In general, broad match keywords have the highest number of searches and impressions.
There is consent with Google Ads experts that exact match keywords convert better than broad match, however, their average monthly searches and impressions are usually lower than broad match.
In September 2018, Google expanded the exact match to match the intent of a search (the why behind the search) with close variants.
If you’re not using broad match at all, you are severely restricting your number of impressions/reach and therefore limiting the traffic to your website.
Furthermore, as Google’s results are getting more and more aligned with search intent, broad match is becoming again very important.
Starting a campaign with broad match keywords gives you the opportunity to see more specific search terms that you would not otherwise see, had you only used exact or phrase match.
The search terms serves you as a form of keyword research and discovery to understand what users have typed into Google search before clicking your ad.
CTR (Click through rate)
If you don’t use broad match, your keywords will not enter the auction for searches that are not covered.
For example, the high relevant queries that are searched only once or a few times. These permutations may not always be covered within all your keywords matching,
This will not only restrict the number of your impressions, but it will also impact the number of clicks, CTR (Click through rate), number of conversions, and ultimately, this can affect your Quality Score.
CTR is one of the most important factors of your Quality Score.
A higher Quality Score reduces your CPC (Cost per click) bids while improving visibility and profits.
Best practices
Search terms
– When you use broad match type, check your search terms report on a regular basis, daily to start with and then gradually every week.
Keywords > Search Terms.
Add any irrelevant keyword(s) or permutations as negative keywords and set these at the ad group level, or at the campaign level for high irrelevant keywords.
Find out searches that have potential, and add these as long tail keywords or any other keywords variations, exact, phrase and broad match modifier to your related campaigns/ad groups.
BMM (Broad match modifier)
– If your broad match keywords are not performing, consider changing these to BMM (Broad Match Modifier).
BMM gives you extra control while maintaining the reach.
You can mix and match BMM and broad. For example, set the most important keyword as BMM and the other keywords as broad.
Reduce CPC (Cost per click)
– When your competitors are not bidding on certain broad match keywords, consider adding these to your campaigns/ad groups. You can bid less on these set of keywords, and as a result decrease your CPC (Cost per Click).
Automated bidding
– Try broad match keywords if you use automated bidding. In some cases, this strategy can be extremely effective to reduce your overall CPC (Cost per Click).
Exclusions
– When you use new broad match keywords in your campaign, makes sure you exclude all your existing exact match keywords in your account from that campaign.
However, if the campaign is out performing other campaigns, review your exact match exclusions to improve performance even further.
Extract from my Book ‘Making Google Ads Work’.
