|
 |
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Boosting PPC Campaign ROI with Negative Keywords and Matching Options
There is no doubt that negative keywords can significantly improve the performance of PPC (pay-per-click) search campaigns. PPC search is all about the power of keyword targeting and negative keywords help to filter out unwanted web site traffic.
In a previous article, we covered the basics of using negative keywords and why they are important to a PPC search campaign. Once PPC search campaign users have generated a list of negative keywords, they can easily add these to the campaign in order to filter out unwanted impressions and clicks that lower the campaign CTR (Click-Through-Rate) and ROI. However, this is only the beginning of what can be accomplished with negative keywords. In this issue, we take a closer look at how keyword matching options can be used with negative keywords, and how they can give advertisers even more control in filtering out unwanted clicks and traffic.
Keyword Matching Options
All three major PPC search ad networks, Yahoo Search Marketing, Google Adwords Search and Microsoft adCenter, offer similar keyword matching options that break down into three general keyword matching types: broad, phrase and exact.
Broad Match - Broad match initiates the display of an ad when a keyword phrase in the campaign keyword list also appears in a web users’ search query, in any order. The broad match option also triggers the display of an ad for search terms that are plurals, synonyms and other related keyword phrases that are not in the campaign keyword list. For example, the keyword, “beach vacation hotel” will match with the search term “beach hotel,” but it could also match with “beach motel” because the matching logic could identify “hotel” as related to “motel”. Broad match is a good campaign option when you target a small niche market with a limited keyword set.
Phrase Match - The Phrase match keyword matching option shows an ad when a campaign keyword phrase appears in the web users’ search query, even if other keywords are present in the search term. For example, the keyword search phrase, “vacation hotel” would match with “beach vacation hotel” and “Cape Cod vacation hotel.” Phrase match should be used when you want to target the largest possible audience, but want to avoid that ads are displayed for irrelevant keyword variations.
Exact Match - Exact match displays an ad in the search results when the exact keyword phrase appears in a web users’ search query. For example, the keyword phrase, “vacation hotel” would only match user searches for “vacation hotel,” without any variations in spelling. Exact match works well when targeting a large audience with a very large campaign keyword set. The campaign generates fewer impressions, but achieves a higher click-through-rate.
Filtering Out Unwanted Traffic
Advertisers who are using phrase match in their PPC search campaign may have similar keywords across different ad groups targeting a different audience. For instance, they have the keyword phrase, “deli sandwiches” in one ad group and “healthy deli sandwiches” in another. They have written different ads for each ad group. The “healthy deli sandwiches” ad specifically targets health conscious eaters, but the “deli sandwiches” ad is targeted to a broader audience. A problem occurs when “deli sandwiches” is setup with the phrase match keyword option, so a search for “healthy deli sandwiches” could potentially pull up either ad. In this case, it is left up to the PPC search network to decide which ad to show. By including the negative keyword, “-healthy” in the “deli sandwiches” ad group, advertisers can make sure that the ad isn’t triggered.
Challenges with Negative Keyword PPC Campaigns
The Yahoo Search Marketing ad network presents a different challenge. Here negative keywords are called excluded keywords. They can be added at the account level by editing the tactics under the Administration tab, or at the ad group level by editing the tactics for each ad group. However, the Yahoo PPC ad network does not allow the mixing of match types.
There is also a limit on the negative keywords with Yahoo. At most, there are 250 negative keywords at the account level and 250 per ad group. This presents advertisers with an additional challenge when setting up PPC search campaigns using negative keywords. This challenge can be met by setting them up properly - by putting the broader ones at the campaign level and more specific ones at the ad group level, that PPC advertisers feel best matches the traffic they are trying to block.
Negative PPC Keyword Campaign Helps Target Ads
Negative keywords in PPC search campaigns can do more than just filter out unwanted traffic. With the proper setup and use of matching options, negative keywords can also be used to streamline the campaign and target ads more specifically. This gives advertisers more control and can help boost campaign performance. Be creative with your keyword strategy and take full advantage of what the keyword matching options have to offer.
|
|
| |
| |
| |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Past Presentations
WebmasterWorld PubCon 2008
Las Vegas
“Integrating Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) into the Advertising Mix”
Presenter: Louise Rijk, Vice President of Marketing and Sales
Click here to play the presentation
128 Business Expo 2008
The Westin Waltham-Boston Hotel
"Using Social Media to Connect with Prospects and Customers"
Presenter: Louise Rijk, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales
Click here to play the video.
495/MetroWest Business Expo
Sheraton Framingham Hotel
Pre-Expo Keynote Presentation
“A Strategic Approach to Integrated Marketing”
Presenter: Louise Rijk, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales
Click here to play the video.
Bentley College, 2008 - Waltham, MA
“Planning and Integrating a Targeted Internet Marketing Campaign”
Click here to play the video.
WebmasterWorld Pubcon 2007 - Las Vegas, NV
“Planning and Integrating a Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) Campaign”
Click here to play the video.
BizAction 2007 - Washington DC
"Email, Social Media and Search in the Overall Marketing Mix"
Click here to play the audio.
128 Business Expo 2007
"Blogging and Podcasting For Business"
Click here to play the video.
495/Metrowest Business Expo
Pre-Expo Keynote
"The Rise of the Internet as a Mass Advertising Medium"
Click here to play the video.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
If you would like more information on Internet Marketing, Consulting, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Email Marketing, please
click here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
Copyright © 1996-2009. Advanced Media Productions, Inc.
Advanced Media Productions, Inc.
251 West Central St., Suite 28, Natick, Massachusetts 01760, USA
Tel: 508-647-5151 Fax: 508-647-5150
E-mail: info@advmediaproductions.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
