PPC keyword research: how to do it right
Article topics
- Is PPC keyword research different to SEO keyword research?
- How to get started with PPC keyword research
- The best PPC keyword research tools to use
- How to identify a good keyword
- Top tips for nailing your PPC keyword research
- PPC keyword research: Frequently asked questions
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a great way to rank for certain keywords quickly, without having to wait for your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts to take effect.
However, while PPC can get you speedy results, it’s still important to take the time to choose the right keywords to target.
We’ve put together this guide to help you identify the ideal keywords to use in your campaigns. Together we’ll take a look at the best tools to use, what factors to bear in mind when determining keywords, and the different types of keywords you can base your ads on. Need a PPC primer? Check out the ultimate guide to PPC advertising!
Is PPC keyword research different to SEO keyword research?
While keyword research for SEO and keyword research for PPC may look similar at first glance, they do have different focuses and goals.
SEO keyword research is a long-term strategy. The aim is to optimise your site for the right keywords, building up trust, authority, and credibility.
PPC keyword research is more short-term and focused on conversions. The aim is to choose keywords that encourage customers to buy as soon as possible.
When you run an eCommerce store, both types of keyword research are equally important.
While PPC and SEO keyword research work in different ways, they can still complement each other. For example, if you discover a PPC keyword that drives conversions, you can use it in your long-term SEO strategy.
How to get started with PPC keyword research
The best way to do efficient PPC keyword research is to start with a few ‘seed’ keywords. These are words and phrases you can expand upon to help you find more keywords.
Think about your industry, what you sell, and what keywords your customers use when talking about you. Looking at your emails, live chat logs, and social media messages is a great starting point.
If you’re stuck, you can also use AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to help you find seed keywords, although do modify the results to reflect your unique business offering.
Let’s say you operate an eCommerce store that sells gourmet food hampers. Your seed keywords could include:
- Luxury hampers
- Gourmet food and wine hampers
- Best gourmet food hampers
- Artisan hamper gifts
Once you have your seed keywords, you can refine them using a PPC keyword research tool.
The best PPC keyword research tools to use
Keyword research tools use existing PPC data to recommend additional keywords you can use in your campaigns. They also advise if the keywords you want to target will lead to a return on ad spend (ROAS) for your eCommerce business.
Some platforms are geared towards PPC, while some platforms specialise in SEO, but also offer PPC insights.
Google Ads Keyword Planner
Google Ads Keyword Planner is one of the best keyword research tools around – and it’s free with a Google Ads account.
You can enter your seed keywords or alternatively, enter the URL of your eCommerce website, and Google Ads Keyword Planner will suggest keywords based on your current site.
Google Ads Keyword Planner will then tell you:
- How many times a month people search for your keyword
- How likely the number of searches is going to change in the future
- How competitive the keyword is
- How much you can expect to bid
(We’ll explain more about what to look out for to find the perfect PPC keyword later.)
Other platforms have their own equivalent of Keyword Planner, which you can use to get insights into the best keywords to use. For example, Amazon offers Brand Analytics to businesses enrolled in Amazon’s Brand Registry, while Microsoft Advertising has its own Keyword Planner tool.
Semrush
While Semrush focuses on SEO, it does have a dedicated PPC keyword tool.
With this tool you can find related keywords, optimise your keyword lists to get the best results, and remove duplicate keywords that may negatively affect your campaigns. You can then upload your keywords directly to Google Ads to save time.
This tool is part of the advertising toolkit which costs from $99 (£73) a month, but you can get a free 7-day trial if you enter your credit card details.
Ahrefs
Like Semrush, Ahrefs is primarily an SEO tool, but it has dedicated PPC tools to help you find ad-specific keywords.
Ahrefs’ PPC tool focuses on identifying your competitors’ keywords so you can leapfrog them in the results. You can easily see how much they’re paying, as well as the ad copy that’s driving clicks.
Ahrefs costs from £83 a month. There isn’t a free trial, but there are free SEO tools you can use to get a feel for the platform, including Webmaster Tools.
AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic uses autocomplete data to gather results – trending words and phrases other people are searching for.
One of the good things about AnswerThePublic is that it doesn’t just gather information from Google, but Bing and Amazon too. Ideal if you use those PPC advertising platforms instead.
AnswerThePublic provides search volume and cost per click (CPC) data so you can see how specific keywords will fare in your ad campaigns.
You can carry out three free searches a day. The platform is very affordable and you can get a lifetime plan starting from £119.
Spyfu
Similar to Ahrefs, Spyfu’s dedicated PPC tool focuses on analysing your competitors’ ad campaigns. You can also use Spyfu’s ‘Kombat’ feature to discover keyword gaps – keywords your competitors aren’t using that you can capitalise on.
Spyfu costs from $33 (£24) a month, with a free trial.
How to identify a good keyword
Using a PPC keyword research tool will provide you with hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of keyword ideas.
However, quality is better than quantity. It’s far better to focus on a handful of highly relevant and targeted keywords than hundreds of irrelevant ones.
There are some criteria that can help you find the right keywords to target:
Search volume
This metric shows how many times people search for a particular keyword. The higher the search volume, the more popular it is.
Targeting keywords with a high search volume means your ad will be shown to more people. However, these keywords are typically more competitive, meaning they can cost more. There is also the risk that your ad may appear in front of people who aren’t your target audience, leading to wasted clicks.
Keywords with a low search volume are typically more affordable. While your ad won’t show to as many people, those who do see it may be more likely to buy.
We recommend targeting a mix of high and low search volumes to get the best results. You can also use negative keywords to make your high search volume keywords relevant to the right people, which we’ll talk about in more detail later.
Cost (or CPC)
Cost (or CPC) shows you the estimated amount you can expect to pay when someone clicks on your ad. This can give you an indication of how a keyword will do in the search results, as well as an estimation of the budget you will need.
In search engines like Google, your CPC is influenced by your keyword’s quality score. Google Ads uses a range of factors including relevancy and expected click rate, and assigns a score to each of your keywords from one to ten. The higher your score, the less you pay.
It’s important to note that a PPC keyword with a high cost attached to it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you sell expensive items like cars, holidays, or technical equipment, you may be willing to spend more in order to get that all-important click from a customer.
Competition
Many keyword research platforms show you how much competition there is for a specific keyword. A keyword with a high level of competition shows that multiple competitors are targeting the same keyword.
The more interest there is in a keyword, the higher the cost, and the lower the chance of grabbing the top spot in the results.
While going after low-competition keywords makes it more likely that your ads will appear, successfully going after relevant high-competition keywords can lead to high levels of sales.
Intent
When deciding which keywords to target, it’s important to consider search intent – why customers are searching for a specific word or phrase.
There are four different types of search intent:
When running PPC campaigns, we recommend prioritising transactional keywords. These keywords are used by people at the end of the sales funnel, meaning there’s a greater chance of people clicking on your ad and immediately buying.
Navigational keywords can be valuable too – we’ll talk about why you should use branded keywords later.
Top tips for nailing your PPC keyword research
So far, we’ve looked at how to uncover seed keywords, which tools to use, and how to pick the words and phrases that will have the most impact.
But what else can you do to improve the odds of your keywords leading to sales? We asked our PPC experts to share their valuable insights.
1. Consider the entire customer journey
Consistency is essential when it comes to PPC keywords.
You want to make sure the keywords you choose not only feature in your ad copy, but also on your landing page – the web page your ad points to.
This instils a sense of trust in your prospective customer, making them more likely to click and to buy.
2. Add seasonal keywords into the mix
Optimising your website for SEO keywords can take time. According to Ahrefs, nearly 60% of marketers say it can take three to six months to see results.
The advantage of PPC? As long as you’re willing to bid the right amount, you can appear at the very top of the search results whenever you want.
This makes it easy to advertise your seasonal campaigns, whether that’s summer discounts, Black Friday promotions, or an impromptu flash sale.
While you can’t set individual keywords to start and end on specific dates, you can schedule your campaigns and ads to do so.
3. Don’t discount brand terms
In PPC terms, a branded term is one that relates to your business – typically your brand name or the products and services you sell.
Adding branded keywords to your PPC campaigns can lead to a lot of advantages:
- They’re typically low-competition and low-cost, meaning you can drive conversions for pennies
- If you already rank high for your brand name through SEO, you can take up more real estate in the search engine results
- You can appeal to customers who are in the middle of the sales funnel, carrying out research
Should you use a competitor’s branded keywords?
Some businesses bid on their competitors’ branded keywords so they appear when people search for their rivals’ brand name or products.
Most PPC platforms allow this. For example, Google Search is fine with companies bidding on a competitor’s keywords as long as they don’t use trademarks or pretend to be the competitor in question.
Bidding on a competitor’s keywords can be a smart strategy, but you can expect to spend more, as these ads typically result in a low quality score.
If you don’t want a competitor bidding on your own keywords, bid on your keywords yourself. This pushes the cost up for your competitor, making it a less tempting strategy for them.
4. Think about your match type
When you add a keyword into a PPC platform like Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising, you have the option to add it as a broad match keyword, phrase match keyword, or exact match keyword.
The option you choose can either give you more control or more flexibility.
It is important to note that the lines between the three types of keywords are starting to blur – for example, exact match isn’t as precise as it used to be.
You can also use negative keywords to make your matching more efficient – we’ll explain what this is now.
5. Use negative keywords
A negative keywords list ensures your ads don’t appear when search engine users search for a specific word or phrase. They’re useful for making sure your ads don’t appear in front of people who aren’t your target audience.
Let’s say you sell luxury gourmet hampers. By adding words like ‘cheap’ and ‘affordable’ to your negative keyword list, you can ensure your ads show to the right people, and not just those looking for a bargain.
Most PPC platforms let you create a negative keyword list you can use to determine which keywords you don’t want to use across particular campaigns.
In most cases, you can also add negative keywords directly from your search terms report – which shows the search queries your ads are appearing for.
6. Monitor which keywords work
Adding the right keywords to your PPC account isn’t a one-off process. Your customers’ needs will change and evolve, as will the market you operate in. It’s essential to carry out regular research and upload new keywords to your account as needed.
It’s also important to review your existing keywords to see how they are doing. A low-cost, low-competition keyword can quickly become expensive if your competitors start using it.
We recommend auditing your keywords at least every month – weekly if you run a lot of campaigns.
You can set automated rules to save time. For example, you can pause keywords that don’t drive conversions or have a low click-through rate, or lower bids for underperforming keywords.
PPC keyword research: Frequently asked questions
Why is PPC keyword research important?
Good PPC keyword research makes sure your ad campaigns reach the people most likely to buy from your eCommerce site.
It also helps you spend your advertising budget more efficiently, meaning you’re less likely to spend money on wasted ad clicks.
Where can you use PPC keyword research?
You can use PPC keywords on any platform that generates ads based on users’ search queries.
This includes Google Search ads, Microsoft Advertising (Bing) Search ads, as well as ads on websites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay.
What’s the best approach to PPC keyword research if you’re targeting other countries?
If you’re targeting other languages, don’t take your existing list of keywords and translate them into a new language.
This approach doesn’t take cultural differences and nuances into account, meaning you may end up bidding on irrelevant, low-quality keywords.
The best approach is to carry out independent keyword research for each country or region. Many keyword research tools provide metrics for different locations.
International PPC – 10 ways to sell like a pro
Xigen: The eCommerce agency dedicated to PPC
Before you set your PPC campaigns live, spend some time researching and analysing the keywords you want to use.
This can make the difference between your ads showing to your ideal customers and blowing through your PPC budget.
If you need a little extra help setting up and managing your PPC campaigns, our expert team is on standby. We’ll recommend the perfect keywords, create ads that your customers want to click on, and optimise your campaigns to ensure maximum efficiency.
Get in touch today and see why we’re the eCommerce agency businesses trust with their PPC ads.
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