Keyword Match Types In AdWords

Maximize Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing with Keyword Types

As you may or may not know, most of all local transactions begin with a search online. 90 percent to be exact. With that being said, it is extremely important to have a better understanding of how to effectively market your business online with search engine marketing (SEM). Search engine marketing covers two main forces in getting in front of people searching- search engine optimization and pay per click marketing. We actually consider Pay Per Click to be one of our favorite internet marketing tools, but in order to use it effectively you NEED to understand the different keyword match types!

As we have mentioned before, a website alone is not going to attract the business you are looking for. There are several different ways to bring more traffic to your website, and one of best/most effective ways to do that is with Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing.

Since 75% of B2B transactions online begin with a search (most of the time through a search engine), having your business show at the top of the results page would be ideal. With your ad being the first result on the page, it is more likely to grab the attention of the person who is searching for a service/ product that your business can provide.

PPC makes this possible. Pay Per Click marketing is a form of advertising that is a subcategory of search engine marketing (SEM). PPC is a model where advertisers like you, target web visitors with relevant ads as they search for particular phrases. Unlike organic search listings, where it can take a long time and lots of creativity to prove to Google your website should be at the top of a particular search – PPC allows you to say to search engines: “I know my audience is searching for XYZ – put my ad up” and within minutes you’re getting in front of people looking for the answers to the questions that your product or service solves – at EXACTLY the moment you’re looking for them.

(And yes, there are other methods to marketing your business online, but we will save that for another day!)
Some advantages of PPC: it is very effective, it will lead to an increase in sales/ leads, it is less expensive than traditional advertisements (radio & TV), it will increase brand awareness, and that it will gain more high quality business in general.

But before you jump in, there a few things that you MUST know.

When considering about the content you want in your ad, you’ve got to think as if you were the consumer searching for your service/product. What ‘keywords’ or phrases will they be typing into the search engine? Keywords are very important and drive PPC campaigns, therefore they must be considered very carefully.

Keywords can be ‘broadly’ organized into the following four types: brand terms, competitor terms, product/ service terms, as well as related/ generic terms. You want these terms to vary from very specific (your company’s name) to so broad that you appear for every keyword -including one that makes no sense at all. Of important note here, Pay Per Click systems DO NOT count commas, periods, etc. as different keywords – however plural and singular keywords ARE DIFFERENT.

Specific keywords help limit over or unnecessary exposure, while general key words target transactional intent and informational searches.

Here at Atilus, we use Pay Per Click marketing (in particular Google AdWords) which works on a system that is setup to reward advertisers who find this balance. If you do not, you will be penalized with higher ad costs and generally poor results. But if you DO this, you will be rewarded with lower ad costs and more business! J

(Google is strict about this because they strive to find the most relevant results for what people are searching for.)

Moving forward, you will set up a campaign on Google AdWords where you have the option of setting the “keyword match types”. Your ads are generated and shown when the search query from potential customers matches these settings. By properly leveraging these settings, you will recruit the most qualified prospects.

These are the four keyword match types you need to know:

1) Broad Match Type – this is the default match type that allows your ad to reach the widest audience. With the broad match, your ad is eligible to appear on ALL search queries that include ANY word in your “key phrase” in ANY order.

For Example: A broad match for “luxury hotel suites” will show your ad for “luxury apartments”, “luxury cars”, “top Asian hotel suites”, and so on.

2) +Modified +Broad +Match +Type – this is the type that leverages the reach of broad match without losing control over ad targeting, it is a middle ground between the broad match and the more restrictive match types. It is created by using the “+” parameter between the keywords. When the “+” is added, the Google AdWords system will run ads on relevant variations of the key words including synonyms, singular and plural forms, possible misspellings, stemmings (such as floor and flooring), related searches, and other relevant variations.

For Example: A modified broad match type for +luxury +hotel +suites may also show on searches for keywords such as luxury hotels, lxury sweets, and luxurious hotel.

3) “Phrase Match” offers the adaptability of the broad match but with higher levels of control. Your ad will only appear when the customer’s search query uses the exact phrase –with all the keywords in the exact order- but may include other words before, in between, or after that phrase.

For Example: The phrase match for “amazing PPC gains” will trigger for all queries (results) of the following: “how to drive amazing PPC gains”, “guide on how to achieve amazing PPC gains’, etc. Notice that each has the same keywords in the same order.

(However, it will not display the ad even if a single keyword is out of order, e.g. I need amazing gain from PPC, etc.)

4) [Exact Match] triggers and displays ads when the user types the EXACT keyword phrase, nothing before and nothing after.

For Example: A search for “paranormal PPC gains,” will only display the ad when the user types that exact key phrase- keyword by keyword.

As not everyone is going to type the same keyword or phrase into the search box when they are looking for a product/service, there is a need for “grey area” if you will, to get the most out of PPC. The four match types provide that flexibility- making your advertisement as compelling as possible.

Yes, this process may seem tedious for every keyword (including phrases) at first, but it will indefinitely optimize your advertising efforts and will retrieve the best results for your business!