Finding The Cheap Clicks (Part 2)
Google’s PPC program, like their core search engine, places a great deal of emphasis on advertisment relevance. When a web surfer types keywords into the search box, Google wants the ad that most closely matches that phrase to be shown nearest the top of the list - not just the ad bidding the highest amount of money. It mutiplies bid price by keyword relevance, and that means that by careful selection of your keywords, it is possible to be placed above competitors and pay only 1 cent more than they are (Google doesn’t necessarily charge the maxium amount you bid, only enough to put you ahead).
There are three simple ways you can trump your competitors with your keyword selection:
1. Longer phrases. There are huge numbers of people bidding on a loose term like “mortgage broker”, but fewer people bidding on a tighter phrase like “mortgage broker in texas”. If a searcher types “mortgage broker in texas” into Google, and you have that phrase in your keyword list, your ad will be deemed more relevant than anyone just using “mortgage broker” in their own list - which means a cheaper click for you! Of course, there are fewer searches for mortgage brokers specifically in Texas than for mortgage brokers in general, so it’s necessary to build a large list of similar keyphrases targetting many locations.
