Understanding Optimizing Spend in SEM

Bad Keyword! Bad!

How to recognize what wasteful pay per click spending really is. We hear so much about getting rid of those keywords that are not performing, but are we sure we should get rid of them? There may be other causes to a lower converting keyword than it is just a “bad” keyword. First of all does the keyword relate to your business, your market, & vertical? Is it associated to an ad group that has good ads to support it? Next does the keyword have decent enough query volume to bring in any clicks at all, & if so are your competitors over bidding the keyword.

If all of those things are in check, and you believe this keyword is still bad for you, then what about the landing page that visitor’s first land on from the click. Does your landing page relate well to the keyword & the ad? Does the landing page have a clear direction to the visitor so they can follow a path or take an action? Sometimes you can have a great keyword that you’re not nurturing well enough. However, if you know for 100% certainty through analytics and testing that you have done all of the above very well, then most likely you have a keyword that should go in “time out”.