Google AdWords: Understanding The 3 Different Keyword Match Types

Published by Algorithmic Global on March 23, 2020March 23, 2020

Keywords are words or phrases used to match your ads with the terms people are searching for on the search network ( Examples: Google and Bing). Selecting quality, relevant keywords for your advertising campaign can help you reach the customers within your target market.

There are three types of keywords that every Google Ads advertiser should be implementing into their strategy:

• Broad match
• Phrase match
• Exact match

Broad match: Running broad match keywords triggers your ads to show when people search for the given keywords. Your ads will show despite the order of the words in the search string.

So, if you run ads for Toyota Camry, your ads will show for a broad match for Camry Toyota, Toyota Camry For Sale, Toyota Camry Near Me, Best Camry Toyota.

The disadvantage of running a broad match keyword is that your ads will display despite user intent. Typically, you’ll be capturing traffic even if these prospects are not in the “ready to buy ” stage. So long as they mention a few of the words that you’re targeting, your ads will display for them. However, remember it is essential to run broad match keywords, as they capture new traffic to your site. Broad match keywords are also a remarkably efficient way to build brand awareness, reaching a wider audience to get your brand out in front of more people. Remember, however, its important to implement these keywords correctly and efficiently, or else they could increase your costs. One easy tip is to negate any keywords that are not relevant to your product or service.

Phrase match keyword: When you are running phrase match keywords, your ads will display, as long as they are entered in the exact order within the search network.

For example, if your phrase match keyword is water damage restoration, your ads will only show if people type in water damage restoration.

But, your ads can also appear for other related keywords, as long as the individual words are in the exact order. For example, your ads will also display water damage restoration near me. Remember, if you want to avoid any keywords from triggering your ads, practice negating those specific keywords. If you’re going to enter a phrase match keyword, enclose it in double quotation marks, like this, “water damage restoration.”

Exact match keyword: With an exact match keyword, your ads will only display when the given keyword is in the precise order within the search network. Similar to our above example, “water damage restoration,” your ads will not show up when people search for water damage restoration near me or iPhone water damage restoration.

To add an exact keyword match, enclose the keyword in a squared bracket, like this: [best electric blanket] Exact match keywords convert better than broad match and phrase match keywords. Still, the number of average monthly keyword searches is usually lower than broad keywords, which is why we advise to include broad keywords in your advertising strategy.

If you want the best Google AdWords results, combine the three keyword matches, broad match, phrase match, and exact match- and implement the cascading bid strategy.

Cascading Bids is a straightforward strategy that many new advertisers do not know. Cascading bids involves you setting the lowest bids for broad match keywords, the highest bids for exact match keywords, and a bid somewhere in the middle for phrase match keywords. 

Lastly, combining the three keyword matches allows an advertiser to target all users within the customer journey (Google micro-moments), which we will cover in our next post.