Make Keyword Intent A Big Part of Your Google Ads Campaign

You wouldn’t look for treasure blindfolded, so why would you run a Google Ads campaign without doing the appropriate keywords research?

Keyword research underpins all successful Google Ads campaigns – and it really is a case of the more you put in, the more you’ll get out.   Essentially, you need to understand what people are looking for when they search online and then match those searches to the type of ads that appear.  And as you know, not all users are searching for the same thing, so you need to put yourselves into your customers’ shoes to truly understand their motives.

Using Keyword Intent in Your Google Ads Campaign

So where does this intuitive sixth sense come from?

Keyword research of course.  But remember, keywords themselves aren’t the full story – it’s more about keyword intent.   By getting into your potential customers’ minds and understanding how they would search for your products or services, you can tailor your message accordingly and boost your chances of click-throughs and conversions.

Say you had a plumbing business in Perth.  If someone was looking for a plumber in a specific location, they would search for ‘plumber Joondalup’ for example – so it makes sense to have that as a keyword in your Google Ads campaign.  ‘Broken tap’ or ‘blocked toilet’ wouldn’t be worthwhile keywords for your campaign because you wouldn’t know if someone was searching for a plumber, a DIY solution or even a video tutorial.

OK, that’s what you shouldn’t do.  Now for what you should do!

My Favourite Low-Cost Keyword Tools

The good news is that there are a variety of low-cost keyword tools which you can use to research keywords and tailor your campaigns. My favourite low-cost option is keywordseverywhere.com and SEMRush which offers a free 7-day trial (just don’t forget to cancel the account before the 7 days are up as you need to use your credit card to access the trial).

During the research process, it’s beneficial to frequently type keywords into Google, to see what other website results come up (you’re looking for results similar to your business type), this will help you work out if Google sees your keywords as product/service keywords rather than merely informational ones.  Start with keywords that are closely related to your business and then investigate other search terms that are relevant to your products or services, and don’t forget to use local search terms as well if it is relevant to your business.

Getting to Grips With Google’s Algorithms

You’ll need to experiment in order to understand the intent of your audience, and remember, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll nail it on the first attempt.  Trial and error is all part of the process of getting to grips with Google’s algorithms and human behaviour (a pretty complex combination!) but the more effort you put into understanding your potential customers’ intentions, the more successful your campaign will be.

It’s also really important to keep monitoring and analysing your results and don’t be scared to do a bit of spring-cleaning.  If your keywords aren’t performing for you – however relevant you think they are – it’s time to say goodbye.  It may also be time to refresh your landing pages and web copy to optimise your conversions.

As long as you have a plan and you continue to work at it and, you’ll be on track to a high-performing Google Ads account where you reach your target audience and convert them into customers.

If you need help managing your Google Ads campaign, check out our Google Ads Management services at Blue Cherry Online Marketing or if you are interested in learning more about SEO, check out our Free SEO Freebies.

Check out my new online, self-managed course, The SEO School, which takes you through all the key tools and techniques of a successful SEO strategy.  The course is great for business owners, website managers and anyone who wants hands-on learning about all the essentials of SEO from an industry expert.  Find out more about The SEO School here.

If you found this post useful then you might also like “Top tips on improving your ROI when using Google Ads“. You might also find our post “Using Google Search For Keyword Research” very useful!

Karen Dauncey

Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003. She specialises in helping businesses get found online through Google using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) She is the founder and creator of The SEO School an online SEO Course to help teach business owners how to do their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for both Local, State and Federal Government and is an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Karen’s passion and commitment to help small business owners get found online is the driving force behind her online school, making SEO advice accessible to all with free resources and online courses.

Karen's wealth of SEO knowledge and practical digital marketing experience comes from running her own SEO and Google Ads agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing since 2008. Karen has optimised over 1000 websites, managed millions of dollars' worth of spend on Google Ads and has a solid understanding of the constantly shifting industry of digital marketing and SEO. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. She was recently recognised as an SEO Expert for the popular course creation platform, Kajabi as well as appearing on ABC Radio
for her expert opinion on the ACCC's investigation into search engines.

Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was also invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google’s Head Office. She has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.

She is also the co-owner of the Digital Experts Directory, an online directory for female serviced-based businesses to promote their business (with a great backlink for SEO).

To keep up to date with the latest in SEO, join her Facebook group The SEO School Community or follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn.