Erasers
Newbie
- Jun 20, 2023
- 8
- 4
Background
The client is asking for help with his PPC account. He has been running it himself for years. My guesstimate is he checked it once every 2-3 months. The Client wondered if he was wasting money and if I would take a look. The account was a serious mess, one of the worst I have seen, so with his blessing, I decided it was best to start over.
This workflow aims to cull all keywords in the account and remove keyword duplicates that are exactly the same, not exact as in the match type in the PPC account.
Download and install the Google Ads Editor. If you have not used this tool or have very little experience with it, I suggest you do not use this workflow.
Connect to the specific PPC account
Download the entire account - when the download time feels like you are using a DSL connection, remain calm
Select all keywords in the account by clicking on the account name in the left navigation panel. This should select all campaigns and that's what I wanted.
Ignore all the warnings icons next to the keywords Campaigns and Manage panel below the Accounts panel
Click on the first keyword and select all keywords by CTRL + A works
Click on Tools and select Find Duplicates. Word Order, Strict. Match Types, Duplicates can have different match types (even negatives). Location of duplicates, In the same account. Optional: Hide duplicates, leave both options unchecked.
Click on Find duplicate keywords.
The results could shock you so be prepared.
The interface groups the keywords and displays them in sets.
Select all keywords in the group but one. This could take a long time, and it did. If someone has a better way to do this, please share it. The idea is to get the list of keywords to one per duplicate group
After you have selected the keywords, right-mouse click and select Remove
Exit out of the Duplicates view.
Create a Filter view of Status-=removed
On the Editor toolbar, select Export, and select current view. This assumes you have the entire account and campaigns selected, so you get all keywords in the account. Save as type CSV.
Open csv in Excel or Sheets. Save as the Excel or Sheets file type.
Insert a new column and number it consecutively like a counter, 1, 2, 3, etc. so each keyword has a unique number
Open Semrush - this assumes you use a paid account
Select Keyword Manager
Choose Add keywords from Semrush tools
Create a List Name
Click Create List
Select Add Keywords
Go back to the list of keywords in whatever program you have them in
Select no more than 2000, you may not have 2000 available for various reasons, but you get the point. This is where the ID field you created with consecutive numbering comes in handy. The numbering helps you keep track of how many keywords you copy and paste in case you need to do in smaller batches
Select and copy the keywords from Excel or Sheets file
Paste in Add keywords manually
If you want to use a tag, enter it before you click Add keywords
The Keyword Manager window will open. It's processing your list so be patient.
Click on Clusters and click on Cluster List and wait
Now, all the keywords are grouped into clusters for your review.
I sliced and diced the clusters by Intent, KD% etc. When I was happy with a cluster, I moved the keywords into the PPC account to build a new campaign.
This workflow was very helpful and saved me a lot of time. I tried to include all the steps, but I probably missed some. There are many ways to skin a cat. For the scope of my project, this worked great.
Hope this helps, or gives you ideas for your own workflow needs.
The client is asking for help with his PPC account. He has been running it himself for years. My guesstimate is he checked it once every 2-3 months. The Client wondered if he was wasting money and if I would take a look. The account was a serious mess, one of the worst I have seen, so with his blessing, I decided it was best to start over.
This workflow aims to cull all keywords in the account and remove keyword duplicates that are exactly the same, not exact as in the match type in the PPC account.
Download and install the Google Ads Editor. If you have not used this tool or have very little experience with it, I suggest you do not use this workflow.
Connect to the specific PPC account
Download the entire account - when the download time feels like you are using a DSL connection, remain calm
Select all keywords in the account by clicking on the account name in the left navigation panel. This should select all campaigns and that's what I wanted.
Ignore all the warnings icons next to the keywords Campaigns and Manage panel below the Accounts panel
Click on the first keyword and select all keywords by CTRL + A works
Click on Tools and select Find Duplicates. Word Order, Strict. Match Types, Duplicates can have different match types (even negatives). Location of duplicates, In the same account. Optional: Hide duplicates, leave both options unchecked.
Click on Find duplicate keywords.
The results could shock you so be prepared.
The interface groups the keywords and displays them in sets.
Select all keywords in the group but one. This could take a long time, and it did. If someone has a better way to do this, please share it. The idea is to get the list of keywords to one per duplicate group
After you have selected the keywords, right-mouse click and select Remove
Exit out of the Duplicates view.
Create a Filter view of Status-=removed
On the Editor toolbar, select Export, and select current view. This assumes you have the entire account and campaigns selected, so you get all keywords in the account. Save as type CSV.
Open csv in Excel or Sheets. Save as the Excel or Sheets file type.
Insert a new column and number it consecutively like a counter, 1, 2, 3, etc. so each keyword has a unique number
Open Semrush - this assumes you use a paid account
Select Keyword Manager
Choose Add keywords from Semrush tools
Create a List Name
Click Create List
Select Add Keywords
Go back to the list of keywords in whatever program you have them in
Select no more than 2000, you may not have 2000 available for various reasons, but you get the point. This is where the ID field you created with consecutive numbering comes in handy. The numbering helps you keep track of how many keywords you copy and paste in case you need to do in smaller batches
Select and copy the keywords from Excel or Sheets file
Paste in Add keywords manually
If you want to use a tag, enter it before you click Add keywords
The Keyword Manager window will open. It's processing your list so be patient.
Click on Clusters and click on Cluster List and wait
Now, all the keywords are grouped into clusters for your review.
I sliced and diced the clusters by Intent, KD% etc. When I was happy with a cluster, I moved the keywords into the PPC account to build a new campaign.
This workflow was very helpful and saved me a lot of time. I tried to include all the steps, but I probably missed some. There are many ways to skin a cat. For the scope of my project, this worked great.
Hope this helps, or gives you ideas for your own workflow needs.
Last edited: