Pay Per Click Search Engines

Good keywords and key phrases are the foundation of search engine marketing. Great keywords and key phrases can make or break a pay per click (PPC) campaign.

Successful (and profitable) PPC campaigns begin with great keywords. Finding those profitable keywords is always a challenge, but even more so with PPC because your competition is searching for those nuggets just as hard as you are.    

It's time to find those untapped gems by working smarter, not harder.  Here are several keyword brainstorming methods that just may help you turn your keyword list into keyword gold.

Think Like Your Customer. 

I'm sure you've heard of this technique and quickly dismissed it. Why? Because after all the time you've spent developing your product or researching your niche, you feel as if you know exactly who your customer is. And, if you've done your homework, you're right. But can you think like your potential customer when they sit down at a search engine?

Don't be too quick to assume that you can. Ask employees, friends, relatives, strangers on the street, what words they would type in to find your niche. You just might be surprised at some of the related keywords that quickly appear. And some of those related keywords might be virtually untapped.

Think Beside The Box.  

Lateral thinking is good, but taking it one step further and going horizontal will help you find even more keywords. You know your niche inside and out and are familiar with the “buzz words” and terminology. Don't assume your potential customer knows or uses those words.

For example, someone purchasing a home would need a loan for their home. If this was your niche, perhaps you are accustomed to calling this a mortgage. Certainly you would want to include keywords using this word, but you might also consider that a potential customer may refer to this as a “home loan,” “real estate loan,” or even “mortgage loan.”

Try to think of all the different ways and combinations.

Do Your Own Search. 

Do a search for what you feel is the most relevant keyword in your niche. Pay close attention to any related keywords that appear in the search results. This can be very useful to expanding your keyword list. Using a thesaurus is another excellent way to find related keywords you might otherwise miss.

Use Keyword Suggestion Tools. 

Once you've compiled a brainstorming keyword list using the methods above, it is always a good idea to take your main keywords and run them through keyword suggestion tools. This will help you come up with keyword phrases and variations that would be difficult to come up with any other way. 

Your list of good keywords should be growing significantly after following these steps. However, despite all your brainstorming and the suggestion tools mentioned above, for a complete list of related keywords that are still untapped, the keyword research tool at Keyword Discovery cannot be overlooked. Not only is it easy to use but it quickly returns  potential keyword suggestions that other services just do not provide. If you want the best chance for locating the most relevant and profitable keywords, it should be included in your brainstorming sessions.

Hopefully the above methods will have your keyword brainstorming sessions producing lists of great keywords and phrases for your PPC campaigns. Think like your customer, think beside the box and use keyword suggestion tools such as Keyword Discovery to make certain you find the keywords to make your PPC campaign successful. Happy searching!