How Does Google Make Its Money: The 20 Most Expensive Keywords in Google Ads

 What are the most expensive keywords? We used data from our Free Keyword Tool to find out!

Keyword	Cost per Click (CPC)
Insurance	$54.91
Loans	$44.28
Mortgage	$47.12
Attorney	$47.07
Credit	$36.06
Lawyer	$42.51
Donate	$42.02
Degree	$40.61
Hosting	$31.91
Claim	$45.51
Conference Call	$42.05
Trading	$33.19
Software	$35.29
Recovery	$42.03
Transfer	$29.86
Gas/Electicity	$54.62
Classes	$35.04
Rehab	$33.59
Treatment	$37.18
Cord Blood	$27.80

• Download the infographic as a PDF
• Read the Full “Most Expensive Keywords” Story: The Most Expensive Keywords in Google AdWords
• Read our Follow-up Story to the “Most Expensive Keywords” Study: Where’s Mesothelioma, What Is Cord Blood & Other FAQs About Our Most Expensive Keywords Study
• Grade Your AdWords Account for Free: Use the AdWords Grader to get a free, instant AdWords account audit.

The Most Expensive PPC Keywords

How does Google make money? Surprisingly, 97% comes from online pay-per-click advertising. At WordStream we can’t get enough PPC; that’s why we decided to conduct some research and find out what the most expensive keywords are in Google. Some of our results about the most popular and most expensive PPC keywords were to be expected, while some (like cord blood and mesothelioma treatment) surprised us and our readers.

Want to learn more about how Google advertising works? Check out our infographic: What is Google AdWords?

Top 10 Most Expensive Google Keywords

The Top 10 Most Expensive Keywords are:

1. Insurance
2. Loans
3. Mortgage
4. Attorney
5. Credit
6. Lawyer
7. Donate
8. Degree
9. Hosting
10. Claim

You’ll notice that these top ten most expensive AdWords keywords deal primarily with financing and industries that manage vast sums of money. The fact that the educational keyword “degree” is one of the top ten most expensive Google keywords, right up with lawyers and credit, reminds us of the growing cost of education.

The next ten most expensive keywords complete our total list, resulting the top 20 most expensive keywords:

1. Conference Call
2. Trading
3. Software
4. Recovery
5. Transfer
6. Gas/Electricity
7. Classes
8. Rehab
9. Treatment
10. Cord Blood

There you have it – the highest cost keywords. If you are considering entering into one of these industries, be ready to pay high cost per click rates for the top keywords. While some may start treatment facilities for the greater good, be aware that you’ll wind up in one of the most expensive niche groups, and your paid search marketing wallet will suffer from those high CPCs.

The most expensive SEM keywords may be frustrating for those in the industries, but they are the best keywords for Google, who makes 97% of revenue from advertising on Google sites (AdWords, AdSense). In the last four quarters, the biggest player of search engine history brought in $32.2 billion in total advertising revenue.

The Most Expensive Ads Keywords

While the minimum bid per keyword is 5 cents in AdWords, the high cost keywords listed above are nowhere near that. Google can make up to $50 per click from the most expensive PPC keywords. Keyword advertising is a highly lucrative business for Google. Learn more about the costs of AdWords here.

The most expensive niche groups paying for the most costly keywords are industries with very high lifetime customer value; the most costly AdWords keywords exist in industries where the customer pay-off is considerably high. Ultimately, the amount of money insurance companies get from an individual signing up for insurance with them makes high cost per click rates worth the investment, even at $54 a click.

Find your best keywords with our Free Keyword Tool.

Tips for Businesses in Expensive Google Keyword Niches

Asking yourself, Should I use AdWords? If you are in an industry paying big bucks for the most expensive Google AdWords key words, you will want to make sure you are implementing pay per click marketing best practices. Here are a few to keep in mind:

• Quality Score: High AdWords Quality Scores can lower your CPC and help you pay less for the most successful keywords. Finding the right keyword niches and dividing large keyword lists into smaller, more segmented lists that you can easily write targeted ad text for, resulting in improved Quality Scores and better keyword rankings.
• Be Specific: Target specific, 3-5 word keywords. You can use a Google AdWords keyword tool to come up with specific keyword ideas, both broad and long tail keywords.
• Use Negative Keywords: Irrelevant keywords result in costly clicks that will never drive conversions, and when bidding on the most expensive keywords at $50 per click, negative keywords are absolutely essential.
• Focus on Relevancy
• Landing Page Optimization: While most AdWords conversion rates stay around 2%, we will often see landing pages convert at 20% or even 30%. The key to landing page optimization is to continuously try out different types of offers and test how people respond to them.
• Expand into Display: Especially if you’re looking to spread brand awareness, the display network is a great way to generate affordable clicks.

Want to learn Google AdWords? WordStream has the educational resources, tools, and PPC management software your businesses needs for success.