Keyword Creativity Can Really Pay Off

Shopping for pay-per-click keywords ain't what it used to be. PPC keywords--good ones, too--used to be dirt cheap and plentiful. Nowadays, if you don't have a ton of cash to spend, keyword shopping seem like a tease.

Fortunately, a little keyword creativity can really pay off. If you're new to PPC advertising or feel like you're stuck in a PPC rut, excite your creative juices like this:

1. Get Keyword Ideas from Elsewhere

Far be it from us to disrespect the keyword tools offered by Wordtracker and Google. No keyword list should be implemented without the use of these important tools.

That being said, everybody and their mama uses Wordtracker and Google to come up with keywords. Go beyond the norm--which is, after all, mediocrity--and look for keyword ideas when you're watching television, when you're listening to the radio, and:

Most of all, when you're out in the real world, talking to real people. Especially if you're talking to someone about products you promote online, you may be surprised how many creative, "one off" keyword ideas can pop up in the course of a single conversation.

Listen well and be rewarded.

2. Campaign Like You Mean It

The term "PPC campaign" is apt because that's what the best PPC advertisers do: they campaign in the spirit of Napoleon. Preparing, coordinating, strategizing, acting decisively, and then retrenching as necessary.

Too many PPC advertisers take a casual approach to buying and deploying keywords. Creating a PPC campaign is a different thing than just sort of "throwing it out there."

Testing the results of keywords is the chief example of active PPC campaign creation, as opposed to the throw it out there model. When you test various keywords, comparing click through and conversion rates from one to another, you are at your creative best.

Creating a PPC campaign also entails pruning. Find out what keywords are not working and get rid of them. Cutting the fat is an essential part of any creative process.

3. Flatter a Creative Person Today

Now it's time to steal other people's creativity. Not really steal, exactly, but imitate, as a form of flattery. And as a form, quite possibly, of profitability.

When you see, in the course of your own searching activities, another PPC advertiser doing something interesting, make a note of it. And consider using the trick yourself.

For example, let's run a search for "Robert Allen," a well-known author who teaches people how to make passive income through real estate and Internet marketing. There is no shortage of PPC ads related to this search because if you're looking for Mr. Allen, you're looking to make money.

One particular PPC ad stood out, on this particular search. The stand-out ad reads, "Trump & Kyosiaki Agree: Both Teach Dave Lindahl's System To Their Own Students! Free CD."

Creatively, the PPC advertiser has included two other well-known authors in a search ad for Mr. Allen. This is a clever little PPC trick that can markedly increase click throughs.

Search for PPC creativity when you're searching online, and flatter a creative person today.