How to Get the Right Keywords for a Profitable PPC Campaign

If you use Google, Yahoo, or MSN for PPC advertising, then you know how important it is to properly research keywords for a profitable campaign. You can lose a lot of money bidding on the wrong keywords. Since profit is the main goal for any online advertiser, it's imperative to know how to get the right keywords for your PPC campaign. Follow these simple steps to build a profitable keyword list.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Go to one of the major affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Link Share, and IncentaClick and set up an account if you don't already have one. There are tons of other affiliate networks out there, but these three provide the most variety for keyword research. This way you can be sure the keywords you find have corresponding affiliate programs.
2. Browse through the products within your chosen affiliate network. There will be tons of merchants to choose from, so pick products that interest you. Be sure the merchants have good commission payouts, too.
3. Write down names of products, models, and brands that appeal to you. These will compile of list of keywords for you to research in a later step.
4. Pull up Overture's Keyword Research Tool and enter in the name of each product, brand , and model on your list. Pay particular attention to the number of searches per month. Those with 100 or more searches per month are potentially profitable keywords. Delete any items from your list that have less than 100 searches.
5. Take this new list of keywords to Google's search engine. Enter each keyword one at a time into the search box and surround it with quotation marks to see the number of PPC ads triggered by that exact phrase.
6. Look at the "Sponsored Links" listed. A few may appear above the indexed search results, but the rest will be listed on the far right of the screen. Scroll down to where it says "More Sponsored Links" and click on this text to see more PPC ads. Keep clicking "Next" until you've viewed them all. These are your competitors for the particular keyword you're searching. If there are two pages or less, you should be able to build a profitable PPC campaign with this keyword.
7. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each keyword on your list until you've compiled a new list of low competition keywords. You now know how to get the right keywords for building a potentially profitable PPC campaign.