Search Engine Journal

This is one costly mistake in Pay Per Click Search Marketing which is costing businesses loads of money while raking it in for the search engines. Ever do your keyword research with the term “Keyword” as the header in your excel spreadsheet or list?

It seems that various companies are actually bidding on the term ‘keyword’ because they are forgetting to edit it out of their spreadsheet, then mass uploading it to Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing.

More from Bill Hartzer:

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 :