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Lessons Catalog
Lesson 7b: Analytics Tools
The Traffic Estimator
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Objective: Thinking about adding a new keyword to your account? With the Traffic Estimator, you can see how your keyword might perform. Learn what this tool does and how to use it.
The Traffic Estimator provides traffic and cost estimates for new keywords before you add them to
your campaign. You can also review estimates for current keywords already running in an ad group.
When you enter a keyword into the Traffic Estimator, you get estimates for your keyword's status,
search volume, average cost-per-click (CPC), cost/day, and average position. By using this tool, you can better
forecast your ad's placement and performance based on your CPC bid, targeting options, and other criteria.
You can access the Traffic Estimator from within your AdWords account -- either when you're creating or reviewing a keyword for a particular ad group, or from the Tools page on your Campaign Management tab. The estimates you receive are based in part on the values you enter (or on your current ad group and campaign settings), including your CPC bid and targeting options. If you're flexible on your costs and targeting, it's a good idea to play around with these fields to see different results.
To use the Traffic Estimator when creating a keyword in your account:
- Log in to your AdWords account at adwords.google.com.
- Click the campaign containing the ad group for the keywords you want to add or review.
- Click the appropriate ad group.
- Select the Keywords tab.
- Click Edit Keywords at the top of the table.
- In the field provided, enter your keywords so that each word/phrase appears on its own line.
- Click Estimate Traffic. You will see all of the estimates for each of your keywords entered. If necessary, you can adjust your CPC bid and recalculate your estimates.
- Click Save Changes to keep the new settings or Cancel to delete them (your original settings will be applied).
When using the Traffic Estimator from within your account, at the bottom of the estimates page you have the ability to make changes to your keywords and CPC bids, and then re-estimate the traffic.
Note that when using the Traffic Estimator from within your account, you will see the predicted status of your keyword. Please see the lesson on Keyword Performance for more information on the keyword status.
To access the standalone Traffic Estimator tool through the Tools page in your account:
- Log in to your AdWords account at adwords.google.com.
- Click the Tools link on the Campaign Management tab.
- Click Traffic Estimator.
- Enter keywords: In the field provided, enter your keywords so that each word/phrase appears on its own line.
- Choose a currency: Select your currency, then enter a specific CPC bid for your estimates, or let us suggest a value. Our suggested value should deliver ads in the top position 85% of the time. If you feel you don't need your ad in the top position 85% of the time, you can reduce the CPC bid.
- Choose your target languages: Select which languages you'd like to target.
- Select Location Targeting (countries, regions and cities, customized)
- Choose one or more target countries: Select which country you'd like to target.
- Select if you want the estimates provided to be customized based on your account history.
- Click Continue to see your estimates.
The Traffic Estimator works for ads with keyword targeting only; it does not work for ads with placement targeting using either CPC or CPM bidding.
When you use the Traffic Estimator, you'll see the following estimates for each keyword
entered:
Search Volume: Indicates the amount of search traffic received by your keywords. This
information can help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword. The green bar shown
represents a general low-to-high quantitative guideline.
Estimated Avg. CPC: The average amount you'll pay for each click. The AdWords Discounter
automatically adjusts your actual CPC so you pay only one cent more than the minimum amount required to keep your
ad's position. Therefore, the displayed amount may be lower than your 'official' CPC bid above.
Estimated Ad Positions: The average position in which your ad may show. '1' is the highest
position on the first page of search results. There is no 'bottom' position. Values may contain ranges because
the Traffic Estimator displays estimates as averages based on dynamic keyword activity among advertisers. Also,
average ad positions are not fixed; they may vary depending on bidding activity and your keyword's
quality.
Estimated Clicks/Day: The number of clicks your ad may receive each day.
Estimated Cost/Day: The average amount you may spend per day.
The values provided by the Traffic Estimator are only estimates, not guarantees. They will vary depending on
conditions such as fluctuations in user behavior and dynamic search and pricing activity. The Traffic Estimator
works for ads with keyword targeting only; it does not work for ads with placement targeting using either CPC or
CPM bidding.
For more information about cost control, overdelivery, and ad ranking, refer to the lesson on Pricing and Ranking.
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