Are you running search campaigns in Google Ads?
If you are, you need to know about the different keyword match
types and, more importantly, when to use the different match types
in your campaigns and ad groups.
Well, good news!
That's exactly what we're going to cover in this tutorial!
Hey there, I'm Benjamin from Loves Data.
And in this video, I'm going to explain the difference between broad, phrase,
exact, and negative match keywords.
Using keyword match types in Google Ads lets you control when your ads
appear as people are searching.
This lets you optimize the performance of your campaigns.
Okay, let's head to Google Ads to take a look...
I've already logged into my Google Ads demo account, so to find our
keywords and view the match types used for our keywords, we need
to select our search campaign...
You can also select an individual ad group to narrow your focus, so
you're not looking at all of the keywords in the entire campaign.
Let's select an ad group...
Now let's select 'Keywords'...
This shows us all of the keywords we are currently targeting in the ad group...
In my demo account, we can see I have keywords relating to
my Google Analytics glossary.
And we can see the second column show us the match type being used for each
of the keywords we are targeting.
We can see there are broad match, phrase match, and exact
match keywords in the ad group.
We will cover how these different match types in a moment, but I also
want to quickly highlight, that you can see other details for each of
the keywords that you're targeting.
You can see details, like the maximum bid, quality score, and on the very
right we can see the conversion rate, number of conversions, and average
cost per conversion for each keyword.
This information can be helpful when deciding which keywords to focus
on in your campaigns and ad groups.
If you're not seeing the same details in your account, you
can adjust what's presented.
To customize what's presented in your own account, just select
'Columns' and then 'Modify Columns' to add and remove information.
Now that we know where to find our existing keywords in our account, let's
travel through the different match types and how they control when your ads
are displayed as people are searching.
We're going to start with broad match, which is how keywords are
added to your ad groups by default.
This match type provides the greatest coverage, or reach, for
the keywords you are bidding on.
As the name suggests, it is going to broadly match the keywords to what
people are searching for on Google.
So if we were bidding on 'tennis shoes' our ads could appear as people search
for 'shoes for tennis', 'buy tennis shoes on sale', 'tennis shoe', 'red tennis
shoes', 'comfortable tennis sneakers', 'tennis racquets and training shoes', and
'can you wear running shoes for tennis'.
All of these search queries broadly relate to the keyword 'tennis shoes'.
So this is the default match type in Google Ads.
The next match type is 'phrase match'.
This is where we put the keywords we're bidding on inside quote marks.
This tells Google Ads that we want those words to be included in what
someone is searching for, or that someone should be searching for
something with the same meaning.
For example, 'tennis shoes' in quotes can match 'shoes for tennis', 'buy tennis
shoes on sale', 'tennis shoe', 'red tennis shoes', and 'comfortable tennis sneakers'.
Phrase match is more targeted than broad match.
This means our keyword will not match 'tennis racquets and training shoes'
or 'can you wear running shoes for tennis' because they don't have the same
meaning as the phrase match keyword.
Then there is 'exact match'.
This is where we place our keyword inside square brackets.
This will then match the keyword as closely as possible.
So 'tennis shoes' in square brackets will match 'tennis shoe', 'shoes for
tennis', 'tennis shoes' and other searches with the same meaning.
But it will not match 'buy tennis shoes on sale, 'red tennis shoes',
or 'comfortable tennis sneakers', as they don't have the same meaning.
When we use exact match, phrase match, and broad keywords it's important
to understand that these will also match close variants as we've seen.
This means that Google Ads will automatically match singular and plural
versions of our keywords, misspellings and other close variations of keywords.
So remember close variants will apply to your exact match,
phrase, and broad keywords.
Here we can see the relationship between each of the keyword match types.
For the greatest reach and broadest targeting use 'broad match' keywords.
For narrow and controlled targeting, use 'exact match' and
for targeting that balances between the two, use 'phrase match'.
Now that we've covered when to use the different keyword match types for
displaying your ads, let's look at how you can add new keywords and how to
change match types for existing keywords.
Let's head back to Google Ads...
We're still looking at the individual ad group, so we
can see the existing keywords.
And if you want to change the match type for an existing keyword,
you can change them by clicking in the 'Match Type' column...
Or you can edit the keyword...
However, changing the match type for an existing keyword will
reset the data for that keyword.
So I would recommend pausing the keyword instead and then re-add the
keyword with the new match type.
This is also useful because it will let you compare the performance of the
keyword with the different match types.
And let's add a new keyword to the ad group.
To do this, let's click the plus sign...
We can then add new keywords to the ad group...
And entering a keyword with square brackets will mean
it's an exact match keyword...
Using quote marks will mean it's a phrase match keyword...
And entering the keyword without quotes or brackets will mean
it's a broad match keyword...
Then when you click 'Save'...
The keywords will be added to the ad group, along with their match type...
We've now seen how we can control the match types for our keywords,
so let's talk about when to use the different keyword match
types in your search campaigns.
The first thing I want to touch on, is that you should start with a match types
that aligns with the objectives and budget you've defined for your campaign.
For example, if your objective is to gain as much visibility
and drive as many people to your website as possible, then you should
consider using broad match keywords.
As we've seen, broad match will give you the greatest coverage and reach
for your ads because your ads will display for a range of related terms.
On the other hand, if you're objective is to drive as many conversions as
possible and you have a limited or small budget, then starting with
exact match keywords will means you're more focused with your targeting.
Your ads won't be displayed as often, but you will also have more control over when
they're seen as people are searching.
So overall, you should consider your objectives and budget when
deciding which match types to use.
And you can always change this.
For example, you might start with exact match and then move to phrase
match as you start to see conversions coming through for your campaign.
The next thing I want to talk about is adding the same keyword
with different match types...
Adding the same keyword using all of the different match
types won't provide any benefit.
For example, if you add a keyword using broad, phrase and exact match in the same
ad group this won't improve your results.
It just means you're duplicating the keyword unnecessarily.
One of the main reasons you might want to duplicate a keyword with different
match types is if you want to adjust your bids based on the performance.
For example, let's say you have a broad match keyword and you discover
that the exact match version of the keyword results in lots of
conversions and is really profitable.
In this case, you might choose to add the particular term as an exact
match keyword and increase the bid.
This means you're prioritizing the keyword based on its performance.
And just to flag, this technique is only useful if you're manually
managing bids your keywords.
If you're using an automated bidding strategy, then Google Ads automatically
adjust bids for you, so using multiple match types for the same
keyword won't let you modify bids.
We now know when to use the match types and that the different match types can
mean that your ads can be shown for additional search queries that relate
to the keywords you're targeting.
Especially if you're using broad match.
If ads have already been running in your account, then you can
see the actual search queries people have used to view your ads.
Let's head back to Google Ads to take a look...
We're still looking at the keywords in our ad group...
Now let's select 'Search Terms' under 'Keywords'...
This shows you all of the search terms people have searched for
on Google to view your ads...
The search
term is on the left, then we can see the match type, so how the term was matched
to the keywords in our ad groups...
And then we can see the 'Added Excluded' column...
This column tells you if the keyword is in one of your ad groups or not.
Any term that has a green tick and says 'Added' means that you are
already bidding on the keyword.
So we can see in my demo account, there are exact match keywords
I already have in my ad group.
But we can also see keywords that have 'None' in the 'Added Excluded' column...
These are the ones to look for when you use this report.
These are terms that you haven't added, but are being matched
because of the different keyword match types we've covered.
some match as a close variant, and so on...
You can then decide if you want to add these terms as keywords
to one of your ad groups.
And the other thing you should look for are search terms that
you don't want to be paying for.
You should consider removing any search term that isn't relevant to your offer
or that won't result in conversions.
This brings us to our final keyword match type.
Negative match.
Adding negative keywords is an important part of optimizing the
performance of your campaigns.
Let's take a look...
A negative keyword prevents your ads from being displayed which allows you to reduce
the number of less relevant impressions.
Here we can see we've added the negative keyword of 'cheap' along with the
broad match keyword of 'tennis shoes'.
This means that people searching for 'cheap tennis shoes', and 'tennis
shoes cheap' won't see our ads.
You will notice that our ads are still eligible to appear when someone
searches for 'cheapest tennis shoe'.
If you don't want your ads to show for 'cheap' and 'cheapest', you
will have to add both of these as negative keywords in Google Ads.
This is because negative keywords don't work in the same
way as broad match keywords.
You need to be specific with negative keywords.
It's important to add negative keywords, especially if you're
using broad match keywords.
So let's head back to see how we can add negative match keywords in Google Ads...
We're still looking at the search terms report in Google Ads.
You can select one or more search terms...
And then choose the option to add them as negative keywords...
So this is one way to add negative keywords in Google Ads.
Another option is to navigate to 'Negative Keywords'...
This lets you view any existing negative keywords, and you can click
the plus sign to add additional negative keywords to the ad group or campaign...
And the one more option is to navigate to 'Search Keywords'...
Click the plus sign to add new keywords...
Then when you're adding keywords to your ad groups, you can put
a dash in front of the word...
And it will be added as a negative keyword...
Adding negative keywords helps keep your campaign focused and can improve results.
And while they're important to add when using broad match keywords,
adding them can also help improve performance if you're using phrase
and exact match keywords too.
Remember that exact match will give you the most control, while broad
match will give you the greatest reach.
If you're just getting started and you have a small advertising budget, then
I recommend using exact match keywords.
This will ensure you don't spend your budget too quickly.
You can then move to phrase match if you need greater reach for your ads.
And try testing different match types to see what works for your campaigns.
Google Ads isn't 'one size fits all', so spend time in your
account to see what works for you.
What match types are you using in Google Ads?
I'd love to know!
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you found this video helpful, then please like it, so I know to
make more videos like this one.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time!