Match types are an important part of a pay per click campaign. They can narrow your target audience in just a few key strokes and most pay per click campaigns can be further defined by the use of them.
There are three match types that you need to know and all of them are useful in defining your pay per click campaign’s terms and reaching the right audience:
- Exact Match – An exact match is when you include a keyword that will match a search query exactly. There will be no spelling variations. “Yellow widget” is yellow widget. Your ad will be seen only when a searcher uses the exact phrase “yellow widget” in their search. Not even the plural of this keyword will turn up your PPC ad.
- Phrase Match – A phrase match returns your ad for any keyword search that uses your exact keyword match along with other words. For instance, “yellow widget” would return searches for “small yellow widget”, “yellow widget with three legs”, or “yellow widgets”. It is somewhat broader than exact match, but it is not as broad as the broad match category of match types.
- Broad Match – Where the phrase match limits a search to a phrase exactly as it written or spelled out, broad match does not. “Yellow widget” used as a keyword would still turn up your ad for searches including “yellow copper widget” and would also turn your ad up for each specific word within the phrase, that is, “yellow” and “widget”.
Using match types to narrow the limitations on your pay per click campaigns is smart. Using a broad match when a phrase match or exact match is more appropriate could cost you in terms of clicks and run up your budget on less valuable clicks. That would decrease your ROI and cause you to lose money on your advertising. Using match types if a wise idea.
