Answer
Jul 20, 2016 - 02:10 PM
a. There are 4 keyword match types: Exact ([]), Phrase (""), Broad (no special characters), Broad Match Modified (+ sign before each word). If you are just starting a campaign and are not very familiar with paid search it is better to limit yourself to exact match only. If you are not getting enough volume from exact match keywords alone, start adding broad match modified. More information on keyword match types here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2497836?hl=en.
b. Exact and BMM are usually the best choice when starting a paid search campaign. You can add phrase match for better control and segmentation, but it will increase the size of your overall keyword portfolio and might require spending more time to manage your campaigns.
c. Try not to use broad match keywords as they provide very limited control of what search queries will be triggered and will result in spending your budget ineffectively. Even big brand advertisers with large budgets, use broad match keywords very rarely and on special occasions. Do not mix keywords in different match type in the same ad group. Best practice is to have different match types in different ad groups or even different campaigns. The last option will allow you to control the amount of budget you spend on each match type (as opposed to the ad group level separation), however might be a bit harder to manage as it will increase the overall amount of campaigns in your account.
d. If you have same keyword phrases in different match types, they will overlap and will compete for same search queries (eg: "cheap Nike shoes" can be trigged by [cheap Nike shoes], "Nike shoes" or +Nike +shoes. To avoid that you can add negatives to different match type ad groups or campaigns the following way: exact match to phrase (if you don't have BMM) or BMM (if you don't have phrase match) and phrase to BMM (if you have both phrase and BMM). In order to do so, you should have match types separated in their own ad groups or campaigns (as mentioned above).
Exact match keywords usually perform best (since they trigger queries that match exactly to your keywords) by having higher conversion rates, better quality score and lower CPCs. Phrase and BMM are usually not as effective as exact. You can get into situation where your broader match type keywords (in Phrase and BMM) can have higher bids than exact match keywords and will trigger queries that would have been triggered by exact match instead.
Since those broader match type keywords have lower quality scores and higher bids you will end up paying more for the queries that you would otherwise capture with exact match at lower costs. To avoid that you can either manage overlap with negatives (as mentioned above) or set different bids for different match types with exact match being the highest, phrase being at least 20% lower than exact and BMM being at least 20% lower than phrase (that is already lower than exact). Increase % differences if you still see instances with overlaps.
b. Exact and BMM are usually the best choice when starting a paid search campaign. You can add phrase match for better control and segmentation, but it will increase the size of your overall keyword portfolio and might require spending more time to manage your campaigns.
c. Try not to use broad match keywords as they provide very limited control of what search queries will be triggered and will result in spending your budget ineffectively. Even big brand advertisers with large budgets, use broad match keywords very rarely and on special occasions. Do not mix keywords in different match type in the same ad group. Best practice is to have different match types in different ad groups or even different campaigns. The last option will allow you to control the amount of budget you spend on each match type (as opposed to the ad group level separation), however might be a bit harder to manage as it will increase the overall amount of campaigns in your account.
d. If you have same keyword phrases in different match types, they will overlap and will compete for same search queries (eg: "cheap Nike shoes" can be trigged by [cheap Nike shoes], "Nike shoes" or +Nike +shoes. To avoid that you can add negatives to different match type ad groups or campaigns the following way: exact match to phrase (if you don't have BMM) or BMM (if you don't have phrase match) and phrase to BMM (if you have both phrase and BMM). In order to do so, you should have match types separated in their own ad groups or campaigns (as mentioned above).
Exact match keywords usually perform best (since they trigger queries that match exactly to your keywords) by having higher conversion rates, better quality score and lower CPCs. Phrase and BMM are usually not as effective as exact. You can get into situation where your broader match type keywords (in Phrase and BMM) can have higher bids than exact match keywords and will trigger queries that would have been triggered by exact match instead.
Since those broader match type keywords have lower quality scores and higher bids you will end up paying more for the queries that you would otherwise capture with exact match at lower costs. To avoid that you can either manage overlap with negatives (as mentioned above) or set different bids for different match types with exact match being the highest, phrase being at least 20% lower than exact and BMM being at least 20% lower than phrase (that is already lower than exact). Increase % differences if you still see instances with overlaps.
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