Session-Based Broad Match Keywords in AdWords Search Query Reports
Jun 23rd, 2009 | By David Rothwell | Category: ARTICLES
A new type of Broad Match keyword has recently been seen – but only in Search Query reports. So what does it actually mean?
First, let me take you back to early 2006, and a campaign I was managing for a manufacturer of wide-screen TV’s.
They adopted a very strict "online sales only" strategy, took no phone calls for orders, and ensured that their online advertising spend was totally accountable for what it earned by tracking conversions from TVs ordered.
The strategy and the campaign was very sound, and by building out the keyword inventory we could target both generic terms and specific brands we wanted to position ourselves as alternatives for.
Sales increased and cost of sales drastically reduced.
Then, we decided to be ruthless with "non-converting keywords" by deleting them – you only want to run with keywords which convert – right? (maybe not!)
The campaign suddenly tanked. Conversions dramatically reduced, and cost of sales rose sharply.
In those days, you could not pause keywords – to turn them off you had to delete them (and face the consequences).
It was a scramble to get those keywords back into the campaign – fast. (You could view deleted keywords, and reassemble them by using a screen capture and a spreadsheet, not pretty, but it worked).
I remember being totally amazed by this seemingly counter-intuitive result, and since I was attending Perry Marshal’s seminar in 2006 I mentioned it to Howie Jacobson (I’m sure he does not remember that) to see if he had any insight. He was as surprised as I.
Fast forward to 2009 and the situation is as relevant today as it was 3 years ago.
I call it the "Keyword Life-Cycle".
Some keywords have more commercial intent than others, but all users of Search Engines "don’t know what they don’t know" to start with.
So they start off with general search terms and refine them from "Browse", to "Shop" to "Buy" over time.
Conversion tracking in Google AdWords (and Analytics) is only attributable to the actual converting keyword, not what "enabled" it.
Point is – if you do not have the (non-converting) "Browse" keywords in your campaign, you cannot get to the keywords with commercial intent which enable the journey from browse to shop to buy.
By removing the non-converting "Browse" keywords from the ClearDragon TV campaign which got people to the store to start with – we inadvertently killed it (but only with the best intentions!)
In recent conversations with my Google Relationship Manager, this disconnect from "browsing" to "buying" keywords is still in place. The mighty Google does not yet have an answer…
Even Conversion Optimizer is not exempt from it (I was hoping otherwise) – and Conversion Opimizer works really well, too.
So what’s the link between Session-Based keywords and conversion tracking? And why should you be interested?
Google explain more here.
It means that Google are getting smarter about the whole "keyword life-cycle" that users are conducting when they’ve searched for, and clicked on your ad.
And that the possibility of knowing which keyword *started* the sale is getting higher.
So you needn’t inadvertently delete (pause) non-converting keywords which have strategic value to your campaigns.
As I did in 2006 …
This is really counter-intuitive, as you said.
So, what your saying is:
By allowing “information”, or “browse” keywords to stay active in your account, you are achieving a sort of “brand exposure”, so that…
When the searcher returns with a “buying keyword”, seeing your ad again, they remember you and therefore have a better chance of converting?
There is a paradox though… as Google is, “getting smarter about the whole “keyword life-cycle” that users are conducting when they’ve searched for, and clicked on your ad.” This actually means that those browsing keywords are indeed registering conversions, as they “started the cycle”.
When Google says, ” you needn’t inadvertently delete (pause) non-converting keywords which have strategic value to your campaigns”… this doesn’t make sense to me, because they definitely should be registering conversions?
David can you explain that please, thanks.
Another explanation as to why shifting to “buying keywords” only resulted in a loss of sales may have had more to do with the “low search volume” issue?
Buying keywords, by definition have lower search volume, and if the market is really narrow, may actually result in the keywords being inactive… and no sales as a result.
Hi Dan, thanks for these great comments. yes, it’s very counter-intuitive, but the proof was in my campaign and it’s caused me to re-consider the whole conversion-tracking situation very carefully. And I’ve discussed it at length with my Google account manager.
“better chance of converting” on a return visit – yes, because they are coming back again on a different keyword this time, and may have remembered me, or even seen a different ad for that keyword, and not actually remembered me. They could even have come in to a different landing page. So as ever, it’s down to the site to perform the crucial act of conversion.
The “browsing” keywords *do not* get attributed with the conversion event, only the final keyword which performs it. This is the danger of removing “non-converting” keywords. I guess if you consider the act of conversion they perform is to get you on to my site, they must have some value.
If you bounce immediately and leave without doing anything else, maybe their value is more dubious, unless the user is thinking “ah, I’ve been here before, don’t need to stay on this occasion, maybe I’ll be back again though…”
So, to reiterate, be wary about pausing or deleting keywords which don’t show explicit conversions, as they may be the crucial first stage of the visitors journey to and through your site.
Your point about low search volumes and “long-tail” keywords is a good one – yes there will be fewer searches, but better likelihood of conversion, but the danger with long-tail keywords is that Google may not even be serving your ad for them at all.
You can run the ads diagnostic tool (I recommend doing that on a periodic basis, say every month just to keep an eye on things) to identify any keywords not showing ads for low-volume searches