What Does Keyword Match Types Mean?
Keywords are an important element of SEO as they help search engine crawlers better understand web content and match searches according to relevance based on these keywords. There are different types of keywords as well as different keyword match types that need to be considered when looking for the most appropriate keywords to use. So what are keyword match types and how do we find them? Keyword match types refer to how closely a specific keyword needs to match or relate to a certain search query. You could put focus on broad keyword match types to potentially rank with more searches or you could focus your attention on more specific keywords that will attract more targeted searches, bringing in a higher quality of traffic. There are different keyword match types ranging from broad matches to even negative ones, and the types of match you decide on can heavily impact what types of searches you are ranking for!
What is The Importance of Keyword Match?
Keyword match types have an impact on the performance of your ads as they determine the search queries that you ultimately are bidding on. It is important to do research on a number of different factors when considering which keyword match types to use in your content. Things like the performance of the keywords themselves, what your competitors are doing and the cost per click should all be determined before deciding on the types of keyword matches that you are going to use. Choosing the correct match will help to ensure that you are not wasting money on spending for irrelevant clicks while still reaching your target audience, making this an important consideration to make!
What are The Types of Keyword Match Types?
When it comes to using Google Ads keyword match types and finding the best keywords to use in your content, it is important to understand what the keyword match types are and how best to use them. The following is a look at the different keyword match types and keyword match type examples to use!
Broad match
A broad keyword match is exactly what it sounds like, a keyword that will reach a large audience thanks to the broadness of the term. These types of keyword matches are valuable because they can help expand your target audience as they are designed to match with any query that includes any word that is used in the phrase as well as searches that may relate to any words used. An example of this is if you are a shoe store and have the phrase “fun shoes” as one of your keywords, if a search query like “nice sneakers” or even “funky footwear” is searched, you will likely be ranked for it! While broad match keyword types are known to drive a lot of traffic, it is important to monitor the types of attention they are attracting and whether the clicks received are actually valuable and converting into sales. If they are not, you could be spending money on irrelevant clicks to your page.
Modified Broad match
Modified broad matches have now been absorbed into phrase matches, as of the 2021 Google update. A modified broad match should contain the keywords though they do not have to be in the order of the phrase. If a shoe brand had the keyword “fun shoes”, a modified broad match would include “fun and large shoe size 9”.
Phrase match
Phrase match types are considered to be slightly more controlled than broad matches as the keyword or phrase has to be entered in the exact order and with the exact words to match a query. The difference between a phrase match and an exact match is that there can be words used before or after the phrase in the search query and your page will still be shown. Let us take a look at our shoe example again. If the term “fun shoes” is your keyword, if a user had to query “big fun shoes” or “fun shoes that are yellow”, you would still match the search terms.
Exact match
An exact match is exactly what it sounds like and before the Google update, in order to rank for the query, the user would have to search your keyword phrase exactly. Google has noted the restrictiveness of this type of match and in recent updates, it has determined that if synonyms or plurals are used, a page may be ranked for this search.
Negative match
Negative keyword match types are types of keywords that are used to determine what you do not want to be ranked for. Negative keyword match types fall into three different categories; Broad match, phrase match and exact match. This will help to determine which negative matches you require on your page and how strict a search engine should be when it comes to the negative match. Negative matches are beneficial to use if you are looking to exclude certain queries that you think may match with your keywords, but they should be used carefully as you do not want to exclude beneficial search matches!
How to Use Keyword Matching Types?
In order to use keyword match types effectively, you ultimately need to change how you compile your research when it comes to keywords. If you do not use advanced search options to determine which type of keyword match types you are wanting to use, Google will automatically assume that you are using broad match keywords. It is important that you do research on the types of keyword matches that you are hoping to use and base this on knowledge about your target audience. having an idea of what they are searching for and how they phrase certain queries will help you to determine the best keyword match types to use!
What are Things To Consider When Matching Keyword Types?
- What are your competitors doing?: Seeing what your competitors are doing and the types of matches that they are using can help you to make an informed decision on what your strategy should be. Your competitors would have compiled a ton of research into which types of matches are the most effective, and using this to determine how you should follow on can save time and resources! A simple search using a few keywords and phrases can help to determine which type of keyword match your competition is using and help you make the best decision!
- Monitoring the click-through rate: Once you have decided on the type of keyword match types to use, you should ensure that you are keeping a close eye on the click-through rate. The click-through rate will determine how relevant your keywords are compared to the types of searches that you are ranking for. Monitoring the clickthrough rate and comparing it to the sales that come from these clicks will let you know if your keywords are attracting the right sort of traffic, and if they are not you have the chance to make adjustments!
- Use questions: Questions are a great way to match specific queries and you should be sure to include a few keyword questions in your content. When we type something into a search engine, more often than not it is based on a question that we have. to match with more exact and relevant searches, be sure to include questions within your content!
What are the Tools That Can Be Used When Doing Keyword Matching?
Match types help to draw more traffic to your page and using a keyword matching tool to help you find the best types of keywords and matches to use can help to make the process much easier. The following are just a few of the best keyword match type tools to be sure you look into using!
- SEMRush: When it comes to competitor analysis and keyword matching types, SEMRush is one of the best tools on the market! They not only supply you with the keywords that are being used by your competition, but they let you know how much traffic is being streamed to their page from these keywords, letting you know the organic traffic that is gained from placing these keywords within the content. You are therefore able to determine whether or not these keywords are effective and help you to plan what keyword match types would best suit your different keywords!
- Google Ads Keyword Planner: The keyword match types in google ads helps users to better identify which matches would be better suited to certain keywords. So why use this tool specifically? The data that this tool uses to base information on comes directly from Google itself, and with a large majority of the market share, this is the information that you will want to be using! For keyword match type generators that specifically use information from Google, look no further than this handy tool.
