Match types in Google Ads

In Google Ads, there are several ways to incorporate our keywords so that our ad appears in the search results (SERP, Search Engine Results Page ), with many differences between broad match terms and others of a more restricted nature.

Keywords always come from the searcher’s intention. The difference between searching for information or wanting to buy can make or break your paid text ad campaign.

In general, we could differentiate the following typologies, according to what is being sought:

Every time we add keywords to Google Ads, we can specify the **match type** to narrow the search to our conversion goal:

Broad match

This is the default match type. You need to be clear about when to use it because you can spend a lot of money on pay-per-click searches irrelevant to your target, and if you have a limited budget, it can quickly burn through your budget.

In this type of match, the ad can be shown when the words we’ve entered are in any order, along with other words or syntactical variables, such as the use of plurals, accents, or spelling errors. It also uses synonyms.

Keyword example: Blue T-shirt

It would be taught in a wide range of results, with cases that include one or more words:

• Blue shirts (variations as plural)
• Free T-shirts (new words)
• Blue T-shirt (with error)
• T-shirt (using synonyms)

It can help us generate a lot of traffic to our website if we’re searching for a small niche and find words we haven’t considered. But to refine our searches a bit further, we can use modified broad match, which we’ll discuss below.

You can learn more about Google’s broad match at the following link .

Modified Broad Match

In this case, we indicate that the word accompanying the ” + ” symbol must be present in the search. The idea is to have the freedom of broad match but with increased control over the situations in which the ad will be displayed. It won’t appear when searching for synonyms or related searches.

E.g. keyword: +Blue+Shirt

In the results for this example, both words must appear together, even with additional words, but never “shirt” alone.

• Navy blue t-shirt (with additional word)

However, if we indicate the “ + ” in only one of the two words used, only this one will be mandatory:

Keyword example: +Blue T-shirt

Our ad will appear in situations such as:

• T-shirt (mandatory word only)
• Red T-shirt (with different words than ours)

Since the term “blue” would not necessarily have to appear.

Our ad will also appear in the case of spelling errors, singular and plural forms, abbreviations, or derived words, such as gerunds.

Learn more about the broad match modifier .

Phrase agreement

In this case, the keyword must be enclosed in quotation marks “ ” and the results will appear in the same order in which I entered my keyword or phrase, but the results may include additional words, either before or after it.

Keyword example: “Blue T-shirt”

Therefore, our ad could appear in cases such as:

• “Blue striped shirt” (additional word on the back)

This way, a result like “blue t-shirt” wouldn’t show our ad (because of the preposition “of”). It’s more restrictive than the previous ones, but even so, since it can show other words before and after, it may show results that aren’t relevant to our target audience.

For more information on phrase match in AdWords help, see here .

Exact match

In this case, the keyword or phrase should be enclosed in brackets [ ]. This type of match is generally the best option when starting a campaign to keep track of spending. The person to whom our ad will be shown must perform the exact search with the terms we’ve defined, so it’s the most restrictive type of match of all.

The greater the control, the greater the likelihood of a greater return on investment, but with the added complication that we’ll likely miss out on potentially interesting options.

An example of a keyword: [blue t-shirt]

In this case, searches such as:

• Blue striped T-shirt (additional word on the back)
• How to wash my blue t-shirt (extra words in front)

To learn more about exact match, visit Google Ads Support .

Negative keywords

What they allow us to do is not appear in search results when they include the term we have indicated as a negative keyword.

• Free blue t-shirt (unwanted word)

Other features and benefits:

• They will allow us to have greater control over our budget by avoiding unwanted clicks, for example, those that include the term “free” when we want to sell.
• It helps us when we use phrase match, or modified broad match, to better restrict the possible situations in which the ad will be shown.
• Ideally, you should have your own library of negative keywords. Negative keywords, in short, are those that generate few conversions and sales.

If you’d like an introduction to Google Ads for your business, you can watch the following video:

Using paid advertising on Google Ads therefore requires being aware of:

• Think like a potential user or customer . We must understand their psychology when they search, how they will look for the solution.
• Adjust your bid at the beginning, you can bid a high CPC (Cost Per Click) to win the bids (knowing that you will only pay a cent more than the second highest) and see what works best.
• Conduct a thorough check in the first few hours to see if you’ve missed out on any negative words or phrases, so as to avoid inappropriate clicks by taking advantage of the option of incorporating negative keywords.
• Bid on specific keywords to start with until you see what works best .
• Invest in the audiences most likely to make our investment profitable.
• We need to find a balance between conversions and CPC. It’s useless to pay €10 per click if we only have a profit margin of €5.
• Start with at least two terms to compare.
• And, of course, as with any marketing task, before you begin, spend time analyzing.

The CTR

The importance of the CTR ( Click Through Rate ) when planning our campaign is fundamental. The click-through rate refers to the percentage of ad impressions that are ultimately received by users. If two out of every hundred click on our ad, we will have a CTR of 2%.

If we have a keyword that ranks well organically, it can give us a high CTR and help improve our ranking. For this reason, companies like Vueling, for example, even though they rank first in organic traffic when searching for “vueling,” are running paid ads.

The key is that placing ads that no one is interested in will do little good. For us, and consequently, for Google, which takes them into account when displaying and positioning our ads.

Quality index

Each ad or ad group has a quality score associated with it, determined by, among other parameters, the CTR, which is the main one, along with others such as the amount of time they spend on our website.

Google is primarily interested in getting clicks on ads above organic search, which is why it rewards those who work well on their campaigns.

If our CTR is below 1.5%, it’s best to modify our ad: text, target audience, etc.

Analyzing who we’re targeting and testing the possibilities offered by the Google Ads tool to find the best combination of our keywords in Google search results is essential to maximizing our investment in the platform.

Go ahead and refine your search, don’t limit yourself to the broadest possible scope! If you want to dig deeper into both match types and Google Ads in general, these two books on Google Ads might be of interest to you: ” Google Adwords: Tips and Strategies for Success ” by Enrique Del Valle and ” Advanced Google Adwords ” by Brad Geddes.