The key to running a successful PPC campaign is to target your advertising to those customers who are most likely to buy your products and your services.In this regard, proper keyword research is critical.
PPC advertising has often been compared to fishing, just like fishing, you must use the right bait, at the right time to catch the right kind of fish. For example, it’s important to understand that the majority of users probably will not search on your company name (unless you have very high brand-awareness, i.e, "Best Buy", "Fed-Ex", "Sharper Image", etc).
They will likely use more general terms to find what they are looking for. Therefore you must select keywords and key phrases that are very specific to your products. Generally it is better to use 2 or 3 word terms to more specifically define your advertisements to insure that those who click on your advertisement are seeking your product.
Please note the example below:
Let’s examine the keywords in the chart above:
Clothing – Within the last 30 days, 68 MILLION searches were run on google for the keyword “Clothing”. While this is obviously a very popular keyword, we do not know exactly what type of clothing the user is looking for. Are they looking for men’s clothing or women’s clothing? Dress clothes or work clothes? If your company only sells work clothing, you may get a large number of clicks on your advertisement; however it is possible that many of these visitors may be looking for types of clothing that you do not sell. You just spent a boat-load of money driving the wrong visitor to your website.
Women’s Clothing – Within the last 30 days, 1.5 MILLION searches were run for the key phrase “Women’s Clothing”. While this term is more somewhat more defined (though not as popular as the general “Clothing” keyword) it is reasonably well-targeted. If your company sells Women’s Clothing, this might be a good keyword to advertise.
Women’s Casual Clothing – Within the last 30 days, approximately 33,100 searches were run for the key phrase “Women’s Casual Clothing”. Again, this term is even more defined and even though there are a smaller number of searches, it is extremely well focused. Now you're fishing with the right kind of bait!