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How many keywords should an AdWords campaign have to be successful? Unfortunately the answer to that question depends on the campaign. It's like asking how much string is needed to secure a package; the answer depends on how large the package. Don't focus on the number of keywords, instead consider the amount of ideas the keywords reflect. An Ad Group will have keywords that convey a similar idea and can contain as few as 10 to as many as 80 keywords.
This site advertises for a few of the better keyword tools available: Keyword Elite and WordTracker,. All are extremely helpful in finding and grouping keywords for the product or service you offer.
Sorting keywords into Ad Groups has a couple of advantages. One is that an Ad Group uses the same maximum cost-per-click (CPC). Second, Ad Groups simplifies the managing of hundreds or thousands of keywords. Based on this, a large campaign could consist of 50 to 100 Ad Groups since the correlate to 50 or 100 ideas.
Google suggest a maximum of 25 campaigns with no more than 100 Ad Groups per campaign. Each Ad Group should have a maximum of 750 keywords with a maximum of 2000 keywords per campaign and no ore than 50,000 keywords per AdWords account. The above are only guidelines and many serious AdWords users report in excess of 60 simultaneous campaigns.
Google AdWords is like a casino in Vegas. Most of the people playing the Google game are clueless and the "house" is the only one making money. Unlike Vegas, Google isn't trying to take your money, its just that most people ignorantly give it to them because they don't have a clue as to how to setup profitable campaigns with the correct keywords.
 Remember, specific keywords attract a qualified visitor. If you are running a cleaning service in Pittsburgh you might, at first, choose keywords like: cleaning service, residential cleaning, commercial cleaning, home cleaning service, etc. However, those keywords will produce a response to keyword searches all over the country and unless you are prepared to travel, they don't make much sense for you to use. Make sure your keywords convey the idea of the service or product you are offering.
Using keyword phrases, keywords consisting of several words, to be more specific. Studies have shown that users enter a two-word search term more than any other followed by a single word then a triple word phrase then a four-word phrase. Most searches are done with keyword phrases so making use of this behavior makes the most sense. Using a keyword phrase narrows your audience and has a better chance of delivering a qualified visitor to your site.
Be careful not to waste your time with keywords that probably will never be employed in a search. The keyword phrase "quality inexpensive residential cleaning Pittsburgh suburbs" is very specific and would most assuredly attract a qualified visitor... if anyone were to ever type that. For this reason don't overdo it by bidding on keywords that are so specific nobody will ever use them.
 Tools that help find keywords not only help you to discover keywords but they can also tell you how many people have searched for that keyword in the past and some even show trends for that keyword. Using these tools can help you focus in on keywords that are in demand but won't break your budget because they are in so much demand that the CPC is so high. Spend the time to find the keywords that are less obvious. These keywords will be less expensive and will generally provide you with a more targeted audience and a qualified visitor.
Google's own free keyword tool is a fast and convenient way to add keywords to your campaign. However, it stands to reason that if most AdWords users use it, it naturally will have a higher bid associated with that keyword since more people are using the same number of limited keywords. |
