Ever wondered where to start with getting selling on Google?  A good place is to identify if your target market searches for you online.  The only way to do that is to find keywords that they might use, and then find out if there is enough searches per month to make the keyword worth going after.  Before we start, I just need to advise you that a keyword may sometimes actually represent a keyword search phrase so may sometimes actually be 2 or more words long!  I use the terms interchangeably but I mean the same thing.

The following tips are aimed at beginners and are a way to get started with Search Engine Optimisation.

• Open the Google Keyword Tool
• Research your keywords by starting off with something that describes you – such as “accountant Bristol”, “florist Clifton” etc.  Districts are easier than towns but will have a lot less traffic.  Enter the keyword in the box that is marked word or phrase, you don’t need to fill in any other fields at this stage, and click Search
• Look through the list and select 3 to 10 which are closely related.  If you wish you can download the list into Excel to work on by clicking Download then All.  You WILL need the reverse of the keyword phrase as well as plurals and singular.  This means “Bristol accountant” and “accountant Bristol” are NOT the same, as “Bristol accountant” and “Bristol accountants” are not the same either!

An example of a good, closely related keyword list is:

1. Accountant Bristol
2. Accountants Bristol
3. Accountants in Bristol
4. Bristol accountants
5. Chartered accountants Bristol
6. Bristol accountant

• Top tip – to start just plan to use your homepage as it’s easier and faster to get ranked, for the purposes of this blog we will presume you use only your homepage.  Later on you may wish to use other pages for other keyword phrases too

1. Look at the LOCAL monthly searches
2. Ignore the competition field as this is used to find AdWords competition
3. Search volumes of up to 500 are easier and faster to get on the front page for
4. Higher search volumes than 3,000 are competitive and mean it will take longer

Now you have your keyword list, you’re ready to move onto the next stage, competing the SEO Setup.  More on this will follow next week in this SEO tutorial series!

If you have any questions or if you’re struggling, please do comment below.  If you’d like to receive a quote for our SEO Services starting from £30 per month – please give us a call on 0800 3277327 or email us at sales@marketingbyweb.co.uk

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I’ve been asked this question a few times now by our monthly AdWords clients, so have decided to answer it in a blog post.

In an AdWords account, one of the most important factors is quality score.  Quality score makes a difference as to how high your ads appear, and also the Cost Per Click you pay for.  Ideally quality score should be at 7 or above – see the effect on Cost Per Click in the image below, courtesy of Click Equations.

The easiest way to get quality score up is to make sure the exact keywords appear in the advert heading.  This is the way that Google prefers.  It has the added benefit of often increasing conversion rate.  Having the exact keywords in the advert heading is usually impossible if there are a large number of keywords in a single ad group.

Therefore an account will usually be optimised over time to break it in small ad groups.  In each of these ad groups there will be only a handful of keywords, as the adverts for this group need to reflect these keywords extremely closely.

With large accounts, this can result in a very large account with many hundreds of ad groups.  This can appear unwieldy to the client, but it is usually the ideal way to manage a large account.

Questions?  Do ask them here!

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When carrying out a search, a potential visitor (let’s call them a Searcher) may use a variety of keywords that indicate how far along the buying process they have moved.

Here’s an example:

• Digital Camera – Unlikely to buy at this stage as the Searcher is still undecided about the exact make of camera
• Nikon Digital Camera – Searcher has now decided upon the brand of camera.  Still undecided about the model
• Nikon 6MP Digital Camera – Seacher has now decided on the brand and 1 key feature of the camera.  May be willing to buy at this stage.
• Nikon D40 camera – Searcher has now decided on brand and model and is now actively comparing prices.  Now is a good time to advertise prices in your ads.
• Buy Nikon D40 Camera – Searcher is definitely seeking to buy and is seeking the lowest price.  Definitely place prices in your ads.

So when advertising on Google, you face a choice.  The higher up the list your keywords appear in the Searcher’s thought process, the less likely they are to convert if they land upon your site.  HOWEVER, if you only advertise on the latter keywords, your ads will have less visibility in their eyes, as they have been exposed to it once only or twice.  Therefore you need to test what will happen if you advertise at all these stages, or just one or two of the later stages.

What keywords do your buyers use?  Map out their thought processes and plan your keyword tests today!

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Dynamic Keyword Insertion can be very useful for long lists of related, similar keywords where it is too time consuming to create an ad group for each permutation.

Instead, you can use Dynamic Keyword Insertion in the advert heading, and it will automatically prefill with the keywords the searcher has used.

For example, if you have a list of keywords such as:

• chipmunks cage
• cage for chipmunks
• chipmunk cages for sale

and many other related very similar keywords, this option should definitely work well for you.

So – to use Dynamic Keyword Insertion, do the following:

{KeyWord:Phrase Goes Here}

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