Something that many people are unaware of when setting up their AdWords account is the ability to set different “match types” for each keyword.

According to Google, keyword match types allow you to:

“…determine which Google searches can trigger your ads to appear. These options can help you control who sees your ads.”

Many times when setting up or running an account we simply enter the keywords, write the ads, and spend some money driving traffic.  However, you can needlessly be spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on keywords that do not benefit your site, cost you extra money, or may not even be relevant to what your site offers.

Using the 3 keyword match types in AdWords

There are three match types that we are going to cover to help you refine your targeting and be more efficient with your AdWords spending.  In your account, you will want to try each of these three variations for each keyword so you can see which are converting the best and which offer the best return on your investment.  To differentiate each match type in your account, you have three ways to style your keywords:

• your keyword = broad match
• “your keyword” = phrase match
• [your keyword] = exact match

Broad Match

As its name implies, the broad match type gives your keywords the most coverage and allows you to cast the widest net.  Any search that a visitor conducts that uses your keyword will trigger your ads to be displayed.

If you are bidding on the keyword airplanes with broad match, your ads would be displayed for the following terms (as an example) and any search that includes the keyword airplanes:

• blue airplanes
• cheap blue airplanes
• airplanes for free
• yellow airplanes with gears

Phrase Match

A little more targeted than broad match, the phrase match option will only display your ads if a particular phrase or word you have specified is searched.

Using red airplanes as our keyword, you ads would be displayed for the following terms (as an example) and any search that includes the particular phrase red airplanes.  With this match type option, you keyword must be in quotation marks (i.e. “your keyword”):

• cheap red airplanes
• red airplanes for sale
• cheap red airplanes for sale
• find red airplanes

Exact Match

The most targeted and specific match type for your keywords is exact match.  Your ads will only display when someone searches for the exact term you are bidding on.

Exact match keywords are enclosed in brackets and would appear in your account like this: [your keyword].  If you are bidding on the term red airplanes and it is set to exact match, your ads will only be displayed when someone searches exactly for red airplanes.

• red airplanes

Match types overview

I recommend trying all three options to see which performs the best for you.  Many people suggest to only use phrase and exact match but I have found with several campaigns that broad match performed better than the others, which is why you should test it on your own to see which works.