Building a Basic Keywords List

Keywords are a vital element of a successful AdWords campaign, this element determines when your advert will appear and what copy will appear. The following page will provide you with some useful tips which will help you to create your first list of keywords.

Keyword lists should be developed within themes and we would recommend looking at individual lading pages and individual visitors who may visit the page and what they may look for. It is a good idea to have different perspectives on these keywords and ask friends and colleagues for their ideas before constructing your final lists.

Google AdWords can also help you create effective lists and we would recommend using the AdWords keyword tool throughout the brainstorming phase of generating your keyword lists.

What’s a Keyword and Why Is It Important?

Google AdWords classify a keyword and the phrase that users type into the Google search box. “improving my AdWords campaign” is classified as a keyword although it is made up of four individual keywords.

There are four different labels you can attach to a keyword these are “broad match”, “phrase match”, “exact match” and “negative” in this page we are going to look at broad matched keywords however, further information regarding keywords can be found within our advanced AdWords advice section of this website.

Why Is It Important to Know How People Search?

The phrases people use to search for a product may tells you a little more about the person and provides you with an opportunity to deliver a more targeted message through your advert and perhaps your landing page.

For example “kids clothes”, “Children’s clothes” or “Childs clothes” the tone of your copy should reflect the tone of the keyword as in the real world segmenting and targeting your promotional material can improve your return on investment.

Market research

Google AdWords is one of the world’s largest market research tools, by measuring the results of your AdWords campaign you can find out how many people search for a particular product within your specified area. The results will also tell you what term they used to find the product and which advert copy generated most interest within this group.

Brainstorming for Keywords

Start to think about your product and service and do some initial research, what do your competitors call similar products, how would colleagues, suppliers and customers describe your service, ask family and friends for their opinions.

Once you have completed your initial list you can start to build a large list using the methods below:

• Variations on a theme (PC monitor, computer monitors etc.)
• Include plurals and singulars (19inch monitor, 19inch monitors)
• Include synonyms (monitor, screen, display)
• Generate common misspellings (moniter)
• Expand the number of words (17inch monitor, 22inch monitor etc.)

Microsoft Excel can be a good tool to generate a large list of related keywords.

How many keywords do you need?

Generate as many keywords as you can remember you are only charged for the clicks you receive therefore if the keyword is relevant include it within your campaign and let users tell you which keywords to keep, modify or drop.