Your PPC campaign will only be as successful as the keywords you choose.
Choosing the right keywords connects you with customers actively searching for your services. Wrong keywords quickly drain your budget.
Most business owners struggle with too many keyword options. With thousands available, how do you pick the best for your budget?
Choosing the right keywords is about knowing your customers. What search terms do they use? What problems do they want solved? Are they buying or just browsing?
Let’s discuss how to build a keyword strategy that attracts the right people at the right time.
What is a PPC “Keyword”?
A keyword is what potential customers type into search engines to find businesses like yours. In PPC, you bid on keywords so your ads appear when people search for them.
For example, if you offer dental services and you’re based in Raleigh, North Carolina, you might bid on “cosmetic dentist in Raleigh” or “teeth whitening Raleigh, NC”. When someone searches for these phrases, your ad can appear at the top of their search results.
The most important thing to remember about keywords is to select those that match your customer’s intent. It’s not just about getting clicks—it’s about getting the right clicks from people who are likely to become your customers.
The Three Types of Keywords You Need to Know
Understanding the different types of keywords will help you build a more effective strategy.
Broad keywords terms with high search volume, single words, or short phrases. An example would be a lawyer bidding on “personal injury lawyer.” These keywords would get impressions, but would be expensive and not targeted.
Specific keywords are more detailed phrases with clear intent, showing exactly what the searcher wants. “Car accident lawyer no win no fee” signals a clear problem and service need.
Local keywords include a location, such as “personal injury lawyer Vero Beach, FL.” These are people in our area who are ready to find a .
Each keyword type has a purpose. Broad keywords offer search volume, but specific and local keywords usually convert better for small businesses. Lower volume often means higher conversion.
Your Customers Are Your Best Source of Keywords
To find good keywords, listen to your customers. Daily customer interactions can spark many keyword ideas for your PPC campaigns.
Whether in person, via email, on the phone, or in a review, pay attention to the language your customers use. The terminology they use will typically differ from the jargon commonly used in your industry. A customer might say, “My toilet won’t stop running,” while a plumber might call it “toilet flapper repair.” Guess which phrase your customers are typing into Google?
Use customer phrases in your PPC campaigns. These usually outperform industry jargon because they match how real people search for your business.
Start collecting these phrases now. Keep a record of the exact words customers use to describe their problems. These will become your best keywords.
Learning from Competitors and Using Keyword Tools
You don’t need to start from scratch. Competitors have already defined some valuable keywords, and tools can help you find high-performing options.
Research competitor keywords and ad copy. Competitive intelligence can reveal overlooked opportunities.
Use keyword tools to expand your list and gauge search volume. Google’s Keyword Planner shows search data, suggestions, and cost estimates for budget planning.
Paid tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or SpyFu offer deeper insight into competitors’ strategies and keyword opportunities. See which keywords drive traffic to competitors.
The key is finding the right balance. High-volume keywords are tempting, but they’re also highly competitive and expensive. Often, you’ll get better results by targeting longer, more specific phrases with lower search volume but higher intent and lower cost-per-click. A plumber might skip the expensive “plumber” keyword in favor of more affordable options like “emergency water heater repair near me” or “24-hour plumbing service [your city].”
Why You Need to Include Negative Keywords
Negative keywords might sound counterintuitive, but they’re an essential part of any successful PPC campaign. A negative keyword helps prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches, saving you budget and improving the overall performance of your campaigns.
You can use negative keywords as filters. They let Google know what not to show, protecting your budget from wasted clicks.
Let’s look at a practical example. Imagine you own a luxury watch brand. Your products are priced at a premium, starting at several thousand dollars. You would want to exclude words such as “cheap,” “free,” “repair,” or “battery replacement” from your campaigns. Why? Because people searching for “cheap watches” or “free watch giveaway” are not your target customers. They’re looking for something completely different than what you offer.
The same principle applies to most businesses. A high-end restaurant might exclude “fast food” or “delivery.” A professional service excludes “DIY” or “how to.” A new car dealer excludes “used” or “salvage.”
Building a solid negative keyword list takes time, but it’s totally worth the effort. Get started brainstorming terms related to what you do, but not to your specific offering. As your campaign progresses, take time to review your search terms report to identify new negative keywords to add. This ongoing effort will steadily improve your campaign’s efficiency and protect your advertising budget.
Measuring and Improving Keyword Performance
Launching your PPC campaign is just the start. Ongoing monitoring and improvement ensure efficient spending and maximize your return.
With keywords, you’ll want to track several key metrics. Cost per click tells you how much you pay each time someone clicks your ad for a specific keyword. Conversion rate shows the percentage of clicks that turn into actual customers or leads. Cost per acquisition (CPA) reveals the total amount you spend to acquire each new customer through a particular keyword.
Here’s a watch for keywords with high impressions, high cost-per-click, and few conversions. These waste money and should be replaced or removed. On the flip side, keywords with strong conversion rates and reasonable cost per acquisition deserve more of your budget. These are your winners; consider increasing your bids on them to capture even more qualified traffic.
Review and adjust your keyword strategy regularly. Set weekly or biweekly times to review data, find trends, and test new keywords. Treat PPC as ongoing optimization, not “set and forget. What works when you get started might not work as well a month or so from now. Trends change constantly when it comes to PPC, let alone the fact that competitors are making adjustments too, and let’s not forget that seasonal factors come into play, especially in a location like ours. Staying on top of this takes time, but it’s worth it.