Broad match is a type of keyword matching used in search engine optimization. It refers to a combination of words and phrases used to search for relevant keywords in search engines. Broad Match allows search engines and advertisers to identify and display several different variations of a keyword at the same time.

How does Broad Match work?

When using Broad Match, the search term is replaced with wildcards, which allows search engines to display variations of the search term. For example, if an advertiser uses the keyword "travel," Broad Match will also display search terms such as "vacation," "destinations," and the like.

Why is Broad Match important?

Broad Match is important to cover a wide range of search terms and thus generate more traffic. This increases the reach of a campaign, and there is a possibility that more people will become aware of the ad and reach the company's website.

What are the advantages of Broad Match?

Broad Match has many benefits, including increased visibility, a higher conversion rate, and a lower cost per click. It offers a wider variety of search terms, allows you to capture a broad audience, and enables more people to become aware of the ad.

What are the disadvantages of Broad Match?

Some disadvantages associated with Broad Match are a higher number of unwanted clicks, an audience that is too broad to view the ad, and a lower return on investment (ROI). Since it allows for a wider variety of search terms, it can also lead to targeting the wrong audience, increasing the cost per click.

What other matching options are available?

Besides Broad Match, there are the options "Exact Match" and "Phrase Match". Exact Match means that the search term must match the entered query exactly to be displayed. Phrase Match allows multiple variations of the search term to be displayed as long as the original query occurs in the phrase.

Can I use multiple match types at the same time?

Yes, it is possible to use multiple match types at the same time. This allows search engines to display varying results, some of which may match the Broad Match type.

How do I choose the right match type for my campaign?

Choosing the right match type depends on your goals and your target audience. If you want to reach a broad audience, Broad Match is probably the way to go. However, if you want to target a more specific audience, Exact Match and Phrase Match may be more appropriate.

Can I change my match types?

Yes, you can change the match types at any time to customize your campaign. For example, if you find that Broad Match doesn't deliver the results you want, you can replace it with Exact Match or Phrase Match.

Can I exclude match types for certain keywords?

Yes, it is possible to exclude match types for certain keywords. This is a useful feature if you want to focus your campaign on specific keywords and refine the results. For example, you can exclude certain match types to ensure that your ad is displayed only for certain keywords.

What is Broad Match? (And how to use Broad Match correctly)

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Broad Match is one of the Keyword-matching options provided by Google Ads and other PPC advertising platforms are offered. It has gained in importance because the modified type Broad Match has fallen away. In this article you will learn:

Like Broad Match works.
Why it matters to you and your PPC campaign.
And how to best use the Broad Matching option.

What is Broad Match?

Basically Broad Match a Keyword-This is the type of matching that search engines use to determine which keywords are eligible for your ads. It's called "broad" because it allows your ad to match the largest possible number of search terms that still have some relation to your Keyword have

Google defined Broad Match as follows:

Broad Match - This is the default option. If your ad group has the Keyword "tennis shoes", your ad would appear when a user's search query contains "tennis" and "shoes", in any order and possibly along with other terms. Your ads could also be displayed for singular/plural forms, synonyms, and other relevant variants. For example, your ad could appear for tennis shoes or tennis sneakers.

So, in this option, you select a term related to your business and try to find other terms that search engines consider relevant to your ad.

The importance of broad match keywords

What does all this mean to you? Why do you need to know about Broad Match know? Well, first of all, there's this:

"This is the default option."

When you upload your keywords, they will automatically be set to the "Broad Match" set.

The implication is that the one you have chosen is Keyword is now automatically matched against a wide range of related search queries. This has two interesting (and opposite) effects:

Discover new, useful search terms with broad matches and bid on them -. Broad Match can provide you with a variety of new terms that the search engines consider relevant to your business. Phrases you wouldn't come up with on your own.
Discover and bid on completely irrelevant, broadly-targeted keywords - In addition to the good things this option will unearth for you, your ad text will also be targeted to completely irrelevant keywords. After all, the search engines offer automated solutions and don't really know your business.

So we see that Broad Match at the same time our Keyword-lists with high-quality phrases and spends our money on unrelated clicks.

Let's take a closer look at Google's "tennis shoes" example to get a better idea of what we mean.

Google's advanced Broad Match

We ask Google's own Keyword-tool, which it considers "relevant" for tennis shoes:

Here we see that Google has made some suggestions; these all seem pretty good. If I sell tennis shoes, I probably want to be displayed for those. It could be that I sell high quality tennis shoes and I don't want to be shown for a phrase like "Adidas tennis shoes", but on the whole this is pretty good.

Unfortunately, these are not all the searches for which my ads are placed.

Here are some more keywords that Google can match your ads with:

This is called "extended broad matching". Around 2006, Google introduced this extension of Broad Match on. This means that the algorithm of the Search Engine Matches your ads more aggressively with the variations of your keywords that he thinks are relevant.

The problem is that these variations may not be that relevant. We see here that Google has determined that these terms might be "relevant" to our business. But what if:

It is only about selling tennis shoes - sneakers and other tennis equipment are certainly not keywords for which our ad should appear.
We only sell tennis equipment - Again, we don't want our ad to be for running shoes and sneakers.
We only sell shoes - We do not want our ad to be for tennis equipment and rackets, for example. Also, we do not want our ad text and our Landing Page talk about tennis shoes when our ad is displayed next to clothing shoes.

However, if we choose a more restrictive matching option, we may miss valuable variations of tennis shoes, such as "tennis shoe" or specific tennis shoe brand names, etc.

So we have to find a way, Broad Match without wasting money on irrelevant clicks.

Getting the most out of the Broad Match type

In 2021, Google announced improvements to the Broad Match type, especially since it is the modified Broad Match had set six months earlier. Nevertheless, when using Broad Match be careful.

The only way to use the extended Range the Broad Match while limiting them to relevant search queries, is to set up negative keywords in your account.

Setting a negative keyword tells the Search engines: "Do not show my ad for this search query."

Advantages

The great advantage of Broad Match is that it allows you to reach a broader target group. Even search queries that do not correspond exactly to the search term are served with the ad. On the one hand, more people can be reached and on the other hand, new target groups can be discovered.

Here are 8 possible advantages of Broad Match Targeting:

Expansion of the search query volume: With Broad Match you can serve your ads to a larger number of search queries, which can lead to a higher volume of impressions.
Discovery of new search terms: Broad targeting allows you to serve your ads for related keywords that you might not have considered. This can help you discover new keywords that might be relevant to your target audience.
Increase the Traffic-Quantity: By placing ads for a larger number of search terms, you can increase the Traffic-Increase the amount of content on your website.
Opening up new markets: Broad Match can help you place your ads in new markets or countries by advertising for related keywords.
Expansion of targeting: Broad targeting allows you to expand your targeting by serving your ads for related keywords.
Increase conversion rate: By running ads for related keywords, you can increase the conversion rate on your website by better targeting your audience.
Developing new target groups: Broad Match allows you to place your ads for related keywords used by new audiences.
Increase Brand Awareness: By running ads for related keywords, you can increase brand awareness by better targeting your audience.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of Broad Match is that you also respond with ads to search queries that are not relevant to the product. This can lead to an increased effort for manual filtering and optimization of keywords.

Possible disadvantages of Broad Match Targeting:

Inaccurate targetingBroad targeting can result in your ads being served for many inappropriate search terms, which could reduce the Relevance for your target group.
High cost: Since broad targeting serves your ads for a larger number of search terms, it can lead to higher costs, especially if some of those search terms are not very relevant.
Lower Quality factors: If your ads are placed for inappropriate search terms, this can lead to a reduction of the Quality factors lead, which in turn would reduce the Ranking of your ads.
More difficult Keyword-Research: Using broad targeting can make it more difficult to research relevant keywords because it includes a larger number of search terms that may have little relevance.
Possible penalty by search engines: If your ads are placed for inappropriate keywords, this can cause them to be penalized by search engines as they are considered to be of little relevance.
More difficult analysis of performance: The use of Broad Match can make it more difficult to analyze the performance of your ads, as it includes a larger number of search terms that may have little relevance.

Use cases

A use case for Broad Match are companies that offer a wide range of products. Here it can be useful not only to respond to exact search terms, but also to consider similar sounding terms.

10 Examples of Broad Match

You want to advertise your Online store for sportswear switch. You set the Keyword "Sportswear" on Broad Match. This way your ad will not only be displayed for searches like "sportswear", but also for similar searches like "buy sweatpants" or "running shoes".
You want to advertise your Tripagency switch. You set the Keyword "Travel Deals" on Broad Match. This way, your ad will not only be displayed for searches for "travel deals", but also for similar searches like "last minute vacations" or "package vacations".
You want to advertise your Car repair shop switch. You set the Keyword "Car repair" on Broad Match. This way your ad will not only be displayed for searches like "car repair", but also for similar searches like "car repair shop near me" or "tire change".
You want to advertise your Gym switch. You set the Keyword "Fitness classes" on Broad Match. This way your ad will not only be displayed for searches like "fitness classes", but also for similar searches like "yoga classes" or "zumba classes".
You want to advertise your Dental practice switch. You set the Keyword "Dental treatment" on Broad Match. This means that your ad will not only be displayed for searches for "dental treatment", but also for similar searches such as "dental implants" or "orthodontics".
You want to advertise your Carpentry workshop switch. You set the Keyword "Furniture construction" on Broad Match. This will cause your ad to appear not only for searches like "furniture making", but also for similar searches like "carpenters near me" or "custom kitchens".
You want to advertise your Online bookstore switch. You set the Keyword "Books" on Broad Match. This way, your ad will not only be displayed for searches for "books", but also for similar searches like "bestsellers" or "ebook store".
You want to advertise your Garden maintenance-services. You set the Keyword "Gardening" on Broad Match. This will not only display your ad for searches related to "garden maintenance", but also for similar searches like "landscaping" or "gardening".
You want to advertise your Online jewelry store switch. You set the Keyword "Jewelry" on Broad Match. This way your ad will not only be displayed for searches like "jewelry", but also for similar searches like "wedding jewelry" or "gemstone jewelry".
You want to advertise your Online courses offerr. You set the Keyword "Online courses" on Broad Match. This way your ad will not only be displayed for searches like "online courses", but also for similar searches like "E-Learning" or "Continuing Education Courses.

Conclusion

Broad Match can be a very useful tool for reaching a wider range of customers and discovering new target groups. However, it may happen that you also respond to search queries that are not relevant. Therefore, manual filtering and optimization of keywords is necessary.

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