Keyword Match Types: Is Phrase Match Or Exact Match Better For My Google AdWords Campaign?

Writing by Brick Marketing on Saturday, 29 of December , 2007 at 2:39 pm

There seems to be a little confusion about the difference between phrase match and exact match when using Google AdWords. Phrase match includes keywords surrounded by quotation marks while exact match includes your keyword phrases within brackets. But when should you use each keyword match type?

Let’s suppose we are running an AdWords campaign for our new silver metallic widget. If we simply use the keyword phrase “silver metallic widget” without quotation marks or brackets then our ad will appear on pages that are optimized for any of those three words. To narrow our ad placement, we would either select a phrase match or an exact match and limit our ad appear on SERPs when people are looking for silver jewelry or metallic furniture.

The Difference Between Phrase Match And Exact Match
By limiting our keyword match type to the phrase match and including our keyword phrase in quotation marks (like this: “silver metallic widget”), we are asking that our ad appear on pages where people search for this phrase exactly as it appears whether something else is preceding it or following it. In other words, if a searcher Googles “silver metallic widgets” then our ad will still appear. If a search is made for “long silver metallic widgets” or “silver metallic widgets that spin” then our ad will appear as well.

If you put your keyword phrase in brackets instead of quotation marks then you are telling Google to place your ad on SERPs where a user searches only for that specific phrase. In other words, searchers will see your ad when they type in “silver metallic widgets” and if they type in “silver metallic widgets that spin” then your ad will not show.

When Should You Narrow Your Keyword Focus?
If you sell metallic widgets of various colors then you might want to use the phrase match, but you’ll want to leave off the “silver” because your ad will appear when searchers Google “red metallic widgets,” “blue metallic widgets,” or “silver metallic widgets.” In other words, your keyword will be “metallic widgets” and what ever color a searcher includes with that keyword phrase will show your ad.

On the other hand, if you sell only silver metallic widgets and nothing else then I’d recommend that you include that phrase within brackets so that your ad appears for that specific phrase. I see no reason to include the same exact phrase in any AdWords campaign using both the phrase match and exact match because your exact match phrase will supersede the phrase match and render it useless.

When it comes to keyword match types for your Google AdWords campaigns, I recommend giving it some deep thought before you start selecting your keywords.

Category: Google Adwords, Keyword Match Types

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