Top 5 PPC Mistakes – #1: Using Keywords that are Too Broad

• Buy cheap notebooks online now
• Computer
• Buy notebook
• Tablet
• Notebook computer
• Notebook battery
• Notebook PC
• PC

If our goal is to have customers purchase a notebook from our site, we might want to remove some of the less relevant keywords so that our budget is only used for terms that are likely to achieve our goal:

• Buy cheap notebooks online now
• Computer
• Buy notebook
• Tablet
• Notebook computer
• Notebook battery
• Notebook PC
• PC

If we have multiple goals for the campaign, we want our keywords to reflect the differences among those goals. For this, it’s a good idea to think of the purchasing process as a funnel. The largest stage of the funnel, research/engagement, contains the most generic terms, such as “notebook” or “notebook computers.” The next stage of the funnel, consideration/comparison, will contain keywords reflective of an intent to price compare or review a product, such as “notebook reviews” or “compare notebooks.” The third stage of the funnel, the purchase stage, should contain keywords that tell the user they can buy directly from your site, like “buy acme notebook,” “order acme monster 2000” or “discount acme notebook.” If you’re displaying ads that speak to the first stage but the user’s already in the second stage, it’s very likely that they’ll ignore your ad and click on your competitor’s. A lower click through rate will indirectly raise your cost per click by driving down your quality scores. So you and your customer are both happy with a more targeted keyword list that is tailored to the action you want the customer to take on your site. The example product and goals I have above are just examples but the general principle – that your keywords should be highly targeted and reflect the goals of your site – remains true throughout any PPC campaign.

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