# Google Ads Keyword Research Report ## Digital Marketing Agency | Small Business Owners | USA --- ## SECTION 1 — KEYWORD LIST ### 🎯 Commercial Intent Keywords (Ready to Buy) | # | Keyword | Match Type | Competition | Intent | |---|---------|-----------|-------------|--------| | 1 | digital marketing agency | Phrase | High | Commercial | | 2 | digital marketing agency near me | Exact | Medium | Commercial | | 3 | hire digital marketing agency | Phrase | Medium | Commercial | | 4 | small business marketing agency | Phrase | Medium | Commercial | | 5 | best digital marketing company | Broad | High | Commercial | | 6 | affordable digital marketing services | Phrase | Medium | Commercial | | 7 | social media marketing agency | Phrase | High | Commercial | | 8 | SEO agency for small business | Phrase | Medium | Commercial | | 9 | PPC management agency | Exact | Medium | Commercial | | 10 | digital marketing services USA | Phrase | Medium | Commercial | ### 📚 Informational Intent Keywords (Researching) | # | Keyword | Match Type | Competition | Intent | |---|---------|-----------|-------------|--------| | 1 | what does a digital marketing agency do | Broad | Low | Informational | | 2 | how much does digital marketing cost | Broad | Medium | Informational | | 3 | digital marketing strategies for small business | Broad | Medium | Informational | | 4 | benefits of hiring a marketing agency | Broad | Low | Informational | | 5 | how to market a small business online | Broad | Medium | Informational | | 6 | digital marketing vs traditional marketing | Broad | Low | Informational | | 7 | how to choose a digital marketing agency | Phrase | Low | Informational | | 8 | digital marketing trends 2026 | Broad | Medium | Informational | | 9 | is digital marketing worth it for small business | Broad | Low | Informational | | 10 | types of digital marketing services | Broad | Low | Informational | ### 🔍 Long-Tail Keywords (Specific, Low Competition) | # | Keyword | Match Type | Competition | Intent | |---|---------|-----------|-------------|--------| | 1 | digital marketing agency for local small businesses | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 2 | affordable SEO and PPC services for startups | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 3 | monthly digital marketing packages for small business | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 4 | best marketing agency for service based businesses | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 5 | small business social media management agency USA | Exact | Low | Long-tail | | 6 | digital marketing agency with no long term contract | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 7 | full service digital marketing for small business owners | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 8 | low cost Google Ads management for small business | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 9 | digital marketing agency for local service contractors | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | | 10 | best marketing agency for ecommerce startups on a budget | Phrase | Low | Long-tail | --- ## SECTION 2 — NEGATIVE KEYWORDS To avoid wasting spend on irrelevant clicks: - free - jobs - career - salary - course - degree - internship - diy - template - what is (as a standalone modifier catching pure definition-seekers with zero commercial value — pair carefully, since some informational terms above intentionally use "what/how") *(Note: that last one is a judgment call — some agencies exclude broad "what is" searches entirely, others keep them in a low-bid informational campaign. Worth testing rather than blanket-excluding.)* --- ## SECTION 3 — AD GROUP STRUCTURE **Ad Group 1: "Agency Services – Bottom Funnel"** Focus: high-intent, ready-to-hire searchers - digital marketing agency - digital marketing agency near me - hire digital marketing agency - small business marketing agency - affordable digital marketing services **Ad Group 2: "Service-Specific – SEO & PPC"** Focus: specific service searches - SEO agency for small business - PPC management agency - social media marketing agency - low-cost Google Ads management for small business - digital marketing agency with no long-term contract **Ad Group 3: "Research & Education"** Focus: top-of-funnel, nurture with content-driven ads/landing pages - what does a digital marketing agency do - how much does digital marketing cost - benefits of hiring a marketing agency - how to choose a digital marketing agency - is digital marketing worth it for small business **Ad Group 4: "Niche & Long-Tail Targeting"** Focus: cheaper clicks, specific business types - digital marketing agency for local small businesses - small business social media management agency USA - full service digital marketing for small business owners - digital marketing agency for local service contractors - best marketing agency for ecommerce startups on a budget --- ## SECTION 4 — QUICK STRATEGY NOTES Here's how I'd actually run this if it were my account: **1. Weight your budget toward Ad Groups 1 and 2, not Ad Group 3.** With $1,000–5,000/month, you don't have room to "brand build" with informational keywords eating 40% of spend. Put roughly 60-70% of budget on the bottom-funnel and service-specific groups where people are close to hiring someone. Keep the informational group running, but on a tight daily cap — think of it as a small nurture stream, not a growth engine. **2. Start with Phrase and Exact match, not Broad — even though Broad looks tempting.** On a $1-5K budget, Google's Broad match algorithm will happily spend your whole month chasing "marketing" adjacent searches that have nothing to do with hiring an agency. Phrase and Exact keep you in control while you're still learning which terms actually convert. You can graduate to Broad + smart bidding once you have 30-50 conversions of data to work with. **3. Don't skip the negative keyword list on day one — build it before you launch, not after.** "Free," "jobs," and "course" searches are extremely common around "digital marketing" as a phrase, and they'll quietly burn 15-20% of a small budget in the first two weeks if you're not blocking them from the start. Add to this list weekly based on the search terms report — this is the highest-ROI 15 minutes you'll spend each week. **4. Location targeting matters more than people think at this budget.** "USA" is broad — if you're really a local/regional agency or have a niche (service businesses, ecommerce, contractors), narrow geographically or by audience layering. A $2,000/month budget spread across the entire US gets diluted fast; the same budget focused on a metro area or a specific vertical (like the long-tail "for local service contractors" keyword) will consistently outperform on cost-per-lead. One more thing worth saying honestly: at this budget level, expect the first 3-4 weeks to be a data-gathering phase more than a lead-gathering phase. Don't panic if CPA looks rough early — that's normal, and it's exactly why the negative keyword and match-type discipline above matters so much.