By Gregory Smyth
Preparing the Groundwork Before Selecting Keywords
Most advertisers view keyword selection as the initial step of a PPC campaign. The reality is that there is prep work that precedes that. You need to determine your main and secondary customers, study your competitors online, identify your point of differentiation, and establish your campaign objectives and KPIs. All of these directly determine which keywords will be most effective, and you need to have them defined before proceeding.
How to Identify Profitable PPC Keywords
Once you’ve defined your marketing foundation, you must understand the searches that bring visitors to your site. Take advantage of analytics software like Google’s GA4 or Search Console to see queries that bring traffic as well as conversions. This only shows current behavior, but you also have to observe what visitors search on your site yourself by employing your native search feature. Those often identify potential keyword opportunities that you must test with PPC marketing.
From Industry Sources and Short-Term Terms
Trade journals, trend reports, and industry blogs are great places to observe terms that are trending at the moment. While you will never use these terms as part of your long-tail strategy, they work best for short PPC campaigns. Since PPC terms are always analyzed and refreshed on an ongoing basis, being observant of new terms within your industry allows your campaigns to stay current and competitive.
Building and Expanding Your Keyword List
Start your list of keywords with true business offerings, such as services and goods. Then, expand with modifiers (e.g., “best” or “affordable”) and geography-related terms. Brand names and product names must be prominent. SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush will show you synonyms, search volume, and the degree of competition. This makes it easier to select keywords that will create a balance between demand and budget.
Screening for Relevance and ROI
Each of your keywords also has to be able to pass the test of relevance: does it literally communicate your offering, your service, your audience? While broad terms will generate high-volume traffic, they will quickly generate unqualified bounces—spending money with nothing to show for it. Getting extremely tight keywords that are matched against your offering will see a stronger ROI. Contemporary digital marketing companies and SEO professionals often use AI-based keyword clustering and prediction of performance that will allow businesses to zero in on the most likely-to-convert keywords. If you are looking for the best digital marketing agency in APAC to optimize for the maximum ROI and benefit for your PPC campaign, contact Inetasia.
