Broad Match | Updates and Best Practices

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Google’s broad match capabilities have evolved in the past few years. Previously, this match type had a bad reputation for catching irrelevant search queries and blowing through spend. In recent years, there have been improvements to this match type, specifically how it works with Google’s robust signals for smart bidding strategies. Advertisers may want to consider taking another look at broad match, as it could benefit your account.

In this post, we will explore the benefits of broad match, share some results from our testing, and provide broad match best practices.

What are Exact Match, Phrase Match, and Broad Match?

Before diving in, let’s break down the three keyword match types.

• Exact Match: When a keyword is set to exact match, your ad could show on queries that have the same meaning or intent as the keyword. Exact match has the strictest matching criteria so it has a smaller reach than the other match types and gives you the most control over your ad views.
  • For example, if the exact match keyword is “flooring installation,” the ad may appear for searches like “flooring installation” or “installation of flooring.”
• Phrase Match: When a keyword is set to phrase match, your ad could show to users who type in search terms that include the meaning of the keyword, along with any other words before or after it. This match type is more targeted than broad match but still allows for some flexibility in matching.
  • For example, if the phrase match keyword is “flooring installation,” the ad may appear for searches like “flooring installation service near me” or “companies for flooring installation.” 
• Broad Match: When a keyword is set to broad match, it means your ad could show to users that search for queries that relate to your keyword. This match type has the widest reach.
  • For example, if the broad match keyword is “flooring installation,” the ad may appear for searches like “best flooring installation,” “flooring installation companies,” “best tiling services,” “best company to install hardwood floors,” “home renovation services,” and so on.

THE NEW BROAD MATCH

Once known as a match type with a bad reputation, broad match has since undergone a glow-up with recent upgrades to its intelligence. Now equipped with Google’s smart signals, it’s ready to crush the advertising game without blowing through your budget.

Now broad match can utilize additional signals unavailable to the other match types (exact or phrase). These signals can include: your website’s landing pages, different keywords in the ad group, users’ previous searches, predicted performance, and user location. With these signals, broad match now has the following:

• Increased relevance: With machine learning algorithms optimizing your bids in real-time, you can reach your target audience more effectively while also maintaining your spend or ROAS goals.
• Further reach with fewer keywords: Since broad match can match with search queries that fall under phrase and exact as well as additional queries, you can reach a wider audience without needing a ton of keywords built out. Fewer keywords also allow for simpler management and a more streamlined account structure, and who doesn’t want to spend less time on keyword research?
• Greater insight into how users are searching: Your search query reports will provide greater insight into search trends relevant to your business; with Google’s insights, you may find unique queries performing well. We have noticed competitor terms falling into these reports – this is something to keep an eye out for if you do not want to match these queries, but you could also use this to your advantage to help build a more robust conquesting strategy.   

THREE THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

With broad match, one of our retail accounts saw 614 incremental orders and $41k incremental revenue (based on a 28-day period and queries that would not have been able to match to exact or phrase keywords). If you are ready to try out broad match for yourself, here are some things to consider before launching.

1. Use Broad Match with Smart Bidding Strategies: Take full advantage of Google’s insights and allow the algorithms to perform their best. You have a few options to choose from depending on your business goals:
   • Maximize Conversions
   • Target CPA
   • Maximize Conversion Value
   • Target ROAS
2. Consider Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI): With DKI, ad copy can be dynamically modified to include the keyword that triggered the ad to serve, which helps to improve the ad’s relevance and click-through rate. This can be especially beneficial when using broad match keywords since they can match to a wide range of search queries. By using DKI, advertisers can ensure that their ad copy is more closely aligned with the user’s search intent, which can lead to higher-quality clicks and conversions. Additionally, DKI can save time and effort by eliminating the need to create separate ad groups for each individual keyword.
   
   But don’t forget to monitor your RSA (responsive search ads) asset performance and search query reports to ensure that your keywords and ads are fully optimized. With Google’s creative automation, RSAs will create the most relevant ad for the query, so the use of some DKI plus other static ad copy assets is the best route!
   
3. Differentiate Match Types: Consider using a mix of broad match and exact match. While broad match encompasses all of the match types in one, if you already know what your top-performing exact match keywords are, you can leave those as is but sprinkle in broad match to fill in any of the coverage gaps.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, using broad match keywords paired with a smart bidding strategy can allow advertisers to expand their reach and take full advantage of Google’s insights and algorithms. If you want to improve your keyword campaigns’ performance, consider incorporating broad match keywords into your strategy. 

If you are interested in how the Adlucent team can help you take your paid search efforts to the next level, including optimizing your broad match tactics, please reach out today.

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Kathryn Farley

Kathryn is an experienced Account Manager at Adlucent. She has a diverse background having worked with various clients and marketing channels. She is dedicated to building strong relationships with clients and delivering exceptional results to help them achieve their business goals.