• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness Services
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

SEMrush

Home » Search Engine Marketing » Funniest Pay Per Click Keyword Mistake Revealed

Funniest Pay Per Click Keyword Mistake Revealed

Posted on September 14, 2007 Written by Bill Hartzer

Managing a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign can be difficult at times, especially when there’s a lot of competition for keyword phrases that cost a lot. Prices for the most coveted keyword phrases are rising and the overall cost of a PPC campaign in a competitive industry can be downright outrageous, with major corporations spending tens thousands of dollars a month on Pay Per click Advertising. Couple the high cost of a PPC campaign with someone doesn’t know how to manage a PPC campaign properly and it’s downright dangerous.

sponsored results

As someone who manages many Pay Per Click campaigns through the Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing (and has been doing so for several years now), I often come across some pretty outrageous and costly Pay Per click mistakes. I recently uncovered a simple mistake that is costing companies thousands of dollars. This is my all-time favorite (funny) Pay Per Click mistake:

If you aren’t in the Keyword business, then don’t bid on the word: keyword.

To explain this extremely common Pay Per Click mistake, let’s take a look at the search results on Yahoo! for the word “keyword”. Granted, there are companies (like keyword research services) that literally are in the business of selling “keywords” and “keyword phrases”. These businesses help search engine marketing professionals (and others who manage PPC campaigns) come up with keywords related to your business. But is it appropriate for Dell computers, Frisco Honda, the Quilling SuperStore, and Staples to be bidding on the word “keyword”? Certainly NOT! Take a look at the screen capture below for a sample (click the picture for a larger version):

PPC Keyword Mistake

This common Pay Per Click campaign management mistake doesn’t only take place on Yahoo! Search Marketing. People who are managing Pay Per Click campaigns are also making this mistake at Google, using the Google AdWords program. Let’s take a look at the same mistake made by people managing a Pay Per Click campaign at Google. Today, when I checked the search results at Google for “keyword”, there weren’t many people making this mistake, But, why is a law firm bidding on the word “keyword”?

PPC Keyword Mistake at Google

Exactly how do these people who are managing Pay Per Click campaigns make such a horrible mistake? It all has to do with their lack of attention to detail. Let me explain.

When you’re managing a Pay Per Click campaign, you have to come up with lots and lots of keywords and keyword phrases that have to do with the product or service you’re selling. In many cases, the larger the PPC account the more money is being spent. And the larger the PPC account the more keywords and keyword phrases that are involved. So, many people will use a spreadsheet or other program to list all the keywords that they want to bid on. Here’s a sample list:

Keyword
——-
computer
computers
computer repair
computers repair
computer repairs
computers repairs
broken computers
broken computer
fix computer

As you can see from the short list that I’ve created, it would be fairly easy to copy the whole list, including the “heading” of that list, which is “keyword”. It would be easy to copy the list and paste it into your list of keywords that you’re bidding on at Google or at Yahoo!. So, if you were to copy that whole list and paste it you would be bidding on the word “keyword”. This is a simple mistake, but a lack of attention to detail causes companies thousands of dollars every month.

Filed Under: Search Engine Marketing

SEMrush

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management.

Recent Posts

  • dotDB is Not Shutting Down February 1, 2023
  • Someone Stole My Domain Name: Here’s What You Do January 4, 2023
  • Web Hosting Services Market to Grow to $254.86 Billion by 2029 December 13, 2022
  • This SEO Blog Post Was Written by ChatGPT December 8, 2022
  • Facebook Rolling Out Facebook Articles December 7, 2022
  • Doing SEO is Better Than… December 6, 2022
  • Tucows and GoDaddy Report Q3 2022 Results November 6, 2022
  • How to Measure App Events Sourced by Organic Search and SEO September 20, 2022
  • Google Allegedly Eavesdrops and Monitors the Brain 24 hours a Day to Control Humanity September 14, 2022
  • Why You Shouldn’t Hire SEOs Based on An Email September 13, 2022
  • Global SEO Market to Reach $122.11 Billion by 2028 September 9, 2022
  • Bluehost Launches New Commerce Solutions for WordPress September 8, 2022
  • Which CMS? How to Choose the Best CMS for Your Purposes August 29, 2022
  • Accidental SEO Manager: Interview with Ash Nallawalla August 15, 2022
  • Sometimes Google Isn’t Family Friendly August 1, 2022
  • Something’s Seriously Wrong with Facebook Notifications July 12, 2022
  • Facebook Internet Tracking Settlement June 24, 2022
  • RankSense Acquired by SEOClarity June 1, 2022
  • LinkedIn Links, Digital Marketing News, and SEO Questions Answered May 9, 2022
  • GoDaddy Ending Forwarding of Existing Shortened Links May 5, 2022

US Agency Awards Judge

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

I Love SEO
WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Phil Drinkwater
Dixon Jones
Brian Hartzer
Navah Hopkins

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (19)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (12)
  • Domain Names (210)
  • Google (236)
  • Internet Marketing (25)
  • Internet Usage (85)
  • Link Building (53)
  • Local Search (39)
  • Marketing (180)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (3)
  • Podcast (18)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (9)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (48)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (19)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (164)
  • Search Engines (204)
  • Social Media (192)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (17)
  • Webinars (1)

Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 ·