Google AdWords™ For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Finding New Keywords

According to Google, approximately one-half of all searches are brand new — that is, no one has ever typed them before in the history of Google. So when you're building your campaign, how can you determine all the possible keywords? You can't, from the start. Rather, you continually mine your campaign data and other sources, looking for new keywords to include.

Google gives you two internal tools to find new ideas based on your existing campaigns: the actual search terms your visitors use prior to clicking your ad and lists of keyword suggestions that Google terms “opportunities.”

Actual search terms

For every phrase-match and broad-match keyword in your account, your ad is shown for many different search term combinations based on your keyword. You can see the actual search terms within your Google account if you know where to look (and yes, we're about to tell you).

Use this list to find new keywords and exclude irrelevant terms by adding them as negatives. To review your search terms:

1. Navigate to the Keywords tab.
2. Select a desired date range.
   1. Click the down-arrow next to the current date range.
   2. Choose an option from the drop-down list, or select Custom Date Range and then use the calendar function to select start and end dates manually.

   If you're doing this for the first time, you can start with All Time, as shown in Figure 11-3. When you get into the ...