Lessons Catalog

Lesson 3d: Keyword Targeting

Here are some things to consider:

• Broader matching options tend to give you more impressions but accrue higher costs. Therefore, include other matching options (like phrase- or exact-match) along with broad-matched keywords in an ad group.
• Broad-matched keywords should be at least two-word phrases (gourmet coffee or organic coffee beans).
• Narrower matching options tend to give you fewer clicks and lower your costs. It's still important to use descriptive words for these matching options.
• Negative keywords work well in most cases when you know a term doesn't apply to your business.

Potential Broad-Matched Keywords

Used books
Used rare books
Used Shakespeare plays

• Used books is probably too general for this ad. The ad could appear for queries such as used biology books or used shelves for books. As a result, the ad would probably accrue many impressions but few clicks, which would return a low CTR. A better idea might be to try this keyword as a phrase- or exact-matched term.


• Used rare books and used Shakespeare plays are better broad-matched keywords. They're multi-word variations that provide more detail about the nature of the ad. The result would be more relevant clicks and a higher CTR.

"used books"
"Shakespeare books"

• "Used books" as a phrase-matched term works better than a broad-matched term because you'll reach only people looking for different variations of used books. It ensures that the ad appears only if users search on the terms used books in that order. The ad could appear if users search on Shakespeare used book or used books of play.


• "Shakespeare books" is also an effective phrase-matched keyword, as it represents types of books available.

Shakespeare plays
-performance
-auditions

The broad-matched keyword Shakespeare plays doesn't differentiate between users searching for books of Shakespeare plays, performances of Shakespeare plays, or auditions for Shakespeare plays. Adding the negative keywords -performance and -auditions would eliminate many unwanted impressions, and possibly improve your CTR.

Final Keyword List

By taking the top picks from above, the final keyword list in an ad group would look like this:

Used rare books
Used Shakespeare plays
"Shakespeare books"
"used books"
Shakespeare plays
-performance
-auditions

To edit or add a keyword with matching options in your ad group:

1. Sign in to your account at adwords.google.com.
2. Select the campaign, and then the ad group you want to edit.
3. Click the Keywords tab on the Ad Group Details page.
4. Click Quick add or Edit keywords.
5. Enter your keyword with the proper punctuation (e.g. quotes, brackets).
6. Click Save.