Skip to main content

Choose keyword clusters

After targeting, Hero Marketer takes your seed keywords, queries Google for related terms, and groups the results into clusters. A cluster is a tight group of keywords that share the same intent. Each campaign you create targets one cluster.

If you want a deeper explanation of why clusters beat flat keyword lists, see What is a keyword cluster.

What you'll see​

Each cluster has:

  • A label. A short phrase summarizing the intent of the keywords inside.
  • A keyword count. How many keywords are in the cluster.
  • Aggregated metrics.
    • Search volume. Total monthly searches across all keywords in the cluster.
    • CPC range. The low and high cost per click advertisers typically pay.
    • Competition. How crowded the auction is for these terms.
  • An expandable keyword list. Click to see every keyword in the cluster.

Clusters are sorted by relevance to your product, with the strongest match first.

Pick the cluster that matches your customer​

The right cluster is the one that captures the intent of the customer you're trying to reach. Some things to consider:

  • Intent maturity. "Project management software" is broad and earlier stage. "Alternative to jira" is later stage and closer to a buying decision. Pick based on where your funnel needs traffic.
  • Competition versus volume. A high volume, high competition cluster will burn budget fast. A lower volume, lower competition cluster may convert better dollar for dollar.
  • Your offer. If your product is genuinely better than a specific competitor, "alternative to X" clusters are gold. If it's a category leader, broad category clusters work.

Pick one cluster per campaign. Want to target multiple clusters? Build separate campaigns. That gives each one its own budget, ad copy, and reporting.

Edit the keyword list inside​

Inside a cluster, you can:

  • Remove keywords that don't fit. Click the x next to a keyword.
  • Move keywords between clusters. Drag the keyword onto another cluster, or use the move action in the keyword's menu.
  • Restore keywords you removed earlier. Removed keywords show in a separate list at the bottom of the cluster panel.

A few rules of thumb:

  • Drop branded competitor terms unless you've checked Google's policies on competitor bidding for your category.
  • Drop terms where the searcher's likely intent doesn't match what your product does. For Linear, "personal task manager" looks related but the intent doesn't match.
  • Keep negative keywords for later. Hero Marketer doesn't generate negatives directly, but Google Ads has a search terms report you can use to add them after a couple of weeks of data.

What to do if no clusters look right​

If nothing matches, the seed keywords were probably the wrong starting point. Go back and try:

  • More specific seeds. "Project management" is too broad. "Project management for software teams" is sharper.
  • Customer language seeds. "Track engineering work" might match your customer better than "agile project tracking".
  • An "alternative to" seed if there's a clear competitor.

You can also try the same campaign with different seeds and see which produces a cluster set you like.

If clusters still come back thin or empty, see No keyword clusters found.

Next​

Set your budget