Broad, Phrase, Exact, Negative Four Google AdWor

Broad, Phrase, Exact, Negative Four Google AdWords terms you must know for advertising success

by: Rob Barrett

A few days ago, I was setting up my latest Google AdWords campaign. My brother was watching me work through the process, and he asked me:

กWhy do you put quotation marks and square brackets around some keywords?ก

I was a bit surprised to realise that I couldn’t actually answer him not in any definite way, at least. So, I set to work finding out what the matching options mean, and how they affect results.

First up is the default, Broad Match. This is where a keyword phrase is written as is, for example: google adwords

This method means that your Ad will potentially be shown to anyone searching for กgoogleก and กadwordsก, in any order and possibly with other terms. So, anyone searching for กadwords google helpก could see your Ad.

Next is Phrase Match. This is where a keyword phrase is enclosed by quotation marks, for example: กgoogle adwordsก

This is essentially the next step up from Broad Match your Ad could be shown to anyone searching for กgoogleก and กadwordsก, but only in that order, and possibly with other terms included in the search. So, กhow to start a google adwords campaignก could trigger your Ad to be shown.

The last in the กpositiveก matching options is Exact Match. This is where your keyword phrase is enclosed by square brackets, for example: [google adwords]

This is the most specific of the three types. In this case, your advert will only be shown if somebody searches for กgoogle adwordsก in that order and with no other terms.

These options each have their own merits, but generally, the more specific the search term, the higher your CTR (Click Through Rate).

If you have a small niche to start with, then Broad Match will give you the most exposure. The downside is that the large number of triggering phrases could push your CPC (cost per click) up, as a result of competition.

Larger markets require highlytargeted Ads, and this is where Exact Match (and Phrase Match, to an extent) comes into play. Imagine trying to get clicks from keywords such as กcar partsก compared to กford fiesta rear wheel bearingก. Obviously, the more specific your keyword terms, the more likely you are to get an interested visitor to your site.

The last of the keyword matching options is Negative Keyword. This is where a keyword is precluded by a minus sign, for example: tricks

This stops your Ad from being shown if somebody searches using that term. For example, กgoogle adwords tricksก would stop your Ad from being shown.

This is useful for prequalifying prospect clients if you are trying to sell something, then กfreeก would be a good term to include in your Keyword list.

Of course, as with any marketing campaign, which of these methods will work best for you is unpredictable, so always remember to test, test test!

If you need more help with setting up your Google AdWords campaign, this particular resource is one that I found useful when starting up:

Adword Equalizer (www.robbarrett.co.uk/recommendations_marketing/googleadwordequalizer.php)

Best of luck with your Google AdWords campaign!

About The Author

Rob Barrett is a professional web designer based in Dorset, England. To read more free articles on Internet Marketing and Google AdWords, visit: http://articles.robbarrett.com.

This article was posted on September 11

by Rob Barrett

Adwords Disabling Advert Optimisation

Adwords Disabling Advert Optimisation

by: Tom OกBrien

Disable the automatic advert optimisation feature (set in your campaign settings) to avoid giving away valuable IP to your competitors.

This can be seen here: http://www.pdqprospects.com/images/CampaignOptimisation.gif

Why would you want to do this?

Ok Letกs say you are diligently testing 2 adverts side by side within an adgroup (as you should always be btw).

With optimisation turned on, eventually 1 advert will be deemed the leader and shown more.

For arguments sake – we will take the keyword ‘marketing’. Your competitor has 2 split tested Google Adwords adverts which will show (in a round robin manner) whenever this keyword is searched for.

You can find out useful information regarding which of the adverts is performing better by searching for the keyword marketing, noting the ad results and refreshing the search results.

Because you get to know the best copy

Suppose you do this 4 times (by reloading your webpage) and 3 times advert 1 is shown, but advert 2 is shown once you now know which of these adverts is the best.

Knowing what adverts are working for your competitors allows you to start to understand the mindset of your potential prospects (whatกs working and whatกs not to encourage clickthroughs).

This of course is very valuable intelligence to have for you to construct your own adverts which means you can ultimately have higher click through rates and as a direct result pay less.

Because ads in Adwords are in the public domain, your marketing efforts can be gleaned by your competitors and vice versa if you use the automatic optimisation feature.

You have the choice to set and forget letting Adwords do itกs job but if you want total control and are in a market that is highly competitive, you may want to manage your campaigns in a more handson fashion.

There is a tradeoff for sure but itกs up to you as a business owner to make that decision based on your own risk management criteria.

In marketing there is only one genius your customer.

You can always hire someone to create great ads but you have no guarantees they will produce a winner straight off the bat.

Only putting the ad into the wild will you determine results.

Sidebar

You may peak in terms of achieving as high a CTR as you can for a particular advert and this could mean you get lazy and only show the winner all the time. To help keep your competitors guessing you should continually try new ads intermittently though.

Indeed therein lies some very valuable self help tips when it comes to keeping the competitors guessing:

Believe it or not you may want to put a กworseก advert up to reduce your CTR thus dropping you down the adwords advert list to help improve your ROI!

Recommendation

You are best using ad optimisation for most of your terms set it, forget it. Some may need to be broken out into their own campaigns to give you the granularity you require. It’s a question of finding out which keywords warrant the extra effort.

About The Author

Tom OกBrien is the Director of PDQProspects.com

Do you want more targeted business prospects?

PDQProspects can bring your business new prospects fast.

http://articlecity.pdqprospects.com

This article was posted on April 17

by Tom OกBrien