What makes these keywords so expensive?

 Generally, AdWords keyword costs get driven up in particular niches for one of the following reasons:

People have a bad problem they really need to fix now

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When people are desperate for help, they’re willing to spend more on services or products to get that problem solved. That means the companies doing the advertising can charge more for those services, and they can often achieve strong ROI on their ad spend even with high costs per click.

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These spaces are also highly competitive, because people don’t necessarily spend a long time deciding where they’re going to shop – they want help NOW! For example, one of the top keywords in the “medical services” category is “emergency room near me.” If the advertiser is in the right place at the right time, they can profit big. (Not that I think private companies should be profiting off people who need emergency care…)

Examples of keywords related to urgent problems include:

• “Bail bonds” at #2
• “Lawyer” at #4
• “Cash services & payday loans” at #7
• “Rehab” at #11
• “Plumber” at #18
• “Termites” at #19
• “Pest control” at #20

High-priced items or services

Last time around, insurance-related keywords were at the very top of the list. According to our data, insurance is no longer king of the hill. That’s good news for marketers trying to drive leads in the insurance industry, right? (Sort of – they’re still almost $50 per click on average. And there are outliers, like “malpractice insurance,” that can cost over $300 per click!)

Now, the most expensive keywords are in the category “business services” – business keywords includes stuff like “data room” and “network security monitoring” – most likely because these services tend to be costly. Companies offering business services are willing to bid more per keyword because there’s so much to gain when a prospect does convert, whether it’s a single big purchase or a service with a high customer lifetime value.

Our last infographic showed that finance-related keywords (like loans keywords and mortgage keywords) are some of the most costly. You can see similar trends this year – see “asset management” at #5 ($49.86 per click) and “banking” at #23.

Law keywords are still way up there, and on average keywords related to legal services are even more expensive ($54.86 per click compared to $42.51 in 2011). This is part of why marketing for law firms can be a challenge.

If you’re in one of these expensive niches, consider expanding onto the display network. When leveraged in conjunction with engaging creative (like the kind you can make with our free Smart Ads Creator), the display network is a great place to get affordable clicks and balance out your budget.