In today’s competitive digital landscape, selecting the right keywords for your Google Ads campaigns is crucial. The keywords you choose directly affect your ad’s visibility, cost-effectiveness, and overall performance. Many agencies tend to focus narrowly on Google's quality score and guidelines within the platform, relying heavily on metrics like click-through rates and ad relevance to guide their strategy. While these factors are important, this approach misses a much broader, more analytical perspective that can drive real success.
Effective keyword selection goes beyond the confines of Google Ads itself. It's about understanding search intent, competition, and leveraging data from tools like SEMrush to identify high-performing, less competitive keywords. This can dramatically impact your ad spend and lead to better outcomes. Furthermore, the way you set up conversions, goals, and optimization in your campaigns can completely change your spending patterns and campaign results. Properly tracking conversions and setting measurable goals allows for ongoing optimization, ensuring that your budget is allocated efficiently and effectively toward high-return actions.
By taking a data-driven, holistic approach that extends beyond just Google’s recommendations, you can refine your campaigns, boost ROI, and position your brand ahead of the competition.
Understand the Basics: Why Keywords Matter in Google Ads
Search Intent:At the core of any successful Google Ads campaign is an understanding of search intent. Search intent refers to the reason behind a user’s search query, which generally falls into three categories: informational, transactional, and navigational.
Informational queries are when users are seeking answers or information (e.g., “how to improve SEO”).
Transactional queries indicate that users are ready to make a purchase or complete an action (e.g., “buy running shoes online”).
Navigational queries are where users are looking for a specific website or page (e.g., “Nike official website”).
Aligning your keywords with the appropriate intent ensures that your ads appear in front of the right audience, increasing the likelihood of conversions and reducing wasted spend.
Types of Keywords:
Short-Tail Keywords:These are brief, broad keywords, usually consisting of one or two words (e.g., “running shoes”). While short-tail keywords can attract a high volume of traffic, they come with high competition and are often more expensive due to their broad nature. These terms can result in less targeted traffic, which may not convert as well as more specific queries.
Long-Tail Keywords:Long-tail keywords are more specific and generally longer phrases (e.g., “best running shoes for flat feet”). Although they have lower search volumes and are less competitive, they typically deliver higher conversion rates. This is because they cater to more specific user intent, leading to higher-quality traffic that is more likely to engage or convert.
Negative Keywords:Negative keywords allow you to exclude certain search terms from triggering your ads. By using negative keywords, you prevent your ads from showing up in irrelevant searches. For example, if you're selling premium products, you might want to exclude words like “cheap” or “free” to avoid attracting low-quality traffic. This helps you save money by ensuring your ads only appear in front of relevant audiences.
Why Keyword Selection Matters:
Choosing the right keywords directly impacts your Cost-Per-Click (CPC), quality score, and ad rank:
CPC: Highly competitive keywords (like short-tail keywords) tend to be more expensive, whereas long-tail keywords often have a lower CPC, helping you manage your budget more effectively.
Quality Score: Google assesses the relevance of your ads and landing pages to the keywords you are targeting. A high-quality score can lead to better ad placements and lower costs. Keywords that are well-matched to user intent will improve your quality score.
Ad Rank: Your ad rank is determined by a combination of your bid amount, quality score, and expected impact of ad extensions. The better your keywords match search intent, the higher your ad rank, giving your ad a better chance of being shown to users without requiring excessive bids.
Effective keyword selection ensures that your ads are reaching the right people at the right time, improving both cost-efficiency and campaign outcomes.
Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords: Should You Use Branded Keywords?
Branded Keywords: Branded keywords are search terms that include your company or product name (e.g., “Brooks running shoes”). These keywords target users who are already familiar with your brand and are specifically looking for your products or services.
Pros of Using Branded Keywords:
Protect Your Brand from Competitors: If you’re not bidding on your own brand name, competitors might. Branded keywords help ensure that when someone searches for your business, your ad appears instead of a competitor’s, protecting your market share.
Lower CPC: Branded keywords tend to have lower competition and therefore a lower Cost-Per-Click (CPC) compared to non-branded, high-intent searches. Because people searching for branded terms are already familiar with your business, the conversion rate is often higher, leading to more efficient ad spend.
Cons of Using Branded Keywords:
Paying for Organic Traffic: One downside is that you are almost certainly paying for traffic that would have found you organically through a non-paid search result. If users already know your brand and are searching specifically for it, they might click your organic listing, saving you the ad spend.
Not Ideal for Smaller Companies: If you’re a smaller business or a startup without strong brand recognition, investing in branded keywords may not yield the best results. Your focus might be better spent on non-branded, high-intent keywords that capture new customers who are unfamiliar with your brand.
When to Use Branded Keywords:
For Well-Established Brands: If you’re an established brand with a significant online presence, branded keywords help you dominate the search results and prevent competitors from siphoning off your customers. They’re especially important if competitors are actively bidding on your name.
For Special Promotions or Product Launches: When you’re launching new products or running special promotions, bidding on branded keywords can reinforce brand recognition and increase visibility, particularly for customers who are searching for your brand during these high-interest periods.
When Not to Use Branded Keywords:
For Small Businesses with Limited Budgets: If you’re a small business or startup with a limited advertising budget, it may be more strategic to focus on high-intent, non-branded keywords that target customers looking for your products or services, even if they don’t yet know your brand. Non-branded keywords give you a broader reach, enabling you to capture new leads and grow your customer base.
By balancing branded and non-branded keywords in your Google Ads strategy, you can protect your brand, increase visibility, and allocate your budget more effectively based on your business size and marketing goals.
How to Establish Keyword Goals and Metrics
Setting the right goals and tracking metrics is key to a successful Google Ads campaign. Your keyword strategy should align with your overall campaign objectives, whether you're focusing on building brand awareness, driving conversions, or generating leads. Here's how to effectively establish goals and metrics for your keyword strategy:
Define Your Campaign Goals:
Before selecting your keywords, it's essential to define the primary objective of your campaign. Common goals include:
Brand Awareness: Increase visibility and introduce your brand to a larger audience.
Conversions: Encourage users to complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Lead Generation: Capture high-quality leads that can be nurtured into customers over time.
Every client I’ve worked with says conversions are the ultimate goal—trust me, they can’t be your only focus. Successful marketing involves the entire funnel, from awareness to consideration, and each stage requires different keyword strategies. If you only focus on conversions, you might be satisfied with short-term sales but left confused when they eventually drop, without understanding why. By focusing on a variety of goals, such as brand awareness or lead generation, you’ll be able to target different audiences and optimize for long-term growth. Each goal shapes the keywords you choose and the success metrics you track, making your strategy more comprehensive and effective.
Select Relevant Metrics for Success:
Once your goals are set, choose the appropriate metrics to measure the performance of your keywords and campaigns:
Click-Through Rates (CTR): A high CTR indicates that your ad is resonating with users, signaling relevance.
Conversion Rates: The percentage of users who complete a desired action (e.g., purchasing, signing up) after clicking on your ad. This is the ultimate measure of a successful keyword strategy.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): The total cost of acquiring a customer through your ad, based on the keyword. This metric is key to determining the overall efficiency of your campaign. You will have high CPCs in very competitive markets. I discuss strategies to avoid this later in the blog.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Measures how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on ads, helping you optimize keywords for profitability.
Why Google Quality Scores Are Faulty
Google’s Quality Score is meant to measure the relevance and quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages on a scale of 1 to 10. While it seems like a useful metric, it can often be misleading. Quality Scores focus heavily on CTR and ad relevance, which can be skewed if you target highly competitive keywords or niche markets. In some cases, you might have a lower Quality Score, despite running a well-optimized and successful campaign, simply because you're competing in a crowded space or focusing on conversions over clicks.
Quality Scores also don’t account for external factors such as your business model, audience intent, or market trends, making them an incomplete reflection of true campaign performance. Instead of relying solely on Quality Score, focus on metrics like ROAS, CPA, and actual conversion rates, which give a clearer picture of how well your campaigns are driving results.
Choose Keyword Types Based on the Stage of the Buyer’s Journey:
Selecting the right keywords depends on the buyer's journey stage you’re targeting. Each stage has its own intent and requires a different keyword approach:
Awareness Stage (Top of Funnel): Use informational keywords that answer general questions or provide solutions. These are users just beginning to explore options. Examples include “best marketing strategies” or “how to improve SEO.”
Metric focus: CTR, engagement, and impressions.
Consideration Stage (Middle of Funnel): Use comparison or product-related keywords that highlight your unique offerings and benefits. Users are comparing solutions at this stage. Examples include “best marketing automation tools” or “CRM software comparison.”
Metric focus: CTR, engagement, and on-site behavior.
Purchase Stage (Bottom of Funnel): Use transactional, high-intent keywords aimed at users ready to make a purchase. These users are highly valuable. Examples include “buy CRM software” or “marketing software pricing.”
Metric focus: Conversion rates and CPA.
Maximizing Conversions and Setting Up Conversion Goals:
To track and optimize conversions effectively, you need to set up conversion goals within Google Ads. This ensures you can track the specific actions users take after clicking on your ads, such as purchases, form submissions, or phone calls.
Set Clear Conversion Goals: Define what constitutes a conversion for your campaign. Examples include:
Purchases for eCommerce businesses.
Form submissions for lead generation.
Newsletter signups for building a contact list.
Maximize Conversions with Smart Bidding: Google Ads offers a Smart Bidding strategy like Maximize Conversions that uses machine learning to automatically adjust your bids to help you get the most conversions for your budget.
Manual Uploads for Offline Conversions: If your business deals with offline interactions, such as phone calls or in-person purchases, you can use manual uploads to track conversions that occur offline based on Google's Click IDs. This helps give you a full picture of how your Google Ads campaigns contribute to your overall sales funnel.
Which Conversion Goals to Choose: Depending on your business model and campaign objectives, select conversion goals that align with your target outcomes:
Lead generation campaigns might focus on form submissions or newsletter signups.
Ecommerce campaigns will focus on completed purchases or adding items to a shopping cart.
Service-based businesses may focus on phone call tracking or booking appointments.
By defining clear goals and tracking relevant metrics, you can refine your keyword strategy for each stage of the buyer's journey. Proper conversion tracking ensures you’re optimizing for the most valuable actions, leading to better results and more efficient ad spend.
Using SEMrush (and Other Tools) to Find the Right Keywords
Finding the right keywords is critical to maximizing the performance of your Google Ads campaigns, and using advanced tools like SEMrush can streamline the process. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to effectively use SEMrush (and similar tools) to uncover high-performing, low-competition keywords that drive better results for your campaigns.
Step 1: Enter Seed Keywords
Start by entering broad, seed keywords related to your industry or products into SEMrush or another keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs. These seed keywords form the foundation of your research (e.g., “running shoes”). Begin with general terms that describe your product or service, and let the tool generate relevant variations.
Tools to Use: SEMrush, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner
Step 2: Use the Keyword Magic Tool
SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool helps you explore related keyword suggestions, including long-tail variations and questions people are searching for. This tool provides insights into keyword variations, search trends, and potential opportunities that you might have missed. Long-tail keywords often have lower competition and can lead to better conversion rates.
Additional Tools for Finding Keyword Ideas: Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic (great for question-based searches)
Step 3: Analyze Keyword Difficulty
SEMrush provides a keyword difficulty score for each keyword, showing how hard it is to rank or win bids for that keyword. Aim for keywords with low-to-medium difficulty, especially if you're working with a smaller budget. High-difficulty keywords are typically more expensive, as they are often targeted by large competitors. By focusing on less competitive keywords, you can improve ad visibility while managing costs effectively.
How to Use It: Keywords with difficulty scores between 30% and 70% are ideal for most businesses.
Tools for Keyword Difficulty: SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz
Step 4: Identify Search Volume
After you’ve gathered a list of potential keywords, check the search volume to ensure there’s enough interest to justify your bids. Keywords with higher search volume often drive more traffic but can be highly competitive, whereas lower-volume keywords might be cheaper and more focused on specific niches. The key is to find a balance between search volume and keyword difficulty.
Best Practice: Focus on keywords that have sufficient search volume (but not too high) and low-to-moderate competition.
Tools to Check Search Volume: SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs
Step 5: Use the Keyword Gap Tool
SEMrush’s Keyword Gap Tool allows you to compare your keyword performance with that of your competitors. This tool helps you discover keywords that your competitors rank for, but you currently don’t. By identifying gaps, you can target keywords that might be driving traffic to competitors and develop new opportunities to capture your share of the market.
Competitor Research Tools: SEMrush, SpyFu (for competitor keyword tracking), Ahrefs
Step 6: Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific queries (e.g., “best running shoes for marathon training”), and they often have lower competition compared to short-tail keywords. Although they typically have lower search volume, they are more aligned with buyer intent and are highly effective for conversion-driven campaigns. Long-tail keywords also allow you to target niche audiences, leading to higher-quality traffic at a lower cost.
Why Long-Tail Keywords Work: They capture users who are further along in their purchasing journey and are closer to making a decision.
Tools for Finding Long-Tail Keywords: SEMrush, AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest
Other Tools and Methods to Enhance Your Keyword Strategy:
Google Trends: Helps you track the popularity of specific keywords over time and identify seasonal trends.
AnswerThePublic: A great tool for discovering question-based, conversational search queries, which are becoming more common with the rise of voice search.
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Keywords: Use tools like LSI Graph to find semantically related keywords that add context and relevancy to your ads without repeating the same keyword.
Negative Keywords: Incorporate negative keywords to exclude irrelevant traffic, helping you reduce wasted spend and optimize for relevant searches (such as free or other words to avoid traffic you don't want).
By using a combination of these tools and methods, you can build a comprehensive, data-driven keyword strategy that targets both broad and niche audiences, avoids overly competitive keywords, and maximizes your Google Ads performance.
Avoiding Highly Competitive Keywords
Choosing the right keywords is not just about identifying popular terms—it's about finding a balance between relevance, search volume, and competition. For businesses with smaller budgets, highly competitive keywords can significantly drive up costs, reducing the overall return on investment (ROI). Here's how to avoid overpaying for competitive keywords and still achieve effective ad performance.
Why Competition Matters: Highly competitive keywords often have a higher cost-per-click (CPC) because multiple advertisers are bidding for the same terms. This increased competition can quickly deplete your budget, especially if you're a small or mid-sized business. More competitive keywords don't always yield better results; in fact, they may hurt your ROI if you're spending more to compete for clicks that don't convert.
Tip: To maximize ROI, focus on identifying lower-competition keywords that still align with user intent and have enough search volume to drive meaningful traffic.
How to Use SEMrush’s Competition Filter: SEMrush offers a powerful way to filter out high-competition keywords using the "KD%" (Keyword Difficulty) filter. By setting the filter to display only low-to-medium difficulty keywords (e.g., under 60%), you can focus on keywords that are less saturated and more cost-effective.
How to Apply: Set the KD% filter to 30%-60% to uncover opportunities where your bids won’t be drowned out by larger competitors. This filter helps identify keywords where you can bid more efficiently.
Target Niche Keywords: Instead of competing for broad, highly popular terms, target niche keywords that are more specific to your products or services. Niche keywords may have lower search volumes, but they tend to attract more qualified leads and users with a higher intent to convert. For example, instead of targeting “running shoes,” you could focus on “best running shoes for flat feet.”
Benefit: Niche keywords often have less competition and allow you to reach highly specific audiences who are closer to making a purchase.
Analyze Competitors: Use SEMrush’s competitor analysis features to see what keywords your competitors are targeting. While this can help you understand what’s working in your industry, it’s also a way to avoid bidding wars for the same highly competitive terms. Instead of bidding on the same high-competition keywords, look for alternatives that competitors haven’t optimized for yet.
Strategy: Focus on keywords your competitors may be overlooking or use negative keywords to exclude terms where they’re dominating the space.
Optimize for Local and Hyperlocal Keywords: Another effective way to avoid high competition is by focusing on local or hyperlocal keywords. These keywords target users in specific geographic areas and typically have lower competition than broader, non-location-based searches. For example, targeting “running shoes in Cleveland” instead of “running shoes” narrows your audience to a local segment, often with less competition and higher relevance.
Benefit: Local and hyperlocal keywords are especially valuable for businesses serving specific regions or offering location-based services, helping you improve relevance while avoiding high-CPC keywords.
By targeting niche, lower-competition, and local keywords while avoiding overly competitive terms, you can optimize your ad spend and increase ROI. Tools like SEMrush allow you to refine your strategy by providing insights into keyword difficulty and competitive landscapes, ensuring your campaigns stay cost-effective and focused on conversion potential.
Finding Inroads with Alternative Methods
While tools like SEMrush and Google Ads provide excellent resources for keyword research, it's important to step outside the Google Ads platform and explore alternative methods for finding untapped keywords. By moving beyond conventional metrics like quality scores, you can identify less competitive inroads and creative keyword opportunities that other advertisers may miss.
Use Question-Based Keywords: One of the most underutilized strategies is targeting question-based keywords. These queries reflect how users naturally ask questions, particularly as voice search grows. Tools like SEMrush’s “Questions” filter or AnswerThePublic help you identify common questions users are asking in relation to your product (e.g., “how to choose running shoes for flat feet”). Answering these questions with your ads or content can position your business as a helpful resource and drive relevant traffic.
Tools to Use: SEMrush (Questions Filter), AnswerThePublic, Ubersuggest
Google’s Related Searches: Don’t underestimate the value of the Related Searches section at the bottom of Google’s search results page. This often-overlooked area offers valuable keyword suggestions that can inspire new ideas or highlight niche search terms competitors have ignored. Simply entering your seed keyword and scrolling down to the related search terms can help you find alternative, less competitive keywords to target.
How to Use: Enter your primary keyword, scroll to the bottom of Google’s results page, and look at the related searches for inspiration.
Focus on Voice Search Keywords: With the increasing popularity of voice search, targeting conversational, long-tail keywords is essential. Voice searches tend to be more natural and question-based, often involving more specific, intent-driven queries (e.g., “What’s the best running shoe for bad knees?”). These keywords not only have lower competition but also capture users who are further along in their buying journey.
Tip: Optimize your keyword strategy for voice search by using natural language and targeting question-based queries.
Leverage Negative Keywords: While finding the right keywords to target is important, negative keywords are just as critical. Negative keywords allow you to exclude irrelevant traffic, ensuring you don’t waste ad spend on users who are unlikely to convert. For example, if you sell premium products, excluding keywords like “free” or “cheap” can prevent your ads from appearing in irrelevant searches and wasting your budget.
Tip: Regularly update your negative keyword list to fine-tune your audience targeting.
Seasonal and Trend-Based Keywords: Google Trends is a powerful, free tool that helps you track keyword popularity over time. By identifying keywords that spike during specific seasons or trends, you can take advantage of seasonal and trend-based searches to reach your audience at the right time. For example, searches for “best winter running shoes” will peak during the colder months. Capitalizing on these trends ensures your ads remain relevant and timely.
How to Use: Search Google Trends for keywords related to your business, and look for seasonal or emerging trends that align with your products or services.
By exploring these alternative methods—such as question-based queries, voice search optimization, negative keywords, and trend analysis—you can discover unique keyword opportunities that competitors might miss. These tactics provide valuable inroads into untapped markets, helping you optimize your ad campaigns for relevancy, reduce competition, and boost your overall performance beyond traditional keyword research methods.
Reviewing and Optimizing Your Keyword Strategy
Once you’ve set up your keyword strategy, it’s essential to continually monitor, test, and refine your approach to ensure maximum performance. Here’s a step-by-step guide to optimizing your keyword strategy for the best results:
Step 1: Monitor Performance
Consistently tracking keyword performance is key to understanding which terms are driving traffic and conversions, and which may be underperforming. Use Google Ads reports to monitor key metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversions, cost per click (CPC), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Adjust your bids and budgets based on these insights to optimize for higher-performing keywords.
Tip: Focus on improving keywords with high CTRs and conversion rates while reducing spend on those with low performance.
Step 2: A/B Testing Keywords
A/B testing allows you to run experiments with different sets of keywords to see which ones yield better results. Test variations of short-tail, long-tail, and even negative keywords to find the best-performing combinations. For example, you could test two similar long-tail keywords to see which one brings in higher-quality traffic.
Tip: A/B test not just keywords but also ad copy, landing pages, and bidding strategies to optimize your entire campaign.
Step 3: Continuous Refinement
As your campaigns evolve, regularly update your keyword list. Use insights from SEMrush and Google Ads to identify new keyword opportunities, refine bidding strategies, and eliminate underperforming keywords. Focus on keyword difficulty, competition, and search trends to ensure you’re always targeting relevant terms that align with your goals.
Tip: Set up periodic reviews—monthly or quarterly—to assess and update your keyword strategy based on new data.
Step 4: Add New Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords should be a living, growing part of your strategy. As your audience’s behavior changes, continuously search for new long-tail keywords to add. These longer, more specific queries can often yield higher conversion rates because they capture more targeted search intent.
Tip: Use SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and Google’s search suggestions to discover fresh, relevant long-tail keywords.
Conclusion
Choosing the right keywords is the foundation of a successful Google Ads campaign. Effective keyword selection not only maximizes visibility but also optimizes cost-efficiency by avoiding overly competitive terms. Tools like SEMrush help streamline this process by offering insights into keyword difficulty, competition, and search volume, ensuring you avoid common mistakes like bidding on high-competition keywords or missing valuable niche opportunities.
To make the most of your keyword strategy, start building your list today and continuously refine it using performance data and evolving trends. With ongoing optimization and the right tools, you can drive meaningful traffic and achieve better results for your Google Ads campaigns.
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