Internet Marketing

A successful Google Adwords campaign begins with proper keyword research. Many businesses use Google Adwords for attracting customers, but few really become successful with their campaigns. Truth be know, most folks advertising on Google probably fail. Why? Because they tried to advertise without researching what their customers are actually searching for. They failed to do proper keyword research.

First let’s define the phrase “keyword research”. Many newbies to the internet mistakenly think the term “keyword” is actually one (1) word. Well, it could be, but normally it is not. Anytime you hear the word “keyword” think “key-phrase” instead because normally most keywords are in fact “phrases” that someone is typing into a search engine in order to find something.

So where is the best place to begin your keyword research? The answer may be right under your own nose. Chances are the best place to begin a successful Google Adwords campaign is to look on your own website. There are actually two places on your website to begin. First, look at the site itself. What keywords are you optimizing for? In other words, what words are you using on your site that makes the average user know that they have come to the right place.

Maybe you are an accident attorney that practices several states in the Southeast. In that case, wouldn’t it make sense to have the keyword phrase “accident attorney” and “southeast” in prominent positions on your site? And if that is the case, then shouldn’t you be bidding on keyword phrases that include the word “accident attorney” and also “southeast?”

Another place to begin keyword research is to look in the not-so-obvious place, and that is on your server. Most hosting companies have a software interface that has many useful programs and tools incorporated into it. For example, many hosting companies such as HostGator and SiteGround use an interface called CPanel. CPanel has a useful software tool called Awstats. Awstats collects collects much information about the visitors to your sites. In many cases not only can you see which sites that arrived on your site from, but also which keywords they used to search for your company. This information is invaluable.

I would bet that over 95% of the users of Adwords don’t access this information. If one customer found your site using a particular keyword phrase, doesn’t it make sense to bid on that particular keyword (as long as you consider it to be a keyword that is pertinent to your business)? If you don’t know how to take advantage of this tremdously valuable information already sitting on your hosting server, then ask your hosting company or a techie to help you get it. It only takes a minute or two to access, but the information could be invaluable.

There are many more tactics for the doing proper keyword research, including legally spying on your competitors. What? You don’t know how to legally spy on your competitors and swipe some of their best performing keywords for your own? In this case, what you don’t know about running a successful Google Adwords campaign can definitely hurt you.

There are many free and paid resources on the web that will educate you about doing proper keyword research. Take the time to learn them and if you don’t have the time, then pay someone with experience in adwords campaign management to manage your Google Adwords campaign for you.