To be very honest, even the Google Adwords Keyword Tool (GAKT) which is used by majority of the people in the world for keyword research is pretty skewed when it comes to search volumes for a given niche.

If in your niche you find good relevant keywords that have low search volumes (particularly low local search volumes specific to your country), you would still be well off setting up campaigns once you have done thorough keyword research and organized the keywords into categories and sub-categories.

You are best off starting with phrase and exact match for a tightly knit group of relevant and closely related keywords, have a relevant ad copy with a benefit and good call to action and a very focused and relevant landing page in sync with the keywords used to trigger the ad. Link your Adwords account to your Google Analytics account and have a look at the keywords which pull in users that spend a healthy amount of time on your site.

If you start conservatively on a limited daily budget, you can monitor your campaign for 2 to 3 months and you will see a clear pattern of which keywords are attracting targeted users to your site through clicks on your ads. Also look at the conversion rate and cost/conversion of each keyword (you must install Adwords conversion code for this).

Once you have identified the right keywords (and hence categories/sub-categories), you can then fine tune your campaigns further to take them to the next level. Hope this helps.

Selecting Keywords For PPC is totally depends upon Niche! If you have low volume niche you can use nil global and local search volume keywords, As Far as Selecting Keyword Match Type is concerned; Focused on all match types rather then using broad based keywords in your ad groups!

Google keyword search is the best tool to use, its free. Most of the other paid keyword search tools available take data from google searches anyway.

Sherlyne, welcome to the wild, wacky, and wonderful world of PPC

Here are some tips for starters:

* Use the Google Keyword Tool and/or another preferred keyword tool, to find the keywords most closely related to what you want to promote with PPC.

Worry less about volume search volume than about relevance. After all, what good is a high volume keyword if unrelated to what you're promoting? That will just frustrate visitors, hurt your avg. CTR, inflate your avg CPC, and waste your money.

* Since regular broad match is often TOO B-R-O-A-D, with our clients we avoid standard broad match altogether and focus on modified broad match, along with phrase and exact match.

* Make sure you have Adwords conversion tracking, and/or Google Analytics conversion goal tracking, in place. I recommend both.

* If promoting affiliate programs, conversion tracking can be more challenging. Give priority to affiliate programs and networks that offer tracking capabilities, such as Clickbank, CJ, etc., which allow passing a tracking ID in affiliate links. Some also permit adding conversion tracking code to their confirmation thank you pages.

* Start bidding on the most relevant keywords you can find, and start driving traffic to your site. Even after starting a PPC campaign, keyword research is not done, but an ongoing process.

* Use Adwords keywords reports, as well as Google Analytics on your site, to find the actual search terms people are using to find your site / ads, to expand your keywords.

* In your tracking efforts, look out for keywords that convert and give them priority. Conversely, look out for keywords that don't convert, and that don't assist conversions (research Adwords Search Funnels for more info on this). Adjust keyword bids and budgets up or down, or delete/pause them, according to performance after sufficient testing.

* Be sure to use negative keywords, and continually add more as you find them. Be careful in this or you'll also weed out relevant search queries.

* Ideally, test and track your keywords, ads, and landing pages. If not willing to continue doing this, don't expect stellar PPC results.

Marty Foley ~ Traffic and Conversion Mad Scientist

Great advice above.

It's true though, never rely on their numbers in the keyword tool as they're rarely accurate.

+100 for what Marty said...that is a very similar strategy that I use.