Google Adwords - Manipulating Keywords For Success
by Halstatt Pires
As you probably know, Google Adwords is a pay-per-click solution
offered by Google. As with other PPCs, you are given the ability
to place your small advertisement on various platforms
controlled by Google. While the platform provides you with a
large audience, you must manipulate your keywords to generate
success.
Matching Options
When running an Adwords campaign, you can and should define when
your keywords will appear in search results. To do this, you can
select matching options for each of your keywords to either
reach a broad audience or target a niche.
The Google Adwords platform allows you to select four matching
options:
Broad Match
Broad match is the default setting for an Adwords campaign.
Broad match means your ad will appear in search results when any
combination of the words in your keyword phrase search. Many an
advertiser has learned expensive lessons using this setting.
Let's look at an example.
Assume I am selling travel writing diaries and using "travel
journals" as my keyword phrase. Any time a person enters any
combination of "travel" and "journals" in a search, my ad will
appear. The ad will also appear for plurals and relevant
variations. While this may sound great at first glance, a broad
match setting can result in low quality hits and poor conversion
rates. A person searching for travel journal stories is going to
see my link. While a decent percentage will click my link, they
are far less likely to buy because they are just browsing. Using
broad match, my costs go up and my conversions go down.
Broad match isn't necessarily a bad option. If your product
makes a popular Christmas gift, you definitely want to use the
broad match option in November and December. You prospective
clients will be motivated to buy. Even the "browsing" surfers
will convert well.
Phrase Match
Phrase match is a matching option that gives you a bit more
control over your ads. Phrase match tells the Adwords platform
to only show your ad when a search is conducted for the
particular order of your keyword phrase. Using the phrase match
option for "travel journals", my ad would appear when someone
search for a phrase with "travel journals" in it, but not
"journals travel". To use phrase match for keyword phrases, you
simply place quotation marks around them.
Exact Match
Exact match is...exact match. It is the most targeted option.
You should use it only if you want your ad to appear in searches
for the exact keyword phrase as written. For instance, if I want
my ad to appear in searches for "travel journals" and nothing
else, I will use the exact match. To select the exact match
option, simply place brackets ("[]") around the keyword phrase.
Negative Match
No, the negative match option doesn't involve cussing, insults
or adult sites. Instead, it allows you to designate which
keyword phrase search results you do not want your ad to appear
in. For example, I may not want my travel journal product to
appear in search results for "Amazon travel journals". I would
simply list the keyword phrase with a dash (-) in front of it
and my ad will not appear. The negative match option is a
tremendous option for eliminating junk traffic from your Adwords
campaign.
The Google Adwords platform is a tremendous advertising
platform. Effectively manipulate your keywords and it can be a
highly profitable one as well.
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