Keyword match types are a crucial element of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. They determine how closely a user's search query must match your chosen keywords for your ad to appear. Understanding match types is essential for creating effective ad campaigns that reach your target audience and maximize your return on investment.
There are three primary keyword match types: exact match, phrase match, and broad match. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, and understanding how they work can help you create more targeted, cost-effective ad campaigns.
Exact Match
Exact match is the most restrictive keyword match type. When you use exact match, your ad will only appear when a user searches for your exact keyword phrase, without any additional words before, after, or in between.
Advantages of Exact Match:
High relevance: Exact match ensures that your ad only appears for users who are searching for your exact keyword, which can improve the relevance of your ad and increase the likelihood of clicks and conversions.
Control over ad spend: Since exact match is so specific, you can be confident that you're not wasting ad spend on irrelevant clicks.
High conversion rate: Because exact match targets users who are searching for your exact keyword, they're more likely to be interested in your product or service and convert after clicking on your ad.
Disadvantages of Exact Match:
Limited reach: Since exact match is so restrictive, your ad may not appear as often as you'd like, which can limit your overall reach.
Missed opportunities: Exact match doesn't account for slight variations in keyword phrasing, so you may miss out on potential clicks from users who are searching for similar terms.
Difficulty scaling: Exact match can be challenging to scale since it requires a high degree of specificity and customization.
Examples and Use Cases:
If you sell handmade soap, using exact match could be an effective way to target users who are specifically searching for "handmade soap." This would exclude users who are searching for "organic soap," "natural soap," or other variations of the keyword.
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns with Exact Match:
Conduct extensive keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-performing exact-match keywords.
Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches that could waste ad spend.
Monitor performance regularly and adjust bids and budgets as needed to maximize ROI.
Experiment with variations of your exact match keywords to identify additional high-performing search terms.
Phrase Match
Phrase match is a slightly more flexible keyword match type than exact match. When you use phrase match, your ad will appear when a user searches for your keyword phrase in the same order you've specified, but with additional words before or after the phrase.
Advantages of Phrase Match:
Increased reach: Phrase match allows for more variations in keyword phrasing, which can expand your reach and exposure to potential customers.
More control over targeting: Phrase match allows you to be more specific in your targeting than broad match, while still allowing for some flexibility in search queries.
Improved relevancy: Phrase match can increase the relevancy of your ad by targeting users who are searching for specific keyword phrases, rather than just individual keywords.
Disadvantages of Phrase Match:
Missed opportunities: Since phrase match only accounts for variations of your exact keyword phrase, you may still miss out on potential clicks from users who are searching for related but slightly different terms.
Limited control: With phrase match, your ad may still appear for some irrelevant searches, which can lead to wasted ad spend.
Difficulty scaling: Like exact match, phrase match can be challenging to scale effectively since it requires a high level of customization and specificity.
Examples and Use Cases:
If you sell running shoes, using phrase match could be an effective way to target users who are searching for "running shoes for women" or "best running shoes for beginners," while still excluding searches for unrelated keywords like "tennis shoes" or "dress shoes."
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns with Phrase Match:
Use keyword research tools to identify high-performing phrases to target.
Experiment with variations of your phrase match keywords to identify additional high-performing search terms.
Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches that could waste ad spend.
Monitor performance regularly and adjust bids and budgets as needed to maximize ROI.
Broad Match
Broad match is the most flexible keyword match type, and it allows your ad to appear for searches that include your keyword phrase or variations of it, as well as related terms and synonyms.
Advantages of Broad Match:
Increased reach: Broad match allows your ad to appear for a wide range of search queries, which can expand your reach and exposure to potential customers.
More efficient campaigns: Broad match can help identify new, high-performing search terms that you may not have thought to target with other match types.
Easier to scale: Broad match allows for more flexibility and scalability, making it easier to expand your campaigns over time.
Disadvantages of Broad Match:
Lower relevance: Because broad match allows your ad to appear for a wide range of search queries, it may not be as relevant to users as other match types, which can lead to lower click-through rates and conversions.
Higher cost: Broad match can lead to higher ad spend since your ad will appear for a wider range of search queries, some of which may be less relevant to your target audience.
Limited control: Broad match can be less precise than other match types, which can make it more challenging to target specific keywords and audiences.
Examples and Use Cases:
If you sell pet supplies, using broad match could help you reach a wider audience by targeting searches for related keywords like "dog food" or "cat litter," even if they don't include your exact keyword phrase.
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns with Broad Match:
Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches that could waste ad spend.
Monitor performance regularly and adjust bids and budgets as needed to maximize ROI.
Use broad match modifiers (a variation of broad match) to add more control to your targeting while still maintaining the flexibility of broad match.
Modified Broad Match
Modified broad match is a variation of broad match that allows for more control over targeting by specifying which keywords must be included in a user's search query. With modified broad match, your ad will appear when a user's search query includes all of the keywords you've specified, in any order.
Advantages of Modified Broad Match:
Increased control: Modified broad match allows for more precise targeting than broad match, while still maintaining the flexibility to reach a wider audience.
Improved relevancy: By specifying which keywords must be included in a search query, you can increase the relevancy of your ad and improve the likelihood of attracting qualified leads.
Efficient use of ad spend: Modified broad match can help minimize wasted ad spend by excluding irrelevant searches that don't meet your targeting criteria.
Disadvantages of Modified Broad Match:
Limited reach: Since modified broad match is more specific than broad match, it may limit your reach and exposure to potential customers.
More time-consuming: Creating modified broad match keywords requires more effort than other match types, as you need to identify which keywords must be included in a search query.
Difficulty scaling: Like exact match and phrase match, modified broad match can be challenging to scale effectively since it requires a high level of customization and specificity.
Examples and Use Cases:
If you own a bakery, using modified broad match could help you target users who are searching for "birthday cake bakeries" or "gluten-free bakeries," while still excluding searches for unrelated terms like "coffee shops" or "grocery stores."
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns with Modified Broad Match:
Use keyword research tools to identify high-performing keywords to target.
Experiment with variations of your modified broad match keywords to identify additional high-performing search terms.
Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches that could waste ad spend.
Monitor performance regularly and adjust bids and budgets as needed to maximize ROI.
Agency Tip: In February 2021, Google Ads began to incorporate behaviours of broad match modifier (BMM) into phrase match. As of July 2021, both phrase and broad match modifier keywords have the same updated phrase-matching behaviour for all languages and show ads on searches that include the meaning of your keyword.
Negative Match
Negative match is a keyword match type that allows you to exclude specific search terms from your targeting. When you use negative match, your ad will not appear for any search queries that include the specified keyword(s).
Advantages of Negative Match:
More efficient use of ad spend: Negative match can help minimize wasted ad spend by excluding irrelevant searches that don't meet your targeting criteria.
Improved targeting: Negative match can help you target more qualified leads by excluding searches for keywords that are unrelated to your business or product.
Increased control: Negative match allows for more precise targeting by excluding specific search terms that you know are not relevant to your business or audience.
Disadvantages of Negative Match:
Limited reach: Overusing negative keywords can limit your reach and exposure to potential customers.
Increased complexity: Creating an effective negative keyword strategy requires more effort than other match types, as you need to identify which keywords to exclude from your targeting.
Difficulty scaling: Like other match types, negative match can be challenging to scale effectively since it requires a high level of customization and specificity.
Examples and Use Cases:
If you sell luxury watches, using negative match could help you exclude searches for "cheap watches" or "used watches" that are unlikely to convert, while still targeting users who are searching for "luxury watches" or "high-end watches."
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns with Negative Match:
Conduct thorough keyword research to identify negative keywords that are likely to be irrelevant to your business or product.
Monitor performance regularly and adjust negative keyword lists as needed to maximize ROI.
Use negative match sparingly to avoid limiting your reach and exposure to potential customers.
Choosing the Right Match Type
Choosing the right match type for your PPC campaign is critical to achieving your advertising goals. Here are some factors to consider when selecting a match type:
Business goals: Consider your business goals and how each match type can help you achieve them. For example, if you want to maximize conversions, exact match may be the best option, while broad match may be better suited for increasing brand awareness.
Budget: Consider your budget and how each match type can impact your cost-per-click (CPC) and overall ad spend. Exact match may result in a higher CPC but can help you avoid wasted spend on irrelevant clicks, while broad match may have a lower CPC but may result in more irrelevant clicks.
Search volume: Consider the search volume of your target keywords and how each match type can impact your reach and exposure. Exact match may limit your reach, while broad match may result in more exposure to users who are not relevant to your business.
Level of control: Consider the level of control you need over your targeting and how each match type can provide that control. Exact match offers the highest level of control, while broad match offers the least.
How to Test and Adjust Match Types:
Testing and adjusting match types is an essential part of optimizing your PPC campaign. Here's how to do it:
Run A/B tests: Create multiple versions of your ad with different match types and test them against each other to identify which one performs best.
Monitor performance: Regularly monitor the performance of each match type to identify which ones are driving the most clicks, conversions, and ROI.
Adjust bids and budgets: Adjust your bids and budgets based on the performance of each match type to maximize ROI.
Agency Tips: Best Practices for Selecting and Implementing Match Types:
Here are some best practices for selecting and implementing match types:
Start with phrase and/or broad match: Regularly check the search terms report as these keyword match types will cast a wider net and you can see which terms are driving the most conversions and ROI.
Add exact match over time: By analysing the search terms report over time you’ll discover the exact searches generating the most conversions, these should then be added as exact match to get more efficient bidding.
Use negative keywords: Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches and minimize wasted ad spend.
Monitor performance regularly: Regularly monitor the performance of each match type and adjust your strategy accordingly to maximize ROI.
Keep testing and adjusting: Continuously test and adjust your match types to identify new opportunities for optimization and improvement.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the different match types and how they can impact your PPC campaign is essential to achieving your advertising goals. By carefully selecting and implementing the right match type for your business, you can maximize your reach, exposure, and ROI. Remember to consider factors like your business goals, budget, search volume, and level of control when selecting a match type, and regularly test and adjust your strategy to optimize your results.
At Soone Agency, we offer a free keyword match type tool that can help you quickly generate different match types for your target keywords. Give it a try and see how it can help you improve your PPC campaign performance.
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