Exploiting Broad and Exact Match to Improve Your Adwords Keyword Performance

Most webmasters will tell you that running a successful cost-per-click advertising campaign and choosing the appropriate keywords is an art, not a science. This is pure bunk, don’t you believe it! Advertisers that approach their keyword choices in a methodical and scientific way achieve much better results than their artful cousins.

I’ve been advertising on Google since it’s inception, and I’ve learned some very important yet counter-intuitive things that can help you get the most out of your Adwords campaign. Following my broad and exact match tips will lower your cost-per-click rates (CPC), increase your click-through-rates (CTR) and subsequently decrease your cost-per-conversions.

Broad Match and Exact Match Options

Google gives you the choice of broad match (default) or exact keyword match options when you enter a new keyword. Learning the difference between broad match and exact match keywords can help you exploit the fact that most webmasters, your competition, just don’t get it.

When a visitor searches for ‘web marketing’ Adwords takes a look at your keyword choices and tries to find the most appropriate match for it. If you have the exact match for it [web marketing] Google will prioritize that choice and serve it before anything else, even if you have the broad match for it. This powerful matching feature can help you rise above your competitors.

Rule 1 – Make sure absolutely all of your keywords appear as broad match AND exact match within the same ad group

What does this do?

• It allows complete control over what keyword click you are paying for and how you monitor your keyword results. If [web marketing] is served you know a visitor must have typed in that exact phrase.
• If the broad match of ‘web marketing’ is served you know the actual search definitely included some other word, phrase, or it was a stem version of ‘web marketing’.

In effect, this technique allows you to see the true results of what your visitor searched for. Broad matched keywords by themselves are too loosey goosey statistically and destroy any competent monitoring efforts. More importantly, broad matches on their own can lower your CTR, which can cause you to pay more for the position of not just your desired keyword ‘web marketing’, but all perceived variations of it such as ‘better internet marketing’ or ‘marketing on the internet’. How will you ever know what is converting and what is not?

But, if you have exact and broad matching versions of many variations of your keywords you can nail down exactly what is converting to a sale and what isn’t. This approach ensures you will receive higher CTRs, which will cause your keyword matches to become more relevant and rise in position without you raising your bids. You will then be able to eliminate the guesswork and raise the CPCs of the actual keywords that are truly converting to sales, improving sales volume and the profitability of your business.

Maximizing Plurals and Stem Versions of Your Keywords

Rule 2 – Have separate broad AND exact match keywords for plurals

Why? Because visitors that include plurals may be looking for different information than those that don’t. For instance, typing in ‘picture frame’ may mean the user wants to custom frame a picture, while ‘picture frames’ may mean that the user wants to buy a standard picture frame. How would you know unless you have them as separate keywords? By having them separate you can accurately track what is converting. You may find, as I have in many instances, that the plural form converts much better depending on what you are selling.

Rule 3 – Make sure you include stem variations and include them as broad AND exact match keywords

Why? Same reasons as above. You can get a better picture of what’s happening with your conversions and adjust your bids accordingly.

Sounds real simple doesn’t it? Well guess what, most webmasters just utilize broad matches or run a half hearted campaign that mixes them up occasionally, resulting in uneven and downright expensive Adwords bills!

Now that you know the huge differences between running an intuitive ad campaign vs. a scientifically based broad and exact match campaign you can improve your site's profits. By raising your CTRs and lowering your CPCs you can become more efficient and much more successful than your Adwords competitors, that is until they read this article!