Selecting your keywords
There are over 1million words in the English language so use as many as possible. Consider all of the searches a potential customer might attempt, that will guide them to your ad.
If you are promoting candles, do not limit your keywords to candle, candles, etc. Expand your territory to users searching for interior design, lighting my home, and/or energy efficient light.
Expanding your keywords may also stop bidding wars. The ad space for candles may be extremely saturated, which increases your cost per click charge and likely decreases your chances of being clicked.
A valuable technique to increase your AdWords keyword awareness is to think like your customer. What circumstances might bring someone to your ad about dog training collars? Don't limit yourself to : dog training, dog collars, dog accessories, and the like. Some off the beaten path searches may be:
my dog bit the neighbor, how do I get my dog to stop jumping, obedience school
Someone looking for dog obedience school may see your ad and be compelled to give your training collar a try.
Remember, real customers in an everyday situation are doing the Google Search. Use the everyday terms and expressions they would use. Industry buzzwords are not only pricey but also limit your customers to those who use them. Expand your territory. Increase your market.
Look up your competitors' keywords to get ideas of some words you might have missed. Look at the websites of other Affiliates of your Merchant and Competitors of your Merchant. Click on "view" and then click on "source." This shows you the HTML code for their webpage. Look for the meta keywords near the top. For example, here are the keywords on Rei.com's page:
<meta name = "Keywords" content = "rei, rei.com, outdoor gear, camping, hiking, gear, backpacking, back packs, climbing gear, skis, snowboards, snow boards, snow shoes, the north face, travel, outdoors, adventure, tents, stoves, water filters, sleeping bag, parka, camping equipment">.
Spelling Mistakes
One successful technique for keeping cost per click low and profit margins high is using Spelling Mistakes. Find an Affiliate Program with high commissions. Then research keywords associated with the product. Make a list of keywords that get the most traffic and check them with Wordtracker (Overture's Maxbid Tool works as well). You will find that these keywords are usually expensive - so experiment with them!
Look for common misspellings of the word. For example, I run some ads that go to REI - the online sporting goods store. The word skis costs 95 cents but the misspelling skiis only costs 5 cents and gets a lot of traffic every month. Spend some time searching and you will find dozens of common misspellings for your target keywords.
Once you have found the misspelled target keywords and phrases you want to use; create an ad and bid 5cents for your keywords and phrases. The end result is that you pay only 5 cents for the click through and make a handsome profit. Not bad for a few hours of work.
As illustrated through the misspelling examples above, it is possible to profit in the highly saturated, highly competitive areas by finding keywords, phrases, and misspellings that have been missed, ignored or unrealized.
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