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Keyword Research & Negative KeywordsThe Do’s and Don’ts You Need to Know About
MarketingProfs Digital Marketing Mixer, Scottsdale, October 22, 2008
Ken JurinaPresident, Epiar Inc.www.epiar.com
Who is Epiar?• Founded in 2002, International Experts in SEO/SEM.
• SEO/SEM Services Driven by Internet Marketing Research & Proprietary Applications.
• Have Spoken at International Online Marketing Conferences Since 2001
• International Clients Include SME to Microsoft.
• 11th Fastest Growing Company In Alberta (AB Venture Feb ‘07).
• 2007 Business Owner of the Year Award (Edm, AB ‘07).
• Saving Companies 20% to 40% on their PPC Spend!
Presentation Agenda
• Keywords Research
– To Do’s & Do Nots, Tools, Techniques and Tips
• Keyword SEO Implementation
– Proper On-Site Optimization
• Advanced PPC: 10,000 Negative Keywords
– Maximizing the Positive Effect of Negative Keywords
Keyword ResearchTo Do’s & Do Nots, Tools, Techniques and Tips
“If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.”
- David Ogilvy
Keyword Research - Agenda
1. Don’t Assume
2. Do Mine Multiple Keyword Sources
3. Don’t Just Depend on Tools
4. Do Determine Keyword Difficulty
5. Do Think Beyond SEO/SEM
6. Don’t Be Greedy (Keyword Theme)
DON’T: Assume
…that you know the correct keywords to optimize your site.
• Instead discover how your target market searches for your products/services.
– You want customers not visitors to your site
• If you fail in determining the correct keywords to optimize your website with all your other SEO efforts may be in vein.
Keyword Research - what it should be…
• Data mine all possible keyword search behavior around your online offering
• Target hundreds of thousands of phrases from multiple sources.
• Eliminate skewed results including inconsistencies, non-seasonal irregularities and obvious data flaws.
• Identify core relevance/irrelevance of phrases by demographic, geographic, usage & other defining target market parameters.
• Identify opportunities for both search and other marketing media...
Keyword Research - what it should be…
Effective Keyword Research is:
Meaning!
How Do My Customers Describe my Product or Service?
DO: Mine Multiple Keyword Sources
• Don’t just depend on one keyword source!
•Eliminate any skewed results in your data
•Correct for rank-checking distortions
•Look for realistic phrase variations in your data
– Sort sources alphabetically in Excel
•Rarely is long tail searched more than the head
•Use common sense!
DO: Mine Multiple Keyword Sources
Red = in only one Datasource Note: Huge # Differences
Google Insights for Search
• Comparative Data on Phrases• Identify phrases by topic/brand/category you want to rank on
•Breakout tool shows fast rising phrases on a topic
•Geo target where to sell your products
• Identify product seasonality
• Identify if news stories relate to spikes in searches
• Leverage Top 100 Google “Hot” Trends•Updated multiple times/day
•Past history helps determine product popularity
Google Insights for Search
Google Insights for Search
Google Insights for Search
Google Insights for Search
Keyword Research Tools
• WordTracker• Yahoo Panama Keyword Tool• Google Keyword Tool• MSN Keyword Forecast• Trellian Keyword Discovery• Google Webmaster Tools• Wordze
• Google Suggest• Google Traffic Estimator• Google Trends• Hitwise• NicheBOT• SEO Book Keyword Tool• GoodKeywords.com
Don’t: Just Depend on Tools
• Track phrases being searched within your internal site search (Do you have one?)
• Mine your log files (split organic and paid phrases)– Analytics? Which paid phrases convert, are you ranking organically?
• PPC broad match “head” of phrase to identify “tail”– Eg: “women’s shoes”, identifies “Jimmy Choo classy women’s shoes”
• Talk to your Front Line Employees– What phrases in questions are being used/asked?
DO: Determine Keyword Difficulty• Set yourself up for success☺
– Manage expectations on what phrases you can win on!
Search in Google for:– womens shoes 12,300,000 (From Google)
– “womens shoes” 1,920,000
– allintitle: womens shoes 381,000
– allintitle: “womens shoes” 105,000
– allinurl: “womens shoes” 99,400
– allinanchor: “womens shoes” 61,200
• SEOmoz.org Keyword Difficulty Tool
• We Build Pages “Cool SEO Tool”
• KEI from Trellian or Wordtracker
SEOmoz.org - Keyword Difficulty Tool
We Build Pages
Trellian - Keyword Effectiveness Indicator
Trellian - Historical Data
Trellian - Competitive Intelligence
DO: Think Beyond SEO/SEMIdentify New Opportunities via Keyword Research
• Business Research– Product Research
– Brand Equity
– Competitive Intelligence
– New Market & Product Opportunity Identification
– Consumer Feedback
• Social Research– Political Topics
– Public Issues
– Celebrity Brand
Product Segmentation
Top 15 Topics in Online Searches Surrounding:
Televisions
What Brands to Sell?
Top 15 Topics in Online
Searches Surrounding:
Television Brands
Get New Product Ideas
Top 15 Topics in Online
Searches Surrounding:
Wholesale Candles
Consumer Feedback
Top 15 Topics in Online Searches
Surrounding:
Auto Brands: EGR & PCV Valves
Consumer Feedback
Top 15 Topics in Online Searches Surrounding:
Ford: EGR & PCV Valves
DON’T: Be Greedy
• Yay! You’ve got your keywords… no, don’t go stuffing them everywhere on your site.
• Isolate targeted phrase groups
– Select and optimize 2-3 phrases per page
•Results in targeted traffic to targeted pages = $$$
– Very competitive phrase? Optimize that one phrase on one page…don’t keyword stuff.
Keyword SEO ImplementationProper On-Site Optimization
“Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.”- David Star Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair
Keywords Theme My Pages? Where?• Inserts Keywords in Your Website Content & Architecture:
• Page title tags
• Headers (H1,H2 tags)
• Anchor text
• META keywords & descriptions
• URL structure
• Internal linking
• 301 redirection
• Robots.txt
Use Keywords In Your Page Title Tag
META Description & META Keywords
META Description & META Keywords
Use Headers With Keywords In Them
ALT Text that’s Keyword Rich
Use Keywords in Your URL
Keywords in Anchor Text Links
Keywords in Internal Links
Site Map: Make sure you have one!
Measure & Analyze Keyword Success
• Setup website analytics and monitor your success!!
• What phrases are bringing you traffic organically?
• Are the phrases targeted?
• Are visitors being sent to targeted pages?
• Subtract untargeted phrase traffic from total traffic
• Conversation goals setup? What keywords convert?
Advanced PPC: 10,000 Negative KeywordsMaximizing the Positive Effect of Negative Keywords
“We have too many high sounding words and too few actions that correspond with them.”- Abigail Adams, First Lady alongside John Adams
Hold your hand up if your company is currently doing PPC.
(Come on audience participation can be fun…and there’s a point.)
Please keep your hand up if…
You use any Negative Keywords in your PPC campaign.
Please keep your hand up if…
You have 101 to 500 Negative Keywords in your PPC campaign.
Please keep your hand up if…
You have 501 to 1000 Negative Keywords in your PPC campaign.
Please keep your hand up if…
You have 1001 or more Negative Keywords in your PPC campaign.
100 vs 1000 vs 10000 NKW• How many negative keywords (NKW) do you currently use? Are they the best ones? How much trash is your current list filtering out? How much money wasted ad spend could be saved with an improved list of negative keywords?
What Exactly Are Negative Keywords?• Negative terms existing in targeted search phrases
• Triggers search engines to display your ads
•Negative keywords “free”, “cheap” instructs search engines to NOT display your ad when searchers use those terms
• Negative keywords used with exact/phrase/broad match
•Basic structure of buying and targeting ads in paid search
•Do not use negative keywords with exact match option only
•Use Negative Keywords on the Content Networks
• Great for filtering out irrelevant queries
•Irrelevant clicks, cost money but won’t lead to conversions
•Irrelevant impressions - >lower CTR & Google Quality Score)
What Makes a Keyword “Negative”?• Reasons to make a keyword negative are:
– Zero conversions
– Expensive conversions
– Expensive clicks
– Limited budget
– Bad brand association
– Not relevant for the user
– Quality improvements
– Lowering costs
– And various other reasons…Source: www.semvironment.com
Silly Examples of Negative Keywords
Silly Examples of Negative Keywords
Real Examples of Negative Keywords
Real Examples of Negative Keywords
Impact of Maximized NKW List• A positive spiral of increased benefits forms when using maximized negative keywords:
Results from Advanced NKW? The Ups…• With a prioritized list of top 10,000 negative keywords, a huge positive effect has been measured in a variety of PPC metrics and campaigns.
• The “Ups”:
– CTR 20-100%
– Average time on site 10-50%
– Page views per visit 10-50%
– Conversion rate 20-40%
– Profit 10-40%
Results from Advanced NKW? The Downs:• The “Downs”:
– Impressions 30-50%
– Bounce rate 10-50%
– Cost per sale 15-25%
– Wasted ad spend 10-40%
• Results vary in their specific effects, but always result in a significant overall improvement!
How to Implement NKW into Campaign?
NKW Limits Vary from SE to SE• Google
– 10,000 NKW in Ad Campaign or 5,000 at Ad Group level
•Click here on how to setup NKW in Google
• Yahoo! (called “Excluded” words)
– 250 NKW keywords at Ad Campaign or Ad Group Level
•Singular term covers plural as well (ie: Host or Hosts)
•Click here on how to setup NKW in Yahoo!
• MSN
– 1024 character including spaces and commas
•Campaign, ad group or keyword level
• Click here on how to setup NKW in Microsoft!
NKW & Phrase Matching Options• Pros and cons of different bid types
– Exact match is great for targeting specific terms, but is cumbersome and inadequate for reaching the long tail
– Combined with phrase and broad match, negative keywords allow advertising on the long tail without showing your ads on irrelevant search phrases
– Ultimately, a combination of exact, phrase, broad, and maximized negative keywords is the best way to target paid search
– Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in your ads/landing pages? NKW filter out bad ad impressions/traffic.
How Do I Create NKW Lists?• Use intuition/internal brainstorming sessions & thesaurus
• Set goals in analytics & split paid & organic traffic
• Scan through past referring phrases for phrases that did not convert, had high bounce rates, or “were trash”
• Google Search Query Performance Report– Reports Tab - > Create Report:
– Level of Detail: Ad; Unit of Time: Summary; Date Range: Yesterday (if daily activity); Campaigns and Ad Groups: All.
– Advanced Setting: Campaign, Ad Group, Ad ID, Search Query, Search Query Match Type, Clicks and Conversions
Identify NKW Via Tools• Search Suggest: Google, Yahoo!, or Ask
• Google’s Keyword Suggestion Tool
– Select the “use synonyms” checkbox
• Microsoft AdLabs - find mutations, groups…and more
• Keyword Discovery
• WordTracker
Case Study 1: Situation
Clearhaven Center www.clearhavencenter.com
• The Situation:
– Niche service
•drug/alcohol rehab
•expensive services
– 4+ year mature Google Adwords account with complex use of exact, phrase, and broad match bids
– Account had less than 100 negative keyword
– Self-managed account
Case Study 1: Results
• Results after implementing negative keywords list:
– CTR up 10%-30%, improved user interaction with the site, and increased # of phone calls
“ The decrease in bounce rate alone dropped our Adwords
cost by over 10%. Click though rate and ad impressions improved by 10 – 30% as well, all by simply eliminating our ads being displayed on the worst search phrases.
This is a no brainer.”- Terry Orsten, Owner Clearhaven Center
Case Study 2: Situation
Consult Sales, Inc. www.sterlingsatellite.com
• The Situation:
– Lead generation for satellite TV subscriptions
– 6 year established complex Adwords campaign including exact, phrase, and broad match bids
– Account already used over 1100 negative keywords developed over several years
– Account managed by 3 internal staff
Case Study 2: Results
• Results after implementing negative keywords list:
– Visits down 50% – Pages/visit up 38%
– Bounce rate down 52% – Time on site up 36%
– Cost per sale down 23% – Profit up 40%
– Saved $27,000+ monthly on Google PPC ad spend
“ The bottom line is that in the first 7 weeks we paid for the
Negative Keywords investment, and increased our profits by
over 40%. You can’t argue with that! ”– Jeff Hughes, President Consult Sales, Inc.
Case Study 3: Situation
Vintage Tub & Bath www.vintagetub.com
• The Situation:
– Top 500 Internet Retailer (#420 in 2008)
– Established business with a complex Adwords campaign including exact, phrase, broad, and negative match bids
– Account managers thought, “…there’s no way some list of 10,000 negative keywords will have any impact on ouraccount. Our Adwords account is already totally pimped out.”
– Managed by in-house team of 4 and Google reps assistance
Case Study 3: Results
• Results After Implementing Epiar NKW List:
– PPC spend decreased by 20%
•Top 500 Retailer thought they had their advertising at peak efficiency but hadn’t 100% maximized their negative keywords strategy and still saved 20%.
“ Negative Keywords saved us 20% of our PPC spend while
maintaining the same sales volume. We love the aggressive
and comprehensive methodology! ”- Allan Dick, President Vintage Tub & Bath
Negative Keywords Summary• Negative keywords are a relatively simple concept
• Negative keywords should be an important part of everypaid search campaign
• When used with maximum quality and quantity of words (ideally the top 10,000 words), dramatic results can follow
• If you’re looking for low-hanging fruit, this is it
• In the words of satisfied clients, “its a no-brainer”
Ken Jurina President, Epiar Inc.
Presentation online at:www.epiar.com/seo-presentations
Thank You!
2008 Marketing ProfsDigital Marketing Mixer
Mike FeimanDirector of Marketing
PoolDawg.comOctober 22, 2008
The PoolDawg Process
� Products› Product Names› Brand Names› Identifying Codes/SKU/Model Numbers
� Industry Terms› General and specific terms and phrases related to
pool and billiards.
� Internal Search› What terms are our customers using to search within
PoolDawg?
� Competitive Analysis› What terms are our competitors focusing on that
are relevant to our site?
Choosing Our Keywords
2006 2007 2008
Google Top 10 34 63 103
Google Top 20 61 97 119
Yahoo Top 10 43 81 101
Yahoo Top 20 66 99 124
PoolDawg Natural Rankings(150 Key Terms Tracked)
� 49% of PoolDawg’s Traffic Generated
From Natural Search
� Top 5 Rankings in Yahoo for 80 of our Top 100 terms
� Top 10 Rankings in Google for 85 of our Top 100 terms
PoolDawg’s Traffic Breakdown
PPC Campaign Details
Key Campaign Metrics
� Never Chase Bids
� Avoid the Urge to Follow the Leader
� Don’t Advertise on Words Just Because You Think You “Have To”
� Never Be Afraid to Pull an Ad
� Don’t Ever Take Your Eye off the ROI
� Don’t “Set It and Forget It”
Pay Per Click Pitfalls
� Steps to Measuring and Removing Underperforming Keywords
› Is the cost per conversion above our pain threshold?
› Is the keyword in the right category?
› Is the right ad showing with this keyword?
› Are we using the best landing page for this keyword?
› Are there any intangible reasons to keep the keyword?
Fish or Cut Bait?
� Content, Content, Content
� Write for the customer but keep search engines in mind
› Use targeted key words and phrases, but do so in a way that is palatable to your users.
› If you read your copy and it doesn’t sound right, you need to change it.
� Search Terms and Tag Clouds
� Blogging!
PoolDawg’s SEO Strategies
PoolDawg’s Blogs
� Creates a personality for our company and website
� Gives us a means to talk to our customers in a non-sales format
� Generates good will with our customers
� Generates traffic via SEO
› PoolDawg’s official blog is currently ranked # 1 for the term “billiards blog”
� It’s Free!
Why We Blog
Mike Feiman - PoolDawg.com
http://www.pooldawg.com
Questions and Answers