A Keyword is art, Keyword Testing is a science.

Any great campaign is a beautiful mix of this art and science.

We’d go so far as to say that there are no top-performing campaigns without this spark of creative magic. Sometimes it is seen up front – with sparking copy and titles, other times it is in the background with the constant iteration and optimization of an average campaign into polished perfection.

At Node Digital we aim for both. This is how we get there.

Having completed Keyword Research, attention then turns to test those Keywords for traction. In the real world, many factors drive a Keyword’s performance, from the linked domain or URL, the text and other links surrounding the Keyword, to search intention and even time of day or night. But typically one of the KPIs that we look closely at here is the Click Through Rate or CTR. This will show how many clicks a Keyword got as a percentage of the times it was seen on screen (an Impression).

A negative list of Keywords also helps when testing; i.e. Keywords you want to exclude from the test. For example, if you want to test the Keyword “enterprise payroll software” excluding the word “free” as a negative keyword means you are running a better test by excluding users looking for freebies.

Typically Keywords are tested by using Ads.

They offer the quickest way to get feedback. SEO is a much slower process that can make sense in certain circumstances, such as when there are a few keywords that are “sure bets”.

Selecting performing keywords can be sped up by spending more money on the testing.

Thus putting the Keywords in front of more users (by gaining more impressions) and generating more data points. Testing will always produce surprises and is in fact what we want. In this fast-moving digital world, going by gut feelings will only get you so far.

To compete in in the 21st century we must be making at least data-informed decisions.

A data-informed decision is simply where we take into account what the data is saying or hinting at. Taking this data into consideration we decide if a Keyword is performing or not.

The other option is a data-driven decision.

Here the decision is led by the data and a Keywords selection is determined by the KPIs like CTR and conversions rate. The type of decision you make ultimately depends on the quality and quantity of data you have.

Now all this Keyword testing sounds expensive and time-consuming; many clients have said “actually what is the point in testing when we know that these are the best Keywords?”.

We test as it is quicker and cheaper than optimising for the wrong keywords; realising a year later that we are not getting the expected clicks and conversions and having to start over.

So testing finds the right Keywords that reward us with clicks that convert; ensuring that we are going in the right direction with the right message.

Looking for help with your Keywords? Contact us today.