If you’ve ever tally an advertisement campaign, you cognize that keyword costs tin rapidly devour up your budget.

This is particularly existent if you’re not strategical astir your selections.

Of course, you can’t power each the factors that find pricing.

But you tin trim costs by choosing the right keywords and creating experiences that convert.

Take integer selling bureau Turn Key Lead, for example.

They reduced a owe slope client’s outgo per conversion successful Google Ads by 30% successful 7 days.

Source

How’d they bash it?

Through keyword and landing leafage optimization—tactics you’ll maestro today.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• How to find keyword costs utilizing proven tools
• Optimization tactics to trim walk and take high-performing keywords
• Expert insights from Andrew Peluso of Bananas Marketing Agency

Let’s commencement by learning however keyword outgo is determined.

What Is Keyword Cost?

Keyword outgo is the magnitude you wage to advertizing platforms (like Google Ads) erstwhile idiosyncratic clicks connected your ad.

It’s commonly referred to arsenic cost per click (CPC).

Some keywords outgo a fewer cents, portion others outgo $50+ per click.

For example, insurance, healthcare, finance, and ineligible presumption person immoderate of the highest CPCs.

Like “mesothelioma attorney,” which has an eye-watering $159.60 CPC.

Other keywords outgo nether a dollar per click.

Including “bird watching supplies,” which has a $0.74 CPC.

Understanding keyword costs helps you:

• Make smarter bidding decisions
• Choose high-value keywords
• Maximize your ROI
• Optimize your campaigns for little costs

But earlier you tin little costs, it’s adjuvant to recognize what goes into keyword pricing.

How Google Determines Keyword Price

What drives keyword costs up oregon down?

There’s a batch going connected down the scenes that affects pricing.

Here’s however Google calculates CPC:

Quality Score

Quality Score is Google’s 1-10 standing of however applicable and utile your ads are.

Higher Quality Scores mean little costs.

And amended advertisement positions.

Your Quality Score is based connected 3 factors:

• Ad relevance: How intimately your keyword matches your advertisement substance and landing page
• Landing leafage experience: How utile your landing leafage is to visitors
• Expected click-through rate (CTR): How apt users are to click your ad

According to WordStream data, an advertiser with a cleanable Quality Score of 10 pays 50% little than idiosyncratic with an mean people of 5.

Even improving to a 7 saves you 28.6% connected each click.

Search Volume

Keywords with thousands of monthly searches typically outgo much than niche terms.

Higher hunt measurement = greater request = higher prices.

Industry

The much advertisers who bid connected a keyword, the higher the cost.

For example, cheque retired however the mean CPC varies by industry:

Semrush’s Keyword Overview and Keyword Magic Tool supply a “Competitive Density” score.

Rated connected a standard of zero (easiest) to 1.00 (hardest), it tells you however competitory a keyword volition beryllium successful your PPC campaign.

A precocious Competitive Density people (.80 and up) means tougher contention successful hunt results.

But don’t disregard these keywords.

High contention often signals beardown conversion potential.

Never basal decisions connected debased CPC alone.

The mathematics is simple: If a $5 keyword converts overmuch amended than a $1 keyword, it’s worthy the cost.

Ad Network Selection

Where you take to tally your ads tin interaction your costs:

• Google Search Network: Your ads look connected Google hunt results pages and properties similar Google Maps and Shopping. Search Network typically delivers higher-intent postulation but astatine higher costs since users are actively searching for circumstantial terms.
• Google Display Network: Your ads amusement connected Google sites similar YouTube, Blogger, and Gmail, arsenic good arsenic spouse websites. Display Network usually offers little costs per click but whitethorn bring little contiguous acquisition intent since users aren’t actively searching.

Seasonality

Keyword costs fluctuate passim the year.

For example, “Christmas gifts” volition outgo much successful December.

“Tax preparation” volition spike successful March and April. And “Swimwear” peaks during summertime months.

It helps to set your fund for these seasonal shifts.

Bidding Strategy

Your bidding strategy tin impact your Google keyword costs:

• Manual bidding: You acceptable the maximum magnitude you’re consenting to wage for each click. This gives you implicit power but requires much hands-on management.
• Automated bidding: Google’s AI adjusts your bids successful existent clip to assistance you conscionable circumstantial goals (like maximizing clicks oregon conversions). This tin beryllium much businesslike but whitethorn initially effect successful higher costs portion the strategy learns your patterns.

How to Find Keyword Cost

With the close tools, you tin larn keyword costs earlier launching a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.

So, you tin prioritize presumption that present maximum ROI for minimum spend.

Google Keyword Planner

Why not spell close to the root to larn CPC costs?

Google Keyword Planner shows estimated bid ranges that springiness you an thought of the precocious and debased you’ll pay.

Plus, these estimates travel consecutive from Google’s ain information — making them a reliable starting constituent for fund planning.

Here’s however to usage Google Keyword Planner to probe keyword prices:

After signing into your account, click “Tools” successful the navigation.

Then, prime “Keyword Planner” from the dropdown.

You’ll spot 2 options.

If you already person circumstantial keywords successful mind, take “Get hunt measurement and forecasts.”

Starting from scratch? Select “Discover caller keywords.”

For this example, let’s spell with “Get hunt measurement and forecasts.”

Enter your keywords manually oregon click “Upload a file.”

Then, click “Get started.”

Review the “Top of leafage bid (low range)” and “Top of leafage bid (high range)” columns.

These amusement the estimated humanities CPC ranges for your keywords.

For example, “garden decor” has a debased of $0.33 and a precocious of $1.49.

So, advertisers with a large Quality Score mightiness wage $0.33 per click.

But those with mean oregon below-average Quality Scores could wage up to $1.49.

Keep successful caput that these ranges are influenced by:

• Your geographic location
• Your Search Network settings
• Seasonal contention fluctuations
• Industry trends

The existent outgo you’ll wage tin autumn anyplace wrong this scope — oregon occasionally extracurricular it during periods of aggravated competition.

Now, let’s look astatine different method to find keyword pricing.

Keyword Magic Tool

Want a deeper dive into keyword costs?

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool gives you the afloat picture.

It provides CPC estimates on with different important metrics.

Like hunt volume, keyword difficulty, and idiosyncratic intent truthful you tin spot high-converting, affordable keywords your competitors mightiness miss.

Here’s however to usage it:

Enter a wide keyword, specified arsenic “CRM software.”

Click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition instrumentality a database of keyword suggestions.

View the “CPC” file to larn the estimated outgo for each term.

On a constricted budget?

Add a filter to find keywords wrong your terms range:

• Click the “CPC” filter
• Enter your desired range
• Click “Apply“

Now, you’ll lone spot keywords that acceptable your budget.

7 Steps to Selecting High-Converting PPC Keywords

Knowing what keywords outgo is conscionable the starting point.

The existent magic happens erstwhile you place presumption that acceptable your fund and thrust sales.

1. See What’s Working for Your Competition

Before choosing keywords, analyze your competitors’ advertisement performance.

For this example, I’ll beryllium utilizing Semrush’s Advertising Research tool.

Enter a competitor’s domain into the tool.

Click “Search.”

Now, you’ll spot an overview of your competitor’s paid search performance.

Including the full fig of keywords and postulation from paid campaigns.

Even better?

You’ll besides larn however overmuch it costs them to fertile for these presumption successful Google Ads.

Scroll to the “Paid Search Positions” study for a peek astatine their top-performing keywords.

Including CPC, hunt volume, and presumption information for each one.

Note which keywords person precocious postulation but tenable costs.

Then, adhd the promising keywords to your list.

Next, click the “Competitors” tab to larn who your competitor’s apical paid rivals are.

(Hint: They whitethorn beryllium your rivals, too.)

Click connected immoderate competitor’s URL and travel the aforesaid steps arsenic supra to measure their highest-performing keywords.

Finally, click the “Ads Copies” tab.

This reveals your competitor’s existent advertisement copy—giving you an wrong look astatine precisely what messaging is attracting clicks and conversions successful your industry.

Study the language, offers, and unsocial selling points they use.

Then, make your ain ads that code the aforesaid symptom points but with stronger, much compelling copy.

2. Identify Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are highly circumstantial phrases that lucifer precisely what your lawsuit is searching for.

Think “women’s agelong sleeve vintage graphic tshirts” alternatively of conscionable “shirts.”

The benefits are excessively bully to ignore:

• Lower contention (and little costs)
• Higher conversion rates
• More qualified traffic

Let’s spot this successful action.

“Shirts” has the highest Competitive Density people imaginable (1.00) and a CPC of $2.38.

But “fall shirts for women” has a overmuch little CPC ($0.49).

And a Competitive Density (.80) that is reduced capable to assistance you connected the SERPs.

But precocious capable to awesome transactional interest.

Sure, this keyword gets importantly less searches.

But those searches travel from radical who cognize precisely what they want.

And those are the clicks that person into customers.

Ready to find long-tail keywords?

Here’s how:

Head backmost to the Keyword Magic Tool and participate a word similar “women’s shirts.”

Select the “KD %” filter connected the menu. In the “Custom Range” field, participate “0” to “29.”

This volition bounds your results to keywords with “Very easy” oregon “Easy” difficulty—prime territory for conversion-friendly, long-tail terms.

Scroll done the results to find long-tail keywords for your advertisement campaign.

Like “women’s fastener down tshirt” and “usa women’s shot shirt.”

3. Confirm Your Keywords Are Relevant to What You Sell

Don’t get truthful caught up successful metrics that you hide the basics.

Every keyword successful your run should straight link to your products oregon services.

For example, if you merchantability premium handmade leather wallets, targeting “cheap wallets” mightiness bring postulation but not conversions.

Your perfect customers are searching for quality, not bargains.

This is wherefore you’ll privation to wage peculiar attraction to keyword lucifer types successful Google Ads:

• Broad match: Triggers your advertisement for related searches, variations, and synonyms (lowest relevance, highest reach)
• Phrase match: Triggers your advertisement erstwhile the hunt includes your keyword operation (medium relevance)
• Exact match: Triggers your advertisement lone for searches precise adjacent to your nonstop keyword (highest relevance, lowest reach)

Start with nonstop and operation lucifer to guarantee relevance and forestall wasted spend.

As you stitchery information connected what works for your manufacture and budget, you tin cautiously grow to broader terms.

4. Target Purchase Intent Keywords

Every keyword reveals thing astir what the searcher wants.

Some radical are researching. Others are acceptable to buy.

Purchase intent keywords awesome that idiosyncratic is successful buying mode — not conscionable browsing oregon learning.

As PPC adept Andrew Peluso says:

When it comes to paid advertising, absorption on:

• Commercial intent: Users are comparing options earlier buying (“best CRM software”)
• Transactional intent: Users are acceptable to marque a acquisition (“buy Salesforce subscription”)

5. Focus connected Cost per Conversion, Not Just Cost per Click

Keywords with debased CPCs mightiness look attractive, but they’re worthless if they don’t convert.

Set up due tracking to place which keywords really present customers, not conscionable traffic.

Andrew explains:

What does this mean for your campaigns?

• Set up due conversion tracking successful Google Ads
• Monitor which keywords thrust sales, not conscionable clicks
• Be consenting to wage much for keywords with higher conversion rates

6. Build a Negative Keyword List to Reduce Ad Waste

Negative keywords forestall your ads from appearing for hunt presumption that mightiness look applicable but pull the incorrect audience.

Here’s however to instrumentality this strategy:

• Pull your Google Ads hunt presumption study for the past 90 days
• Look for presumption that thrust costs but fewer conversions — these are your antagonistic keywords
• Build a broad antagonistic keyword list. This way, your ads nary longer amusement for underperforming keywords to forestall advertisement waste.

7. Test Different Keywords to See What Performs Best

Keyword enactment isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it task.

It’s an ongoing experimentation that gets amended with time.

Follow these champion practices for investigating keywords successful your advertisement campaigns:

• Review show weekly, looking beyond clicks to absorption connected conversions
• Gradually displacement fund from underperformers to high-converting terms
• Add caller keyword variations based connected what’s already working
• Look for seasonal patterns that impact performance

As you stitchery data, your campaigns volition go much efficient, driving down costs portion improving results.

How to Optimize Your Quality Score and Lower Keyword Costs

Even the champion keyword strategy falls level without a beardown Quality Score.

Instead of conscionable bidding higher, absorption connected these 3 captious components that Google rewards with little costs and amended positions.

Ad Relevance: Match User Intent

We touched connected this above, but it’s worthy repeating:

Your ads indispensable align with search intent.

For example, if idiosyncratic searches “best moving shoes for level feet,” they’re successful probe mode.

Your advertisement should item adept reviews oregon examination features.

But for “buy nike moving shoes,” they’re acceptable to purchase.

Your advertisement should stress pricing, accelerated shipping, oregon size availability.

Expected CTR: Create Compelling Ads

Expected CTR measures however apt users are to click your advertisement erstwhile it appears.

To amended expected CTR:

• Include the keyword successful your headline
• Use action-oriented connection (“Get,” “Try,” “Start”)
• Highlight unsocial selling points
• Test antithetic advertisement variations
• Include a wide telephone to action

Landing Page Experience: Deliver connected Promises

Your landing page indispensable fulfill what your advertisement promised.

To make a high-scoring landing page:

• Match header connection from your advertisement to your landing leafage headline
• Place your superior keyword successful the H1, archetypal paragraph, and astatine slightest 1 subheading
• Keep loading clip nether 3 seconds (compress images and minimize redirects)
• Add testimonials oregon reviews to physique credibility
• Include a azygous CTA that matches your ad’s offer

For instance, if your advertisement promotes “home plot plan ideas,” your landing leafage should diagnostic plot inspiration prominently—not a wide works catalog oregon effect shop.

The cardinal takeaway? Everything indispensable enactment together:

Ready to Find Keywords That Get Clicks and Conversions?

Optimizing your advertisement keyword strategy tin assistance you wage little for amended results.

(And outperform the contention portion you’re astatine it.)

Remember these principles:

• Quality is key: Improve your Quality Score to trim costs
• Get specific: Long-tail keywords often present amended ROI than wide terms
• Follow the data: Let show metrics usher your strategy
• Test continuously: What works contiguous mightiness not enactment tomorrow

Finding high-performing keywords starts with having the close tools.

The station How to Find Keyword Cost and Optimize Your PPC Campaigns appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.