There are many benefits to PPC and it’s a channel that if done correctly can generate incredible returns.
NB: This is an article from Arise
The starting point of any PPC campaign begins with keywords. Keywords are the foundation of PPC (pay-per-click) and are one of the most critical parts of any campaign. Depending on your campaign type, the keywords you identify and select will determine when and where your ads show.
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Types of Keywords
Brand Keywords
Brand keywords are keywords that contain your brand name within them, for example, “Arise digital marketing agency”. Depending on your industry, these keywords tend to have less competition and are usually cheaper.
Competitive keywords
Competitive keywords are keywords that are more generic and focus on the services and products that you’re promoting. For example, “digital marketing”. These competitive keywords normally have greater competition and can be more expensive than brand keywords.
What is a PPC keyword match type?
Just because you’ve got the keyword “digital marketing agency” doesn’t necessarily mean that your ads will only show for that specific search. This depends on the match type you’re using as to what variation of your keywords your ads show for.
There are 3 different match types available which are crucial to understand, otherwise, you could be wasting valuable budget on irrelevant searches.
Broad match
Broad match is an extremely simple, generic keyword match type that you’ll find Google encouraging you to use.
If you’re using broad match, ads may show on searches related to your given keywords, however, these could be searches that don’t even include your specified keywords if Google deems them ‘relevant’.
For example, if your broad match keyword is ‘low-carb diet plan’, your ads may show for searches like: ‘carb-free foods’, ‘low-calorie recipes’, ‘Mediterranean diet books’ and so on.
It’s vital that if you’re using broad match, you have populated a substantial negative keyword list and are regularly monitoring your search term report for relevancy. We’ll discuss negative keywords and search terms later in this article.
Phrase match
Phrase match keywords will display ads on searches that include the ‘meaning’ of your keyword.
Google states that the meaning of the keyword can be implied, and user searches can be a more specific form of the meaning.
A phrase match is essentially the middle ground between a broad match and an exact match. Here, you have more control than a broad match, but still less control than an exact match.
For example, if your phrase match keyword is “tennis shoes”, your ad may show for “shoes for tennis”, “red tennis shoes” or “comfortable tennis sneakers”. However, with phrase match, it won’t show for “tennis rackets and training shoes” or “can you wear running shoes for tennis?”.
Similarly, as with a broad match, is important to have a substantial negative keyword list populated and that you’re also regularly monitoring your search term report for relevancy.
Exact match
With exact match keywords, your ads may show on searches that have the same meaning or same intent as the keyword.
For example, if your exact keyword is [shoes for men], then your ads may show on searches such as ‘shoes men’, ‘mens shoes’, and ‘shoes for a man’, but it wont show for ‘shoes for boys’ or ‘mens tennis shoes’.
Negative keywords have less importance here, however, it’s still best practice to have a list built before you launch your campaign, and to ensure you’re monitoring search terms to confirm they’re still relevant.
