A New Way to Think About Google Broad Search
PPC folk think only in terms of converting keywords. It has been a long theory of mine that initial keywords lead to those high converting searches down the line, and I think for people that remove keywords that do not convert right away could be shooting themselves in the foot.
In addition, I noticed a phenomenon on Google search that I will call Google’s Intent Assumption, that can significantly alter the way people run their PPC campaigns. Most people who do PPC have probably noticed this phenomenon, but I am convinced that there are many people who haven’t.
Google alters paid search results based on queries that were entered earlier. I am not going to claim I know all of the details of how it works, but the opportunities can be significant if someone out there can crack the code. ‘
I took screen shots to illustrate my point and will outline how I think people can leverage this knowledge in the future.
Lets say I am someone who searches for “photography” because it is something I am passionate about. The results might look something like this.
CLICK TO ENLARGE - Please notice the search results, they are more or less what you would expect them to be.
Now lets say I wanted to search for “wedding” because I plan on getting married soon.
CLICK TO ENLARGE - Notice how many results come up for “wedding photography” and “wedding photographer.”
Although, my intent was not to find a wedding photographer Google assumed that that is what I was looking for based on my previous query and hence why I call it Google’s Intent Assumption.
This can be a very powerful thing if leveraged correctly. We know that most people start their searches in broad terms and narrow down as they decide the specific thing that they want. What if you were able to create ads specifically targeted at the different stages so your ad copy reflects these different stages. By doing this you will be in the consideration set from the start and the user will be more likely to think favorably about your product or service than the guy who only bids on the converting keyword.
Do you think that it is possible while conducting keyword research to plan a way to target a searcher throughout his search experience and lead him to the sale?
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Interesting idea and it may work with some search terms. But I tried it out by searching ‘animals’ and then ‘photography’, but nothing came up in the second search for animals or animal photography (apart from an end of 1st page link for National Geographic).
I have read somewhere (can’t remember where)that it depends which pc system you are using. Evidently windows vista has a habit of trying to ‘help you’ by remembering your previous searches, while XP does not. Could well be wrong though. (By the way, I use XP - refuse to even contemplate vista). If this is the case, then it would be something to consider as more people move to vista.