Google AdWords™ for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 8. Improving Your Campaigns through Keyword Management

In This Chapter

• Managing your keyword sales force

• Increasing relevance by tightening ad groups

• Saving and resuscitating keywords

• Avoiding overwhelm with the 80/20 rule

When you place an ad in the Yellow Pages, you can't change it until the next edition comes out. After the ad is in the Yellow Pages, your job is to answer the phone, take care of customers, and pay the electricity bill.

Your AdWords account, on the other hand, frequently needs changes and requires much more of your attention than a static advertisement. If you like metaphors, you can equate your AdWords account to auto maintenance. If you never change the oil, the engine will eventually die. However, with regular maintenance and tinkering, you can get it to a high-performance state over time — and keep it there. Your AdWords account demands more attention up front and less and less as time goes on.

In this chapter, you discover tactics for improving your AdWords campaign performance over time. I show you how to identify unprofitable keywords, and what you can try before you fire them. I help you improve CTR by grouping similar keywords and targeting your ads more tightly to those keywords. I divulge a strategy for resuscitating keywords rendered inactive because Google doesn't like them. Finally, I show you a triage system that allows you to focus your campaign management where it will bring the highest return.

Nurturing, Relocating, and Firing Keywords

Keywords ...