If you're just starting out with PPC (paid search) ads in Google through the Google Ads platform, you'd be forgiven for thinking that you pay some money and your ad just appears in front of users who are looking for your product. While that's true to an extent, there are some details which you can use to make sure that you target the right people at the right time with your ads and if you get that right then you get the most value out of your paid search advertising budget.
What Are The PPC Keyword Match Types
Using the right keyword match type for your paid search keywords is a great way to narrow the range of searches that your ad can be shown against and there are three main paid search keyword match types you can use:
- Broad match
- Phrase match
- Exact match
Each of these match types helps you to target your ads against the search phrases used by people searching in Google.
Broad Match
Broad match keywords mean that your ad will potentially show for ANY search that contains your keyword(s) in any order. For example the broad match keyword "crash helmet" would potentially show your ad for searches which match the phrase exactly but also searches such as "what is the best crash helmet" but also searches such as "helmet after crash damage".
Phrase Match
Phrase match keywords are shown in quote marks ( "keyword" ) in Google Ads and mean that your ad may show for any search where the phrase you have specified is present, with other words either side of your phrase. An example would be the keyword "best crash helmet" would match for searches such as "best crash helmet for motorsport" and "best crash helmet for motorbikes".
Exact Match
Exact match terms are surrounded by square brackets ( [keyword] ) and will only show your ad if a user searches for that exact phrase, with no other search terms used. Using the same example again [best crash helmet] would only show your ad if a user searched for that phrase only. Exact match can be a really good way to target potential customers, however you need to be aware that using exact match on a high volume search term could use a lot of budget quickly.
Take a look at the video below and don't forget to check out our other 90 Second Knowledge PPC videos for other hints and tips to improve your digital marketing, including our 6 Tips for a Great PPC Landing Page.
You can find all of our videos on our YouTube Channel (don't forget to like & subscribe) and they will also be posted to the website on a regular basis. We've kept them short to make them digestible and covered just the essentials you need to get going, we want you to get the most of out the platform rather than bamboozling you with detail.
