Hey there, I'm Benjamin from Loves Data. In this video, we're going to talk all about
keywords in Google Ads. I've had a number of people ask me from my Google Ads tutorial,
the difference between the different keyword match types and importantly,
if they should be using negative match keywords, if they're important, what they do.
So that's exactly what we'll cover in this video. Let's jump into Google Ads and get started.
Okay. So I'm in my Google Ads demo account and to find our keywords, as well as our keyword
targeting and match types, we need to select our search campaign. And then we can select
one of our ad groups just to narrow the focus of what we're seeing inside Google Ads. We can
then select keywords and this will show us the keywords that we're currently advertising on
for a particular campaign and ad group. So here in my demo account, we can see, we have some keywords
relating to my Google analytics glossary. And this first keyword is added as a broad match.
So basically with Google Ads, there's three different match types available
for our search campaigns. We can use broad match, which is going to give us the greatest
reach and coverage for keywords that relate to the keyword that we've entered in. So it's going
to. Blue people searching for that exact keyword. So in my example, Google analytics, glossary, but
it's also going to broadly match to all related terms that relate to this particular keyword.
Apart from broad match, which is the default match type. We can also add keywords as phrase and exact
match, but to start, I just wanted to show you how broad match works. So what I'm going to do is I'm
going to select this particular keyword and we're going to select search terms. So this will show
us the actual. Things that people have entered on Google to trigger my ads. So you can actually come
into the search keywords report. If you're already running Google Ads to find this for particular
individual keywords, like I'm about to show you. But another great thing to be doing that we'll
look at in a moment is using the search terms report. This report will show all of the different
search terms. People have entered on Google. So just for this one, keyword I've selected
that and let's choose search terms. So now we can see for the keyword, Google analytics glossary,
which I have in my demo account, we can see all of these terms that are broadly matched to the term.
So we can see for Google Analytics glossary, we matched to analytics terms, analytics, glossary,
Google analytics, basics. A whole range of different keywords, even Google terminology.
So we can see it's giving us this broad coverage for the broad match keyword that we've entered
into our ad group. So just remember if you are getting started, you're going to show for a
whole range of different terms. That relate to the keyword that you've entered. So if some of these
are not particularly appropriate for your particular advertising objective,
then you're going to want to do a couple of things. First off, if you are starting out, then
maybe instead of using this broad match type, you want to go with phrase or exact, which are more
precise in their targeting. So let's head back to search keywords. And I just want to show you how
to add the different match types. So here as we add keywords, we can actually see down the bottom,
Google Ads is giving us some tips so we can see by default it will be broad match. If we put our
keyword in quote marks, it will be phrase match. And if we put our keyword in square brackets,
it will be exact match. So we can actually do that here. So if I go Google analytics, glossary,
Now because we've put it in quote marks, it's going to be phrase match,
and we're going to be more precise with our targeting. So what Google Ads is going to
do now is it's going to look for that particular phrase. So Google Alex glossary in what people are
searching for, it's going to match that phrase as well as things before or after the phrase.
Now the one disclaimer to highlight here is that Google will also include not just things before
or after our phrase match keyword, but also close variants. So if we actually come into the Google,
Alec's help our section here. We can see there's this article talking about close
variants when it comes to our keywords. And under phrase match. We can see that it's going to match
things like misspellings, singular versions, plural versions are stemming. Like here,
we can see floor to flooring and the other way round as well. So it's going to match all of these
close variants and it can also include things like reordered words. It can include adding or
removing function words like into four, but either these things inside what people are searching for,
and basically the idea behind. Close variance is it's trying to match what people are searching for
with the same meaning or the same intent. So I just want to highlight that, although we
talk about phrase match, being just matching the keyword or things before or after it,
it will also match these close variants. And I've included a link to Google's help article in the
description below this video. If you would like to read that in detail. Okay. So apart from phrase
match, which includes things before, after we can go more precise, which is exact match where we're
using square brackets. So this will match the exact keyword, nothing before or after it again,
though, with the disclaimer that it will include close variants. So spelling, reordering,
removing those function words, or adding them in basically anything with the same meaning or
intent it will still match. So the really the key thing here is that if you are starting out.
And you have a smaller budget to work with then I definitely would recommend using either exact
match or maybe phrase match keywords so that you're more precise with your keyword targeting.
And then the other thing that you absolutely must be doing is coming into the search terms report
to see the actual things people are entering on Google to actually see your ad and then
click through on your ad. So this is a perfect place to start when it comes to optimization.
Going through this list and looking for the particular search terms that you do want to
continue advertising on as well as the ones that you don't want to advertise on. For example,
if something is too broad in your thinking, maybe it doesn't lead to a conversion, for example,
on your website. Then in this particular case, if it's not appropriate or you don't feel it's
precise enough, then what we want to do is we want to add it as a negative keyword. So what we can do
then is we can actually go through this list and select them and add them as a negative keyword,
which will mean that our ads no longer display for the particular term that we choose. So for
example, if I no longer want to advertise on the. This term analytics terms, then I can
add this as a negative keyword and I can add it at the ad group campaign or a list level,
and I can save this. So now what I'll see is first off in here in the search terms report, we can see
it saying excluded. So I'll no longer advertise on that particular keyword, but we can also come
into our negative keywords. And we can see that as now being added here, along with some other ones
that I've previously added for this particular ad group in this case. Now, the thing to highlight
here is it's adding it as a negative exact match. So only when someone enters in that exact term.
The other thing that you can do of course, is add in other individual keywords. So for example, free
or discount, maybe appropriate if you're trying to sell something with a particular value.
So it can also add in single keywords as well. So now, any term that includes free or discount.
Will mean that my ad is no longer showing on those particular keywords as well. So really
importantly, negative keywords do help refine down where your ads will display and it can actually
save you a whole lot of budget, especially for terms that are not relevant or less relevant
for your particular offering. The final thing I did want to mention is that we do have those
three match types we've talked about. So we have broad without any modifications to the keyword.
Is that to our example of a broad match keyword, we have phrase with the quote marks
and we have exact match with the square brackets.
I wanted to highlight. There was a fourth match type, which sort of fit between phrase and exact,
which was called a broad match, modified keyword. And this is where you put in a plus sign in front
of particular terms in your keyword that you deemed as really important. And you wanted to
include in what people are searching for. I just want to highlight that if you do see any material
about broad match, modified keywords, these have now been removed. So the three match types we can
use. Yeah. To show our ads, a broad phrase and exact, and also remember you want to be using the
search terms report to identify negative keywords, to really refine down when your ads are displayed.
So they're the keyword match types you can use with your search campaigns in Google Ads.
Remember to choose a match type that aligns with the objectives you've set for your campaign.
For example, if you're just getting started and want more precise targeting of your ads, then
you can use exact match or phrase match keywords. Or if you want greater reach and visibility for
your ads, you can use broad match keywords. And don’t forget to add negative keywords to really
focus your effort when it comes to your search campaigns. If you found this video helpful,
then please like it, so I know to make more videos like this one, and I’ll see you next time.