Surprise! Google Top 100 Most Expensive Keywords - Lots of Local Nuggets in Here

[Linda Buquet]

SEMRush recently did an infographic of the highest cost keywords on Google. (PPC)
But PPC cost also gives us an indication of competition and the popularity of these KWs/industries.

What really strikes me is how many of these keywords are LOCAL! The majority are.
I would think KWs like "digital camera" and "best smartphone" or whatever would be in the top 10?

But out of the top 10, 9 are local search terms and 8 have Geo modifiers.

This is also interesting because it's broken down by industries like legal (which is on top), water damage, insurance. Not surprisingly California, Colorado, Texas and Florida are the states that have the most expensive GEO targeted keywords.

<img src="http://www.webpagefx.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/most-expensive-keywords-infographic.jpg" alt="Google’s Top 100 Most Expensive Keywords for 2015 [Infographic] - An Infographic from SEMrush Blog" width="100%" class="infographic_embedder" /><p class="infographic_attr">Embedded from <a href="http://www.semrush.com/blog/googles-top-100-most-expensive-keywords-for-2015-infographic/" target="_blank">SEMrush Blog</a></p>
You could also use this data to help justify your fees if you have clients in these industries/cities. You can tell your client that is a "West Palm Beach criminal lawyer" that one of his main KW phrases goes for $435 per click on Google.

What do you think?

Any surprises for you???
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[DanS]

Thanks, Linda. It's always helpful having summarized research.

Since I am new to online advertising and very limited with ppc understanding, maybe I am missing something. When using KW planner it shows "accident attorney riverside ca" suggested bid is $49.43, but the infographic shows same keyword bidding at $626.90. Maybe the $626 amount is the top bid, guaranteed winner and if one wants to get exposure $49 will work???

Thought I'd ask since I am still learning.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Dan, really good question! And you are right, those numbers are way off!

Sorry, but I was totally focused on the queries and the order of the queries and the amount of GEO searches, so didn't focus on the numbers.

Meant to do a disclaimer at the bottom though saying these numbers CAN'T be right!
In fact the more I look at it I think the whole thing is off base!

This from 2014 is more inline with what I'd expect to see:
Google's Top 20 Most Expensive PPC Keywords | Powered by Search

But those are mainly 1 word phrases and the infographic above seems to focus on 3 word phrases.

I've searched and searched for comments about how the numbers are wrong and an explanation of how they came up with this data. But for as much as this has been shared, including on some pretty big site, I'm just not seeing any explanation except for one person defending the data saying it came directly from SEMrush???

This post goes into more detail about those numbers but does not explain how these numbers were arrived at: Google's Top 100 Most Expensive Keywords in 2015 [Infographic]

Maybe somehow they misplaced a decimal point???

 

[DanS]

Maybe somehow a decimal point was moved???

or....Can't Lie On The Internet

Wasn't sure on rules for posting videos. Can I post this?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Sure, you can embed videos here. No problem!

 

[mborgelt]

Denver experienced a lot of unexpected and uncharacteristic rain and flooding city and state-wide this summer. I wonder if "Denver water damage" has always been in the top 100 or if weather caused this surge.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

I checked a few of these keywords within SEMrush, and I wasn't seeing the same data. I posed a comment on the SEMrush blog post to see if they'll share more information.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Eric, can't believe no one else brought it up at their blog or any of the other big blogs that reshared this.

Let us know if you hear anything!

 

[Dave]

Dan, really good question! And you are right, those numbers are way off!

Sorry, but I was totally focused on the queries and the order of the queries and the amount of GEO searches, so didn't focus on the numbers.

Meant to do a disclaimer at the bottom though saying these numbers CAN'T be right!
In fact the more I look at it I think the whole thing is off base!

This from 2014 is more inline with what I'd expect to see:
Google's Top 20 Most Expensive PPC Keywords | Powered by Search

But those are mainly 1 word phrases and the infographic above seems to focus on 3 word phrases.

I've searched and searched for comments about how the numbers are wrong and an explanation of how they came up with this data. But for as much as this has been shared, including on some pretty big site, I'm just not seeing any explanation except for one person defending the data saying it came directly from SEMrush???

This post goes into more detail about those numbers but does not explain how these numbers were arrived at: Google's Top 100 Most Expensive Keywords in 2015 [Infographic]

Maybe somehow they misplaced a decimal point???

Linda: I've been using adwords for a decade. My experience suggests the 2015 list with so many localized keywords is more "on target" than the 2014 list. At the end of 2014 and earlier this year I was doing a large project with a lot of "more ambiguous" and less defined keywords--more of the type from the 2014 list. We were showing for keywords with relatively low bids.....

But on localized phrases the bidding can get frantic and rough...and most of all HIGH.

I didn't bother analyzing the phrases above or checking on them....but it doesn't surprise me that localized bids can be so high!!!


Also, to the person above who asked about the difference between google's suggested bid to get on the first page...and what is quoted as top level bids....the difference is just that....what the top bidder might be bidding versus being on the first page...albeit 2nd to 10th or 11th.

In a certain market...one or 2 competitors might be bidding DRAMATICALLY more than all the others...to try and definitely control the first or 2nd slot.. The others bid at prices they feel more comfortable with. Bidding can generate wildly different pricing strategies by each independent bidder.

 

[DanS]

Thanks for providing more insight, Dave