How to Find the Highest Paying Keywords for Pay-Per-Click Ads

What keywords have the highest payout every time a user clicks on an ad? Google won't tell you. But I will. Here's how to find out.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Understand the context.
   
   Advertisers pay to have ads placed on websites. For instance, if you look around any eHow article, you'll see ads all over the place. Most of these are Google Adsense ads, though other companies, such as Vibrant, also place ads at eHow.
   
   The ads are context-relevant. That is, they are related to the topic of the eHow article (this article, for instance, will probably carry ads for pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, keyword lists, and so on).
   
   Advertisers get their ads placed by bidding on keywords -- the main search terms people use to find a website. The more popular a keyword, the more an advertiser pays.
   
   The advertiser pays a fee when a visitor to the site (someone like you) clicks on an ad. The website owner gets to keep some of the money paid. The more popular a keyword, the more money they'll get. Some keywords pay only pennies, but others may pay several dollars for each click.
   
   The Resources section has more details about how pay-per-click (PPC) advertising works.

2. Find high-paying keywords.
   
   Google Adsense is far and away the biggest PPC network on the web. But Google does not make public the amounts paid for PPC ads, so it's difficult to find out the highest-paying keywords. If you want to attract high-paying ads to your site, you'll need to find information elsewhere.
   
   Fortunately, one of the smaller PPC advertising companies does make its top ranked keywords list easily available. 7Search.com posts a list of its 100 Top Paying Keywords.

3. Check Often.
   
   The list changes frequently, and responds to seasonal events, news stories, popular culture, and the like. However, a large majority of the high paying keywords are for drugs, and for online gambling.

4. 
   Top Keyword is in there

   Go Deeper.
   
   A list of the Top 100 Highest Paying Keywords is helpful. but to see an even larger list (and generate more variety in keyword terms), add a zero to the 7Search.com url. That is, where the url says n=100, add a zero so that it now reads n=1000, and then reload the page. It will now be titled "1000 Top Paying Keywords" and will display a much larger list.

Tips & Warnings

• The keyword list can be downloaded. Use the link at the bottom of the 7Search.com page.

Resources

• Google Adsense and Pay Per Click
• 100 Top Paying Keywords
• Earn $1,000 a Month (or more) at eHow

[kelbra12]

on 11/11/2009 Great article on how to find the highest paying keywords. I wish I had your expertise. 5*

[skiller]

on 11/9/2009 Thanks for the info!

[shawnee50]

on 9/5/2009 Thanks so much you did it again always the most useful articles. I need all the help I can get on keywords thanks. 5*s

[ukiuq]

on 7/19/2009 hmm...who would've ever guessed that "viagra" and "****" would be so profitable? how the times have changed! thanks for the tips

[jpwriter]

on 5/5/2009 Wow! If that list isn't a testament to our country (world) having a problem with drugs then I don't know what is...and, thank you for another great resource.