Getting Started

The first step in creating a keyword list for your website is to simply brainstorm potential keywords and phrases. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and ask yourself what terms they might use to find your site’s product or service.

Keywords can be divided into long tail and short tail. An example of a short tail keyword would be ‘dog grooming’. This keyword caters to a broad market and probably has stiff bidding competition on Google. An example of a long tail keyword would be ‘dog grooming in Tacoma .’ This term uses more words and is more specific. When thinking up keywords, try to use lots of long tail keywords in your ads.

The advantage of using long tail keywords is that you can narrow down the target audience by being more specific. If you do it well, you can get higher conversion ratios. There also tends to be less competition for long tail keywords. This makes it easier to rank higher in the search results for them, while paying less to do so.

Use Keyword tools to expand your list

There are a number of paid keyword research tools out there such as Traffic Travis or Keyword Elite. These are great tools for an advanced marketer but initially, start by taking advantage of Google’s free keyword tool.

Google’s Keyword Tool will tell you the search volumes generated on a specific keyword and the amount of competition for that keyword. The goal is to find phrases that are relevant to your site, have a decent amount of search volume and low advertiser competition.

Paste your list  into the keyword box and click on the `get keyword ideas`button. The results will tell you the search volume for each combination and the amount of advertiser competition. In addition, it provides you with a list of other related keywords and their search stats.

Here is a screen shot of Google Keyword tool for the keyword term ‘dog grooming’

After you compile a list using the original keywords you’ve started with and the list provided by Google, refine your choices. Review the keywords you’ve found  and make sure they relate to your site and have a decent amount of monthly search volume.

Then, once you’ve decided upon your final list, create an ad on Google Adwords using your keywords.

Fine tuning your campaign:

Analyzing keyword data from your live campaigns is a big part of keyword research. After you build up a few weeks of data, review your keywords to see how much you are paying per click and per conversion. Then, weed out underperforming keywords. Over time, if you continually adjust your campaign, you’ll get better and better results.

The Campaign Settings level is where you set up the overall price that you’re willing to spend on advertising and where & when you plan to advertise. Within the Google Campaign, you’ll create Ad Groups to target different ads to different keywords. You might only have one ad group in your campaign to start depending on your business. If you have a number of revenue streams, you’ll probably want to create multiple groups so you can write ad copy specific to the product you’re promoting using relevant keywords.

To setup Adwords, follow my step-by-step setup process below:

1.) Sign in to your Google Adwords account and click on the Campaigns tab.

2.) click on the New Campaign tab.

3.) Name your campaign and select which geographic regions and languages you`d like your ad to appear in. You can target down to the city level.

4.) Choose what networks you want your ads to show on. It is usually best to create separate ad campaigns for different types of Google networks as your keyword strategy will usually be different for each.

5.) Choose the amount you are willing to spend daily on advertising.

6.) Click Save and continue.

7.) On the next page, you be able to set up your ad group options. first, name your ad group and write your ad.

8.) Enter the keywords into the keyword box

9.) If you have a specific website that you wish your ad to show on, enter it here. If you`re just getting started, hold off on this section until you become more familiar. you can always create a separate campaign for placements.

10.) Choose the maximum price you are willing to spend per click for each network type unless you have only chosen one type in the campaign settings.

11.) Save your ad group

After you click the save, you will have created your first ad on Google.

Setting up cost-per-click or CPC advertising on Bing is easy to do.

With MSN, you can create ads that cost as little as 5 cents a visit. You can also control the the amount you are willing to spend daily or monthly so testing an ad campaign is inexpensive.

Here’s how you can start advertising with Bing:

1.) Sign up with Microsoft Adcenter (there is a one time, 5 dollar fee for signing up with them)

2.) Once logged in to your account, click the Create Campaign link as shown in red below:

After you click the Create Campaign link, there are five steps to creating an ad – Settings, Ads, Keywords, Pricing and Review.

3.) In Settings, you’ll define the Campaign settings, budget settings, geographic targeting and the settings for your first Ad Group.

4.) In the Ads section, you’ll choose your ad title, description and the URL you’ll direct people to when they click your ad.

5.) in the Keywords section, you’ll select the keywords you want to bid on.

Example: I might choose to bid on ‘Social media’ for my stgermaine site or ‘jobs’ for my BCjobs.ca site.

You can also use the keyword research tool provided by the adcenter to find quality keywords to bid on.

6.) In the Pricing section, you’ll set the maximum amount you’ll pay monthly and per visit to your site.

7.) Once you’ve completed these steps, you’ll review your ad and then submit it. After you submit your ad, it will be active in minutes.

Good luck with your first ad campaign on Bing!