Search volume is one of the most important variables to consider when studying any keyword, regardless of whether you’re building a pay per click (PPC) advertising campaign or are optimizing for organic search.
In the context of a PPC campaign, search volume indicates how many people are searching for a given keyword or group of keywords. The higher the search volume, the more people are actively searching for it.
Obviously, high search volume is a positive sign that your targeted search term is popular, since it’s being searched by thousands of people.
But high search volume is also associated with more expensive advertising costs.
Today, we’re going to look at the other end of the spectrum: low volume keywords. Keywords with low search volume can be a hindrance to your PPC campaign, especially if that search volume is so low that ads don’t even show up for searches of these keywords.
At the same time, there are some opportunities for PPC strategists to get an edge when they manage low volume keywords correctly.
First, let’s clarify our terms.
A “low volume” keyword, in a generic context, is one that has relatively low search volume.
For our purposes, we’re referring to keywords that are listed in Google Ads with a specific “low search volume” designation.
These keywords have such a low search volume that Google isn’t even willing to display advertisements for people who search them. If the search volume climbs to exceed the threshold set by Google, the network will begin displaying ads for them.
There are many reasons why a keyword could be low volume. It could be because the topic itself is relatively unpopular. It could be because a similar, stronger keyword is cannibalizing traffic. Or it could be because the keyword or phrase is peculiarly worded, making it less popular for average searchers.
In any case, a low volume keyword is not going to contribute to your PPC campaign – at least until you make some modifications.
Are low volume keywords harmful for your PPC campaign?
For the most part, the answer is no. If a keyword is designated as low search volume, you won’t display any ads for it; this is a neutral consequence, since you won’t gain anything, but you also won’t lose anything.
However, it’s worth noting that low volume keywords can affect your quality score, ultimately impacting your campaign in a negative way if you aren’t careful.
Managing low volume keywords in a PPC campaign is typically less about avoiding negative consequences and more about making the best possible use of the keywords, tools, and resources available to you. If a low search volume keyword can be replaced by a better keyword, you should do it.
One of the best ways to deal with targeting low volume keywords is to avoid them whenever possible. A low search volume keyword isn’t going to add anything to your campaign – so you should probably put your energy elsewhere.
An easy way to do this is to target a similar but more “general” keyword phrase related to your low competition keywords, then utilize a broad match type to get more keyword coverage.
Broad match keywords and keyword close variants allow you to target many different interrelated search queries at once. Rather than specifically targeting individual keywords, one by one, you can target an entire group of keywords related to a general subject.
For example, if you use a broad match keyword like “veterinary training program,” your ads may also appear for high volume keywords and phrases like “vet training program near me” or “veterinary training classes.”
Unfortunately, there’s a significant downside to this strategy; it usually results in increased costs. General terms with high keyword search volume are associated with much higher demand than their hyper-specific, low-volume counterparts. That means more companies are bidding on ads for them, which in turn, drives ad prices up.
So what’s better – enjoy cheap, minimally competitive ads for low competition keywords that hardly get any traffic, or deal with the high prices of advertising to high volume keywords?
This is the dilemma PPC ad managers must navigate.
Additionally, you can avoid targeting low volume keywords by choosing totally different targets. Instead of targeting a more general phrase, you can use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner to find long tail keywords that are still relevant to your industry but have better traffic potential. This may or may not be viable, depending on your industry and target audience.
Avoidance is usually the best strategy for low search volume keywords; in other words, find a way not to use them.
But what happens when your low search volume keywords are some of your best targets?
This happens in a variety of different conditions. If your business is in a relatively new industry, or an unusually niche industry, there may not be significant search demand for your most important target keywords. If your business has a very strict budget, you may not have the financial resources necessary to compete with your competitors on a broad scale. And if you need hyper-specific keywords for your advertising strategy to work, avoidance doesn’t make any sense.
Thankfully, there are some management options available to you in these conditions.
RLSA (remarketing list for search ads) and the closely related ALSA (audience list for search ads) are examples of strategic options that allow you to use audience-based criteria to control how your ads are displayed. These allow you to target your audience members more specifically, giving you greater control over your advertising and potentially giving you an affordable path forward.
Pursuing more focused audience targeting can help you bring down the average cost of your advertisements (when targeting broad terms), while simultaneously boosting the relevance of your ad content (assuming you’ve done your market research).
Another option is to intentionally stimulate demand for your most important low search volume keywords. The big problem with low search volume keywords in Google Ads is a limited number of people conducting searches for them; if you can drive those searches up, the problem disappears.
The only problem with this approach is that artificially stimulating demand for new searches can be prohibitively expensive and difficult, depending on the subject.
Also, keep in mind that search volume is always fluctuating. Just because one of your keywords is qualified as low search volume currently doesn’t mean it will remain there indefinitely. If there are low volume keywords that could be valuable to you in the future, consider pausing them temporarily and returning to them when search volume increases in the future. This is especially valuable if you predict a surge in search volume for this term in the near future.
These are some of the most important takeaways for how to manage low volume keywords in Google Ads:
Are you struggling with low search volume keywords in your PPC campaign? Or are you interested in earning a higher overall quality score? No matter how much PPC experience you have or how many campaigns you’re managing, we have the experts and the tools that can help.
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When this apartment complex client partnered with PPC.co, their goal was clear: generate more qualified leads through Google Ads. In just 60 days—from January to March 2025—we transformed their paid acquisition performance. Total conversions more than tripled, jumping from 10 to 32, while the overall conversion rate soared by over 300%. At the same time, we drove down the cost per conversion by 44%, delivering significantly more leads at a much lower cost.
By strategically combining Performance Max and high-intent Search campaigns, we not only increased lead volume but improved overall efficiency and ROI. This rapid and measurable improvement underscores the value of data-driven optimization and expert campaign management.
This case study is a testament to what can happen when a well-structured campaign meets expert strategy and continuous optimization. Whether you're launching a new property or looking to boost occupancy in a competitive market, PPC.co delivers real results—fast.
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If you’re running an e-commerce or retail business, you already know that visibility is everything. The best product in the world won’t sell if no one sees it. That’s where paid ads for ecommerce comes in.
Done right, they drive traffic, conversions, and repeat customers.
Done wrong, they drain your budget and leave you wondering what went wrong.
Whether you’re spending $500 a month or $50,000, your goal is the same: profitability. Not just clicks, and certainly not just impressions. You want to turn ad dollars into real, predictable revenue.
So how do top-performing e-commerce and retail brands make their paid ads work?
What are they doing that you’re not?
This guide breaks it down step-by-step, so you can start running profitable ads with confidence.
Before you launch a single campaign, you need clarity on your audience and goals. Are you trying to boost first-time sales? Increase average order value? Each objective requires a different strategy and metrics for success.
Don’t fall into the trap of launching ads just to “see what happens.” Paid media works best when it’s part of a bigger strategy. So before you log in to Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager, get specific about what success looks like.
If you want to run profitable paid ads, knowing your numbers is the foundation of your entire strategy. Without a clear understanding of your margins, break-even points, and how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer, you’re essentially gambling with your ad budget.
And in e-commerce, that can get expensive fast.
Let’s start with the most critical numbers you need to know:
Your break-even ROAS tells you the minimum return you need on your ad spend to not lose money. It’s calculated by dividing 1 by your gross profit margin.
So if your margin is 50 percent, your break-even ROAS is 2.0. That means for every $1 you spend on ads, you need to make $2 in sales just to break even.
For example, let’s say you’re running Facebook Ads and spending $1,000 on a campaign. If your break-even ROAS is 2.0, you need to generate at least $2,000 in revenue to avoid losing money. Anything above that is profit. Anything below that eats into your cash.
Once you know your numbers, you can reverse-engineer your ad strategy instead of throwing money into the void and hoping for results. For instance, if your AOV is low (say $25), you might struggle to profit from ads unless you have a very low COGS or high conversion rates. In that case, you might want to:
On the other hand, if your AOV is $150 and your margins are strong, you have more room to compete in ad auctions, bid more aggressively, and test multiple audiences and creatives without instantly wiping out your profit.
A lot of beginner advertisers focus entirely on immediate return from ads. That’s understandable – but short-sighted. If you’re breaking even or slightly losing on the first sale, that might still be a smart move if you’re building long-term customer relationships.
That’s where Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) comes in. If you know that your average customer places three orders a year, each worth $60, then their LTV is $180. If you spend $40 to acquire that customer with your first ad, but earn $140 more over the next 12 months, that ad was extremely profitable in the long run.
Top e-commerce brands build their paid strategies around LTV-to-CAC ratio – how much they earn over time compared to what they paid to acquire the customer.
A healthy ratio is usually 3:1 or higher. So if you’re spending $50 to acquire a customer, you want to earn at least $150 from that customer over time.
Once you understand your numbers, you can plan your ad spend with precision. You’ll know exactly:
Let’s say you want to make $5,000 in profit this month, and your product has a 50 percent gross margin. That means you need $10,000 in sales. If your target ROAS is 2.5, you can spend up to $4,000 in ad spend to hit that goal. With those numbers in hand, you now have a roadmap for campaign budgeting, not just a shot in the dark.
Every ad platform has strengths. But if you try to use them all at once, you’ll burn through your budget without learning much. Instead, pick one or two that align best with your business model and customer behavior.
If you’re selling visually appealing products like apparel, skincare, or home goods, platforms like Instagram and TikTok can deliver strong returns – especially with the right creative. If you’re focused on high-intent buyers, Google Search and Shopping Ads are goldmines. And if you’re targeting professionals or B2B retail buyers, LinkedIn may offer surprising results.
Test channels strategically. Start with the one that matches where your customers spend their time and scale from there. The best platform for you is the one where your ideal customers are already shopping, scrolling, or searching.
One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is casting too wide a net. You don’t want everyone to see your ad – you want the right people to see it.
On Google, this means targeting high-intent keywords that signal buying behavior. Focus on terms like “buy,” “best,” “free shipping,” or product-specific searches. On Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, you’ll want to dial in your custom audiences using demographic data, lookalikes, interests, and behavior.
Don’t forget retargeting. Most people won’t buy the first time they visit your site, but retargeting brings them back when they’re ready. Set up ads that follow people who viewed a product, added to cart, or engaged with your brand but didn’t check out.
The more relevant your targeting, the more efficient your spend and the higher your return.
Creative is the make-or-break factor in most e-commerce ad campaigns. You can have perfect targeting and the right product, but if your ad doesn’t grab attention in the first two seconds, it won’t convert.
Your creative needs to do three things quickly:
Use high-quality product photos or videos. Show your product in action. Highlight a clear benefit or solve a specific problem. Incorporate customer reviews or user-generated content to build trust.
For paid social, test multiple creatives at once – video vs. image, UGC vs. branded, short-form vs. long-form – and let performance data guide your iterations. On search platforms like Google, focus on copy that’s compelling and packed with relevant keywords. Test different headlines and descriptions to see what gets the best click-through rate.
Sending paid traffic to your homepage is a rookie mistake. You want every click to land on a page that’s designed to convert. That means fast load times, mobile optimization, and a clear call-to-action.
If you’re promoting a specific product, send users to that product page and not your full catalog. If you’re offering a bundle or a seasonal deal, create a dedicated landing page with copy, visuals, and layout tailored to that offer.
Remove distractions. Reduce friction. Make it stupid-easy for people to buy. The less effort it takes, the more sales you’ll see. And don’t forget to A/B test. Sometimes a simple tweak to your headline or CTA can double your conversion rate overnight.
Once your ads are live, your job isn’t done. In fact, this is where it really begins. You need to monitor performance regularly, looking at more than just the surface-level metrics.
Click-through rate (CTR) tells you how well your ad is capturing attention. Conversion rate shows how well your landing page is sealing the deal. ROAS tells you how profitable your campaign is. And CPA helps you compare efficiency across different products or audiences.
Watch for early indicators of success – or failure.
Treat your campaigns like living systems. Tweak, test, and improve them continuously.
Once you find a winning combination – an ad, offer, and audience that works – it’s time to scale. Increase your budget gradually while keeping an eye on performance. Scaling too fast can tank your results, so go step by step.
Duplicate high-performing campaigns to test new audiences or creatives. Experiment with upsells, bundles, or time-limited offers to increase AOV. Layer in email or SMS marketing to retarget paid traffic and drive repeat sales.
And just as importantly, don’t be afraid to kill underperforming ads. If something isn’t working after a reasonable test period, cut it. Your budget should be flowing to what works – not what you hope will work.
One of the biggest mistakes in paid advertising is chasing one-off sales without thinking about the bigger picture. Winning e-commerce brands think in terms of customer lifetime value.
If your first sale breaks even, that’s fine. (As long as you have a plan to turn that customer into a repeat buyer. ) You can use post-purchase emails, loyalty programs, and retargeting ads to bring people back.
At the end of the day, when you view paid ads as the beginning of a customer relationship – not the end – you unlock real long-term profitability. And at PPC.co, that’s where we want to help you! We offer industry-leading PPC management services for ecommerce and retail brands who want to stop wasting ad spend and start generating real ROI.
Contact us today to learn more!
