When I embark on a paid search journey there is a certain tool set that I insist on having access to before I can be confident that I can conquer those paid search listings and create a healthy looking return on investment. So, being the sharing type, I have decided to throw together an Easter treat in the form of a blog post that gives you a whirlwind tour of three of the tools I use on a daily basis and why I swear by them.
Getting a big list of keywords:
Ok, so the first thing you want to do when you are creating a new Google AdWords ad group is to fill it up with keywords. This may sound like a simple task at first, but the minute you start listing out those words it soon becomes apparent that your insignificant memory capacity is no match for the monster that is the list before you. Before you have a chance to say "cost-per-click" you are already running around in circles trying to work out which keywords are there and which you have missed, trying to see which variations are missing is nothing short of a Derren Brown-esque feet.
So, deep breath. There is thankfully a tool which makes generating huge lists of keywords a simple task. The tool is called 'Merge Words' and in short it lets you enter different words into the boxes provided and them merges them to create long lists of all of the different variations you can make from the words you have entered. Rather than let me ramble on about it, why not just head over there and have a go. The advantages of this should be obvious; it lets you capture every version of a keyword you might need without missing anything, on top of this it probably reduces repetitive strain injuries because you have to type a heck of a lot less than if this tool wasn't around!
Note as well, Merge Words has a nifty little feature that lets you wrap your keywords in brackets or parentheses depending on which AdWords match type you are going to be going with.
Putting those Keywords into the Ad Group:
So, thanks to Merge Words you now have a list of keywords as long as your arm, so what is the quickest way to dump them into your cherished AdWords campaign? Now of course there are probably a number of ways but one of the most simple, and for me the best solution is to use Google AdWords Editor. AdWords Editor is a desktop application that allows you to fully manage an AdWords account on your computer and then bulk upload all of your changes at once. It makes adding keywords, ads and other elements of a campaign simple and it is surprising how often this tool is overlooked; so on that note, make sure you download it and get using it straight away.
Keyword Research:
I couldn't write a post about tools I use on a daily basis without mentioning this one: Google's Keyword Tool is perhaps the bedrock of many a PPC or SEO campaign and if it isn't your first port of call, then it certainly should be. The data and ideas you can gather from Google's free keyword tool is second to none and it is a breeze to use. Simply enter the ideas, or a website that you need keywords for and click search.
Sometimes the list thrown back at you can be a little unnerving and so to guide you through here is what I usually do; start with your basic keyword ideas, enter one per line into the search box. Once you have your keywords in place you need to choose your settings, I usually choose UK as the location (unless of course you are targeting somewhere else) and then you are good to go. Once you get your list of keywords I usually look in two places. The first is to look at the monthly local searches, this gives you a relative idea of the most used keywords in the area you are looking at. The other column you want to take note of is competition, the most simple way to look at your aim is to unearth keywords with low competition and high monthly searches. If you can crack that code then you are half way there. Another feature I make regular use of is the 'only show ideas closely related to my search terms' check-box, this is particularly useful if you are trying to get some data on only a few keywords, it will slim down the results and show you only what you want.
So there you have it, an insight into where I spend my time when working on a paid search campaign and believe me, if you use these tools to their full extent then you should not need to go anywhere else to get an excellent paid search campaign up and running. So all that remains to be said now is stop reading this and go outside and enjoy the unseasonably good weather we are experiencing at the moment and enjoy the Easter weekend!
