Google Matching Strategy: Broad, Phrase or Exact?

Google AdWords allows users to enter identical search terms with different matching options. For instance, you can purchase the broad match term Buy Books. Any search query that contains "Buy" and "Books" regardless of order or other terms used may display a paid search listing because of the broad match term Buy Books used.

However, most paid search should not stop here. Broad match terms are often more expensive because you are competing with more matching and, hence, more competitors. A good option is to also include phrase match and exact match for the same terms. In this way, users can often pay lower cost-per-clicks when search engine users type in exact phrases.

In this case, you would enter and bid on the following keywords:

Buy Books -- Broad Match: Any search query that contains Buy and Books in any order and with any additional terms may serve your ad.
"Buy Books" -- Phrase Match: Any terms outside of the term Buy Books will result in this being served as long as "Buy Books" is in this exact order.
[Buy Books] -- Exact Match: only this exact term will generated a served results. Any additional terms, e.g. I Buy Books, will cause this to not be a match.

Remember, you can also set negative keywords. Negative keywords are terms you set in Google and will cause your ads to not display if certain terms are included with the search query.

Using matching options and negative keywords allows users to target different search niches and also gives better bidding options. Often times broad-match terms may need to be removed yet phrase and exact match options will yield positive results.

For help with your paid search campaigns, visit MJM Ecommerce.

Keyword Strategy

I was going through a potential client’s existing keyword list for their paid search campaign and found an incredible hodge podge of terms that indicated a lack of clear objectives and strategy.

Whether you’re starting a new campaign or reorganizing a current one, you should ask yourself several questions, but, there is one I want to focus on:

1. What terms have people used to find my site?

Simple question right? You’ll be amazed at how many people don’t know this or simply rattle off terms in their PPC campaign. Use your analytics package to scour for terms that have been proven traffic generators. Look for patterns. Are people doing general searches and finding your site (i.e. t-shirt)? Are visitors finding your site by using your company name (i.e. company x)? Is it a combination of both (i.e. company x t-shirts)? Are they showing a propensity to buy through their queries (i.e. discount t-shirts)? Create a simple spread sheet that breaks out the terms under the following headers:

- generic
- generic plus brand
- buy trigger terms
- generic plus brand plus buy trigger

Do searches on these terms and do a competitive analysis. Where do you rank organically? Are there a lot of ads for that term? If you don’t rank well organically, buy the term. If there aren’t any other ads, buy the term. If you rank well, don’t see other ads…buy the term. You get the drift…buy the term and test it.

Use suggestions from Google/Yahoo/MSN and use tools like Word Tracker and Good Keywords to build out a more robust list. The point is to capture browsers at all phases of their buying cycle. The first phase is general research where the customer searches for a broad term like ‘t-shirt.’ After doing some research, the customer finds your company and does another search for ‘company x t-shirts’ to get more information on your company. The visitor likes what they see about your company and starts moving towards buying your product, but, now the focus shifts to finding the best price. Now the query is ‘discount t-shirt.’ The visitor finds your ad yet again and decides that you’re a prominent player in this category and wants to find the best price for your product. The query is now ‘discount company x t-shirt.’ Your ad appears again and you’ve closed the loop.

The cost to get that sale is going to depend on the competitive landscape for the term, but, you landed the sale and now you can work on building a profitable relationship. You should also buy placements for your specific product SKUs. You’ll find that people will do a search for your product SKU in the hopes of finding it elsewhere. If you’re selling a homogenous product (i.e. stereo) visit sites like Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City or other dominant players in your industry and buy ads for their model numbers.

Here’s an example: I went to Amazon and did a search for ‘Sony TV.’ I picked up the ASIN # B000HGQJZW and did a search on it. You’ll see Amazon listed organically because its specific to Amazon. Better yet, there are no ads! Great opportunity to buy a cheap term and pick off customers from Amazon. I’ve had great success using this little strategy in the past.

Try this out and let me know if you need any help.