Overall Keyword Prices (CPC’s ) have been somewhat stable for the last 3 quarters according to Fathom’s Keyword Price Index. The index is based what Fathom Online measures from 20,000 keywords across multiple industries.

Is this really a true representation of the actual Keyword Price Climate? Or, is it just a measure of the average CPC across Fathom’s entire client base?

How accurate is the Keyword Price Index®?

We all know that the primary objective of a Search campaign dictates how you manage that campaign. For example, in a Branding campaign the primary objective is visibility. Usually, that a position-based success metric, and the Avg CPC is not as an important criteria. The avg CPC is watched and managed but the campaign success won’t be measured by a low avg cpc. It’s all about Awareness and findability.

Perhaps Fathom’s Keyword Price Index® is weighted more heavily on Branding campaigns?

Fathom Online Chairman and CEO Dean DeBiase said, “In watching keyword prices closely, it is clear that everything a company does before and after the bid is more important than any one particular keyword bid.”

Is this somewhat of a disclaimer, and a hint that YOUR keywords prices could vary significantly from HIS depending on your campaign objectives, and your expertise managing SEM campaigns?

Their official disclaimer says,” Fathom Online notes that the index is a representative sample and that actual market prices of keywords may vary greatly depending on a variety of marketplace factors.”

So, does their Keyword Price Index tell us ANYTHING?

It’s nice that we know their “Keyword Price Index” is based on multiple industries. But, that’s not enough to gauge the accuracy as a true index. It would be helpful if we knew what percentage of the index was based on Branding Campaigns vs Direct Response campaigns. What percentage of the campaign is based on long tail keywords? What composition of the index is using single-words, 2-word phrases, and 3-word phrases?

It’ll be interesting to watch the Did-it Conversion Index once it launches, and observe the correlation between these 2 indexes.

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