It won’t be surprising if it happened with you as well.

So where is the mistake being made??

Does Google Provide incorrect CPC data to us?
What do you think??

Well, all such questions will be answered in this article…..

(And yes, Google doesn’t provide incorrect data)

Keyword Planner is not the only

Tool in Adwords, there’s one
more!
So, where does a blogger fail in his/her research?

This is a very simple concept that I can simply write in 2 lines, but I prefer to show in
detail about how it all works and how a blogger can get an estimate of the REAL CPC
he/she may get on his blog or Youtube Channel.
Hmm, so you must be knowing Google AdWords is an Ad network by Google for
Advertisers. Advertisers can use AdWords to show ads on different mediums and
locations like Search pages, websites, youtube videos, Gmail etc.
A lot of options are available for an advertiser on AdWords, and this helps an advertiser
target their desired audience in a much better manner.

However, the good thing is we bloggers can also use the tools made for advertisers.
One such tool is the very famous “Google Keyword Planner”.
Almost every blogger uses this to find keywords with its search volume and CPC.
Moreover, every freakin’ tool uses its API to show data
Right???

However, that CPC is not an exact rate, it’s a suggested bid but still, most of the
bloggers and tools usually use that measure to identify and measure a keyword’s CPC
rate.
Oh My !!! THIS IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE…
Keyword Planner tool is a good only to find the search volume for any particular
keyword in any location and in any particular month or year.

But it’s (keyword planner) not at all a tool to get an estimate of CPC.
Why so??

Let me explain it in a simple manner.

Do you know that AdWords has 2 Different Tools for Advertisers?

I bet most of you don’t !!!

Well…

One is Google Keyword Planner and other is Display Planner.

Yes, 2 different tools and I am pretty sure that almost every blogger only knows about
Keyword Planner and have no idea about the other.

Well, both keyword planner and display planner are for advertisers but since we usually
require keyword data and CPC stats, it’s good to know and understand both the tools.

Also, These 2 tools will help you understand the concepts of CPC and all others
terms.

Hmm, so before I begin, do you know what are Search ads and what are display ads??

Understanding Google Search Ads

and Display Ads
Well, search ads are those that gets displayed on Search Engines result pages (SERP).
The one’s that gets displayed on top of search results and at the bottom of search
results.
An example of search ads can be shown below:
And now, what are AdSense display ads ??
Well, they are the ones that get displayed in the form of banners or other
multimedia elements on publisher websites/blogs or Youtube videos.
Example (Highlighted are display ads)
So Advertisers have 2 options (in fact more, including Gmail ads), either they can go for
search ads or they can go for display ads.

The difference between Display

Planner and Keyword Planner?
When it comes to finding/understanding the keywords or to know the suggested bids
for a keyword or a set of keyword ideas, Advertisers can use either Display planner or
keyword planner.
The difference is;

Keyword Planner is used by advertisers to analyze data for

Search ads while Display Planner is used to analyze data
for display ads.
Let’s dig into it…

Understanding Keyword Planner

On keyword planner, an advertiser can see any keyword’s monthly searches along with
an estimated bid (CPC). The advertiser is also offered with 100s of other related
keywords with their search volume and CPC data (suggested bid).
Ideally, the advertiser picks the best keywords based on his/her product or audience and
then runs the ads.

The advertiser is charged for every click that he gets on the ad displayed on the search
page. The charge/CPC is based on the competition and bids.
This means that the suggested bid shown on keyword
planner is for search ads. It’s not at all directly related to
the CPC of AdSense.
So, this is how search Ads work.
And As a blogger, it’s not important for you to understand the entire working of search
ads.

Your topic of concern will be cleared once you read the next portion of this article.

But before that…

Let me ask you a question here, did you start sensing the mistake that a blogger
usually makes??
Still, weird faces reading this line !!
Anyways, here’s the thing…

Advertisers not only runs search ads, they also go for display ads. Some advertisers run
both, some just display and some just search ads. It’s all up to them, but the good thing
is, Google AdWords has no shortage of advertisers.

Understanding Display Planner

(AdSense Ads)
The advertisers willing to run display ads usually use a tool display planner.

And just to clarify again, Display ads are the AdSense Ads
that gets served on your website or blog or Youtube
Channel.
Display Planner is also a tool that helps the advertisers find keywords related to their
main keyword. Apart from this, an advertiser can also view data
like websites/blogs/Youtube Channel URLs where he can display the ads, the
placements available on sites and so on….
And these URLs are the AdSense publisher sites or the publisher Youtube channels !!!

ahaaa…. Boom… Your mind explodes with ideas now

Waitttttttt, don’t just close my article do read it till the end….
Since I have talked about Display Planner, let me show you the options an advertiser is
offered.
So the advertiser first has the options to search keywords that he/she wants to target.
Apart from that, an advertiser can also change the bid type and the size of the ads.

An advertiser can simply uncheck all the ad sizes that he doesn’t want to use.
While reading this do keep in mind about the settings and options you yourself have as an
AdSense Publisher.
After clicking on the “Get ad group ideas” button, here’s what an advertiser usually
sees.
As you can see that the total available inventory for my searched keyword “blogging
tools” is shown as 10+ Billion impressions and 1-5 Billion Cookies.
Understand the fact that these are not the searches for the keyword, instead, this is
approximate of the total traffic impressions of the blogs with “Blogging tools” related
keywords. (Weekly results are shown in snapshot)
You must also be knowing that AdSense shows ads to a visitor based on his interests,
and this data is collected by Google (AdSense) through a user’s browsing history and
cookies. So the cookies available in the inventory suggests that thing.

Well, this isn’t it.

The advertisers have a lot more to analyze and pick.

An advertiser can not only see the traffic and impressions data, but he can also view all
the sites and Youtube Channels that are available for their target keyword.
They can also see the ads that a particular website allows and based on that they can
filter out the sites or channels which don’t meet their requirements.
This snapshot will explain it better;

As you can see, the advertiser can see every detail of a site including the available
placements and arough estimate of CPC.
There’s a special metric called relevance that tells the advertiser about how relevant
a particular site is for a given keyword (or a set of keywords). Good Advertisers make
use of this metric to target only those sites that they feel are most relevant to their
keyword.
Furthermore, advertisers even have the option to click on any site name and look more
about its details.

Have a look below;

In the snapshot, I clicked on the site, topmommyblogs.com and I (as an advertiser) can
now see the total impressions this blog gets along with all the demographic stats.
Same is with Youtube Channels, an advertiser can search for any keyword and look for
the channels list. He/She can then check relevancy and other stats before picking up a
channel for advertising.
This clearly shows that an advertiser has full power to select a site or a channel to show
his ads.

Which means an advertiser has access to data of AdSense publishers.

They can easily identify the stats and see if their ad is worth displaying on your site or
not.

A good advertiser never burns money on sites where his ads will not be relevant.
Clear???

My whole point here was not to explain the working of Display Planner, rather I wanted
you as a blogger or a YouTuber to understand the advertising process from an
advertisers view.
Let’s move on to the next part !!
 How does this effect the CPC of
a Blog or YouTube Channel?
First of all, let me show you an example…

A blogger usually searches keyword volume and CPC (in the form of bid suggestion) on
keyword planner, right!!

So, here’s a keyword planner search for the term “Apply Personal Loan” (I chose this
term randomly)

So the keyword has around 1000-10000 Monthly Searches (1300 Exact Volume) and it
is suggesting a BID of Rs. 163 ($2.5).
As a blogger, most of us here would think of this as a good CPC since most of us usually
consider the bid as an approximate measure of CPC.

Right??
But, here’s the thing…. (See Snapshot)
I did the exact search on Display Planner and guess what, advertisers can run
campaigns on “Apply Personal loan” keyword for a CPC of Rs 0-50 ($0-0.78)
Yo boy!!! What say??
Both the suggested bid (of keyword planner) and CPC (of display planner) are approximate
but you can clearly see the difference.
Since I already have captured your attention, let’s see another example.
Let’s pick a Classic keyword, a keyword that most of us feel will give us a CPC of 50$
Yup !!! You guessed it right…

I am talking about “Mesothelioma”!!!

You will laugh at the stats
Keyword Planner shows a Bid of Rs 5345 ($82). But this is for search ads.
Have a look at the Approx CPC for display ads…
Haha, somewhere between Rs 50-300 ($0 to $5)
An Advertiser can literally analyze this data and run display ads for mesothelioma
keyword for less than $5.

Quite funny, right?? Most of the bloggers just keep on researching keyword planner for
CPC ideas whereas they must be looking for the stats at display planner.

I feel so satisfied after sharing this, coz I got so many messages from people who made
blog posts (or eve complete blogs) about “mesothelioma” and got low CPC.

Anyways.. Moving on.

 How to Get High AdSense CPC
on a Blog or Youtube Channel?
So ultimately after understanding all the theories, the last question that arises is how to
get high CPC on a blog or video.
The best way that I found is, Keep your blog relevant to a single niche and deliver
quality.
Why??

Well, Advertisers are shown a good amount of data about your Blog, audience, and
traffic. Not only this, whenever an advertiser searches for a keyword to run display ads,
he is suggested sites/channels by the tool on the basis of relevancy. Your blog or
channel will be relevant to their keyword only if your blog is around that keyword.
Otherwise, your blog will never get their attention. And believe me, all big and high-
spending advertisers take a lot of care when it comes to targeting and setting up their
ads. Every data is meaningful to them.
Just for an example, if an advertiser is looking to run display ads
on “mesothelioma” related keywords, then he can use display planner to get a list of
channels and websites that he can add in his ad group for advertising.
Ideally, an advertiser would add only those sites that have all audience or most of the
audience targeted to mesothelioma keyword. An Advertiser would not simply add all
sites that are related to law. A good advertiser will always be specific.
Plus the relevancy metric shown in display planner proves out to be a good tool for
them to decide their target sites and youtube channels.

That’s the whole point !!

As a blogger, you will understand only if you also think from an advertisers perspective.
After all, they are not on AdWords to waste their money, they also have specific targets
and budgets that they are required to meet in order to run a profitable campaign.

You might have also noticed that a multi-niche blog usually gets low CPC as compared
to a keyword targeted blog, well the reason might be same. A multi niche blog proves
out to be less relevant for most of the advertisers who are looking for targeted traffic
and as a result, there are less competing advertisers on such sites.
Lastly, notice that AdSense has a vast number of publishers in the form of bloggers and
YouTubers and as a result, the advertisers can always find the space to run ads at
lesser rates due to a huge number of possible placement options available to
them.
So, my word for getting high CPC would be to keep your site updated with quality and
relevant content. (Though I will be preparing a full guide on it). Till then you can refer to
the Beginners guide to increase Adsense CPC.