What Are Four Keyword Match Types in Google Ads?
What Are Four Keyword Match Types in Google Ads?
Keyword match type is an essential aspect of Google AdWords since it tells Google how broad or restricted you want to be with your targeted audience when running pay-per-click ad campaigns. Google has four different keyword match types that impact these advertising campaigns in different ways. Here’s a brief overview of each of the four types of keyword matches.
Broad Match in Google Ads
As the name might suggest, the broad match type in Google Ads is intended to reach the largest audience available for that specific keyword. Of all the Google Ads match types, this keyword match type campaign usually costs the most to run due to its untargeted nature. With the broad match type, your ad campaign will show up in any search query that targets the key phrase, no matter the order it appears in the query itself.
For example, a broad match keyword of “healthy juices” might have your ad appearing in search queries for “healthy juices to buy,” “healthy fruit juices,” and “healthy juices in stores” because each of these keyword terms features the broad match keyword at some point in the search query.
This match type is the default keyword match type in Google Ads, and while it can be a great driver of clicks, it’s not that great for targeting a specific audience or keyword. If you want to run targeted campaigns using AdWords, you’ll need to switch away from the broad match type and make sure the broad match type keywords you want to keep aren’t costing you lots of money without appropriate conversions.
Broad Match Modified in Google Ads
As we’ve defined the broad type, you can imagine that broad match modified is a middle ground between broad and narrow search results. With the modified broad search, you can lock in the appearance of keywords by using the + modifier, so the search query needs to contain the same string of keywords as the broad match modified type, rather than just appearing anywhere in the query.
To use our “healthy juices” example again, a modified broad match query of “healty+juices” would appear on the “healthy juices in stores” search query, but not the “healthy fruit juices” query because of the addition of the word fruit.
Phrase Match in Google Ads
One of the best Google Ads match types for being highly specific in your ad campaigns is the phrase match. Phrase match works much like the broad modified match type, but with more granular control over where the keyword campaign will end up.
To set up another example, if your keyword is “art supplies” then a phrase match campaign would showcase your ad on search queries like “best art supplies,” “budget art supplies,” and “art supplies for kids.” However, the phrase matched keyword would not appear on queries like “oil painting supplies” or “sketching supplies” despite these categories being directly related to your chosen keyword.
Exact Match in Google Ads
Exact match types are used when you want to target a particular keyword. A keyword of “best smartphone 2018” would only appear on search queries that match the keyword phrase. A search with “best smartphones” and “best budget smartphones” would not showcase your keyword if you’re using the exact match type in AdWords.
Exact matches are useful when you’re targeting a specific product and only want to attract conversions that are interested in the product. However, there’s no broad targeting of people who may be searching with similar keywords.
Which Keyword Match Type Works Best?
Keyword match types can have a huge impact on the performance of your advertising campaigns, so it’s important to use a combination of these Google Ads match types to ensure your campaign is performing well for your brand.
Consider the performance of individual keywords for your product or business and whether or not you should have an exact match type campaign for the keywords that drive the most conversions for your website. Broad match keywords can be useful for getting more potential eyes on your site, but they are not as successful in generating conversions.
An experienced digital marketer can help you understand more about the different types of keyword matches in Google Ads, and they can even help get you on the right track for getting more impressions and conversions for your digital advertising campaigns.
