Keywords are a crucial part of google search ads. To have your ads show up, you have to target and bid on a set of keywords that are relevant to your ads. For example, if you sell clothing for women, you would want to conduct certain searches that have to do with ‘women’s clothing’.

The challenge with keywords is making sure not to drown your budget, as some keywords can be quite expensive. As well, outbidding your competitors for certain keywords can seem like a bit of a challenge.

So where should you start?

One of the handiest tools out there for keyword research is the google ads planner. It utilizes google’s own keyword tool.

How does it work?

You can enter topics and phrases that are similar to your businesses in the search bar and google will then create keyword ideas for you that are suitable for your business. Apart from keyword ideas you can expect to see ‘top of page bid low and high’. This is, in essence, how much you should expect to pay (per click), on each keyword to be at the top or bottom of the first page. All around, it gives you a general idea on what you will be spending per keyword. If you want to rank first, you will spend something close to ‘top of the page bid’ (high).

As well, the google ads planner will show you monthly average searches and the competition levels for each keyword. It is recommended to use a mix of high and low volume keywords, as the higher the volume of keywords, the more competition there likely will be to bid for that keyword. As well as more competition, the high volume keywords tend to be more broad.

Similarly, MOZ is a keywords research tool that allows you to look up relevant keywords and see their search volume per month. Like google, MOZ will give you suggestions for similar keywords.

MOZ also has the ability to allow you to upload your own keywords list to see how you are ranking on your website, so that you can track certain keywords and so on. 

Furthermore, you can input your domain to see what keywords you are ranking for and subsequently enter your competitors domain to see where you overlap in keywords.

Finally, MOZ has the ability to do a SERP (search engine results page) analysis. This basically shows you what searches show when entering a specific keyword.

Tip:

When doing your keywords research, think in the mind of the searcher. Think about what they are searching for and what goal they are trying to achieve when searching i.e. to buy something, to get more information etc.

Using google’s keyword planner and MOZ is a good way to start to see what keywords are most popular and being searched around the internet, in relation to your industry.

However, knowing what keywords your competitors are bidding on is also important in order to outrank them in search results.

That being said, doing a simple google search with keywords that are related to your industry, will give you a better idea of what keywords are popular and how you can show up ahead of your competition. With that, you can also see what they are saying in their ads, what they offer as a company to get a better sense on how you can differentiate yourself.

One of the best ways to take advantage of your brand is to bid on keywords/phrases with your brand in it.

The downfall with trying to rank for your own branded keywords is paying for terms that are going to click on your organic results anyway. However, a lot of the time, competitors will try to rank for your branded keywords, if you are in close competition. 

If you aren’t bidding on your own keywords, you’re giving your competitors a chance to steal your spot and take away your leads.

Furthermore, bidding on your own branded keywords are generally a lot cheaper than most keywords, so it is a good tip to keep in mind when doing your keyword research.

Doing keyword research is a big part in getting started with your google search ads campaign. Understanding who your competitors are and what keywords they are bidding on is crucial in order to gain exposure.

Furthermore, taking advantage of your own brand name will secure your spot in the top results on google, so your competitors don’t have the chance to take that from you.