Google AdWords Jargon

Posted: October 22, 2004

Once you say pay per click so many times, it degenerates into ppc. The same can be said for many words that are constantly used over and over. Here is a list of the most commonly used conventions.

CTR: Click through rate. Measured in a percentage, it’s how often a particular ad is clicked compared to how often its shown.

Broad Keywords: These are very general keywords that are searched often. Many times are searched for information purposes as much as purchasing reasons. For some sites and keywords, these can convert well enough to have a positive ROI, but in general they don’t have the conversion rate of the other keyword types. (i.e. travel, real estate)

Direct Keywords: These keywords are directly related to your products or services. They usually include a descriptive term. These keywords make up the bulk of most campaigns, and usually have a positive ROI. They are not searched for as often as broad keywords, so sometimes a campaign can be helped by the increased exposure from broad keywords. (i.e. Mexico travel, Pennsylvania real estate)

G: Short for Google

KW: Keywords

Negative Keywords These are filtering words. If your keywords contain a negative keyword, and that word is included in a search term, your ad will not show. (i.e. If your Google AdWords keyword list looks like:

Blue Widget
-fuzzy (the - sign meaning negative inside an AdWords account)

A search done for blue widget would show your ad, a search for green blue widget would show your ad, but a search for fuzzy blue widget would not show your ad because it contains a negative keyword. Read more about Negative Keywords.

Niche Keywords. These keywords are highly specific, but have low search rates. They usually have the highest ROI and conversion rates among all keywords in a campaign. Often, there are not enough niche keywords to only rely on these to make up a campaign as there just are not enough searches done in a month for them to sustain a business. They are a nice addition to direct keywords as they usually have a lower bid price. (i.e. Mexico city vacation packages, Philadelphia real estate)

OV: Overture. Google AdWords largest pay per click competitor.

ROI - Return on Investment.

Related Information:

« Chiropractor Marketing

Negative & Positive Keywords »