When running an Adwords campaign, it’s important to know the different ways you can target search terms. Having a list of broad keywords may lead to wasted ad spend, while having a list of exact keyword matches might be creating low volume returns; be sure to know which match type makes sense for your campaign.

Overview of the different match types

There are four different keyword match types:

Broad: a keyword or phrase as is (ex: Broad Keyword)

Any word or phrase that could be related to a broad keyword will be associated.

Broad keywords are best utilized at the beginning of a campaign’s lifespan. The idea is to cast a big net and see what comes back, then refining keywords into other match types for better precision. Because broad match keywords are so unfocused, they generally lead to campaign spend waste when not carefully monitored. Since broad keywords are very general, they aren’t use as much and therefore can be the cheaper cost per click.

Phrase: a group of keywords wrapped in double quotes (ex: “Phrase Match”)

Search terms that contain the sequence of words between the quotes.

Phrase matching is a great way to focus in on what keywords are working. Since they allow for long tail search terms, you can still have a decent amount of volume while maintaining a decent level of control.

Exact: a keyword or group of keywords wrapped in brackets (ex: [Exact Match Keyword])

Only words or phrase that nearly match what is between the brackets will be associated. This can include singular/plural and misspellings.

Exact matching keywords are the most precisely targeted keywords, but also the lowest volume potential keywords as well. Going after a very specific product, service or brand can put exact matching to good use. Since these keywords will be as specific as you can possibly get, they generally have higher competition and a higher cost per click.

Broad modified: a group of keywords where one or more contain a plus sign before the word (ex: Broad +Modified Phrase)

Similar to broad match, but the search term must contain a variation of the word that is next to the plus sign.

Broad modified is great when the sequence of words doesn’t matter or if phrase matching is too low of volume. Instead of using “dentists in Jacksonville”, you can use +dentist +Jacksonville and get the same results plus all the other possible variations that are relevant.