One of the first steps to running a successful Google Adwords campaign is bidding on good keywords. You want well-thought-out keywords  that your prospect is likely to type into Google when searching for a solution to their problem. But you ALSO want keywords that lead to conversions. If you sell widgets, which keyword do you think will actually convert better for your product…”widgets” or “where can I buy widgets”? My money is on the latter.

But here is where most folks have a problem. They stock up only on obvious keywords and are missing incredible opportunities for attracting more searchers. Thinking “out of the box” means pondering the non-obvious ways that prospects may be looking for your company.

The number one rule that you have to remember when doing your keyword research is that you have to get into the mind of your prospects. You have to think like they think. So how do you do that? There are several ways.

First of all, why not ASK them? What’s wrong with asking your customers what led them to your website. If you take leads over the phone, make sure that you have a form that is required to be filled with that information. If you sell a product online, follow up with an e-mail that asks them why they needed your product or how they found you. The answers may surprise you.

Let’s say that you sell a software product that fixes registry problems. Here are a few obvious keywords you would may want to bid on:

-fix registry problems
-problems in registry
-how to fix registry problems
-having pc registry issues

Of course, you would bid on many more keywords than those, but you get the picture. However, you are missing out on many opportunities because you are not thinking “out of the box.” You are what we like to refer to as “too close to your business.” You may have heard it another way: “You can’t see the forest for the trees.”

Do you really think all of your clients know what they want when they first begin searching for a solution to their problem? Of course not! More thorough research would have revealed some of the following keywords:

-error 403
-what does error 403 mean
-kernel 32 dll error
-spool 32

These keywords reveal examples where users don’t know that they even need registry software. They just know that they are having problems and are searching for the solution to that problem; and more than likely they need an answer fast. If you had gotten into your prospect’s mind by thinking out of the box, you would be running a more successful Adwords campaign.

The same scenario works in any business. Let’s take an entirely different profession and say you are an attorney that specializes in workers compensation issues. I just took a pause from writing this article and typed in “workers compensation” into Google. Guess what? Pages and pages of paid Google Adword ads, advertising the wares of workers compensation attorneys all across the nation.

But what if I don’t know I need a workers compensation attorney? So let’s type in another keyword phrase: “what if I got hurt at work”? Guess what? FAR fewer ads show up. In fact, there are so few that I could probably be on the first page of Google for under $0.05.

Now granted, that keyword phrase is probably not searched on very much, but don’t you think that folks who ARE searching on that keyword term would be much more likely to be a prospect than someone who just enters the words “workers compensation” into Google? After all, just because I search “workers compensation” doesn’t mean I need legal services. I may need insurance instead.

And don’t you think “what if I got hurt at work” would be a highly PROFITABLE keyword as well? Now all you have to do is find lots more highly profitable keywords and soon you will be well on your way to absolutely dominating your competition in your Google Adwords campaign.

Thinking out of the box is not hard, if you just…well…think out of the box! Get into your prospect’s mind and soon you will be getting into your prospect’s pocketbook – in a legal way, of course – and you will be well on your way to managing a highly successful Google Adwords campaign.