EBizInsider

A major challenge of e-commerce is helping your customers communicate what they want while being largely limited to using the written word. They usually don’t have verbal exchange with your sales person nor do they get to use their hands to describe what they want to buy. To compound the problem for online shoppers, there is spelling. What if it’s not perfect? Ironically, when you are in school, misspellings may cost you some points, but in the pay-per-click (PPC) world, if you don’t include misspellings in your advertising plan, it may cost you money!

When building PPC campaigns, you must keep the user in mind. Think of keyword variations that a customer is likely to use when entering a term into search. The better you can read their habits, the more you will profit!

Sometimes users misspell keywords because they do not know the correct spelling. Others misspell because they are typing too quickly and make typographical errors. Some users search by using the singular form of the term; others search by using the plural form. In cases where a brand or term includes an apostrophe or dash, some customers search with the punctuation, others leave it off.

Let’s examine a few examples by using the term “clearance baby blanket”:

Misspellings:

A common misspelling of the word clearance is: cleareance.

As a result, you may want to consider including the following keyword in your account:

cleareance baby blanket.

In addition, many people learn about products through word-of-mouth or radio advertising. In those cases, because consumers might not see the product spelled correctly at first, they may mishear or misunderstand the name of the product. This occurs frequently with brand names, so if you have such a product, consider adding an array of keyword misspelling variations accordingly.

Typos:

Many people will mis-key the word blanket as: blaket

So, it makes sense to include the following keyword in your account: clearance baby blaket

Variations:

Some users search with informal nicknames for products. In this case, we’ll consider a variation of the word blanket: blankie

This would give us a new keyword: clearance baby blankie

This is an important area where you can use your imagination to your advantage. You know your products and their “pet” names. Make sure you cover the variations.

Plurals:

Consumers are not always consistent when searching singular vs. plural forms of keywords. For example, in addition to the term clearance baby blanket, include some plural versions: clearance baby blankets and clearance babies blankets.

Symbols:

If we further explore the opportunities, we can find additional keyword variations with and without common symbols such as dashes or apostrophes:

clearance baby’s blankets and clearance babys blankets

General keywords tend to have high costs and low conversion rates; however some general keywords may be very relevant to your business. Control the cost-per-acquisition (CPA) by including a mix of general keywords (which convert at higher CPA’s), coupled with terms derived from misspellings and other variations (which convert at lower CPA’s). You can reduce your overall CPA for the entire category and get more efficient use of your budget.

Win with Logic, Imagination and Technology

So, how do you manage and target the endless number of variations when the rule is that there are no rules? Stay focused. Use logic, common sense, and a little bit of creativity. Most important, use keyword research tools! Google, Yahoo! and MSN all offer free keyword suggestion tools for account owners. Numerous companies offer keyword research software for a fee. Investigate the options and decide, but take advantage of the advances available. Always keep in mind that you want to include keywords with search volume; otherwise, you could be wasting valuable time.

Remember the keys to making the grade and capturing sales:

• Misspellings • Plurals

• Typos • Symbols

• Variations

Some search engines and keyword match types will account for certain misspellings and variations, but why take the chance? Be sure your campaigns include common keyword alternatives [in addition to the correctly spelled terms] so you can capitalize on opportunities that your competitors are missing!

Best of luck in your PPC endevors—oops! I mean. . . endeavors!

---

By: Robyn Craig robync@ebizinsider.com

Name (required)

E-Mail (required)

(Will not be published)

Website

Comments

Security Code

Enter the code above into this box. There's no letters, only numbers. We just want to make sure you're human.