What are Keyword Match Types?

Written by Megan Rose on 22 November 2024.

One of the biggest problems with PPC marketing campaigns is that, if you’re new to PPC, it’s all too easy to inadvertently waste your marketing budget, and this most commonly happens when the marketer chooses the wrong keyword match type. As a result, this can lead to ad groups which are either too wide in scope, thus resulting in wasted ad spend, or too narrow in scope, leading to frustrating low engagement.

Keyword match types determine when your Google ad will be displayed to a user that has searched for a term which matches the criteria you have defined.

In this article, we’ll explore:

What PPC marketing is, and how keywords are important to it.
Understanding the different keyword match types.
Deciding which is the best keyword match type for you.

How are keywords important in PPC marketing?

PPC (pay-per-click) is a digital marketing model where you pay a certain amount every time a person clicks on your ad. Ads typically appear above the organic results on google and can help you increase your visibility. The more you pay, the higher you can effectively show your ad. However if you haven’t correctly set up or refined your ad groups to use the correct keywords and keyword match types, people might click your ad and then quickly leave the site if it's not what they're looking for; this costs you money and wastes your ad budget.

A good way to prevent this is making sure your site and your landing page contains relevant content which matches the intent of the searches. This is where keywords come in. Keywords tell the search engines what you want your ad to appear for, and determine if those keywords are relevant to the ad and to the landing page. The more relevant - the more likely you are to rank well with your ad.

Below, we’ll explore the main different keyword match types.

The main keyword match types

Keyword match types tell Google how closely you want the enquirers search to match the keyword:

Broad match: Your ad will appear under searches that relate to your keyword.
Phrase match: Your ad will appear under searches that include the meaning of your keyword.
Exact match: Your ad will appear under searches that have the exact same meaning of your keyword.
Negative match: Keywords you don’t want your ad to show for.

Broad Match

This is the widest, most general keyword match type with the lowest cost-per-click. It is Google's default match type and you can expect to reach the widest audience, but since the traffic isn't going to be specifically relevant, you'll likely see lower conversion rates with this match type.

Here is an example of broad match:

If your keyword was ‘Camping gear’, searches that could be broad matches would be:

‘Buy tents’
‘Outdoor apparel store near me’
‘Go Outdoors shop’

Phrase Match

This match type can generate your ad from searches which include your keywords but is not exactly the same or in the same order. It is a balance between broad and exact match, stricter than broad match, but not as specific as exact match.

Here is an example of phrase match:

If your keyword was ‘Camping gear’, searches that could be phrase matches would be:

‘What gear do I need for camping?’
‘Where to get camping gear?’

Whereas the ad would not show for the following as it doesn’t include “gear”:

‘What equipment do I need for camping’

Exact Match

This match type means your ad is only shown on searches that are the same meaning as your keyword. It strictly limits how many impressions your ad makes but often has high conversion rates. Cost per click is often higher as traffic has more intent.

Here is an example of Exact match:

If your keyword was ‘furniture store’, searches that could be exact matches would be:

‘Furniture store’
‘Home furnishing store’

This diagram shows how the different match types reach the audience and how accurately:

source: https://backlinko.com/keyword-match-types

Negative Match

These keywords work alongside the other match types. You can exclude words and phrases from your Google Ad campaigns so that your ads won’t appear under certain search enquiries. This helps you reduce costs from irrelevant traffic.

For example if your company was selling camping gear but specifically not backpacks you could make it a negative keyword so if people searched anything like ‘where to buy backpacking gear’ then your ad wouldn't show up.

This can also be split into negative broad match, negative phrase match and negative exact match.

Which match type would be best for me?

Each different keyword match type has positives and negatives.

Broad match can be great for increasing impressions and traffic, but not for conversion rates.
Exact match is perfect when your keyword is for a niche audience, but it requires precision and each click is usually more expensive.
Phrase match sits somewhere between the both of them, it is a middle ground between how large of an audience it reaches and how relevant it is.

Aim for the best balance between reach and cost for your website. Take into account factors such as:

Cost-effectiveness - Which match-type is best for you, what is your CPC (cost-per click) budget?
Potential reach - Do you want a strong online presence that’s less targeted or a precise one that focuses on potential customers?
Timing - Sometimes certain terms will see peaks or troughs in searches, which may influence your bidding strategy and desired ad spend.

Overall, whichever type of keyword match you choose is best for your website, I hope this article has made you consider all the factors of the different types and will help you make the best decision.

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