• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, March 19, 2015

Keywords related to services, rather than physical items, rank at the top of the most expensive keywords on Bing, per an analysis released Thursday. The word "mobile" sits at the bottom of the list, but the majority, even those at the bottom in the top 20, like repair, plumber and podiatry focus on service businesses.

WordStream Data Scientist Mark Irvine and crew analyzed a sample of more than 10 million English keywords in the Bing Keyword Tool to arrive at the findings. The research suggests that keyword prices vary by position. The numbers in the study reflect the cost that marketers can expect to pay per click in the top position. The company grouped those 10 million keywords into niches, or categories, to give us a better idea of the most expensive types of keywords.

Lawyer, Attorney, Structured Settlement, Mesothelioma, DUI, Treatment, Annuity, MBA, Phone, and Insurance are the top 10 most expensive keywords on Bing. Breaking down the works, Lawyer at No. 1 will cost an advertiser $109.21 per click; followed by Attorney at $101.77; Structured Settlement at No. 3, $78.39; Mesothelioma at No. 4, $78.39, and DUI at No. 5, $69.56.

Treatment at $68.95; Annuity at $67.46; MBA, $62.78; Phone, $53.94; Insurance, $53.14 round out the top 10, with Podiatry taking the No. 20 spot. One click on the keyword or related keywords will cost a marketer $29.89 on Bing.

Larry Kim, WordStream founder and chief technology officer, said the cost is similar to findings from analysis of the most expensive keywords in AdWords. The top cost per click (CPC) keyword in Google, Insurance, cost $54.91, but that research was conducted in 2011.

Aside from podiatry not being one of the most lucrative medical specialties, Kim said Podiatry's place on this list seemed surprising because no other medical keyword appear in the top 20.

"When we dig into the top keyword terms grouped together into podiatry though, we see a trend towards terms around 'emr' – 'podiatry emr' and 'podiatry emr software.' EMR = Electronic Medical Records. Aha!" he wrote in a blog post. He suggests that the broad term and category is misleading because the more lucrative terms are geared toward software for podiatrists.

"This is where the higher cost per click is justified," Kim wrote. "If you're Joe Average Podiatrist, trying to rank for 'podiatry,' forget about it. Don't even chase the top spots on a term this broad. You could be competing with people and businesses coming at it from a completely different angle – one that can afford higher CPCs than you based on their business and revenue structure."