Keywords Can Put You At The Top With Google

Keyword Search with Wordtracker


Without a doubt, purchasing traffic from the pay-per-click search engines is one of the most profitable, most effective ways to drive targeted traffic to your web site.

Google AdWords is the pay-per-click side of the search engine giant we all know as Google. An ad placed with Google AdWords shows up in a colored box on the right side of the Google search results page, combining free (editorial) content with paid advertising. It's another form of pay-per-click advertising that, done right, has proven to effectively generate traffic.

To maximize the performance of your ad, make sure to...

1. Choose the keywords you bid on very carefully. Try to choose keywords that are frequently searched by your target market but that are not being bid on by as many of your competitors.

2. Write an effective ad.

3. Monitor your bid position. Whenever possible, make sure you rank in the top 3 listings as this will get your ad the highest exposure.

4. Track your results and make adjustments and improvements based on what you learn.

Back to keywords -- let's take a step back and talk about the process of choosing them in the first place...

Both Overture and Google AdWords supply tools to help you determine which keywords would be best for you to use. However, Overture provides a much more extensive and useful range of tools.

Google's "AdWords Keyword Suggestion Tool" does give you a list of synonyms and similar phrases for your keyword. However, Overture's "Search Term Suggestion Tool," gives a list of 99 related terms, PLUS how many times each of those terms has been searched in the last month. Flip over to the "View Bids" tool to determine how much is being bid on these terms, and your bidding strategy is underway.

But if you want to get a good pay-per-click listing on Google, there's no reason why you can't use Overture to get a feel for which terms are most searched, and which are available at low cost (you can do this for free and without committing to anything with Overture), then use these terms to create your ad in Google AdWords Select.

Or, better yet, use the more comprehensive tools offered by Wordtracker -- the free version will give you search numbers and bidding amounts from AltaVista, while the paid version compiles results from the top 24 search engines, directories, and pay-per-click engines, including Google. This is the best way to find those overlooked keywords and misspellings that your competition hasn't noticed... and that you can capitalize on at a very low cost.

Learning the search engine game is a trying and time-consuming lesson, and a start-up e-business may not have the time or the resources to undertake the arduous task of getting a good ranking. But if you can choose your keywords carefully and find the most attractive bid amounts available, you can bid your way to the top of the search results pages without blowing your budget.

Until next time... to your cyber success!

~Your Cyber Coach