Keyword research is the foundation of any successful pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign. At Whissel Strategies, we’ve developed a proven keyword research process that allows businesses to target the right audience, increase conversions, and achieve stronger ROI. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how we approach keyword research for PPC—and why it’s one of the most critical components of any campaign.

Understanding Keyword Research for PPC

Keyword research for PPC involves identifying and selecting the search terms that your target audience uses when looking for your product or service. These keywords form the foundation of your campaign and determine when and where your ads appear. In contrast to organic SEO, which relies on long-term strategies, PPC delivers immediate visibility—but only if you’re bidding on the right keywords.

Choosing poor or irrelevant keywords can quickly drain your budget with little to no return. Choosing the right ones can put your ads in front of high-intent users who are ready to convert.

Why Keyword Research Matters in PPC Success

Effective keyword research ensures that your ads reach people who are actively searching for what you offer. The right keywords help:

• Reach your target audience by matching your ads to relevant search queries.
• Maximize ROI by focusing on keywords with strong intent and balanced competition.
• Drive more conversions by attracting users who are ready to take action.
• Lower cost-per-click (CPC) by identifying high-value, low-competition long-tail keywords that still deliver quality traffic.

Without this strategic targeting, your campaign is likely to underperform—even with a high budget.

Whissel Strategies’ Approach to Keyword Research for PPC

At Whissel Strategies, we follow a step-by-step approach to keyword research, backed by experience and advanced tools.

We begin with understanding your audience. Before selecting keywords, we analyze your target customer—what they’re searching for, what questions they’re asking, and what solutions they need. We classify keywords by user intent: informational, navigational, and transactional. For PPC, we focus primarily on transactional and commercial intent keywords—those used by searchers who are ready to take action, such as “buy now,” “hire a consultant,” or “get a quote.”

Once we understand the audience, we turn to keyword research tools. Our go-to platforms include Google Keyword Planner and the Google PPC keyword tool for foundational data like search volume, competition level, and cost-per-click. We also leverage SEMrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, and SpyFu to uncover competitor insights, trending phrases, and long-tail opportunities.

With a strong keyword pool, we evaluate key metrics. These include:

• Search volume to ensure the keyword drives sufficient traffic
• CPC to measure cost-efficiency
• Competition level to assess how hard it is to rank in auctions
• Relevance to ensure alignment with your offer and landing page
• Keyword difficulty to weigh opportunity vs. effort

From here, we refine your list by focusing on a combination of high-volume terms, niche-specific long-tail keywords, and negative keywords—terms you want to exclude to avoid irrelevant clicks.

Ongoing Optimization

Keyword research doesn’t stop after campaign launch. We continuously monitor performance, remove underperforming terms, and add new opportunities. By tracking conversions, click-through rates, and CPC, we identify which keywords generate real value. We also:

• Use negative keywords to filter out unrelated traffic
• Run A/B tests on different keyword groups and match types
• Adjust bids based on performance and conversion data
• Adapt keyword lists to seasonal trends and audience behavior shifts

This proactive refinement helps reduce waste, improve Quality Score, and increase your return on every ad dollar spent.

Best Practices for Keyword Research in PPC

Effective keyword strategy includes:

• Thinking like your customer—what would they search for?
• Incorporating location-specific terms if your business serves a specific region
• Organizing keywords into tightly themed ad groups for better relevance and Quality Score
• Including mobile-friendly keywords and tailoring ad copy for mobile users
• Using real-time data to adapt and improve your keyword list

Common Keyword Research Mistakes to Avoid

Many PPC campaigns fall short because of preventable errors. Avoid:

• Bidding on overly broad keywords that bring in low-quality traffic
• Ignoring negative keywords, which leads to wasted spend
• Overlooking long-tail keywords that often have better conversion potential
• Failing to track performance and optimize over time
• Grouping too many unrelated keywords into a single ad group, which can reduce relevance and click-through rates

Take Your PPC Campaigns Further with Smarter Keywords

Keyword research is not just a starting point—it’s an ongoing, strategic pillar of PPC success. With a clear understanding of your audience, access to the right tools, and a commitment to continual optimization, your campaign can reach the right people at the right time and drive measurable results.

At Whissel Strategies, we help businesses build and scale PPC campaigns that convert—starting with the right keywords. Whether you’re launching a new campaign or improving an existing one, our team is here to help with strategic keyword research, campaign management, branding, web design, and digital marketing solutions.

Ready to take your PPC strategy to the next level with smarter keyword targeting? Contact Whissel Strategies today.