Internet Marketing

I know…pay per click advertising is not a girl and dating is definitely NOT a game, but that did not stop legendary T.V. producer Chuck Barris from creating one of the most popular television game shows of the 1970’s – The Dating Game.

This creation put one man behind a screen to ask three (3) women various questions. At the end of the game, the man picked the woman whose answers (and voice) most pleased him. All the while, the viewers and the studio audience could see all three potential dates, while these rivals took turns at cutting their competition down, hoping to be the lucky date chosen at the end.

Well…pay per click advertising works the same way…sort of. The PPC manager has to choose between three different match types for his keywords. He can choose from the following: -broad -phrase -exact

There IS a catch, however. He can also choose ANY combination of these three. (Imagine the man in the dating game getting choose two or even all three women to take out at the same time.)

So what do MOST PPC advertisers choose? Broad match, of course. The reason why most choose broad match is because that it the default in most search marketing advertising systems. But here is the problem: Most folks don’t understand the difference between the match types…and knowing this difference is CRUCIAL to success in PPC marketing.

The best way to explain the difference is by example. Let’s take the keyword “colon difficulty” for our broad match example. When using broad matches, you are telling the search engine that you want your ad to show as long as all of your keywords appear in the search query.

You ad will appear if you used the broad match type for the keyword “colon difficulty” and the searcher typed in any of the following search queries: -having colon difficulty (okay) -having difficulty with my colon (okay) -difficulty deciding whether or not to use a colon or a semi-colon (NOT okay)

As you can see in the above example. There is definitely a risk when using broad match as the match type.

Now let’s do an example using the phrase match type. When using phrase match, you are telling the search engine that you want your ad to appear when the searcher types the combination of keywords in that exact order; however, using phrase matching allows for words to appear before and after your phrase.

Your ad will appear if you used the phrase match type for the keyword “divorce attorney” and the searcher typed in any of the following search queries: -need good divorce attorney (okay) -divorce attorney in Texas (okay – if you practice law in Texas)

Your ad will not appear in the following example: -attorney divorce (It will not appear because even though the words are in the search query, they are not in the exact same order; they are reversed.)

But your ad will ALSO appear in this example: -how do I hire a hit man to knock off my wife’s divorce attorney? (DEFINITELY not okay)

So you see…there are times that you should use and phrase matching and times when the use of it could be rather unfortunate.

So what is the exact match type? Simple. That is when you select your ad to appear only when the keywords you bid on are used exactly; nothing more – nothing less.

If you used the exact match type for the keyword “state attorney bar” here would be some results: -state attorney bar (Your ad will be shown. It is an exact match!) -state attorney bar and grill (Your ad will NOT be shown; there was not an exact match, which is a good thing because the searcher definitely would not be looking for your in this case.

In conclusion, just like the suitor in the Dating Game had to carefully consider which date to choose, those managing PPC campaigns better think carefully before they choose the match type for their keywords. Of the three (broad, phrase, or exact)…broad match is definitely the most dangerous to use! Yes, there are cases where broad matching is applicable, but for most newbies, it is best to stick with phrase or exact matching for better results.

If you are now thoroughly confused, don’t feel alone. Just by reading this article you probably know more about match types than 80% of the PPC advertisers out there. If you think you are in over your head, then perhaps it’s time to play a dating game of your own…choosing the correct PPC management company that you can trust to handle your search marketing campaign so that you can concentrate on something less confusing.