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Understanding Google Adwords Keyword Research Terminology

A client recently asked me what the difference is between: broad, phrase, exact and negative matches when you use the Google keyword suggestion tool. At first I wasn’t quite sure, I had never really thought about it, but it is actually a really important thing to understand. A long time ago when search engines weren’t as accurate as they are now, users often would use special characters within their searches. For example quotes, brackets, and plus or minus symbols could all be used to enhance the quality of the search results. Most search engines still recognize those special characters and give you different results based on the ones you use.

With that in mind I’ll explain the way Google uses the terms: (broad, phrase, exact and negative)

Broad match

A broad match happens when someone does a search with term and it can include searches where the term is used with other terms or plural or singular cases. As well, it includes semantic terms. (see my article on “semantic search indexing”) A board search will show the highest number of monthly search volume. Also, optimizing for the base term is good because the site generally rank for the secondly terms. The secondary terms are often called long tail terms.

Google definition: Allows your ad to show on similar phrases and relevant variations

Example: a broad search for “banana pie” would include searches for banana pies, banana cream pie, how to make banana pie, etc. as well as banana peal and pumpkin pie

Equivalent search: keyword

Phrase match

A phrase match happens when the exact phrase is used. It includes instances where the phrase is used with other terms. Plurals and singulars are seen differently with phrase match. However, it does not include searches where the words in the phrase are separated by other terms. For SEOs understanding what are the best phrases, is important when choosing the words to use when writing body content for a site.

Google definition: Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase

Example: a phrase match search for “banana pie” would include searches for “how to make banana pie”, etc. but would not include “banana cream pie” or “banana pies”

Equivalent search:  “keyword”

  Exact match

An exact match will show the fewest number of searches. It is the case where a search contains the only terms used and terms order must be the same. Plural and singulars are treated as different terms and no other words can be used with the search term. When SEOs create anchor text is it really important to know, what the exact terms to use are. Google gives a huge benefit when a site is linked with exact term used.

 Google definition: Allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase exclusively

Equivalent search: [keyword]

Example: an exact search for “banana pie” would only give “banana pie” and would not include “banana pies”, “pie banana”, “banana cream pie” or “how to make banana pie”

  Negative match

A negative match is the case where you do not want to include a term. I use this type of search a lot on eBay where I’m looking for something particular and don’t want to have other items appear. For example searching “Disney movies –posters” would prevent any Disney posters from showing in the search results.

Google definition: Ensures your ad doesn't show for any search that includes that term

Equivalent search: -keyword

Example: a search for “banana -pie” would include searches for banana bread, banana loaf, etc. but would not include “banana cream pie” or “how to make banana pie”

A side note: I wonder if this page is going to rank well for banana pie ;)

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Any questions about my Google Adwords or search, please feel free to contact me at 905-417-9470 or by email at allanp73@gmail.com