How to know if PPC keywords are worth paying for
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PPC campaigns can be an incredibly effective part of a digital marketing strategy if you get your targeting and keywords right. But with so many different types of keywords to target, how do you know which ones are worth paying for? We’re going to tell you exactly how to narrow down the keywords worth spending your budget on and which ones will eat up your spending without yielding results.
At Embryo, our expert PPC team has extensive experience in building effective PPC campaigns and creating tailored strategies that deliver excellent results to our clients. They know who to target, as well as how and when to target them using keywords. If you’d like to learn more about our PPC services you can contact us today.
What are PPC keywords?
Before we get into how to tell if a PPC keyword is worth paying for, it’s important to know what a keyword actually is.
PPC stands for ‘pay per click’ and PPC ads ‘bid’ on the keywords included in people’s searches- when people click on the ad, the advertiser will pay for the click. A ‘keyword’ is the word you bid on that is included in people’s searches.
Therefore it’s important to bid on the right keywords- if your ad is showing up in irrelevant searches and people click on it, they’re not going to find what they’re looking for but you’ll still be charged for the ad.
There are various types of PPC keywords including high intent keywords (keywords that are ‘specific and direct’), low intent keywords (usually include ‘what’, ‘why’ or ‘how’), informational keywords (answer a question), navigational keywords (used by people looking to get to a specific web page), transactional keywords (used by people looking to purchase immediately) and commercial keywords (used by people who want to research something). To read more about this in-depth, you can visit the blog written by our PPC Account Manager George.
Keywords also have different ‘match types’, which will determine which searches your ad will appear in. Match types can be ‘broad match’, ‘phrase match’ or ‘exact match’. If you select ‘broad match’ as your keyword match type, your ad will show in all searches similar to your word or phrase. For example, if you selected broad match for the word ‘white t-shirt’ your ad would show in searches for ‘shoes white’. Phrase match will show your ads for searches including your phrase as well as words before or after. Exact match will only show your ads in searches for the exact keyword or phrase you have selected.
How to know if a PPC keyword is worth paying for
So, you’re familiar with the types of keywords, but you still don’t know how to target the right ones. Firstly, you need to consider what the objective of your ad is, and where in the marketing funnel the activity will sit. Is your aim to build brand awareness and retarget people further down the funnel, or is your aim immediate transactions? If it’s the former, transactional keywords would likely be most efficient, and if it’s the latter, you should consider paying for low-intent keywords. Low-intent keywords might not yield immediate results, however, they will build brand awareness and keep your product or service at the forefront of people’s minds when they are further along in their purchasing journey.
It’s also important to identify which match type is worth paying for. Broad match types can be effective in reaching a high volume of people but may not reach those with high intent to purchase as the searches may not be directly related to your product or service. Broad match is effective for brand awareness but may come at a higher cost as there’s more competition for other advertisers. Phrase match provides you with a middle ground between broad match and exact match, but again might not reach the highest intent audiences. Exact match has its pros and cons- on one hand it can help you reach very high-intent customers but it can also narrow down the possible searches your ads appear in, so it’s not the best choice if your objective is reach or brand awareness.
To determine whether a PPC keyword is worth paying for, you need to do your research, and consider both keyword type and match type and how they work together. For example, a transactional keyword with an exact match type will put your ad in front of very high-intent customers. Consider the combination carefully based on your objectives and KPIs.
Questions to ask yourself when planning which PPC keywords to bid on are:
- ‘What questions are my target audience asking?’
- ‘What level of brand awareness do we already have?’
- ‘What level of competition do we have in our sector?’
- ‘What are our key KPIs?’
- ‘How do our chosen keywords align with other marketing channels such as Paid Social?’
By considering all aspects, you’ll be able to narrow down your list of keywords to only the most relevant and efficient.
Knowing which keywords are worth paying for is crucial when setting up PPC campaigns. Matching the keywords to the level of intent you want your audience to have will allow your ads to show in appropriate searches and prevent spending from being wasted on audiences that aren’t searching for anything relating to your product or service.
To find out more about our PPC services you can contact us using the button below.
