You've optimized your web site for certain keywords to get to the top of the search engine results pages. Now you're looking at doing an AdWords pay-per-click campaign, and you're once again confronted with the issue of choosing keywords. Where do you start?
You probably have more questions than answers at this point. if you've tracked where your visitors came from to get to your site (and what search terms they used if they came from the search engines), you might have a good start at answering some of those questions. Since you ARE spending money on these ads by bidding on clicks, you need to choose carefully. Using keywords that are overly broad can bring in traffic that looks but doesn't buy, while keywords that are overly specific might bring in too little traffic.
When Sandy Parish wrote about keyword ad strategies recently for Media Post Publications, she used an enlightening example to demonstrate the issue. She wanted to buy a birthday present for a tech savvy loved one -- something that was different from what she usually got him. She wanted something unique, but she hadn't even thought in specific terms about the type of gadget he might like. It was clearly time to go to the search engines and start thinking out loud.
The first search term she used was "unique gift," figuring she'd see "an interesting selection of unordinary gifts," as she recounts it. The ads that came back tried to sell her on the wonders of cologne and shaving products, which are hardly unique by anyone's definition. So she attempted to get a little more specific by searching for a "unique gadget." That got her somewhat closer, turning up items such as digital music devices. But it still didn't quite meet her needs.
It wasn't until Parish went through a bit of trial and error that she found the winning search term: "unique high tech gadget." That was a very good, specific description of what she was looking for, and it "brought up an ad for a new invention-type item that suited my needs," she explained. Her story illustrates the kind of targeting you will need to do, and how you will need to think, to make the best use of your money as you choose your keywords.
Choosing Keywords 
