That definitely answers my question. I agree with the fact that on client websites, I need to do the best with what I have. I think that I can reserve the hyper granular analysis for either my own sites, or the client who understands and is willing to pay for that type of service.

Great post btw!

Thanks again

Anyhow – your question is a good one. It brings into play the reality of client work. You have to do the best job you can with the time you have per the ‘contract’.

Think of it this way – 1 keyword per adgroup is the easiest way to control a campaign at the most granular level. Is it always realistic? No. If you have:

red nike basketball shoe
red nike basketball shoes
red nike basketball shoe size 10
red nike basketball shoe size 7

Could you get away with having those in the same adgroup? Of course.

2 years down the road would it be nice to see how size 10 buyers convert vs. size 7? Sure.

Are they paying you enough to take the time to figure that out? I don’t know. You have to adjust your level of service to fit the client budget, and that doesn’t always allow for this type of segmentation.

Does that help?

“1 Keyword per adgroup”

I have a client that has a huge line of products, and although I agree with your “start small” approach, I’m wondering if just one keyword per adgroup is going to be a little low for me? Mainly because I’m working on a per-hour basis, so I do need to keep the process as cost effective as possible. If I’m starting that small, I really get a chance to correct even the smallest mistakes, but it might be adding a little more time to my clock as opposed to maybe having a few more keywords per adgroup. Let’s say I have five words that are all equally relevant to a particular theme, is that going to be a problem? In other words, are you picking one keyword per campaign because that has been the absolute best solution you’ve found, or is that number a bit more arbitrary?

Thanks in advance.