Keyword research is an integral part of any PPC campaign. Learn how you can create a comprehensive keyword list in 6 easy steps.

3. You’ve heard of the three little PPC pigs right? The first PPC
pig started building his account without conducting any
keyword search because it was the easiest thing to do. The
second PPC pig created a list of generic keywords which
made his account a little stronger than the first. But the
third PPC pig spent time looking at his website, expanding
upon relevant keyword variations, understanding his
customer, and utilizing keyword research tools which made
his PPC account was the strongest of all…
I am sure that every PPC manager has their own
technique/process for keyword research. So, this is just one
approach to building your list. We’ll break the process down
into 6 steps. Keep in mind, you should complete all 6 steps
before you load your first keyword into your PPC campaign.

4. 1. Identify your target audience
First, you need to determine who your PPC ads are targeting.
From offline to online, your core customer probably isn’t
going to change dramatically. But how you gain their
attention and capture it long enough for their interest to be
peaked is going to be different. You need to get into the
mindset of your audience/customers. Here are some
questions to ask:
How would you describe your company/product/service to
someone in 100 words or less? This description is filled with
keywords! Write them down.
What are the attributes and/or benefits of your
product/service? People often don’t know exactly what
they’re looking for, so they’ll use descriptors to search.
What would you type in to the search engines to find your site
without using your name? That’s how people may be
searching for you.
If you follow these steps you should have a handful of
keywords.

5. 2. Review your existing materials
You might be surprised that you already have keyword-rich
materials just lying around your office. Review your
printed/collateral materials and your existing website. Simply
read through your sales letters, brochures, presentations,
catalogs, trade show displays, press kits and just underline
the keywords.
3. Review your website analytics
Your website analytics will provide a wealth of keywords that
people are using to find your site organically. Why re-invent
the wheel when you can already get some great insight as to
how your audience is thinking and how they are finding you.

6. 4. Review your competition
Make a list of your top competitors and review their websites.
You can get an idea of what they are targeting, and you can
also brainstorm on how you can set yourself apart and make
your company/product/service unique.
3. Review your website analytics
With the previous 4 steps you should have a pretty healthy
start on your keyword list. Now, you need to find the
variations for all of these keywords. Here are some free
keyword research tools that we recommend:
• Word tracker
• Google AdWords Keyword Tool
• Keyword Discovery
• MSN Ad Intelligence

7. 6. Sort your keywords
Now, you should have a very robust keyword list. Before you
even put one keyword in your PPC campaign you need to
break your keywords down into groups that should range
from 5-20 keywords per group. This way your keyword
groups are tightly themed and you can write relevant,
targeted ad texts.
Following these steps to build you initial keyword list is a
great way to build a killer keyword list. Remember, the
success of every PPC campaign hinges on its keywords – so
make them good!

8. When search engine marketing enters the conversation in PR
circles and vice versa, it’s usually search engine optimization,
not pay per click that gets attention. However, there are
numerous opportunities to use the on-demand visibility of
Pay Per Click as a method to attract visitors to news related
content. Publishers of online news and media use Pay Per
Click to create instant search visibility for hot and trending
news stories. Here’s an example of the NY Times using
AdWords to promote a story about Twitter. You can also see
from this screenshot via Spy Fu, some of the topical and time
sensitive keyword phrases they’ve bid on to drive traffic to
news stories.
PR professionals can do the same with brand names,
company names or executive names that often get searched
on. PPC can be used to attract attention to specific news
items, stories and content that is likely to be passed along
once people get a chance to see it.

11. Tips For PPC Keyword List Creation

12. Start small. Once you start researching keywords it’s very easy to
create a list of thousands upon thousands of keywords. It’s
important to focus on the quality of keywords rather than the
quantity. The best keywords are the ones that are relevant to your
products or services and accurately reflect the content of your
website. I recommend starting your PPC account with an initial list
of a couple hundred keywords. Let these keywords run and then
see where your PPC account has opportunities for growth.
Don’t be too general. General keywords are going to have a lot of
competition, which means a higher cost-per-click. For example,
even though PPC is a form of advertising I wouldn’t bid on the
keyword “advertising”. Unless you have a large PPC budget, stay
away from very general keywords and focus on more specific
keywords that better describe what you offer.
Don’t be too specific. Although specific keywords tend to perform
better than general keywords, being too specific can limit your ad
exposure if very few people are searching for it. For example, I
wouldn’t include “companies that can improve my ppc
performance” but instead just include “improve ppc performance”
which will pick up traffic from those longer-tail search queries.

13. Keyword research is an on-going process, but starting off with a
strong list of initial keywords will start you on the path to PPC
success.