As a PPC Manager one of the most frequently asked questions to me is." What is the exact search query that triggered my advert in the serps Listings" This has always been a tough one to answer, for some managing their own Pay Per Click Campaigns who do not know how to expand the search in Google Analytics it is an impossibility to do……….Until now let me explain.
OK so you have now set up your PPC Account and begun to create your first PPC Campaign for your product or services. Recently I blogged about the choice of Broad Match, "Phrase Match" or [Exact Match] Keywords so by now hopefully you will have chosen the right route for you to take with the keyword matching. You have now set your campaign live and sit back and hopefully count the conversions as they come in.
After your first week or so you may begin to realise a pattern in the keywords that are triggering your ads. One of the biggest things you may notice is the number of people clicking on Broad and "Phrase Match" keywords within the account but you have no idea the actual search query that triggered the keyword to show the corresponding ad.
Imagine if you were selling Bottled Water and within your ad group for this you had the 3 keyword match types Bottled Water, "Bottled Water" and finally [Bottled Water]. You will only have full info at you finger tips of the true search query [Exact Match] keyword [Bottled Water] as this type requires the searcher to type this term in the exact way it is listed in the account with no variations. However…..
If someone types "French Bottled Water" or "Buy Bottled Water" when you come to report on what the person actually typed into the search bar until recently all you can gauge is that the "Phrase Match" keyword "Bottled Water" triggered the ad. Likewise if someone searches for "Pictures of water that has been bottled in France" then the Broad Match keyword Bottled Water will be the term triggering the ad in this case.
Now there is help! Until now you have had to utilize Google Analytics and physically add new profiles to your account to break down the searches. This is still the most comprehensive way to see actual search queries, but can prove a bit fiddly to insert the code into GA, but never fear this will explain how to do this. The next best thing to this is the new Search Query Performance Report found in your reports through adwords.
OK "So What" I hear you say how does this help me?? Well once the data has started to filter through you will be able to see if there are any trend searches that seem to be reoccurring. This will enable you to begin to add these as negative keywords if you really do not want your ads being triggered for terms like "Pictures of Bottled Water" when you know full well this is only for research and not to buy your product. You will also begin to see positive search terms that you may have missed when setting up the account and now be in a situation to [Exact Match ] those terms.
Give it a go what have you got to lose…?
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