3 Ways to Use Adwords Data for Better SEO

In 2011, Google rolled out a feature that hides a sizeable chunk of referring organic keyword data under the name (Not Provided). The feature hampers traffic quality analysis, since you cannot accurately measure all the traffic you are getting, and hence make changes to your SEO strategy accordingly.

However, there is a workaround to this problem. Your Adwords account could give you plenty of data that you can then use to chart your content strategy, landing pages, page titles, call-to-actions, and the rest. Even if you are not keen on using Google Adwords for fetching traffic, you could run a test account to gather ‘some initial data’. You can then use this initial data to form a better informed SEO strategy.

While an Adwords account has a lot of data, some of which can be misleading, here are 3 ways you can mine your PPC campaign for better SEO results.

1. For keyword research

Extensive keyword research is the basis of any good SEO campaign. While Google has a Keyword Tool for that purpose, it does not always provide complete, accurate data. If you are only relying on Google Analytics for the purpose, you are probably missing out on what you should rank on. Analytics simply tells you the words you are ranking on, and not the words you should rank on.

Mining your Adwords campaign data can be a viable method of ensuring quality keyword research. You can start with using the ‘Search for New Keyword and Ad Group Ideas’ in the Google Keyword Planner. Start with a broad keyword, and using the planner to narrow it down to something more specific. However, don’t be too specific either, as it can make you lose out on relevant traffic.

For example, if you run a blog on health benefits of organic coffee, ‘coffee’ is too broad a keyword, while ‘health benefits of organic coffee’ is too specific. Instead, ‘organic coffee’ is likely to perform better.

While choosing keywords from the list of Keyword Planner, there are a lot of factors that you can take into account. However, if you are just getting started, stick to the two most important ones:

a. Search Volume- The higher the search volume of a keyword, the better it is. However, it needs to be relevant to your product or service.

b. Commercial intent- Generally, keywords with high competition and high suggested bids will fetch you customers that are likely to pay. However, you may want to spread your bets, instead of building your SEO strategy only around these keywords. Such high-competition keywords can be difficult to rank for, and may take a lot of time.

2. For assessing keyword value

Let’s say you run an online book store. For an optimized SEO strategy, it is important to know what kinds of keywords are fetching you more sales. For example, if ‘erotic fiction’ is driving more sales to your store than ‘popular autobiographies’, it is reason enough to spend more time maintaining the ranking of ‘erotic fiction’ or optimizing it for other geographical reasons.

A test PPC campaign can help you get such data insights. However, it is important that you wait for at least 2-300 clicks on your ad, before you start to mine the data. Usually, Google text ads have a CTR of 2%, which means for every 100 impressions, 2 people on an average click the ad. Thus, for 2-300 clicks, you are talking about impressions in the range of 100-15000.

While an Adwords campaign can give you a lot of data for better SEO, here are some key metrics you should have your eyes on at all times.

Conversions – Any search queries that convert might be good candidates to target via SEO. Even the terms that are converting at high cost per conversions via PPC could be good terms to target via SEO.

Conversion Rate – High performing search queries in paid search will likely enjoy similar conversion metrics in relative terms when targeted via SEO.

Impressions – Use keyword impression data to get a better sense for actual search query volume in your targeted region.

Click Through Rates – If you’re seeing very high click through rates, that means your ad is resonating with your audience. It should give you some ideas for content creation.

Total Cost – By successfully targeting keywords that your company is already spending money on through paid search, you can easily justify the value of SEO in a very concrete manner.

With Adwords, you can create a quick filter to harness interesting pieces of information. For instance, you might create a filter for high-traffic, high-cost keywords that don’t convert. These keywords could include the ones that came back as winners in your keyword research stage.

However, since the filter tells you they actually don’t convert on your site, you can easily leave them out of your SEO strategy.

3. For content tweaking and optimization

Adwords isn’t just a medium for keyword research. Using Adwords data from test campaigns, you can actually start to optimize your website content for better conversions. Here’s how:

a. Click-Through Rate (CTR) On Ads

Click-through rates on ads can give you a better sense of which headlines and descriptions work in getting users to click through. You can then apply this messaging to your title tags, on-page headlines, and meta-descriptions.

b. Click-Through Rate (CTR) On Keywords

Similarly, looking at the click-through rates for keywords within your campaigns will tell you the terms that have the best relationship between the search term and the ad text. You can use this to better map the messaging of title tags and meta-descriptions to keywords you’re targeting on specific pages.

c. Keywords With High Average Cost Per Click (CPC)

By looking at the average cost per click for keywords, and by identifying the keywords that have the highest average CPC, you actually get to know the keywords that are expensive. Expensive keywords can mean they are valuable. See if the keywords are commanding high bid suggestions. If they are, they are likely giving your competitors really high-quality leads. Thus, even though the CPC maybe high, you are getting really high-quality traffic to your website. By identifying such keywords, you can easily chalk out your long-term and short-term SEO strategy.

d. Text Ad Copy

Adwords data also tells you ad headlines that work. Ads with a high click-through rate are definitely doing something right. You can use this data to not only craft your title tags, but also work on your pages’ headlines, copy, and call-to-action. For example, if an ad copy with the headline ‘Free Sample Batch’ for your organic coffee store has high click-through rates, you can use the same headlines for your newsletter sign-up landing pages.

e. Placements

Placement data in an Adwords account can be extremely valuable for SEO. ‘Managed placements’ (placements that are being managed and bid individually), the performance of automatic placements, and even exclusions, can give you an idea about what kind of sites are actually sending you quality traffic. You can then use this data to build effective content marketing strategies.

When you use data to drive decisions, you are more likely to succeed with your marketing strategy. That’s what we always do at ET Media Labs. Data mining strategies are what we have delved upon in our in-depth Google Adwords Handbook. It can help you get started with effective search engine marketing. You can download our Google Adwords Handbook for free.