If we are running a PPC Campaign and want to add a new keyword or a set of keywords to the campaign, we can take the help of Google Traffic Estimator tool to see how well the keyword or a given set of keywords would perform if added to our PPC Campaign. Infact  personally I have recently used this traffic estimator tool to calculate average CPC and average clicks per day for a given set of keywords so as to come up with a certain baseline on CPC estimates for a new PPC Campaign for which no past performance data is available.

Simply saying, Google Traffic Estimator tool helps us find the traffic that a particular keyword or a set of keywords would be attracting and the cost estimates associated with the keyword(s) depending upon the language targetting and geo-targetting we select. I personally found the geo-targetting selection interface provided by Google really amazing. The interface provides you with a eye-catching view of the world map in normal,3D as well as in hybrid version and you can select a particular region on the map that you want to target for the keyword(s).

One can zoom the satellite map of the world to the deepest detail and can select whatever region one wants to. I tried using the radius method in which one can select a particular point on map and mark a radius of particular dimension around that point to select an area around that point. The traffic estimator tool will then provide the cost and traffic estimates for the keyword(s) depending upon the area marked on to the map.

The Google Traffic Estimator tool is really helpful in making CPC projections for a new PPC Campaign. While calculating the estimates you can specify your own max CPC that you are willing to pay per click and your daily budget as well. Basically the rule of thumb is that the more popular your keyword is, the more CPC it would demand. So its always better to target a bit longer phrases rather than too general ones e.g “credit card rewards” instead of simply using “credit card”.

But the real fact behind the scene is that the Google Traffic Estimator tool can just give us estimate of the values. We can’t keep ourselves dependent on the data provided by traffic estimator tool for our ppc campaign. Also the tool only works for keyword targetted ads and not for placement targetted ads. Anyhow, the tool if used wisely can really help us a lot in taking off our new campaign higher on the success ladder!