One of the fundamentals of Google Ads is understanding your ads “Match Type”. If you don’t do this correctly your ads will not succeed.
Now if you have a company handling your Google Ads for you, they will undoubtedly have this covered for you. But if you manage your Google ads yourself and aren’t a full-time ads specialist, theres a chance that you have your ad match types set up incorrectly – which can be a huge issue for you.
So, what are match types?
Google Ads Match Types
- Broad match
- Phrase match
- Exact match
Broad Match
Broad match is the default match type and the one that reaches the widest audience. When using broad match, your ad is eligible to appear whenever a user’s search query includes any word in your key phrase, in any order, as well as any word that relates to your keyword.
For example, if you use broad match on “jewelry,” your ad might be displayed if a user types “jewelry store,” “jewelry company,” “jewelry repair”, “cheap jewelry” or “jewelry pawn shop”.
Now regardless if you’re a jewelry designer or a local retailer, this is the last type of match that you should be running. Broad match is just way too… well, broad. You’ll get a lot of random clicks that may not be the exact type of searcher you’re trying to target.
Remember – this is the default match type. Google wants you to waste money targeting as many people as possible. Make sure to change this when you set up your ads.
Phrase Match
With Phrase match Your ad will only appear when a user searches for your key phrase using your keywords in the exact order you enter them, but there might be other words either before or after that phrase.
So if you set your keyword of “engagement ring” to Phrase Match, you’ll get shown for queries like “engagement ring store near me” or “best place to buy my engagement ring in New York”.
Exact Match
Exact Match is the most obvious one. Your ad will only be shown if the keyword exactly matches the user’s search term. If your keyword is “best jeweler in Manhattan”, your ad will only show up if someone searches for that exact phrase in that order with no other words.
A proper google ads campaign uses a smart combination of phrase match and exact match terms. Broad match should rarely be considered.