You have a business website. After spending a decent amount of money developing it, you want it to rank higher in search results. This is how your audience will come across your website and be interested in your products/services.
There are two ways of listing your website higher in Google SERPs. One, you either opt for Google paid ads or second, you hire an SEO expert who will work on organically increasing your website’s visibility.
If you choose the former option, the results are instant only when you know the proper use of keyword match types. The paid ads come up when the keywords used in a search query match the keywords used in your ad.
Now, keyword match types are one way to control the use of keywords. The three keywords match types that help you make the most from your paid ads are:
- Exact keyword match
This limits your ad visibility to only those users who used the same keyword as used in your paid ad meta title and meta description. It keeps the ad restricted to relevant users. This also makes it the most cost-effective keyword match type.
- Phrase keyword match
Shows your ad to those users who used a few extra keywords before and after the keywords used in your ad. In terms of reach, phrase keyword match is a bit closer to broad match after the new phrase keyword rules were released.
- Broad keywords match
Shows your ad to every user who used the keyword in your ad, irrespective of the order. It’s the least restrictive keyword type and covers almost every query related to the keywords. This makes it the costliest keyword match. Moreover, it’s also a default keyword match. So, for a new marketer who does not know keyword match, you now know where your social media marketing budget is going into.
What are close variants?
How are close variants related to keyword match types? Close variants were first released in 2014, but Google keeps updating them.
Close variants, in short, are helpful to increase the reach of your ad. It considers misspellings, singular and plural form abbreviations, accents, and stemming in keywords.
For instance, a paid ad with the keyword ‘flooring services’ will be shown for a search query with the keyword ‘floor service,’ thus considering stemming and plurals.
Close variants are also made to disregard the function words (like conjunctions, prepositions, and articles). For instance, the search for ‘footwear for women’ is a close variation of ‘women footwear’ or ‘footwear woman.’
Close variations also consider synonyms, paraphrases, same intent search, and other factors. The same intent search means if the exact match keywords are ‘royalty-free images,’ it will show results for ‘free copyright images.’
Source: searchenginejournal.com
How keyword match type benefits your business?
Whether you are using keyword matches for paid ads or SEO, the proper usage of keyword matches can help you scale your business. The only key is knowing how to leverage your business using the right keyword type.
Here are known benefits of keyword match type for any business with an online presence or in the process of creating an online presence:
- Helps you control your audience
A layperson may think the broad match is the most advantageous. However, an expert marketer thinks otherwise. To keep your digital marketing costs low, go for an exact keyword match. It shows your ad to limited users but to the relevant ones who are more likely to convert.
Conversely, a broad match shows your ad to many users but may fail to identify the right audience for your product/service. Thus, depending on your product type/niche, you can study the keyword suitable for your business and have the upper hand on who sees your ad.
- Filters our irrelevant keywords
With the keyword match types, Google also released negative keywords. You can filter out the keywords irrelevant to your business with negative keywords. For instance, for a builder selling ready-to-move-in homes, negative keywords would be ‘custom build homes’ but ‘build custom homes’ would not be regarded as negative in a phrase match keyword.
Source: support.google.com
- Keeps your budget in check
You can choose your keyword match type depending on how much you can spend on paid ads. A broad match keyword type is the most expensive, while an exact keyword is the least expensive. Using the right keyword type for your expense can minimize wastage and brings in an audience that actually converts.
Difference between keyword match type for SEO and Paid Advertising
Should you use keyword match type for SEO or paid advertising? You can use keyword match type only for Google paid advertising. For SEO, keyword research is a more authentic and organic way to rank your website higher.
The word ‘keyword’ is used in both SEO and paid advertising. In SEO, you aim to bring traffic to your website organically/naturally rather than through paid advertising.
Bringing in traffic organically requires that the content posted on your website is in tune with the keyword search queries. On the contrary, in paid advertising, the keywords should only match the paid ad content to be placed on top of the Google search results.
In short, you only have to worry about keyword match types when you choose paid advertising over SEO.
Final Words
With keyword match types, keywords are no longer just words used irrelevantly but more about giving meaning to them. With keyword match types, Google can distinguish between the keywords ‘chocolate milk’ and ‘milk chocolate.’ Using negative keywords and close variants adds more meaning to search queries.
This benefits not only the marketer but the user. A marketer can aim at precision rather than volume using the right keyword match type. At the same time, a user will find the relevant information quickly as a result.
Image source: DilokaStudio
