PPC Tips

How To Choose Keyword Matching Options

Don't feel alone if you have had to struggle long and hard to make sense of Google's keyword-matching options in AdWords. This is what they call it when you use brackets, quotes, minus signs, or nothing at all with the words/phrases in your keywords list. Each type of punctuation, or the lack of any, tells Google what types of search queries should trigger your ad. Do you want your ad to show up for a broad range of queries, even those just similar to your keyword/phrase or typed in weird order? Choose broad match and resign yourself to paying more. Willing to research what word order people tend to put their queries in? You can use phrase match and save money. Priced out of the action but wanting to bid anyway? Then exact match will go easier on your wallet, and will deliver only the most targeted visitors. Then there's negative match and embedded match, which both work like a filter to keep your ad for showing if certain words are in the searcher's query.

Needless to say, the proper amount of keyword research before bidding will determine whether you waste your money or spend it wisely on PPC.

Here's everything you need to know about Google AdWords's keyword-matching options. Parts in blue were copied straight from Google's help pages.

Broad Match - This is the default option. If your ad group contained the keyword tennis shoes, your ad would be eligible to appear when a user's search query contained tennis and shoes, in any order, and possibly along with other terms. Your ads could also show for singular/plural forms, synonyms, and other relevant variations. For example, you ad might show on tennis shoe or tennis sneakers. Run a Search Query Performance Report to see what keyword variations trigger your ad. [Note: Broad match is Google's license to steal. They have been known to take extreme liberties with broad match, saying that broad-match keywords qualify for (but cannot be opted out of) "expanded broad match," which  means they could show your ad whenever people type in synonyms and whatever it considers to be similar words/concepts. You have no control beyond adding negative-match keywords, but even so it's highly likely to cost big bucks. In fact, one of my clients had thousands of clicks on a broad-match keyphrase that, according to his server logs, nobody had even typed as a query or even part of one! Unless a client has very deep pockets, I avoid broad match and use ONLY exact or phrase match.]

Phrase Match - If you enter your keyword in quotation marks, as in "tennis shoes," your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches on the phrase tennis shoes, in this order, and possibly with other terms before or after the phrase. For example, your ad could appear for the query red tennis shoes but not for shoes for tennis, tennis shoe, or tennis sneakers. Phrase match is more targeted than broad match, but more flexible than exact match. [Note: I bid lower for these phrase-matched terms, since we don't know for sure what other words might be in the user's query that might be a deal-breaker. I try to filter out as many negatives as are known, but you can't anticipate every word in the dictionary!]

Exact Match - If you surround your keywords in brackets — such as [tennis shoes] — your ad would be eligible to appear when a user searches for the specific phrase tennis shoes, in this order, and without any other terms in the query. For example, your ad wouldn't show for the query red tennis shoes or tennis shoe. Exact match is the most targeted option. Although you won't receive as many impressions with exact match, you'll likely enjoy the most targeted clicks — users searching for your exact keyword typically want precisely what your business has to offer. [Note: I give these the top bids because at least you know for sure exactly which phrase brought the searcher to the site and there aren't any nasty surprises. However, 1- and 2-word phrases tend to be unrefined queries, meaning that people usually find too many search results and therefore keep adding more words to help them zero in on what they're looking for.]

Negative Match - A negative keyword is a kind of keyword that prevents your ads from showing on irrelevant search queries. Adding a negative keyword to your ad group or campaign means that your ads won't show for search queries containing that term. For instance, the negative keyword –luxury tells the AdWords system not to show your ad for any search query containing the term luxury.

Negative keywords are a core component of a successful keyword list. By filtering out unwanted impressions, negative keywords can help you reach the most appropriate prospects, reduce your cost-per-click (CPC), and increase your ROI.

Adding a negative keyword to your ad group is just like adding any other keyword. The only difference is that you put a negative sign (–) before the word. You can also add negative keywords at the campaign level. [Note: Not only do I do extensive research to uncover all the possible negative keywords when setting up your campaign, but I also continue to monitor your server logs to find new ones. Negative match is, I believe, the most underused feature in PPC. And that's a crying shame, because they make your clickthrough ratio higher — and therefore your ad's position!]

In addition to the standard negative match option, you can create negative phrase-matched and negative broad-matched keywords. Details about each are below.

I. Negative Keywords

To create a standard negative keyword, insert a minus sign before a keyword and add it to your ad group or campaign:

-free trial

Adding this negative keyword to your account would prevent your ads from showing on any search queries containing the terms free and trial. It wouldn't prevent your ad from showing on variations of these terms, however. It's a good idea to add relevant variations of your negative keywords, including both the singular and plural forms. Learn to use the Keyword Tool to generate negative keyword suggestions.

If your ad group contained the broad-matched keyword apple pies, for instance, and you wanted to prevent your ads from showing on searches for cherry pies, you could add -cherry as a negative keyword.

II. Negative Phrase-Matched Keywords

You can create a negative phrase-matched keyword by surrounding the term with quotation marks:

-"free trial"

If you were to add this keyword to your account, the system wouldn't let any search query containing the phrase free trial trigger your ads. The search query free trial lesson would not trigger your ad, for instance. The rules of phrase match still apply, however, so your ad could possibly show on the search query trial or free one-day trial.

III. Negative Exact-Matched Keywords

A negative exact-matched keyword looks like this:

-[free trial]

This negative keyword would only prevent your ads from showing on the search query free trial. Search queries such as free trials, free, and one-day free trial could still trigger your ad.