Keywords are the fundamental building blocks for your Google Adwords campaign. The first thing that a Google Adwords newbie get stuck is in deciding the right keyword matching options. There are three Keyword matching options and one keyword elimination option. The keyword matching options are:
1) Broad Match
Broad Match allows you to target users based on keywords that are broadly related to your chosen keywords in your Ad Group. Broad match is enabled by default. If you want to sell all versions of iPhone then you can use the following keyword to trigger your Ad:
iPhone
What happens with this usage is that even for searches like "IPhone 15 review" your Ad will be shown. On initial analysis, this looks like an excellent strategy. With just a few keywords you would be able to get lot of users to your e-commerce website. The truth of the matter is that if your website does not provide reviews for IPhone 15 then it would lead the users to exit from your site. Remember that the most important thing in Google Adwords campaign is Quality Score.
If lot of users exit after visiting your e-commerce website then Google will not show your Ads and your Ad rank and Quality Score will go down. Quality Score decides your ability to retain an Ad Position and also your Cost Per Click.
Use Broad Search in cases where:
1) You have related information in your website, which can be easily accessed with navigation and search.
2) The search volume for your target keywords is very low. But do so only for a few days to get an idea about the related keywords that has resulted in a visit to your website
3) Measure the quality of visits before keeping the Broad match keyword. If you get lot of visits with related keywords but if they result in no conversions then remove the broad match.
4) You have a high budget
2) Phrase Match
Phrase match allows you to be more specific with the keywords that you are targeting. For example if you are providing information about IPhone 15 then you can use phrase match
"IPhone 15"
You can convert a broad match to phrase match by using a quote on the keyword "<keyword>"
With phrase match:
1) The order of the words is maintained
2) The Ads are shown exactly to keywords containing your Phrase Matched keyword.
For example if someone searches for "IPhone 15 review" or "review of IPhone 15" , your Ads will be shown .
For "iPhone version 4 review" your Ads will not be shown
Phrase match tends to perform better than broad match.
Phrase match is more apt for portals that provides information(including reviews) and e-commerce(purchasing option)
Use Phrase Match in cases where:
1) You are sure about the keywords used by your potential customers.
2) You have related information in your website, which can be easily accessed with navigation and search.
3) You have moderate to low budget
3) Exact Match
As the name suggests, Exact match allows you to target the exact keywords that your users are looking for. This is the most effective Google Adwords keyword matching option.
[IPhone 15]
You can convert a broad match to exact match by using an Square Bracket on your keyword.
For Example: if someone searches for "IPhone 15 reviews", your Ad will not be shown.
For "IPhone 15" , your Ad will be shown
With Exact Match
1) The order of the words are maintained
2) The Ads are shown exactly for the keywords used
Use Exact Match in cases where:
1) You have done enough tests and research and you are sure about the keywords used by your potential customers.
2) You have low budget and cannot risk losing money on Non-targeted keywords.
Negative keywords
You can save money and avoid the risk of losing Quality score by using Negative Keyword filters in your broad match keyword option. If you are not sure about using exact match or phrase match, use broad match with negative keywords
For Example: If you don't provide reviews of IPhone 15 in your website, use
IPhone 15 -reviews
This will prevent Ads from getting triggered for keywords that contain IPhone 15 and reviews in the same phrase.
However Ads for other keywords will be triggered like:
IPhone 15 price
IPhone 15 specifications