SEO research via Google Adwords
-
I've read several times of this technique for determining if a particular keyword phrase is worth the effort of optimizing for in organic search.
In Adwords create an Ad Group with a single exact match keyword phrase and let it run in Adwords until you have enough clicks to measure valid results (I've often heard 200-300 clicks). If you are unable to convert the search term via paid search, the theory goes, it's probably not worth the effort to rank top 3 for that phrase and you should put your efforts elsewhere.
Do any of you use this strategy? If so, have you found the results to be pretty consistently accurate?
Thanks,
Mark
-
I think that this is a good way to sample the traffic.
-
I would not consider this to be a good measure of what you want to rank for. I have lots of terms that I benefit from ranking for that if I were to place in adwords would not result in a conversion for me. A lot of this is informational or non-revenue based benefit. Email Signups, Newsletters, Contact Info, etc... You must consider that those who click on ads and those who click on organic come from 2 different groups and even though in many ways there is a similar desired result from a click by both groups it is not the case 100% of the time. I could probably elaborate for hours on this but do not consider one to be a good barometer of the other because in essence they are different. I hope this helps.
-
Good to hear it helped. I'm not always sure if people understand what I explain because I have so many thoughts going on in terms of all the different issues at play when it comes to SEO.
Best of luck with your targeting. It can definitely be a learning experience. Cheers.
-
Thanks for your response. You make several valid points that I hadn't considered, since I was looking at it purely from the point of view of conversions. Was unaware that keyword tool estimates and actuals could vary so widely.
-
Can't say that the 200-300 clicks threshold is the minimum, but I do like the idea of using Adwords to validate their estimates in the keyword tool. However, I use the impressions level identifying that there are at least that many searches on the phrase. Sometimes in the keyword tool, it says <10 in searches and then you'll see via an Adwords campaign 1000 impressions for that phrase [exactly].
The reason why I don't think the clicks is as important is that you might get a .04% click through rate on the 1000 impressions which would make you think it's not worth targeting that phrase, but 60-80% supposedly hit the organic results and only 20-40% hit the adwords. So, I'm more interested in the fact there are at least those number of searches in existence.
However, more importantly, it's not just whether there's inventory, but it's important to analyze the results in that search and to determine if it's difficult to rank for that term. There's a lot more than just seeing if there's enough inventory, but I do like to start here if a client has the budget to spend on adwords.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How can I tell if Google considers two words to mean the same thing
For example, "wives" and "brides" They're often interchangeable, but given context they can still mean fairly different things. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Keyword Research | | CupidTeam0 -
In Need of Excel Formula to Manage Export from Adwords Keyword Tool
Hi All, I was wondering if anyone had an excel formula that they use to manage large amounts of data in spreadsheet exports from the Google Adwords Keyword Tool? Specifically, I am interested in something that establishes a solid corollary between a given keywords competition score and the amount of local/global monthly searches. Any suggested ideas or methods are very welcome. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | G2W0 -
Google keyword tool no data for a KW- what to assume in this case?
There are cases when google keyword tool shows just a dash - means no data available and google suggest just use global volume instead. But what if we want to know only local search volume? what should we assume in this case? Does that mean local volume is 0 or it can still be respectable volume & its just Google couldn't find data ?
Keyword Research | | Personnel_Concept0 -
Why do I get a vastly different keyword ranking on google using different browsers?
With Fire Fox I get a ranking of 3 for roof coating and get a page 6 with Chrome and IE. Not sure what is going on with that.
Keyword Research | | jimmyboy0 -
Comprehensive Keyword Research Report?
I'd like to provide a keyword research report to a client, that includes all of the keywords we're targeting, organized nicely along with relevant data for each (keyword difficulty, search volume, etc.). Is there a way to do this other than running an individual report for each keyword? I'd like to avoid sending them a 50 page document showing all of the keyword research 😉 Thanks for any help! Josh
Keyword Research | | JoshTurner0 -
Strong Keywords with Zero Returns in Google's Traffic Estimator
Hi: I have a dilemma and have not been able to find a good answer anywhere - and I have looked. 🙂 Gather up a bunch of keywords from Google's Keyword Tool that have tens of thousands of queries per month for local and global. When I plug the same keywords into Google's Traffic Estimator, even with a high bid (over $2) and a high daily budget ($50-100), I get all zeros returned from Traffic Estimator for columns Estimated Average CPC; Estimator Ad Position; Estimated Daily Budget, etc. Can someone please explain why this is the case? Is it because the keywords themselves, despite in some cases having hundreds of thousands of monthly searches, are low competition and therefore have no real value in Adwords? Thanks for your input and views, Phil
Keyword Research | | holdtheonion0 -
Why is Adwords Keyword Tool showing zero search volume for popular keywords?
When I try to ascertain search volume for the the words "pills" "drugs" and "medicine" it is showing "-" for all types of search volume, including phrase, exact, and broad. Why is this?
Keyword Research | | nicole.healthline0