Written by Chris Barling
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 00:00
In general, you should define keywords with three or more words as a broad match and keywords with one or two words as a phrase match. Beware that the lower click through rate (CTR) arising from broad matches will lower your quality score.
There is a trade-off between impression volume and the relevance of your ad since your creative may be less relevant for keywords which are not so closely associated. For example a recruitment agency might advertise for ‘Ruby Programming Jobs’ with a broad match. The ad will be displayed when the searcher searches on other types of jobs such as ‘Java Programming Jobs’ and ’PHP Programming Jobs’ and this may not be at all what the advertiser expected. As a result, a minimum of three word keywords should be used for a broad match. Try to report on keywords searched upon that never get a click and get rid of non-performing ads. If you combine match types then the search engine selects the most relevant one in the order of exact, phrase and broad match. Remember to put in a negative for things in your field that you don’t sell.
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