The choice to actively target a keyword versus allow associated queries to happen naturally through other terms is a constantly evolving equation of:
- Auction price.
- Perceived association in your customer’s journey.
- Potential for volume/value.
While no one component should decide the fate of your budget and account structure, it is important to understand the impact of each, as well as which strategies will set you up for keyword success.
Let’s dive into the triforce of keyword planning.
Auction Price
My paid search philosophy heavily revolves around balancing auction prices of keywords with the forecasted value of the customer.
The factors of auction price include:
- Industry.
- Close Variants.
- Devices.
- Locations.
- Time.
Every industry has different auction prices, or what advertisers in that industry are willing to bid to secure clicks.
A lawyer, a dental surgeon, and an IT firm are going to have drastically higher auction prices than a gym, a shoe store, and a hotel because their customer values are drastically higher.
When you’re in a high-cost industry, it’s vital you ground your keywords in the specific vertical you service.
Bidding on “lawyer” may be cheaper than “truck accident lawyer” but will cost you more in the long run (via bad leads and diluted CTR leading to a lower quality score).
It can be tempting to go after high volume terms. Yet those terms are usually highly competitive and have artificially high auction prices because the big players want them.
Close variants, the bane of single keyword ad group (SKAG) lovers, is a lifeline for these concepts.
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