There are 3 options as to how you can format your keyword phrases within the PPC control panel:

Exact match: Exact match words are placed between square brackets (e.g. [Web site hosting updates]). The advert only appears if someone does a search for the exact phrase, without any additional terms. So, in this case, if someone entered the term Web site hosting updates then the advertisement would appear. If they entered Web site hosting updates cheap, then it would not appear. Exact match is the most exacting of all the options, only appearing for very targeted searches.

Phrase match: Phrase match words are placed between quotation marks (e.g. “Web site hosting updates”). The advertisement only appears if the specific phrase is included in the query, but it does not matter if additional words are included in the search, provided that the phrase remains intact. So the advertisement would appear if someone performed a search on Web site hosting updates inexpensive, but it would not appear if they searched for Web site hosting inexpensive updates.

Broad match: Broad match words are placed without brackets or quotation marks. Advertisements will appear whenever the words are included in a search, irrespective of what order the words are placed in and whether other words are also included. Google also includes adverts for some synonyms of the words and plurals. Broad match ensures that your advert appears the most.

You can also use a negative keywords specifier to ensure that advertisements are not displayed if certain words appear in the query. A classic example would be to exclude advertisements for queries including the word: ‘free’.

Exact match ensures that you get the most exactly targeted advertisements, however, at the same time your advert will appear far less often.

Create different combinations of keywords for exact match

A way of getting the best of both worlds is to include a number of different combinations of the words and to include them in your ‘exact match’ campaign. I developed a free tool to help with this which can be found at formatclick.com. Go to the site and scroll down until you find the ‘permutator’ button. Enter a phrase and press submit and you will get a list of permutations of the phrase or phrases.

For example, if you entered:

• hosting with updates

you would get the following permutations:

• hosting with updates
• hosting updates with
• with hosting updates
• with updates hosting
• updates hosting with
• updates with hosting

Some of of doubtful use, but you may find some combinations worthy of inclusion in an exact match campaign.

Filed under: Pay-per-click (PPC), SEO, Social media by Martyn Whittaker