| Google Keyword Sandbox | | Print | |
(Not the same thing as the SEO phenomena some people call the Google
Sandbox.)
The Google Keyword Sandbox (http://www.adwords.google.com/select/main) will
show you what terms will be used for AdWords broad matching. In addition it will
suggest other keywords you may want to advertise for. Unlike many of the other
keyword suggestion tools the Google Keyword Sandbox does not offer search
frequency. To test search frequency you need to set up a bidding account for the
specified term (please note: this can be expensive if you do not target your
keywords and / or bid too high).
When setting up a new AdWords campaign, after you enter a few keywords Google
offers showing you related terms you may want to advertise on.
In December of 2004 Google also created a search term suggestion tool by the
name of Google Suggest which auto-completes partial search queries. It does not
show search volumes, but search volume is believed to play a heavy role in its
output. The tool is currently only available in some languages. Many Google
Toolbar installs have this feature enabled.
Negative Keywords:
There is a negative keyword option in both Yahoo! and Google AdWords. Any
word that you do not want your ad to appear for can simply be blocked by placing -
badword beneath your keywords.
There are many words which would indicate a lack of desire to purchase anything.
Words like crack, free, pic, mp3 or download are often money losers if you do not
remember to include these in your - keyword list.
Example keyword list showing a negative keyword: (should be much longer and
more detailed, this is just an example though)
Eat cheese
Buy cheese
-free
Thus your ad would show up for many cheese queries, but for none that included
the words free. Google also allows you to filter negative keywords at a campaign
level.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion:
By including your keywords in your copy, you help boost the clickthrough rate.
Keywords which occur in your ads will be highlighted by the search engine results
page display processing program. This draws additional attention to your ad.
Google now offers a tool which will place the active search word from your
keyword list in the ad title automatically. If you have a group of similar keywords
that will still use the same body text you can enable this feature by writing out your
normal body text, and placing {KeyWord: default keyword} in the title of the ad.
When the chosen keyword is greater than 25 characters the default ad title will
show. Otherwise the ad will show the search term as the ad title. Also note how I
capitalized the K and W in keyword. This makes the words in your ad title appear
capitalized. You also can place dynamic keyword insertion technology in the middle
of sentences, such as “Buy Cheap {KeyWord: default keyword}.”
Getting Feedback from Your Account:
When opening up a Google AdWords account many people are hesitant to spend
much money. In spending a small amount the business is essentially ignoring the
feedback loop Google has set up.
Is it better to loose $100 today, than to loose it over three months to finally come
to the conclusion that you need to change? I would rather want to know that I need
to change now. Not all industries will make money from AdWords. It is not a
business model that will work perfectly across the board.
If you spent on targeted keywords your site should have a chance for success. Any
good marketing internet based business relies on fast feedback loops to help it
improve. Off the start you want to overspend on your ads so you can see which
ones are effective. After a while you can regroup your ads by prices and then slash
your bid price down. The ineffective ad groups or keywords will automatically shut
off and your effective ads will keep displaying.
Google Advertising Professional:
The Google Advertising Professional program is a program which allows marketers
to be certified as a Google AdWords expert. The requirements are that you spend
at least $1,000 in a 90 day period after signing up, comply with their rules, and pass
a test. After the 90 day period is up you can place a logo on your site which will
perhaps make many people assume that Google endorses all of your SEO / SEM
services.
The new program also allows you to link together up to 500 AdWords accounts so
that you can access and manage them from a single login. Google also offers many
free online tutorials which can help prepare you for the test and help you learn
more about AdWords even if you do not want to take the test.
Google AdWords is Responsible Advertising:
Add all the above features to the fact that Google also offers a free web based
conversion tracking tool, and you can see how the AdWords system is a direct
marketers dream. Everything is targetable, tangible, and measurable right down to
the cent.
Google also offers a program by the name of Google JumpStart where they will help
set up your account for you. Likely they will not be able to set up the best account
for you, but they might be able to help you get your feet wet. The fee to join
JumpStart is $299, and the fee gets converted to bid clicks.
Keep in mind their goal is to have you spend money, which may not necessarily
have the best ROI or best keyword buys in mind. Search engines would prefer that
merchants get in bidding wars over a select small set of terms and miss out on
some of the cheaper terms.
Bonus Info: How to Improve Clickthrough Rate
and Slash Google AdWords Costs to Maximize
Profits:
Determine Price By Position:
Often times the top ad position is losing money. To find out what the top position
costs on Google AdWords you can enter $50 as your bid price at the account setup
process. The estimated cost per click would be how much that position would cost
you assuming the standardized assumed click through rate (I believe this to be 1%).
You then can lower the bid price down until you get at position 2.0 then 3.0 and on
down. Each time you get to a different integer you can look at the estimated click
price to see what the click would cost assuming the standard click through rate. If
you have a higher clickthrough rate the bid price for that position will be lower. If
you have a low clickthrough rate your price will be higher.
Determine how Competitive a Market is:
Often markets shift rather quickly. If you notice certain ads appearing again and
again over time they are probably ads that are generating profits. For a quick glance
at how competitive a market is you can download the software product by the
name of AdWords Analyzer or Keyword Locator. Keep in mind there there are some
significant limitations to this type of software, as noted in my Keyword Locator
review.
You also will want to record the top 10 results every few days for a few weeks to up
to a month. If an ad is in around the same position (and is not from a huge
corporation) after a month has passed they are probably earning profits.
Listing Your ads on Top of Google Search Results:
While lower ad positions may have a better ROI in some markets they also may not
provide adequate distribution to create significant profits. Google AdWords will
occasionally list the top ad or two above the regular search results (versus off to the
right side like most other AdWords ads). The top ads usually have a high
clickthrough rate which helps lower click costs.
The ad position on the Google SERP right column is determined strictly by the
equation max bid times ad clickthrough rate. Before an ad can appear on top it has
to be reviewed by a human and the ad has to be deemed extremely relevant.
Relevancy is closely approximated by clickthrough rate, so the ads which display
above the Google search results factor in clickthrough rate more heavily than max
bid.
If you get an ad which is placed in a premium position and then edit it your ad may
take at least a few days appear back in a top position.
Find the Best Products:
If you see a lot of affiliate ads then typically there is a dominant player or system in
that keyword termspace. You may want to try purchasing your competitors product
to see the whole sales path all the way through to the backend.
If there are more non affiliate ads than affiliate ads odds are that there is no
dominant player / system in the marketplace yet.
Checking Broad Match, Phrase Match, & Exact Match:
Often times simply using exact match can drastically increase click through rates.
To determine if a person is using exact match do a search for
keyword A adfkafdjsadf keyword B
If their ad still shows up they are using broad match. If their ads are showing up for
nonsensical broad match searches then they usually have a decent click through rate
and are making profits.
You then can search for keyword A keyword B dfadfkadfa. If their ad does not show up
for the broad match check and shows up for this check they are using phrase
match.
If their ad does not show up for the phrase match, then they are advertising via
exact match. Any time you are checking competitors’ ads you will want to refresh
the screen multiple times as sometimes certain ads will not show.
Extreme Local Targeting:
Google will allow you to target your ads to:
• any zip code or metropolitan area
• a radius near your business
• the defined coordinates of any polygon you enter
Using Syndication:
Google has various levels of ad syndication explained in the below chart.
Google.com is part of all search ad delivery options. You may chose to deliver
content ads in conjunction with search ads by setting up separate content bids, or
you may wish to deliver some ads just to the content network.
Syndication Type
Google, Search, Content
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