Keyword amount - Too many or too little affect QS?

Hello,

I have just opened a PPC account (about 5 days old). I am confused about the amount of keywords I should be using. I have heard that you should have a shed load, using exact, phrase and broad match....but in doing that, wouldn't it affect the quality of the campaign and therefore lower the QS?

When you open a new account, is your QS automatically low?

I have about 40 keyword...all broad match. My quality scores are 3-4. Yesterday, before I added 4 new ads and paused 4 ads, quality scores when from 3-6, down to mostly 3-4.

My thinking is that if you have too many keywords, it drags your whole account down.

Can somebody give me some thoughts?

 

there is no perfect amount of keywords to be used within a campaign, I would suggest however to start off with between 10 & 20 keywords per ad group but make them as specific as possible..... you can always, add, amend, delete or pause keywords!

In terms of QS Google will look at historic data on a campaign and any alterations you make to optimise an account will not affect QS

 

The problem is not your negative keywords.

If you are using broad match on most of your keywords, your ads will show for irrelevant searches.

Therefore your CTR will go down.

In effect, your QS will go down too, making your cost go up.

If you are planning to make money from this, pause your campaign and learn how to it right.

The fact that anyone can open an account doesn't change the fact that it is a professional advertising tool.

And by the way 40 keywords in an account is not a lot.

In an ad group, they just might be.

Your QS is not about the number of keywords - it is about relevance and usefulness of your ads.

 

Yes, they will.

 

Hello,

Thanks for the advice. I have seen a few of your posts and it looks like you know what you are talking about.

What I have just done (litteraly before I checked back in) is make many of you keywords exact match. I am targeting a specific service that has alot of competition, so I believe (and I am still learning), that I should have a few targeted ads with specific keywords. Some of my keywords had no clicks and no impressions. My QS is STILL 3-4! I am a bit frustrated.

Cheers,

Dave

 

as a google employee I beg to differ

 

First of all, go to your keywords and see whether or not they are displayed in the first place.

Possibly, due to your low Quality Score your bids are below the first page bid estimate.

On the other hand, your keywords may simply have a very low search volume.

Then, exact match is not the answer to all problems. Having highly targeted ads goes without saying.

If your ads start getting a good amount of clicks, your QS will pick up with time.

 

Hey Ian,

OK....all is fine with first page bids. I will have a deeper like into search volumes....

Targeted ads and exact match I though would help me a bit.


I had thought that becasue my ad, landing page and keywords were pretty tight, my QS would be at least a 7. I am correct in assuming that a new account will start off with low QS because of age?


Cheers,

Dave

 

Some times your ad may start out with a low QS and pick up later, yes.

Exact match is good, I'm just saying it doesn't automatically solve all your problems.

I have a free ebook on my site, after you read it all the questions you have asked in this thread should be answered.

 

Hello,

So is the CPC I am seeing in my account related to my QS? By that I mean if my QS is 4 and CPC is £3.00, would somebody with a QC score of 7 be lower (say £1.50)? Or is that number what the keyword is going for no matter what you QS is?



Cheers,

Dave

P.S. thx for the link Ian!

 

Exactly!

That's the key to your Adwords cost - the higher your QS the less you pay for the same ad position.

People think that Adwords bidding is about how much you can pay.

Unfortunately, this causes people to give up too early.

Also most people don't get the best out of their campaigns just because they don't know this simple fact.

 

The guys you see in the yellow colored background have a QS of at least 7 (and have satisfied some other Google criteria).

You cannot pay your way onto that spot.

It's unfortunate that so many businessmen are too ignorant to realise that.

That's why people think we are in a recession.

The fact is quality is the new "trick" to making money.

People send me emails asking about techniques - they don't want to see whether what they are offering is going to be useful to people in the first place.

 

And yes, that was a rant! Somebody has really irritated me.

 

So I am correct in this assumption then. I see £3, the guy with the same keyword and a QS of 7 sees £1.50 (hypothetical numbers, but the theory is there)...is that right?


Cheers,


Dave

 

The reason why I sent you the book is because this is clearly stated in it.

But for the benefit of other readers, the answer is YES.

Just to be clear, what you are referring to is the minimum bid required to maintain your ad position. Your actual CPC is also affected by your bid.

Which means you might pay more for the same position if you increase your max CPC bid.

 

A Google employee in Leeds? so you commute into Victoria every day?

 

One strategy I sometimes use is to kick in a longtail keyword with two popular keywords.

Not only will this improve your quality score, it helps reduce your cost per click.

 

Hey John,

Can you give me an example of how you would do that?


Cheers,

Dave

 

There is a specialised adwords department outsourced in leeds who deal with the "Google Jumpstart Programme" to assist new advertisers, it has been running for around 3 years

 

Didn't realise it made so much difference - thanks for posting.