It’s surprising, but in 2018 leading into 2019 a lot of people are still only bidding on the most obvious head-terms when it comes to PPC. While they have their place, there is so much more out there that could be utilised to improve performance and ROI.
First off, let’s look at why head terms are the go-to strategy for many PPC beginners and intermediate practitioners:
- They are actively pushed upon users by Google Ads.
- They can be commercially attractive as is indicated from their highly competitive nature.
- The high search volume can often max out budgets, therefore not forcing marketers to seek additional keyword opportunities.
However, there are a whole host of alternative opportunities out there which can offer lower CPCs, higher commercial intent and therefore higher ROI.
Below we discuss some hacks to uncover these keyword gems and start making your ad budget work smarter.
Use an External Keyword Tool
Do you only use the Google Keyword Planner? You’re missing out big time! Nowadays the only excuse for using the official keyword planner is if you need to verify search volume. The tool is purposefully designed to obscure low cost/high return opportunities.
Why would Google make it easy for you to avoid the competition and spend less? There’s no incentive there, they want you in the high competition keywords which pushes prices up.
To find the real gems you need a tool that is working for you and not the advertising platform. One of the best 3rd party sources for keyword discovery is the wordtracker keyword tool. In its simplest form all you have to do is insert a head term keyword and it will do the work for you and find a host of potentially better/cheaper alternatives to bid on.
Run a Broad Match Discovery Campaign
Ever heard of a ‘keyword discovery’ campaign when it comes to PPC? In short, it’s a campaign that uses very loose broad match targeting to find a host of 1st hand data on what your customers are searching for.
For example, let’s say you have a client who runs a budget hotel in Seattle WA. You might just be bidding on the exact match variant of ‘cheap hotels Seattle’.
However if you set a portion of your budget to a broad match discovery campaign you might just uncover some hidden gems. You might uncover something like ‘cheap hotels that allow dogs in Seattle’ which your client may be relevant for. Whereas just using the keyword planner would have no chance of surfacing such a keyword.
Now it should be said that running a discovery campaign is a more expensive option than using a 3rd party keyword research tool. So go to that option first, and then use a discovery campaign as your last resort to squeeze out all the hidden opportunities.