Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user’s
query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
have the keyword ‘wool socks’ and someone searches ‘buy wool socks’ my
ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
calculation of the Quality Score for ‘wool socks’. Because data is
only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
same keyword. (Don’t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score…)
So if match types doesn’t affect Quality Score, why use it?
1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
up the exact match and bid down the broad.
2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
example, if I have ‘wools socks’ in exact match and my competitor only
has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
In the end, it’s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
you are happy with your performance on broad and don’t have the time
to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
and phrase match sparingly.
Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> and phrase match sparingly.
Correct- using phrase and exact match is a great way to fine tune your
traffic. That said, switching from broad match to exact or phrase
match will not help your Quality Score because Quality Score data will
still only be collected when the query matches the keyword. (In other
words, the traffic eliminated from broad or phrase match is not
included in the Quality Score Data)
> Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
> irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
> suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
> perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
> is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
> worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
> taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
> calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
> AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> > Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> > they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> > better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> > The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> > Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> > query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> > have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> > ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> > calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> > only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> > the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> > same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> > match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> > So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> > 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> > match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> > types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> > which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> > informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> > exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> > up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> > 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> > over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> > example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> > has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> > 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> > overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> > seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> > using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> > phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> > In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> > reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> > you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> > to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> > and phrase match sparingly.
> > Your Favorite Matchmaker,
> > AdWordsPro Sarah
Let's say I have a term that in it's broad form has a CTR of 0.50. And
in it's exact form it has a CTR of 5.00.
Are you saying in each case the quality score impact is the same. Even
though when you use the exact form the CTR is 10 times better?
Pervasive wisdom seems to me is that CTR has the single biggest impact
on Quality Score. CTR is just one of many factors, but a big one.
If I am understanding right, and if CTR is at least one of the larger
components of Quality Score......then
If you are trying to improve Quality Score by improving CTR then you
had better be working in exact match only. Otherwise you could improve
the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
underlying
exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score.
> Correct- using phrase and exact match is a great way to fine tune your
> traffic. That said, switching from broad match to exact or phrase
> match will not help your Quality Score because Quality Score data will
> still only be collected when the query matches the keyword. (In other
> words, the traffic eliminated from broad or phrase match is not
> included in the Quality Score Data)
> > Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
> > irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
> > suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
> > perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
> > is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
> > worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
> > taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
> > calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
> > AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> > > Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> > > they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> > > better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> > > The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> > > Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> > > query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> > > have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> > > ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> > > calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> > > only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> > > the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> > > same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> > > match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> > > So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> > > 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> > > match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> > > types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> > > which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> > > informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> > > exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> > > up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> > > 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> > > over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> > > example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> > > has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> > > 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> > > overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> > > seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> > > using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> > > phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> > > In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> > > reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> > > you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> > > to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> > > and phrase match sparingly.
> > > Your Favorite Matchmaker,
> > > AdWordsPro Sarah
>> Let's say I have a term that in it's broad form has a CTR of 0.50. And
in it's exact form it has a CTR of 5.00. <<
If the sample (clicks & impressions) is large enough your assumption
is close to impossible. If the broad form accrues 100.000 impressions
and 500 clicks the CTR is really 0.50%. In this case, however, you may
experience that some of the users keying in a matching search term in
fact do key in your exact keyword, say 10.000 out of the 100.000
users. Because in this case our numbers seem to be large enough
chances are that approx. 50 of this 10,000 "tight" users will click on
your ad resulting in 0.50% again. The situation is best described by
the so-called normal distribution, also known as the Gaussian
distribution and in your case, values like 5.00% (10 times to the
right) have marginal probability values. (Practically speaking, this
value can be regarded as zero.)
You're absolutely right. CTR is a huge component of Quality Score-
which is why match types took me so long to get my head around,
because the CTR for match types can be so different. But the bottom
line is, we only collect Quality Score data for exact match. You can
see the rest of the data for phrase and exact keywords to make bidding
decisions, but its not figured into the Quality Score algorithum.
I think its Google's way of protecting you again broad match. For
example, if you run on the keyword 'dresser' and create and ad text
for ''dressers' but Google decides to broad match you out to
'bureaus'- your CTR will probably drop, but, in essence, you never
even asked to run on 'bureau' so why should that hurt your Quality
Score?
In terms of optimization, its hard to optimize for anything except
exact match because you have no idea what people are going to search.
You have to account for people like my mother whose queries look like
'where might I find a new dresser for a good price?". This kind of
variety just makes it hard. The only thing that I would suggest, and
Im sure you do, is to look at the search query report from time to
time. If there are keyword that come up that have good performance, by
all means, add them to your account. Once you ad them, we'll start
collecting Quality Score date....exact match only of course.
> Let's say I have a term that in it's broad form has a CTR of 0.50. And
> in it's exact form it has a CTR of 5.00.
> Are you saying in each case the quality score impact is the same. Even
> though when you use the exact form the CTR is 10 times better?
> Pervasive wisdom seems to me is that CTR has the single biggest impact
> on Quality Score. CTR is just one of many factors, but a big one.
> If I am understanding right, and if CTR is at least one of the larger
> components of Quality Score......then
> If you are trying to improve Quality Score by improving CTR then you
> had better be working in exact match only. Otherwise you could improve
> the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
> underlying
> exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score.
> > Correct- using phrase and exact match is a great way to fine tune your
> > traffic. That said, switching from broad match to exact or phrase
> > match will not help your Quality Score because Quality Score data will
> > still only be collected when the query matches the keyword. (In other
> > words, the traffic eliminated from broad or phrase match is not
> > included in the Quality Score Data)
> > > Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
> > > irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
> > > suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
> > > perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
> > > is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
> > > worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
> > > taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
> > > calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
> > > AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> > > > Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> > > > they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> > > > better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> > > > The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> > > > Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> > > > query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> > > > have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> > > > ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> > > > calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> > > > only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> > > > the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> > > > same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> > > > match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> > > > So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> > > > 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> > > > match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> > > > types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> > > > which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> > > > informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> > > > exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> > > > up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> > > > 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> > > > over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> > > > example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> > > > has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> > > > 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> > > > overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> > > > seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> > > > using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> > > > phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> > > > In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> > > > reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> > > > you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> > > > to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> > > > and phrase match sparingly.
> > > > Your Favorite Matchmaker,
> > > > AdWordsPro Sarah
"Otherwise you could improve
the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
underlying
exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score"
A misspeak could be part of the confusion.
I should have said
"Otherwise you could improve
the CTR of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
underlying
exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score"
Although as per Lakotas if you are improving the CTR of the broad
match you should be statistically improving the underlying exact match
CTR as well I guess.
> Let's say I have a term that in it's broad form has a CTR of 0.50. And
> in it's exact form it has a CTR of 5.00.
> Are you saying in each case the quality score impact is the same. Even
> though when you use the exact form the CTR is 10 times better?
> Pervasive wisdom seems to me is that CTR has the single biggest impact
> on Quality Score. CTR is just one of many factors, but a big one.
> If I am understanding right, and if CTR is at least one of the larger
> components of Quality Score......then
> If you are trying to improve Quality Score by improving CTR then you
> had better be working in exact match only. Otherwise you could improve
> the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
> underlying
> exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score.
> > Correct- using phrase and exact match is a great way to fine tune your
> > traffic. That said, switching from broad match to exact or phrase
> > match will not help your Quality Score because Quality Score data will
> > still only be collected when the query matches the keyword. (In other
> > words, the traffic eliminated from broad or phrase match is not
> > included in the Quality Score Data)
> > > Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
> > > irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
> > > suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
> > > perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
> > > is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
> > > worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
> > > taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
> > > calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
> > > AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> > > > Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> > > > they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> > > > better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> > > > The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> > > > Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> > > > query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> > > > have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> > > > ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> > > > calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> > > > only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> > > > the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> > > > same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> > > > match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> > > > So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> > > > 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> > > > match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> > > > types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> > > > which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> > > > informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> > > > exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> > > > up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> > > > 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> > > > over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> > > > example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> > > > has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> > > > 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> > > > overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> > > > seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> > > > using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> > > > phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> > > > In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> > > > reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> > > > you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> > > > to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> > > > and phrase match sparingly.
> > > > Your Favorite Matchmaker,
> > > > AdWordsPro Sarah
Ya I think its safe to say we have moved 'beyond the basics'. The way
I think about it is match types provide viability, but, for ease of
management, broad match will work fine. And when you are using broad
match alone, you see the combined stats for broad, phrase and exact.
So, yes, Lakots is right- as the 'broad' match CTR improves, it will
probably improve the Quality Score because some of the clicks are tied
to searches on the exact keyword.
The problem with the statement 'we don't collect Quality Score data on
broad match' is that, if you don't break the match types out, broad
match contains the data from all three match types so we are
collecting data on that broad match keyword- but it is only for the
'embedded' exact matches.
> "Otherwise you could improve
> the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
> underlying
> exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score"
> A misspeak could be part of the confusion.
> I should have said
> "Otherwise you could improve
> the CTR of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
> underlying
> exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score"
> Although as per Lakotas if you are improving the CTR of the broad
> match you should be statistically improving the underlying exact match
> CTR as well I guess.
> > Let's say I have a term that in it's broad form has a CTR of 0.50. And
> > in it's exact form it has a CTR of 5.00.
> > Are you saying in each case the quality score impact is the same. Even
> > though when you use the exact form the CTR is 10 times better?
> > Pervasive wisdom seems to me is that CTR has the single biggest impact
> > on Quality Score. CTR is just one of many factors, but a big one.
> > If I am understanding right, and if CTR is at least one of the larger
> > components of Quality Score......then
> > If you are trying to improve Quality Score by improving CTR then you
> > had better be working in exact match only. Otherwise you could improve
> > the quality score of a broad match, without necessarily improving the
> > underlying
> > exact match data, and that is what influences the Quality Score.
> > > Correct- using phrase and exact match is a great way to fine tune your
> > > traffic. That said, switching from broad match to exact or phrase
> > > match will not help your Quality Score because Quality Score data will
> > > still only be collected when the query matches the keyword. (In other
> > > words, the traffic eliminated from broad or phrase match is not
> > > included in the Quality Score Data)
> > > > Even though, Google Assigns, Same Quality Score to any single keyword
> > > > irrespective of the match types, our experience with match types
> > > > suggests, the traffic they attract Do Impact the Quality Score of that
> > > > perticular Keyword. One, very useful tweak which hasn't failed so far
> > > > is to Go from Broad to Phrase to Exact to eliminate Irrelevant Traffic
> > > > worsening your QS. If it has changed now, and Google has started
> > > > taking into account Only Traffic from exact matches as far as QS
> > > > calculation is concerned, Kindly point us to a relevant link.
> > > > AdWordsPro.Sarah wrote:
> > > > > Exactly what is going on with match types? Should I use them? Will
> > > > > they hurt or help performance? What about Quality Score? Is exact
> > > > > better than broad match? And what does better mean anyway?
> > > > > The answers hinge on one important fact: Match types do not affect
> > > > > Quality Score. AdWords only gathers Quality Score data when a user s
> > > > > query matches the keyword in his/her account. So, for example, if I
> > > > > have the keyword wool socks and someone searches buy wool socks my
> > > > > ad may show, but the data from this query is not used in the
> > > > > calculation of the Quality Score for wool socks . Because data is
> > > > > only collected from the exact match of a keyword, the Quality Score of
> > > > > the exact match is then shared with the broad and phrase match of the
> > > > > same keyword. (Don t believe me? Check out a keyword set in all three
> > > > > match types. I bet they all have the same Quality Score )
> > > > > So if match types doesn t affect Quality Score, why use it?
> > > > > 1) Reporting/Bidding: Quality Score data is only collected on exact
> > > > > match, but you can still see performance statistics for all three
> > > > > types. If you break out keywords into each match type, you can see
> > > > > which match type has the best ROI. This allows you to you to make more
> > > > > informed decisions when it comes to setting bids. If you see that
> > > > > exact match gets 50% more conversions than broad, you may want to bid
> > > > > up the exact match and bid down the broad.
> > > > > 2) Ad Rank: Having the exact match of keyword gives you an advantage
> > > > > over the same keyword set in broad (assuming same Quality Score). For
> > > > > example, if I have wools socks in exact match and my competitor only
> > > > > has it in broad, all else equal, my ad will out rank his/her ad.
> > > > > 3) Traffic Control: The traffic on some broad keywords can be
> > > > > overwhelming. If you have tried using negative keywords and are still
> > > > > seeing irrelevant queries in broad match, you may want to consider
> > > > > using phrase or exact match. (The only thing to keep in mind is that
> > > > > phrase and exact match will reduce traffic).
> > > > > In the end, it s up to you. If you find that more granular performance
> > > > > reporting is helpful, having all three match types is a great idea. If
> > > > > you are happy with your performance on broad and don t have the time
> > > > > to dig through 3x the number of keywords, you may want to use exact
> > > > > and phrase match sparingly.
> > > > > Your Favorite Matchmaker,
> > > > > AdWordsPro Sarah
Wow, that's a mouthful. Leads me to one question: Is there an
advantage or disadvantage to listing the same keywords as all three
match types--broad, phrase, exact? My terms are now all broad match
with a reasonable CTR. I wouldn't want to change them to phrase or
exact match and lose clicks just to find out it didn't work.
If you are happy with your performance on broad match, I wouldn't
recommend switching to phrase or exact match. The only thing you might
want to try is including all three match types (adding phrase and
exact in addition to your broad match keyword). What is happening now
is all of the exact, phrase and broad match data is getting lumped
into your broad match keyword statistics. If you decide to break the
keywords out, all it will do is give you more granular reporting so
you can see what the CTR, rank, CPC etc is for broad match as oppose
to exact/phrase. Some advertisers like this kind of data because they
tend to bid more for the exact variation as it tends to convert
better. However, it does take more time to manage and you may not see
anything that changes your current strategy. You can always try adding
phrase and exact and then delete them you aren't getting relevant data
(as soon as you delete them, all their data will get lumped back into
the broad match).
> Wow, that's a mouthful. Leads me to one question: Is there an
> advantage or disadvantage to listing the same keywords as all three
> match types--broad, phrase, exact? My terms are now all broad match
> with a reasonable CTR. I wouldn't want to change them to phrase or
> exact match and lose clicks just to find out it didn't work.
Since Dec last year, you have posted 38 contributions including some
very important ones like this one and having a look at your profile we
should not think you are new to AdWords. However, if I examine your
question from a newbie's perspective I'd like to add the following
note.
Starting small is golden so newbie's performance numbers are usually
not big enough. I mean say hundreds of or a few thousand impressions a
week, and much fewer clicks. If you have ever tried to ride a bycicle
you know that while it can be pretty easy at a reasonable speed, as
you slow your vehicle balancing might get more and more difficult. A
newbie may be in a similar situation if he wants to investigate the
relationship between the CTR of a broad or phrase match keyword and
its Quality Score.
Paradoxically, he may experience a considerable increase in CTR
associated with a worsening Quality Score or vica versa. (As set out
in my previous post, if the performance numbers are really big, this
scenario is practically out of question.) It may be frustrating and
resulting in a distorted picture. It's perhaps even more lamentable
that you get the least information in this respect in the most
sensitive first stage of your learning curve. For this reason I'd
advise every newbie to list their broad or phrase match keywords as 2
match types -- broad & exact or phrase & exact. That way at least
they are likely to grasp more quickly what is happening and why to the
relationship between the CTR of their broad or phrase match keyword
and its Quality Score.
Thanks for the props. Actually, we started our AdWords campaigns just
about one year ago, and still haven't had enough success to warrant
increasing our budget over $5 a day. So, in that sense, I am somewhat
of an AdWords newbie. I only run a couple of campaigns for a single
web site. Obviously I don't have the amount of experience as you and
other frequent posters to this forum.
We get visits, and maybe once or twice a month actually get a
conversion! It's difficult to track the conversion to a specific sale,
and I'm still trying to figure that one out. Some days are easy--one
conversion reported and that'll be the only sale for the day, so I can
surmise that one sale was the conversion. For the most part, the sales
we have been able to attribute are for relatively high ticket items
(over $300), but our profit margin is atypically low.
I have prior experience in direct marketing, which makes the analyzing
part of the process easily understood. Most of the questions that I
answered were based on the experience and not necessarily unique to
AdWords. Usually, when I post responses to questions I learn as much
as I share. My problem is in determining a course of action to improve
the response to our campaigns. So I tinker a bit with this and that
and follow the conversations in this and a couple other AdWords
forums. Our site is mostly static html, our budget very small, and I'm
the programmer, online marketing manager and the bookkeeper here--
meaning that if I get a look at how the ADWords campaigns are doing
once a week I'm doing pretty well.
The comparison of broad, phrase and exact keywords is something I
haven't tinkered with. This thread started me thinking in that
direction. I probably never would have thought of this myself. My
thanks to you, Tom and Sarah and everyone else for the information
squirreled away here.
