If search volume plays too high of a role in the decision process of which keywords to bid on, assuming you can afford the keyword and the quality score is favorable, one of two things will happen:

1. The ad could have high impressions and low click through rates and result in the eventual dropping of the ad by the search engine.
2. The ad could have moderately successful click through rates and either a high bounce rate or low conversion rate.

In the latter case, the return on investment for the advertiser is extremely poor and the ad becomes a losing proposition.

Getting into the mind of the searcher is a critical first step in planning a PPC campaign

Knowing how the user is searching, what they are searching for, and where they are searching are key factors to the success of a PPC campaign. It comes back to the basic principles of marketing: getting the right message to the right person at the right time.

The Internet is about the language of the user and not the language of the organization/advertiser. What marketers must remember when launching online campaigns is that the terminology used in the office everyday is not always the same terminology the searcher will use. In order to be where the user is, marketing campaigns must speak to them in the same language.

Choosing keywords is part of the messaging process, it forms the basis for the content on the site and for the ads pushing users through to the site. What words the user will use to search for your product and service may not be the words that have the highest search volume, instead, they should be the words with the highest qualified search volume; and there is yet to be a piece of keyword generating software with the marketing ability to determine the difference between the two. When selecting keywords, search volume is an important factor to base decisions upon, but even more important is selecting keywords based on the language the users actually looking for your product/service are using.

Determining and selecting keywords must be aimed at persons searching at various stages of the purchasing cycle. As the person progresses through the purchasing cycle they will become more educated about the solutions available to them and as a result will begin to search using different terminology. It is important to target your keyword selection for not only the person at the beginning of the sales cycle but those entering the sales cycle at various stages of the process.

As the progress through to the purchase stage is completed, the keywords used by the user would become more specific and more technical in nature. Instead of searching for general solutions to pains, the user will begin searching for product attributes and features or brand names. For example a person searching for car insurance, may type into the search 'car insurance' at the beginning of their research phase, but towards the purchase decision the user may search for 'limited liability coverage' or 'Personal Injury Protection.' If the site is only optimized for persons at the beginning of the process, then those past the research phase, attempting to search for alternative products and solutions, will simply not find your site within the SERPs.

Choosing keywords must be based on knowing the target market and being able to speak to them in their language. Search volume is a secondary tool, only used once the language of the user is known to determine which of the user's words are the most highly searched for.


Kyle Grant
Sponsored Search Marketing Strategist
Search Engine Positioning by Searchengineposition
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing

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