It's not an art. Choosing keywords for your search engine marketing is science. Unlike all the other marketing tactics you might employ - like print ads, direct mail, cold calls, etc - online advertising can be precisely tracked. Because it is easy to track, selecting where and how you advertising is a science. Following the formula can bring dozens or hundreds of leads to your company, while ignoring the formula may cost you thousands of dollars in wasted spending and lost opportunity.

Brokers often ask "what are the best keywords to bid on?" The simple truth is that if you know where to look, Google will tell you the best keywords. The starting point is obvious - define your customer by what they might be looking for on the Internet. For equipment leasing, people often search by the type of equipment they want to finance, such as an excavator or cement truck. People may also include credit qualities and geography in their search terms.

Once you have a rough idea of what your customers might be using as their search terms, then you can leave the decision-making to the data:

• Start with Google's "Keyword Tool" found at...
  https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• Type in one of your ideas for keywords - in this case the fewer words, the better. So for instance, just type in a type of equipment you finance
• Complete Google's security requirement by typing in the letters you see in the image displayed
• In the drop menu titled "Choose data to display," select "Keyword Search Volume"
• Click "Get more keywords"
• Click on the header of the "Advertiser Competition" column until it is sorting from least competition to the most competition.

Google displays variations on the original keyword you entered, and then shows the search volume and the advertiser competition. Basic economics dictate that the keywords with more advertisers are going to have higher bids. The keywords with high search volumes can generate more clicks. Look for the keywords with high search volume and low advertiser competition. Once you have chosen from those keyword, next look at any keyword with low competition, even if search volume is low. You lose nothing if you don't receive clicks. (If you have a Google AdWords account, you can also choose "Cost and Ad Position Estimates" which will further enhance this information.)

Once you have identified keywords with low competition and hopefully high search volume, do a reality check to make sure the keywords are something your potential customer would search for. Remember, just because people appear to be shopping for equipment doesn't mean they are not also looking for financing for that equipment. If you bid on keywords that might be shown to people who did not specifically search for financing, be sure to include in your text ad the nature of your products.

The low-competition, high-volume keywords are your best investment. Overall you should have a lower cost-per-click than if you just bid on the keywords that are most obvious. The trends on Google are usually very similar to those on other search engines. Transfer the knowledge gained from the Google tools to your other search engine ads. You will be bidding on many more keywords, but paying less per click, so you can either stretch your budget further or save money.

Be sure to also see our past article on tracking the values of your online ads once a prospect has clicked through to your site: http://www.sunbridgecapital.com/news/archive/2007-09-07/