, singular, and common misspellings as if they are the same term.

Q: How can I track the performance of my keywords?

A: The keyword performance report is available at the ad group level. Remember that historical information will not transfer to a new location when moving one keyword over to a new ad group or campaign.

— The Team

Building a successful campaign requires picking effective keywords—and the proper match type to go with them

Keywords are the foundation of your search marketing account, as they help lead customers to your website. Think of them as the main building blocks you’ll use to construct your Sponsored Search marketing account.

As you work with your keywords, you’ll also need to consider match types. The two different match types—Standard and Advanced—help you control the way in which your keywords are matched to the terms that web users enter into search boxes.

The Keys to Choosing Keywords
1. Look for keywords on your own web site
Think like a customer, and pick the words that your customers might be searching on to find you.

2. Use one of our keyword suggestion tools.
Click the “Add Keywords” link in your account. This feature provides three easy options for generating keyword ideas.

3. Use keywords that attract customers at each stage of the buying cycle.
Customers pass through three phases as they consider buying something: Research, Shopping and Purchase. Generally, the closer someone is to purchasing, the more specific your keywords should be. For example, customers may search for “guitar” during Research, “Fender guitar” while Shopping, and “American Standard Fender Telecaster guitar” when they’re ready to Purchase.

4. Pick a mix of broad and specific keywords.
Generic keywords like “guitar” can quickly deplete your budget and may not lead to sales as often, but can attract prospective customers who are in the Research phase. Selecting more specific keywords may deliver fewer clicks, but can be more likely to result in sales.

Making Sense of Match Types
The Advanced match type is the default setting, and allows your ad to appear in response to a broader range of searches, even when the keyword you are bidding on is not an exact, word-for-word match with the search query. In this way, it can display your ad for related searches using keywords that you may not have considered. While it saves you from having to think of every possible keyword, it also can deliver a high volume of traffic and result in less relevant clicks.

Example of the Advanced match type: The keyword “Fender guitar” could be matched to related search terms such as “Fender Telecaster guitar,” “Fender Stratocaster guitar” and “electric Fender guitar.”

Tip: Be sure to use Excluded Words to specify search terms that you don’t want to be matched to through the Advanced match type.

The Standard match type restricts your ad to be displayed only for searches that are exact matches to your keywords, as well as for common variations and misspellings. Consider using this match type when you want to receive very relevant clicks.

Example of the Standard match type: “Fender guitar” could match to “Fender guitars” and “Fender’s guitars.”

Still hungry for more information? Find out more about choosing keywords and match types in our Help Center.

— The Team