Data Mining Google Adwords Data

Let's say you have an e-commerce site, with decent conversion rates and consistent traffic from your Google Adwords Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign. You've probably come to realise, as most e-commerce site owners do, that most of your conversions are being generated by only a few keywords. Imagine if you could find more of those high converting keywords. Your conversion rate would improve and of course, so would your bottom line. The good news is you probably already have these new keywords hidden within your Google Adwords data.

Search Queries

When you developed your initial keyword list, you did so in order to trigger your ads anytime a search was made which included your keywords. Of course, the mechanics depend to some extent on the match type of the keyword, but unless you are using strictly exact match types in your Google Adwords campaign, there is a search query stored within your account for each of your keywords. Remember, the search query is the actual text typed into a search engine when someone is looking for your products or services.

So how is this information useful? For instance, let's say you run a  Google Adwords search query report for your most successful keyword 'online plant sales', which has 500 clicks and 42 conversions. The report will show the 500 search queries users typed into the search engine before they clicked on your ad. It will also indicated which 42 search queries resulted in a conversion, which could be something like:

• exotic plant sales
• hardy plant sales online
• online seed sales

These are keywords you had not previously considered yet they obviously work well since they've generated conversions. What do you do with these search queries? You convert them to exact match type keywords and add them to an applicable Ad Group within your campaign. If you don't have an Ad Group that works, create a new one, along with new ads and of course point the ads to a well matched landing page (or create a new one).

Aren't you simply moving conversions from one side and placing them on another side? Yes, you are, if all you do is add them to your keyword list. However, if you create an exact match keyword with it's own bid, ad and landing page you are turning a diamond in the rough into a crown jewel. What you are basically doing is optimising keyword phrases which have proven that they can convert and giving them a chance to really shine.

This strategy normally generates considerably more conversions than when it's showing up as a variation within a keyword phrase because of:

• A more competitive bid.
• A more relevant ad.
• A more specialised landing page.

How to Run a Google Adwords Search Query Report

• Select your campaign within Google Adwords.
• Choose a date range which covers how long you've been running your campaign.
• Click on the Keywords tab.
• Select all the keywords which have converted in the past.
• Click on the Details tab.
• Click on Selected

This is obviously not a one time event, you should run a report on a regular basis and make changes as necessary. This is also a great opportunity to find non-relevant search queries, and convert them into negative keywords. Remember, search queries can provide a tremendous amount of information about your visitors which in the long run, will improve your bottom line.