Update Keywords in Bulk

There are times when you need to make significant changes to your keyword configuration in Conductor, such as keywords, preferred URLs, keyword groups, and whether keywords are marked as prime. If you are making changes to only one or two keywords, you can make the changes individually in the Keywords activity in the Settings menu. However, when you have more significant additions or changes, you may find it easier to use the Keyword Bulk Update tool in the Settings.

Keyword Bulk Update is a tool in Conductor that allows you to create or edit keywords for your account in bulk. This tool uses a Microsoft Excel file you can download from Conductor, makes changes to, and then upload back in with your changes.

Where to find it

Click here ↗️ or follow the path Settings > Keyword Bulk Update in Conductor.

Using Bulk Update

Before you start, note the following:

• Conductor does not allow certain characters and symbols in keyword names. Refer to this article to learn more.
• You must track at least one country-level, desktop keyword for data to appear for a web property in Conductor.

Download and update your current list of keywords

You'll need an up-to-date list of your current list of keywords in Conductor so that you can make changes and additions. To generate this list, you'll first determine which search engines and locations you want to use to track or edit your keywords.

1. From the options on the screen, select one of the following:
   
   • Use only the search engines and locations where I currently track keywords
     This will let you generate a spreadsheet that allows you to track and edit keywords only on the search engines and in the locations you already use for your keywords.
   • Add additional search engines and locations
     This will let you generate a spreadsheet that allows you to select the additional search engines and locations you want to use to track your keywords.
2. If, in the previous step you selected Yes, now select the search engine and locations for which you want to add keywords.
   If, in the previous step you selected No, you can proceed to the next step.
3. Generate your spreadsheet in one of the following ways:
   • Click Download Active Keywords to just add keywords or edit your active keywords.
   • Click Download All Keywords to add keywords or edit all your active and inactive keywords.
   • Note that you can use a blank spreadsheet with the appropriate column headers. However, blank forms contain no data validation: values must be entered in the exact form shown in the platform. Failure to enter valid values will result in errors during upload. You can use the spreadsheets generated by the platform to help avoid upload errors.
4. Locate and open the Excel file that was downloaded to your computer.
5. Edit the keyword details or add new keywords. Note that some of these fields are optional:
   
   • Active (A/I). Required.
     • Enter A to mark a keyword as Active.
     • Enter I to mark a keyword as Inactive.
   • Keyword. Required.Refer to this article to learn what characters and symbols Conductor allows in keyword names.
   • Search Engine. Required. If you need it, refer to this article to see the list of supported engines and languages.
   • Standard Keyword Groups. Optional. In this column, you can:
     • Create standard keyword groups by entering a new name for a keyword group in the Standard Keyword Groups column for a keyword. The new keyword group will be created when the spreadsheet is uploaded and any keywords with that keyword group will have membership in that keyword group.
     • Add a keyword to an existing standard keyword group. You can do that by simply entering the name of that keyword group in the Standard Keyword Groups column. Note that values in this column are case sensitive. Make sure you use the consistent cases for keyword group names to avoid creating errant duplicate keyword groups.
     • Add the keyword to multiple keyword groups by using a comma (,) to delimit each keyword group name.
   • Preferred URL. Optional. You can assign a preferred URL to each keyword. Each keyword can have one preferred URL. Note that, for a keyword's preferred URL to be included in platform reports for a weekly data publication, changes must be made before the weekly publication cut-off on Thursdays at 5:00 P.M. Eastern.
   • Prime. Required.
     • Enter Y for any keyword you want to mark as prime.
     • Enter N for all other keywords.
   • Daily Reporting. Required.
     • You can set high-value keywords to be tracked daily. These keywords will then be tracked daily in addition to the standard weekly tracking.
     • Leave this column blank if you do not use daily tracking or if you do not want to track the keyword daily.
     • If you want to track any keyword daily but do not currently, contact Conductor Support.
   • Location. Required.
     Refer to this article to download the list of supported locations and devices.
   • Device. Required.
     Refer to this article to download the list of supported locations and devices. 
6. Save and close the Excel file.
7. Back in Conductor, click Next.

Upload your keyword file back into Conductor

1. Select one of the following methods you want to use to upload changes to your keyword list. You can see the instructions and examples for each option by clicking the option button.
   • Merge with Existing Keywords
   • Override Existing Keywords. Note the following if you choose this option:
     • All keyword data is replaced with the data in the update file, and any existing keywords for the content that are not in your upload file are made inactive. Data will not be collected for the inactive keywords.
     • Entering keyword groups for keywords in an override update file removes those keywords from the listed keyword group. Keyword groups cannot be deleted using the Keyword Bulk Update tool.
2. Choose your saved Excel file in the Upload Spreadsheet section at the bottom of the page. Note that this file must be a native Excel file. Conductor will not accept CSV or other file types.
3. Click Next (You will have a chance to review your changes before they are saved to your account).

Verify and save your updates

1. Verify the change details presented. In the Change Details table, green indicates additions to your keyword data and red indicates items that will be removed. If you want to make changes to the data or to the method of upload, click Back and make the necessary changes.
2. After viewing and verifying that all the changes are correct, scroll to the bottom of the Change Details table and click Save.

FAQs