The Role of Keyword Research in PPC

PPC Keyword Research: How to Build Winning Campaigns

To achieve success in your Google PPC campaigns, it is crucial to choose the appropriate keywords. An in-depth understanding of PPC keywords enables you to:

• Focus on competitive PPC keywords and identify opportunities that competitors may overlook. At SEOLINE agency, we have found that focusing on long-tail keywords works best.

Long-tail phrases are specific, longer queries that are more effective for ad targeting.Longtail keywords are very important for a PPC specialist. At first it may seem that these words are useless since they don’t have that much search traffic. But the opposite is true. Long-tail keywords are highly specific and targeted terms.  Many times these keywords are the less competitive PPC keywords. At our agency, we strategise on long-tail keywords in addition to brand and short-tail keywords. This way we can bring more conversions to the client for a smaller budget.

• Improved ad targeting increases their relevance, resulting in better CTR (click-through rate) and simultaneously reducing the cost per click. Long-tail keywords provide a more efficient and financially advantageous way to bring customers to your website.

It is important to note that there is less competition for long-tail keywords. Longtail keywords often have less competition than generic terms, allowing for easier and many times cheaper bidding. In the accounts we see that if we use long-tail words, the conversion rate is higher. Users who use longtail keywords in search often have a clear idea of what they are looking for, which increases the chances of converting them into customers.

• Optimise costs and increase conversions through a detailed analysis of the average cost per click (CPC) for selected keywords. In the initial analysis, you can review the forecasted CPC and determine whether the cost per click aligns with your budget plans. In some industries, the average CPC may be as low as €0.10, while in others, it can reach €3-4. By summarising these keyword costs, you can forecast your advertising expenses and optimise your sales strategy. If you successfully reduce the CPC for selected keywords through further optimisation, you will also lower the cost per acquisition (CPA).

What is PPC Keyword Research?

Keyword analysis is essentially the process of identifying and analysing the keywords that are most relevant to your paid campaigns and, most importantly, your business.

This process includes:

• Data on keyword search volume and information on how competitive specific terms are. Keyword competitiveness can be identified using the Keyword Planner, where the Competition column indicates whether a keyword is highly, moderately, or lowly competitive.
• PPC keyword analysis is crucial in determining which words have the highest potential to drive the desired conversions, such as leading to a purchase or a form submission. This can be assessed using Search Intent (for example, through the SEMrush tool).

Already at the initial stage of strategy development, we need to know which keywords are more informational and which, on the contrary, are more transactional. For keywords with informational search intent, we know that users are then looking for an answer to a specific question. We assume that the person is still at the stage of finding out information about the product or service. But if they are already searching through transactional keywords we know that this is a user who has a clear idea and will be looking to complete an action such as buying or ordering a service.

• Some keywords are more informational (information keywords), while others are transactional (transactional keywords), meaning they are closer to achieving the desired goal.
• To drive conversions, the most critical factor is transactional search intent. In this scenario, the user is ready to take action, such as making a purchase.

💡 For example, the keyword “buy workout shoes online” clearly indicates a purchase intent, making it a highly conversion-driven keyword.  Using SEMrush, you can determine the search intent for your selected keywords, as illustrated in this screenshot below.

How to Do Keyword Research for PPC 

When preparing campaigns in Google Ads, it is essential to follow a systematic approach:

• Data Collection: Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, the PPC keyword tool Semrush, Keywordtool.io, and Google Search Console, or even Google Autocomplete, to gather essential keywords. In the planner, you can pre-organise keywords into potential campaigns or ad groups. You can also work with Google Ads Editor, an application available for free download. It allows offline work and simplifies bulk changes efficiently. You can also use Google Autocomplete. In most cases, you will find very interesting keyword search terms there with lower competition.

Keyword Planner in Google Ads

The image below displays Google Keyword Planner, showcasing keyword suggestions. For each keyword, the tool provides average monthly search volume, competition level, and an estimate of the recommended bid required to appear at the top of Google search results and in position 1 of paid search results.

The image below displays Google Autocomplete. Google suggests additional search terms related to the query, showing phrases that people frequently search for.

The image below displays keyword suggestions generated using Keywordtool.io.

• Forecasting and Preliminary Campaign Cost: Google Ads offers the Performance Planner, a tool that allows you to create forecasts and estimate expected campaign results based on historical data and current keyword search trends.
• Performance Simulation – Based on different scenarios, such as increasing the budget, changing bidding strategies, or setting a specific number of clicks, the system predicts the potential outcomes. Additionally, the system provides insights into the expected average CPC, impressions, CTR, and determines the monthly budget and estimated number of conversions.

• Analysis and Selection: Evaluate keywords using metrics such as average monthly search volume, cost per click (CPC), and competition level. Select keywords that are crucial for your business while ensuring that your forecasted budget for the campaign remains within limits. Consider whether the most expensive keywords might be too broad, or if you should focus on lower-volume keywords that have a higher probability of conversion or lead generation.
• Campaign Structuring: Divide PPC keywords into thematic groups based on search intent. Then, create a table where all selected keywords are clearly categorized.

The subsequent step involves organising keywords into distinct ad groups, as each group will feature unique advertisements. It’s crucial to make sure that the chosen keywords within a specific ad group correspond with the ad content. Additionally, these keywords should be incorporated into the landing page where the ads will direct users.

• Testing and Refinement: Consistently evaluate how your campaigns are performing, scrutinize the outcomes, and adjust your approach according to the insights gained. Metrics like click-through rate (CTR), total clicks, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA) are essential for assessing keyword effectiveness.

If a keyword in Google Ads isn’t performing well, you might want to consider pausing it. For instance, if you have a campaign using the keyword “Adidas running shoes” and although it receives clicks, it hasn’t led to any conversions over the past six months, it might be beneficial to pause it. Doing so enables you to allocate more budget to keywords that successfully convert.

For active campaigns, it is crucial to monitor the Quality Score of ads. When selecting keywords for a campaign, prioritize those that can be effectively used in ad headlines and descriptions. Google Ads evaluates whether the chosen keywords appear in the ad copy and whether the landing page contains the relevant keywords.

Quality Score is rated on a scale from 1 to 10, representing Google’s estimate of ad, keyword, and landing page quality. A high Quality Score helps lower CPC (cost per click), strengthens your ad auction performance, and reduces cost per conversion. You can reduce your PPC keyword costs a little bit this way. Optimizing Quality Score can lead to more conversions within the same budget.

Quality Score is influenced by three factors

• Expected Click-Through Rate (CTR) – The system estimates how relevant your landing page is to users who click on the ad. It evaluates how well the content of your page matches the user’s search query and how long they stay on the page. Expected CTR is the most important element. Represents the % of people who saw the ad triggered by the keyword and actually clicked on it. The higher the CTR, the higher the quality score ( I know from the accounts I manage that this is not entirely true.).  I had at CTR 9% and CTR 21% (the same quality score)

If we want to increase the CTR, we need to think when creating ads that in the texts there are call to action, the main benefits that the service or product has over the competition and especially that all the available ad extensions are set (you will thus contain more space in the results on Google with the ad and you will increase the click-through rate).

• Ad Relevance – Measures how closely the keyword aligns with the content of your ad. It is the relevance between the keyword and the ad text. With this metric, it is important if we are running an ad for high-quality forklifts that we also have that keyword in the headline of the ad text. Please ensure that your ad provides exactly what the user is seeking. Use dynamic keyword phrase completion in the text. For one client, we use city autocompletion. Depending on which city a person searches in, that city will appear in the ad text. You simply put this {LOCATION(City)} in the headline of the ad.
• Landing Page Experience – Ensures that potential customers find exactly what they are looking for after clicking the ad. The ad must link to the most relevant landing page. Additionally, page load speed plays a crucial role. PageSpeed Insights provides an analysis of your website’s weaknesses and suggests improvements for both loading speed and user experience (UX).

Below, you can see how Google Ads displays your Quality Score for a keyword, along with the three key factors that influence it.

How to Monitor Your Quality Score?

You can check it manually by reviewing your entire account. Alternatively, you can use Google Scripts to save time. A highly effective tool for this is Quality Score Tracker v3.0. Additionally, you can generate a custom script using ChatGPT.

With Google Ads scripts, you can automate various tasks and make campaign management easier.

With the right script, you can:

• Automatically adjust bidding based on time
• Enable/disable campaigns at specific times
• Identify and remove inefficient search queries
• Monitor Quality Score and set alerts for declines
• Add negative keywords and more advanced automation features to optimise your workflow effectively. Negative keywords act as a protective shield that prevents your ad from showing to users searching for content related to your keywords, but not specifically your services.

Other benefits of using negative keywords

• Increase click-through rates – by keeping your ads out of the reach of irrelevant searches, you reduce the number of uninteresting impressions. This leads to a higher percentage of users who actually click on your ad.
• Creating more relevant ad groups – by excluding keywords that are not relevant to your business, you increase the relevancy of your ad groups. Smaller, thematically related ad groups allow you to create unified messages that reach all the keywords in that group.
• Save money – by avoiding paying for unnecessary clicks, you save money by targeting people who have a higher potential to become your customers.

For example, if you have a weather-based ad campaign, such as selling air conditioners, you can create a script that increases bids on specific keywords when the temperature in a given area exceeds 28°C.

Advanced Keyword Research Techniques

For those looking for advanced methods, it is also beneficial to focus on:

• Monitoring trends and tracking the search volume evolution of specific keywords using Google Trends.
• Following discussions and social media. People discuss trending topics on social platforms, which can be a great source for discovering new keywords and content ideas.

How to Build Your Keyword Strategy

Building an effective keyword strategy involves several steps:

• Goal Identification: Define what you want to achieve – increasing conversions on your website, reducing costs and CPC, or driving more traffic to your site.
• Keyword Selection: Focus on choosing the right keywords based on data from analytical tools. The most searched keywords may not always be the best fit for your business goals.

Brand vs. Non-Brand Keywords

It is essential to analyse brand keywords. If you already rank #1 in organic search for your brand keywords, you might not need to include them in your PPC strategy, saving money on clicks that you would get organically. However, if competitors start bidding on your brand name, then it becomes necessary to activate brand keyword campaigns.

Match Types in Google Ads

Google Ads allows you to set different keyword match types:

• Broad Match: If you enter a keyword in broad match, your ad may show for search queries containing similar words or expanded keyword variations. Since broad match has the least control, it is necessary to monitor search term reports to exclude irrelevant searches.
• Phrase Match: Keywords in phrase match are enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., “running shoes”). Ads will appear for queries containing variations of the phrase, including synonyms, plurals, and common typos.
• Exact Match: Keywords in exact match are enclosed in square brackets (e.g., [running shoes]). Exact match provides the highest control over which search queries trigger your ads. This match type often results in a higher CTR but also a higher CPC.

Campaign Segmentation

• Divide keywords into specific campaigns based on search intent and target audience.
• For example, “women’s running shoes” and “Nike running shoes” have different audiences and may require separate landing pages.

Monitoring & Optimization

• Consistently monitor key metrics like CTR, conversion rates, and the cost per conversion.
• Ensure campaign optimisation to prevent keyword cannibalisation, a situation where several ad campaigns aim at identical keywords, leading to higher CPC and diminishing campaign effectiveness.

💡Example: If you have two campaigns targeting “Nike running shoes”, they may compete against each other, driving up bid costs.

Key Metrics to Monitor

To maximise keyword performance, monitor key PPC indicators such as:

☑️ Search Impression Share – The percentage of times your ad appears compared to potential impressions.

☑️ Top-of-Page Rate – The percentage of times your ad appears at the top of search results.

☑️ CTR (Click-Through Rate) – Indicates how often users click on your ad.

☑️ Average CPC (Cost Per Click) – The cost per user interaction, which directly impacts budget optimisation.

This screenshot from Google Ads illustrates key performance indicators for keywords (KWs).

To create a successful PPC or digital marketing strategy, continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adjustments are crucial to adapting to market changes and user behaviour.

Common PPC Keyword Mistakes to Avoid

Even though keyword analysis is the key to success, there are several common mistakes to avoid:

• Insufficient competitor analysis: if you do not pay attention to competitor keywords, you may miss new opportunities. Competing businesses in your industry actively use competitive keywords in their campaigns. If you neglect competitor keyword analysis, you risk failing to reach potential customers who might ultimately choose a competitor instead.
• Ignoring negative keywords: failing to identify irrelevant search queries can increase costs. Negative keywords help prevent your ad from appearing in irrelevant searches, thus saving your budget. The result can be tracked in the Search Terms Report, as mentioned earlier.
• Improper campaign and ad group segmentation: If you have only one campaign containing a large number of ad groups, this may indicate poor keyword organisation.

Avoid these mistakes, and you will see significantly better results in your campaigns.

Best PPC Keyword Research Tools

Still wondering how to do keyword research for PPC most effectively? With these tools, you can do it really easily.

Numerous tools are available on the market to streamline the process of keyword research for PPC campaigns. Among the most widely used are:

• • Google Keyword Planner: This fundamental tool is invaluable for planning and analysing keywords.
  • Google Search Console: A no-cost Google tool that offers insights into your website’s organic search performance, showing which queries bring traffic to your site from organic results.
  • Google Autocomplete – It is an excellent source of keyword ideas. You will often find topics that are trending among Google searches.
  • Channable – Helps optimise keyword analysis and improve campaign targeting.
  • SEMrush – Offers comprehensive keyword and competitor analysis, including GAP analysis and the SEMrush PPC keyword tool. At our agency, we also use SEMrush to analyze competitors and gain insight into the competitive keywords they are targeting.

At our agency, we also use SEMrush to analyze competitors and gain insight into the competitive keywords they are targeting. A very handy tool in SEMrush is the Keyword Magic Tool – where you enter your main keyword and then the tool will offer you all the search variations to the main term. This will also show you the search intent of the keyword, search volume and average CPC. You can even see the queries that people are searching for with the main search term.  This is a very easy way to get to other keyword opportunities.

Each of these tools provides unique features, so it is crucial to select the ones that best match your specific needs.

This image displays Google Search Console, showing the keywords that drive visitors to the website from organic search results.

Conclusion

Detailed keyword analysis forms the basis of successful PPC campaigns. A meticulously prepared strategy not only reduces cost per click (CPC) but also significantly increases conversion rate.

Continuous monitoring and optimisation of campaigns is key. Investing in quality keyword analysis not only benefits you in the short term but also in the long term.

Frequently Asked Question