Google Adwords Keyword Match-Types

First, proper utilization of Google Adwords keyword match-types is essential to a healthy and well-performing Adwords account. The keywords you target along with the match type have a huge effect on the quality and variety of traffic that you will receive. Many of the accounts that we see typically aren’t using their keywords properly so the account doesn’t perform optimally. I’m going to walk you through each Google Adwords keyword match-type and how they work.

There are 2 Categories of Keywords: Positive & Negative Keywords.

Positive keywords are the keywords that you choose in order to target or obtain searches that are favorable to you and your business. There are 4 positive keyword match-types that can be used: Broad-match, Broad-Match Modified, Phrase-match, and Exact-match.

Negative keywords are the keywords that you choose to avoid certain searches that are unfavorable for your business. For example, if you are selling new cars, you would want to add used and all years prior to the year of the new cars as negative keywords to avoid wasting money on irrelevant searches. There are 3 negative keyword match-types that can be used: Broad-match, Phrase-match, and Exact-match.

De-Mystifying Google Adwords Keyword Match-Types: Broad-Match, Broad-Match Modified, Phrase-match, and Exact-Match

1. 1. Broad Match: (ex: keyword ) the default match-type that all keywords are given, unless specified otherwise. They have the ability to show to the widest audience. Ads can show on searches with misspellings, synonyms, related searches, and other relevant/related searches. Broad match is rarely used in performance PPC marketing when the goal is ROI.

1. 1. Broad Match Modified: (ex. +keyword ) is the second widest, or broadest keyword that you can choose and helps to improve your traffic quality. It requires a plus (+) sign in front of a keyword to designate it as broad-match modified. Ads will show when searches contain each of the keywords that you have that are broad-match modified. Broad-Match modified keywords, are more frequently used to target relevant traffic for businesses.

1. 1. Phrase Match: (ex. “keyword” ) the second narrowest keyword match used in Adwords. Simply place your whole keyword in quotations to designate as phrase-match. Ads will show whenever searches exactly match a phrase or are a close variations of the phrase. Words may also appear before or after the phrase-match keyword. These keywords generate more specific traffic to your keyword than broad match modified keywords.

1. Exact Match: (ex. [keyword] ) the narrowest keyword match and allows you to target the most specific searches. It is designated by placing brackets around your keyword. Ads show when searches exactly match your keyword, or are close variations of the exact match keyword. Words may be reordered in searches as long as the search does not change the meaning of your keyword. This is the most targeted keyword-type and we use it to generate maximum ROI for highly relevant searches.

**It is also important to note that in some cases, you can mix multiple Google Adwords keyword match-types in one keyword. This can provide yet another layer of filtering to reach unique searches between match-types.**

Learn more about our Done-For-You Google Ads PPC management services.