What Should I Do If a Keyword Is Costing Too Much?

If a keyword is costing too much, the best approach is to try reducing your bid for that keyword, improve the quality of your ad associated with it, or pause the keyword altogether if it isn’t generating enough value compared to its cost.

Full Explanation

When a keyword incurs high costs without delivering sufficient results, it’s important to take action to optimize your spending. Reducing the bid amount lowers how much you pay per click or impression, which can help bring costs down. Enhancing the quality of your ad makes it more relevant and appealing, potentially improving its performance and lowering expenses. If after attempts to optimize, the keyword still doesn’t offer enough value, pausing it can prevent further unnecessary spending.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Reduce Your Bid: Lower the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for that keyword. This can immediately decrease your expenses.
Improve Ad Quality: Focus on creating ads that are more engaging and relevant. Higher quality ads tend to perform better and may lower your cost per result.
Pause the Keyword: If the keyword is not contributing enough value relative to its cost, temporarily stopping it from running helps control your budget without losing time on ineffective terms.

Real Examples

Although no specific examples are provided here, applying these actions typically results in better ad cost efficiency. Advertisers often find that lowering bids or upgrading ad quality directly impacts cost-effectiveness. Pausing underperforming keywords prevents wasted spend, improving overall campaign ROI.

Common Mistakes

Ignoring high costs and continuing to bid the same amount.
Not reviewing or improving ad quality, which can keep costs high.
Keeping expensive keywords active despite low return on investment.

FAQs

Can I just lower the bid and expect results to improve? Lowering the bid helps reduce costs but improving ad quality and pausing ineffective keywords should also be considered.
What if my ad quality is already good? If costs remain high, pausing the keyword might be necessary.
How do I know if a keyword is not generating enough value? Compare the cost against the results or return generated from that keyword.

Key Takeaways

Reducing your bid is a direct way to lower keyword costs.
Improving ad quality can positively affect cost and performance.
Pausing expensive keywords that do not provide enough value is an effective budget control strategy.