A lot has been published about most expensive keywords over time but there is a problem with those CPCs, these are average rates. Let me explain, “free online auto insurance quote” keyword will cost you approximately $75.01/click if you are targeting United States.

While the same keywords when clicked from Alabama will cost you whopping $344.06/click.

Most Expensive Keywords Analysis

CPCs varies from state to state, also those studies published by different reputable brands cover the most expensive keywords from different industries and put them together at one place like this infographic by WebPageFX or this one by AdGooroo.

These are very helpful to get a good insight about the current trends in PPC marketing and help us to explore further based on those stats. However, those CPCs are not very accurate if we want to use them as a benchmark especially by WebPageFX and there is a reason.

Keywords By WebPageFX

In their Infographic they published “San Antonio Car Wreck Attorney” as most expensive keyword with $670.40 CPC and they get the keywords data from SEMrush. I searched for the same keyword in Google Keyword Planner and found that it has CPC of $71.78 in United States.

There is a huge difference. I am sure the data provided by SEMrush is accurate but there must be a physical location attached to this keyword which wasn’t taken into consideration. The $600+ CPC must be from a specific state or a city just like I mentioned about “free online auto insurance quote” keyword above which has significant difference in CPC from country to state.

Keywords By AdGooroo

On the other hand, study published by AdGooroo showing “mesothelioma attorneys tx” as most expensive keyword.

And when I searched for this keyword in Keyword Planner, CPC is close to what was suggested by AdGooroo.

So this study is more accurate in my point of view which actually shows the most expensive keywords regardless of their locations within the United States which mean every click on these keywords will cost advertisers with approximately same amount, give or take few bucks. While on the other hand, most expensive keyword in WebPageFX infographic may cost you $640+ per click if clicked from specific location otherwise its way below.

Moreover, when I searched for mesothelioma keywords, I found out that these keywords perhaps the most expensive I have ever seen in my life which further support the data provided by AdGooroo, mesothelioma attorneys are most expensive niche online not car wreck attorneys.

The most expensive keyword is “Chicago mesothelioma lawyer” with CPC over $1135. Click To Tweet

(Image courtesy of Gifrific)

I am not even sure if this is most expensive keyword or not but I haven’t seen any amount near to this one yet.

This was the reason I tried to find the location specific CPC for keywords. For a starter, I picked up Insurance industry to look one by one in each state and it opened a whole new world to me.

Insurance Industry Worth in United States

Insurance industry in United States worth $1.1 trillion in 2014 and considered as a one of the biggest industries online with very high cost per click rates. If we further narrow down this industry, we find that Life/Health is at 56% and Property/Causality insurers are 44% with recorded premiums. There are more than 6100 insurance companies in US.

So the revenue involved in this industry and large number of companies competing against each other online and offline gives us a good idea why insurance keywords are so expensive.

According to marketing charts the cost per lead stood at $53.58 for paid search which is again a signal to invest heavy in cost/click especially in the industries where ROI is extremely high. Financial/Insurance companies spent 10% of their total revenue on digital marketing.

Keyword Research Methodology

I have spent months researching on insurance keywords, went through hundreds of thousands of keywords during time. I can tell you one thing; keyword research is not what is commonly practiced all around the world in which you use a word like “insurance”, “cars for sale” etc. in Google keyword planner or other keywords research tools and get solid results. You have to dig deeper even more deeper to find what you are looking for either they are long tail or most expensive keywords in this case.

Keyword research tools don’t provide you most expensive keywords in one shot. You have to categorized your initial keywords file and split them into smaller categories and then start the whole process again with each of category and may have to create sub categories out of each and then repeat the process once again.

When I first downloaded the initial insurance keywords file, I got approximately 800 keywords and I thought, that’ it, it’s just a matter of hours but I were dead wrong, keywords expanded to over 10,000 and it took my months to organize them and I am still not finished yet.

Moreover, I figured out that each state have different stats and CPCs which increased my work load by 51 times and one more thing I noticed that people search those keywords with state name and even city name too. This was the time when I put hold to the research because it was never ending and I had to do other stuff too.

That’s how I reached to the point where I decided to produce this map which visualize most expensive keywords in each state and give us another view of keywords, their CPCs, and search behaviors.

Map of Most Expensive Insurance Keywords in Each US State

Here you go, this map will show you which keyword is most expensive in each state.

(Click to view larger image)

Key Findings

Here are some interesting facts and figure you may like to know…

100% expensive keywords belong to Automotive industry

expensive keywords belong to industry 56% keywords contain a word ‘Car’

keywords contain a word 44% keywords contain a word ‘Auto’

keywords contain a word 56% keywords contain a word ‘Quote’

keywords contain a word 92% states have CPC over $100 for most expensive keyword

States with Highest CPC

Over $300

Massachusetts: “insurance quotes car online free” – $350.81

Alabama: “free online auto insurance quote” – $344.06

Nevada: “get an auto insurance quote” – $336.23

Over $200

West Virginia: “online quotes for auto insurance” – $299.79

California: “local auto insurance companies” – $271.24

Mississippi: “car insurance quotes online free” – $261.21

Ohio: “low car insurance quotes” – $244.20

Missouri: “get auto insurance” – $239.86

Tennessee: “insurance auto quotes” – $238.80

Vermont: “online quotes for auto insurance” – $228.34

Georgia: “free quotes for car insurance” – $220.24

Nebraska: “cheap car insurance quotes online” – $201.26

States with Lowest CPCs

South Dakota: “auto insurance quotes online” – $98.33

Michigan: “automotive insurance quotes” – $97.64

North Dakota: “vintage car insurance” – $86.06

Rhode Island: “home and auto insurance quotes” – $79.38

Other Expensive Keywords with Bid over $100 in Each State

Alabama free online auto insurance quote $344.06 low car insurance rates $130.62 insurance car quote $124.95 insurance auto $122.24 comprehensive auto insurance $122.20 insurance car $117.43 classic auto insurance $109.83 free auto insurance quotes $105.99 low auto insurance $104.18 Arizona cheap car insurance for young drivers $179.14 insurance quotes for cars $159.78 car insurance online quote $137.95 insurance car quote $135.62 auto insurance company ratings $131.39 car insurance free quote $129.03 all auto insurance $126.80 top auto insurance companies $124.11 florida auto insurance $123.49 low rate car insurance $111.39 vehicle insurance quotes $110.17 online car insurance quotes $107.22 auto car insurance $106.21 auto insurance estimate $106.15 auto quote insurance $102.47 quick car insurance quote $100.07 Florida online quotes for auto insurance $149.73 purchase auto insurance online $148.34 auto insurance rate quotes $133.66 quote car insurance online $131.11 quotes for auto insurance $101.03 Alaska lowest car insurance rates $184.66 free car insurance quotes $156.26 low cost auto insurance quotes $137.15 insurance comparison $126.88 low car insurance $108.15 Arkansas free online car insurance quotes $112.30 car insurance free quote $100.53 California local auto insurance companies $271.24 car insurance provider $147.92 auto and car insurance $106.07 motor vehicle insurance $100.88 Colorado free online car insurance quotes $133.90 online quotes for auto insurance $130.83 instant auto insurance quote $128.62 best car insurance rates $123.19 get auto insurance quote $116.18 sr22 car insurance $115.85 auto free insurance quote $111.37 car insurance california $101.81 online insurance quotes auto $100.18 Connecticut all car insurance quotes $179.58 auto insurance online $172.42 online insurance quotes auto $149.35 quick auto insurance quotes $143.05 insurance quotes auto $135.83 florida auto insurance $124.28 get a car insurance quote $119.19 car insurance 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That’s all folks; let me know your thoughts in comments

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