Introducing our QualityScores PPC Management series where we expose some of the best ppc management

secrets ever!

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You CAN expose your specific AdWords Keyword Data beyond the dreaded “other unique queries” in the AdWords Search Query Report with Google Analytics!

Don’t you hate running the AdWords Search Query report because you know the best data is behind the cold words “other unique queries”?

Do you have a sick feeling in your gut because you know you can make more money with your affiliate programs, blogs, and ads if you could only tighten up your AdWords advertising?

If you answered “yes”, then you need to read and implement this Analytics secret immediately.

Here is a detailed, step by step process to take a look at what lies beneath the silky covers of “other unique queries” using Google Analytics:

1. Log into AdWords and click on My Account -> Account Preferences:

2. Find the Tracking section in Account Preferences and make sure Auto-tagging is set to “yes”:

3. Click on Analytics from your AdWords account or sign into your Google Analytics account:

4. You can choose to skip this step if you want to edit your current website Analytics profile – we recommend you create a separate profile. Click on Add Website Profile >>:

5. Choose to add a profile to an existing domain:

6. Pick your domain, label the profile, make sure you have a check mark in the Apply Cost Data section and click finish:

7. You should see your new profile listed with any other profiles you already have:

8. Now you need to edit the settings of your new profile – Click on Edit next to your new profile:

Analytics Filter 1

9. Find the Filters Applied to Profile section and click Add Filter:

10. Choose to Add new Filter for Profile:

11. Give your filter a good name, drop down to the Custom Filter type and choose the Advanced option:

12. In Field A -> Extract A choose the Referral drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

(\?|&)(q|p|query|kw|searchfor|wd)=([^&]*)

I’ll update the image later – but the q|p…etc will effectively pull almost all queries from the url at the serp. Each search engine uses a different url parameter for this so if you find one you want to track, simply add it to the regex above using the bar | to separate them. The above regex was copied from the search lab.

13. In Field B -> Extract B choose the Campaign Medium drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

cpc|ppc

14. In Output To -> Constructor choose the Custom Field 1 drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

$A3

15. Make sure all fields are required and they do not need to be case sensitive, then click Finish:

16. You should be back on the profile settings page where you can see this first filter has been applied to your detailed analytics profile.

Analytics Filter 2

17. Repeat steps 9 through 11 to create a second filter. Remember to give the second filter a different name and give this filter the attributes outlined in steps 18 through 21. ***You NEED both filters for detailed keyword data to work!***

18. In Field A -> Extract A choose the Custom Field 1 drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

(.*)

19. In Field B -> Extract B choose the Campaign Term drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

(.*)

20. In Output To -> Constructor choose the Campaign Term drop down and copy and paste this code into the available field -

$B1, ($A1)

Some replicated posts detail using $B1, $A1 without parenthesis – and I haven’t seen any difference in results so it appears either way should work fine.

21. Make sure all fields are required and they do not need to be case sensitive, then click Finish:

22. You should be back on the profile settings page where you can see this second filter has been applied to your detailed analytics profile. Make sure they are in the order we described – filter 1 should be listed BEFORE filter 2 under the Filters Applied to Profile section.

You are done setting up the secret that will expose your AdWords Keyword Data!

Now you need to wait a few hours for the data to be captured and reported. When you revisit Analytics you simply need to look at these reports and note the added data next to your AdWords keywords:

Traffic Sources -> Keywords

- or -

Traffic Sources -> AdWords -> Keyword Positions

Or a number of other reports…

The data in your old Analytics profile should look like this:

And the data in your new profile should look like this:

The keywords shown in parentheses (key+word) is the exact term the user searched when they found and clicked on your advertisement.

This particular client is only selling home security systems so I would look at this report and add “car” as a negative keyword and I would research “home security devices” to see if there is a decent volume for that term. Then I would consider optimizing a page for that term and add the keyword to my AdWords campaign to see if I can turn those visitors into the kind of visitor that puts money in my wallet.

One note regarding GOALS

We published a post detailing how to see your keyword data for Goals/conversions. Enjoy!

That’s a wrap! Your AdWords Keyword Data is now EXPOSED!

Our source for learning and applying this secret to our client accounts and our own accounts comes from a November 2007 blog post by the GA-Experts. Thank you, GA-Experts, for sharing this secret with us!

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