Keywords are the basis of Google Ad campaigns. If you choose a keyword, it means your ad will be shown to people who are searching for that keyword or related phrases.

A good way to validate your keywords and make sure they are relevant, is going to Google itself and typing the keyword there. Look at the results, do you think your ad will fit well on the search results? Can you imagine people typing that keyword, seeing your ad and clicking on it? 

If the answer is yes, then it is a relevant successful keyword.  

Do:

• Think like your customer! What search terms would your target audience use to find your service or product? Look them up on Google Search and check the autocomplete function. 
• A good way of researching potential keywords is Google Trends. Here, you can choose your region and compare historical search volumes. 
• Tailor your keywords toward your campaign goal and use intent-based keywords 
• Your brand name: it is most likely the most cost-effective keyword
• Your main service or product in variations and synonyms: these can vary in cost-per-click and once you identify the less performing and costly one, you can simply pause them.
• Choose between 10 and 20 keywords 
• Check out your competition to get keyword ideas
• Negative keywords! Choose terms that are similar to your product or service but not part of your business. If you are a car glass repair shop, choose iphone-, tablet-, smartphone-, window-related keywords as your negative keywords. This way you can make sure to keep your costs down and only show up for relevant searches.
• Regularly check the search terms your ads show for! Add those that perform well to your keywords and add those to your negative keywords that are either too expensive or unrelated.

Don't:

• Keywords that are too generic and don't relate closely to your business, such as features like "free consultation", or "online appointments". These are unique selling points but not keywords.
• Don't be too specific! Long-tail keywords (with more than 2 terms) will most likely not generate enough search volume and won't be eligible to serve
• You may be tempted to use your brand in combination with the street name of your location but those tend to be too specific and won't generate enough volume

Example: The insurance company "Elite Insurance" intends to show local ads for store visits in their locations. The Berlin location would like to acquire new customers for their car insurance and private health insurance. Since these are two different products, the Berlin location creates two campaigns.

The following keywords are relevant for the car insurance campaign:

• car insurance berlin
• best car insurance
• cheap car insurance
• car insurance
• car insurance comparison
• change car insurance
• switch car insurance
• car insurance rates
• car insurance costs
• car protection letter
• car insurance test winner

The following keywords are advantageous for private health insurance:

• private health insurance costs
• private health insurance advantages
• private health insurance change
• private health insurance benefits
• compare private health insurance
• best health insurance
• cheap health insurance
• private health insurance test winner

On the other hand, the following keywords should not be used because they are either too generic or do not match the goal of the campaign:

• consultant
• insurance online
• take out insurance online
• test winner
• monthly cancellation
• car insurance rate calculator

Alternatively, you could also run separate campaigns that are dedicated to your brand name or your competitor names. Please be aware, however, that competitor names should only be used as keywords, not in the ad text!

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• Can I blacklist a list of keywords?