Starting a PPC campaign can be a rather daunting task; especially if you’re marketing for a client. They’ve bet their dollars on your success and at any point they can cancel their services with you. Having said that, successful campaigns begin with keyword selection. What didn’t you know about keyword selection? Read on
1. Begin with the end in mind 
PPC campaigns only have a couple of desired outcomes: generating leads and sales. Having said that, let’s look at some landing pages and work our way backwards to select the right keywords. On the right here, we have a picture of a page on our site.
As you look at this picture, ask yourself this question, “What keywords could I find that would appropriately match this landing page?” If you said any of these, then you’re on the right track:
- PPC services
- Pay Per Click Management
The reason being is that this page is optimized for those keywords. We learned a few weeks ago that you can increase your quality score and lower your CPC (cost-per-click) if your keywords are relevant to the landing pages.
2. Things aren’t always what they seem
The prices and traffic estimates you see inside of the Google Keyword Tool aren’t exactly accurate, nor should you let them scare you. On the right, we have a shot taken from within the tool for the term ‘divorce attorneys’.
In Utah the CPC’s range from $11 to $12. This isn’t entirely accurate. To see the actual CPC, you’ll need to run a campaign and see what happens. If you’re able to get a quality score of 7-10, I will personally guarantee that you can get a much lower CPC.
Usually, but not always. Budget is the biggest deciding factor in selecting keywords. There’s a reason we only accept clients who have budgets of $50,000 a month. We want to get you the best possible return for your money. PPC marketers are dime a dozen. Most are charging between 100-400 a month and if you decided to purchase a $100 plan, then how much money do you think is “actually” being used for your campaign? Don’t forget we are still using the our prior example of ‘divorce attorneys’.
The marketer has to take his cut from the $100 and if he/she takes half, then you’re only going to be able to afford less than 5 clicks that month. See now we’re opening up a whole new basket of worms. Can you find a marketer that is skilled enough to operate within such a stingy budget? Not only that, are you going to be able to get your ‘ideal keywords’? PPC isn’t a marketing method for low budget businesses. It takes money to not only advertise but also to advertise effectively. Otherwise you won’t meet your PPC objectivesÂ
