Do vague ppc terms convert?

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Or does it have to be very specific terms you need to target? To use a completely hypothetical example, just say you were targeting an arthritic treatment, I'd imagine terms like 'arthrits' or 'arthritis pain' won't convert and you would rather target terms like 'arthritis pain relief', 'treatment for arthritis' . Those latter terms will likely be more expensive because they are more targeted to those who are probably looking to buy rather just look for information and so people will likely bid higher. At the same time, they will bring in less traffic because they get searched less.
#search engine optimization #convert #ppc #terms #vague
  • Less traffic is better than more traffic if it's more targeted. That's a very important lessons to learn in paid traffic. The only metric that matters is your ROI. How much money you make after you have deducted how much money you spent.

    Some people might be able to make the broader keywords work for them but it's going to be harder than using the more targeted search phrases. With paid traffic it's best to go after quality not quantity.

    But if you CAN make some of the broader terms work for you, well then the world is your oyster.
  • In short.... test it and try it :-)

    You never know :-)
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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  • If you want more visibility or more views then you can have separate adgrps for broad terms and low converting ones (not more sales).
    If your aim is a sale or a lead then you should use specific terms - which will convert.
  • Be as specific as you can be, this will usually cost you less for the traffic and convert better, a win win for a little more work!
  • Adsense / PPC / SEO Discussion Forum
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  • The more targeted keywords might bring less traffic, but they would definitely convert better. People searching for the broad terms might be searching for anything. If you want sales, I'd suggest you go for the targeted keywords, as the more targeted the buyers are, the more likely they are to buy from you.

    But again, I don't know which niche you are in, so your particular niche might work well with broad keywords too. So, if you feel like you are missing out by not bidding on the broad keywords, why don't you test both? Start out at a small budget and test both kind of keywords, and invest more money on the keywords that do well. Don't put in a lot of money without testing though; doing so might lead to you losing your money. Start small, find what works, focus on that and forget the rest. Hope that helped.
    • [2] replies
    • there is no hard and fast rule.you have to test everything.you might have certain "best practices" but testing is still King.

      for example i have a client who has a tuition centre in a specific country.All "tuition"specific keywords are all hyper competitive and she didnt have the budget to fight them from the start when she didnt know her numbers yet.

      there is an art and science to ppc, most know the science not the art

      what i did for the client was compile a list of schools in the immediate vicinity
      of her centre and bid on those names. i figured at least a significant amount of people searching for the school names would be parents , the decision makers and buyers for sending their children to tuition centres,not the kids.

      Suffice to say that campaign ran pretty well and filled up spots for her centre pretty quickly
    • Hi Anton543,

      Yes, sometimes "vague" or ambiguous keywords do convert.

      Generally, you can expect them to convert at a much lower rate than terms that are more specific and target searchers that are in the latter stages of the buying cycle.

      As always, you need to test each keyword that might be relevant and let the test data results guide your actions. Any keyword that has a positive ROI can be useful at increasing total profits for your ad campaigns, while simultaneously blocking those profits from reaching your competitors' bank accounts.
  • Think of what happens with specificity.

    You notice the 'BOLD' that happens?!

    The more 'boldness' your ad, the better.

    (This is tested, so that is why I'm saying it)

    This is what I do for my ads:

    Title: Keyword rich in a call to action.
    Description: Symbol in the beginning, then Keyword rich call to action, then keyword rich incentive.

    It's a biz'natch to do this PER KEYWORD unless you have a software or a spreadsheet that does it for you (the =concatenate formula is what I use cause it's faster) but it's effective!

    (example cell formula in 7search I've used =CONCATENATE({A2 } , " ** .05 ", " ** Buy ",{A2 }, " Now! **" ," 20% off retail. Buy ",{A2 }, " today while at these prices. Click now and save $$$ **")
  • No they don't convert. They conversion percentage will be many, many times lower for that type of vague keyword.

    Another problem is that having those keywords in your account, particularly for adwords, will lower your quality score. Your CTR for these words will be low, your initial quality score will be low, and you will have to start paying more and more for the same position.

    Sometimes you'll get one of the keyword not showing due to low ad rank which is bad for the account.

    It can be worth it sometimes if the general keyword is really cheap, but you usually won't get volume that way since you need a large amount of clicks to get a conversion.
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    Do vague ppc terms convert?

    Or does it have to be very specific terms you need to target? To use a completely hypothetical example, just say you were targeting an arthritic treatment, I'd imagine terms like 'arthrits' or 'arthritis pain' won't convert and you would rather target terms like 'arthritis pain relief', 'treatment for arthritis' . Those latter terms will likely be more expensive because they are more targeted to those who are probably looking to buy rather just look for information and so people will likely bid higher. At the same time, they will bring in less traffic because they get searched less.