Keyword match types

Keyword match types are designed to help you have more control over which searches may trigger your ad. The Google Ads system provides advertisers with different match types. The “Broad match keywords” match type is defaulted to all keywords. Other advanced keyword options are: “Exact Phrases” and “Exact Match Keywords”. The choice of the type of correspondence must be well thought out, especially for a novice advertiser.

The default match type

Most Google Ads advertisers tend to use the broadest to narrowest strategy. What is this technique? It consists of keeping the default option “Broad match keyword”. By doing so, your ads will be shown to the greatest number of Internet users. In other words, all related searches, other variations, searches with or without misspellings and synonyms are likely to trigger your ad to appear on the Google Network. Example: Google Ads. The next strategy is to check out the search terms report. This will allow you to easily identify the search terms entered by Internet users who have seen your ad. You can, from this moment, use this information to adjust your keywords and exclude the less relevant ones. Adopting such a strategy has its pros and cons. Experience has shown it to me and the experts in the field will not contradict me. If it can allow you to have an extended distribution of your ad to a large audience, it may however cost you a fortune and generate few conversions. It is suitable, in my opinion, especially for large budgets wishing to attract the maximum number of Internet users to their sites.

Advanced matching options

With the Exact Phrase match type, your ads are likely to show as a result of searches that match a phrase or close variation with additional words before or after. If, on the other hand, a word is added in the middle of the expression or if a change is made in the order of the words within the said expression, your ads will not be shown. Adding the exact expression match type is done by using quotation marks between the expression. Example: “Google Ads“. There’s nothing stopping you from adjusting the match type using the Exact Match type. To do this, enclose the keyword in square brackets […]. Example: [Google Ads]. By adopting this type of match, your ads will be able to appear following searches corresponding exactly to the keyword or a very close variation. It is sometimes useful to exclude certain keywords to make your campaigns and ad groups more efficient.

Keywords to exclude

A well-targeted Google Ads campaign requires determining what not to target. These may be search terms close to your own keywords but relating to products or services different from yours. For a good accuracy of your targeting, it is recommended that you exclude these keywords from your campaign or ad groups. This is especially relevant on the Search Network. On the Display Network and Youtube, the targeting of your keywords remains less precise. Negative keywords work the same way they do on the Search Network. The main thing to try to do on the Display Network and Youtube is to exclude sites or videos that have little to do with your products or services. While you are allowed to exclude broad match, phrase match, or exact match keywords on the Search Network, on the Google Ads Display Network and Youtube, however, you can only exclude words of the type exact match. Finally, note that precise targeting of your keywords can help you reach more users on the Search Network and therefore increase your return on investment (ROI). But do not abuse it at the risk of losing potential customers. After making such adjustments, you should continually evaluate and optimize your keywords to increase their performance on both the Search Network and the Google Display Network. To find and test other keywords to add to your ad groups, use without hesitation the powerful tools made available to you by Google. I am especially thinking of the Keyword Planner and Google Analytics. You’ll find them in your Google Ads account. Finally, demonstrate good practices in managing keywords in your Google Ads account. Google is very keen on it.