Google PPC Broad Matching

[GuerrillaIM]

Can anyone give me a tip on getting better results from broad matching.

Back in the day I could add a keyword like "widgets" as a broad match and it would put me on keywords that had "widgets" in them but now google in an effort to make me spend more will put me on a whole host of keywords that they think are related but actually are not.

To get round this i changed all my broad match keywords to phrase match keywords.

Only thing I cant do with phrase match is make a broad match like "widget doodad" as I want to appear on searches like "widget with a doodad" so broad match is needed, but I don't want google putting me on all the unrelated keywords where these keywords dont actually appear as it seems to do by default these days.

Anyone know a way round this?

Anyway to find out the words it thinks are related to build a decent negative keyword list without having to waste money doing this from traffic logs?

[AlexHoug]

You should be targeting exact phrases, not broad. Exact phrases you will know that your ad will only show up for a certain search term and in the end will get you a better CTR and ROI. Try doing some keyword research, find the best keywords that have converted in the past and target those using an exact match. This will make you more money and reduce ad spend. Trust me, try this and it will do you some good.

[GuerrillaIM]

I appreciate the comment but if I only targetted exact matches I would make far less money.

[Lucid]

Use phrase AND exact matches. Use broad for longer tailed, not on a one-word keyword like widget. Better yet, use the new modified broad match.

[GuerrillaIM]

Originally Posted by Lucid

Use phrase AND exact matches. Use broad for longer tailed, not on a one-word keyword like widget. Better yet, use the new modified broad match.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been doing PPC since they released the service but have not been doing it for last couple of years so I didn't know about the modified broad match.

Just read about it and it will fix all my problems. Thank you!

So... Just to make sure I understand this right...

If I put my broad match as "+widget +doodad" then I will appear only on broad matches where both of these keywords appear?

[Defunct]

Use modified broad match.

You have to add + signs to each of the broad keywords and it wont match so wildly.

Broad Match Modifier Overview - AdWords Help

It's a newish feature and it's awesome.

[mark587905]

You will lose more money broad targetting. Use exact and you have much greater control of your campaigns.

[GuerrillaIM]

Originally Posted by mark587905

You will lose more money broad targetting. Use exact and you have much greater control of your campaigns.

If used right broad targetting is very powerful. Just advertising on exact match seriously limits the traffic.

It all depends what you are advertsing and marketing system as a whole.