OK the first question you are probably asking is, what is DKI? DKI or Dynamic Keyword Insertion is Google AdWords method of using the searched for keywords in the actual Ad itself. This has lots of benefits such as improved click through rate known as CTR which can lead to reduced costs. This sounds good however there is a common pitfall out there waiting for you.

Most people encounter this pitfall due to the improper use of keywords. You will have no doubt already seen many examples of DKI, have you ever seen an Ad that says “Find (your keyword) on ebay” or “Buy (your keyword) at Amazon”. These are examples of Ads using DKI and are great when you are trying to cover a large range of generic keywords. It’s this list of keywords that can cause the problems.

I once saw an Ad that said “Find God at AuctionSite.com”. This is a classic example of when DKI goes wrong and it’s all down to your initial keyword selections. DKI works only if your keywords are suitable, if you have a large online store with a wide product range you can create a set of keywords that cover all your products. Another good use is for large numbers of keywords, for example if you sold printer cartridges you can use the individual item numbers from all your cartridges along with maybe a second campaign for the manufacturers names.

The benefit of this, your Ad is targeted to the search term. It’s much better to have an Ad that’s says “Buy AB1234 Printer Cartridges from Website.com” as opposed to “Buy Any Printer Cartridges from Website.com”. The first is a more targeted Ad and will most likely give you a higher CTR and therefore you will pay less for each click.

When using lots of generic or product keywords it is important that you do your keyword research for negative keywords. These are keywords that when searched for cause your Ad NOT to appear, this is particular useful if there are other products that could be found under very similar keywords. The last thing you want is for your Ad appearing under the wrong keywords, this has two negative effects, 1. It lowers your CTR, which can mean you pay more for each click. 2. People click on your Ad thinking you offer the relevant product, realize they have made a mistake and hit the back button, costing you money.

We’ve discussed the advantages and disadvantages so how do you set up DKI. First research your keywords as normal and then create your Ad. Where you want to position your keyword you simply insert {keyword}. This means that the keyword will inserted there. If you want to CAPITALIZE the keyword simply enter {KEYWORD} or if you want to Capitalize the first letter of each word use {KeyWord}.

So far so good but there is one more you thing to consider, your Google Ads with DKIs are still restricted by the normal size constraints. So if someone searches a search term that is too long the keyword will not be displayed. To get around this we can add a backup keyword like this {KeyWord:Backup} this way if some searches a long keyword phrase your backup keyword will be used rather than leaving an unsightly gap. This way you get the best of both worlds.