ouh_desire / ShutterstockThe following excerpt is from Perry Marshall, Mike Rhodes and Bryan Todd’s book Ultimate Guide to Google AdWords. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | IndieBound
Nearly everything we do online begins with a search. And that involves thinking up the best phrase that represents the problem we’re trying to solve or the question we’re trying to answer. This is why keyword research is a step in PPC strategy that you cannot skip.
Let’s say you run a website that sells the latest tablet computers. Imagine yourself in the shoes of someone who’s about to search for tablets and places to buy them. What keywords would they type in? Too many business owners try to create a conversation in the mind of their customers when what they should really be doing is figuring out the conversation that’s already there. Stepping in to help customers get where they already want to go and do what they already want to do is where true PPC magic happens.
How to find the most profitable keywords
By now, you’ve likely figured out that once you start trying to predict the keywords your customers are using, you’re going to end up with a very, very long list.
Not to worry. The longer your list of keywords, the wider the array of customers you’ll reach. Let’s start by narrowing things down a little bit. You can find the audience that’s most interested in your product or service by understanding the three major groups of online searchers:
1. Informational searchers are looking for general information on a topic. It’s usually hard to tell exactly what each person is looking for. One person might be doing research for a term paper. Another person might be killing time waiting for a bus. The vast majority of this group aren’t ready to buy and probably never will be.
2. Comparison searchers are definitely interested in your product, but they’re still at the research stage, checking out reviews and comparing prices. Some folks from this group will be ready to buy in a matter…
