Keyword Mashup Tool Launched

1st May 2008

Pay per click campaigns can be somewhat tedious to set up, primarily because all the data that you get from the keyword research tools need to be reworked into a more useful list.

By that, I mean you need to consider every variation that might be possible, whether that be by city name or even a synonym for a certain service or occupation, and it always seems that many get overlooked.

For example, let’s say you ‘re doing a PPC campaign for plumber in the San Fernando valley, down in Southern California.

You’ve used all your different keyword research tools, and now you have dozens or even hundreds of primary key phrases, like Plumbing, Plumber, clogged drain, sink repair, unplug my toilet in, etc.

You know that there are an almost endless number of cities and towns that people are searching besides Los Angeles, like Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Calabasas, etc.

Manually putting that list together was a pain in the neck, and a couple of years ago while performing this tedious task, it crossed my mind that this job could likely be accomplished in an Excel spreadsheet.

Now I know nothing about writing macros, so the first person that crossed my mind, was Karen Westermann, the Excel Queen, and in a few short days, I had my tool. (Thanks, Karen!)

Fast forward to 2008, in a recent discussion with my best programmer about various projects, I asked her if she could turn the spreadsheet into a web application that would run inside a WordPress page.

Much to my delight, she said “sure, in a snap” so the keyword mashup tool was born. I suppose it’s a little bit like keyword tumbler, but I think it’s far less complicated.

All you have to do is take one group, and put them on the left side, and another group on the right side, and press the button to combine your list. That’s it.

You can also use the tool more than once, which is something you might do for an attorney with more than one type of practice, or a contractor, with many different specialties and departments..

For example, on the left side you might put a few dozen phrases like medical malpractice, product liability, personal injury, etc. and on the right side you might use synonyms, like lawyer, attorney, legal help, law office, etc.

Then you could take the first list you compile and run it again on the left side, putting your geographic locations on the right, and pushing the button one more time. It’s very simple, very basic, but saves a pretty fair amount of time.

Try my keyword mashup tool for yourself, and please tell me what you think!