What are keyword match types, and how they work in Google Ads PPC Campaign

When our ads show up on the Google search results page, it is because all or part of the keywords we used to structure the campaign for our small Business matched the search terms of the user’s query. Let me break it down.

A keyword is a word or a set of words you add to your Google Ads campaign for your business that will trigger your ads to display in search results whiles A search term is a word a user types into Google anytime they are performing a search.

Keywords play an important role in your ads/ campaign performance, therefore this subject should be taken very seriously when you want to develop top-performing PPC campaign for your business.

keyword match types are keywords parameters you use to control search queries your Google ads /campaigns should appear in when your keyword or variation is triggered.

Here are some keyword match types to use for your small Business Google Ads PPC campaigns

Broad keyword match 

Broad match is the default match type Google uses in Google Ads PPC campaigns. When you use this keyword match type, your ads will appear in misspellings, synonyms, related searches, and other search variations. For example, when you set a general keyword like “luxury wristwatches”, your ad may show up in “luxury wristwatches, or luxury apartment, or even expensive clocks.” This is a good approach when you want to throw your net wide, however, it is not so helpful because you will pay clicks who may not be interested in your ad.

Phrase Keyword Match

Phrase match helps you add a bit of strictness and control to where you want your ads to show up. In adding a phrase keyword match, add it in quotation marks like “Luxury wristwatches”. This way your ad will show up in the exact order or in a close variation with words at the beginning or end sometimes. The above phrase keyword will appear in “luxury wristwatches, Italian luxury wristwatch, or even luxury wristwatch wholesale search results. Although you will lose traffic, you will pay for clicks that are ready to convert. Note: The Phrase match has now being incorporated to the Broad Match Modifier

Exact Keyword Match

As the name suggests, this is a very specific type of keyword match. you can add an exact keyword match in Google AdWords PPC by adding it in brackets like [buy luxury wristwatch]. Only search results matching almost the exact keywords will trigger your ad to be displayed. This match type should be used in high converting keywords. However, you will lose search traffic as your ads are targeted at just a few people.

You may have seen people talk about the Broad match modifier, but I didn’t include it in this guide. This is because from February 2021 Google incorporated this match type into the Phrase match. Hence, anytime you try doing “+” in front of keywords you enter for your Adgroup, Google automatically adds it as a phrase match.

What has been your keyword match type for previous Google Ads campaigns? Let’s try these new methods to see how it goes.

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