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Keyword Research - Exact, Broad, Phrase

by kolohe
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi guys,

I really get confused from time to time when doing keyword research on how to interprete the Exact Match, Phrase and Broad values.

Now, if Google Adwords shows you for keyword X a value of 1'500 visitors with exact match enabled, 7'000 with phrase match enabled , and 10'000 with broad match enabled, how shall you interprete this data?

I mean, if you appear on the first page for 'real estate san jose' for example, you are definitely going to be on the first page for 'sell real estate san jose' as well, which would be a phrase and broad match keyword.

Of course it is clear to me, that it will depend on the content you'll put on for what other keywords you're going to rank as well. But if you're ranking for a 'major' keyword, then it's much easier to rank for a longer tail one as well.

So how do you usally interprete those three values? Do you only go for the exact match one to go for sure? Or do you kind of add 20% of the phrase/broad matches to the exact match value?

Curious about your opinion on this.

Cheers,

Kolohe
#broad #exact #keyword #phrase #research
  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    Don't over complicate things.

    Just go with the exact match figure.
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    • Profile picture of the author Newbieee
      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      Don't over complicate things.

      Just go with the exact match figure.
      true, just go for Exact match.

      I belief what you wanted to find out anyways was the meaning behind it.

      Exact is the exact, i think its self explanatory.
      phrase is any other variation that has the phrase in it.
      broad is really a bigger net cast out in the web compared to phrase, it can have 1 or 2 words in your phrase etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author samual james
    First of all you need to go for Exact keyword research after exact match you can go with prefix and suffix but according to me you need to go for only exact keyword.
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  • Profile picture of the author ImDanHoward
    Hi, Kolohe

    I would focus on Phrase Match, that's what I do and it works for me. If you use Market Samurai keyword tool, they suggest you have a filter of at least 15% of Phrase to Broad ratio. Here's a great article on the breakdown Noble Samurai
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    • Profile picture of the author shakil754
      Hello,

      I always use google keyword tool and use the exact match. This way you know exacly what people are searching for.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tessa Holmes
    Use 'exact match', otherwise you may find out that great search numbers you found for 'broad match' are not bringing you any results. I used to be looking answer on this question and over and over again people were telling me - 'just use exact'.
    It may be helpful to look at 'broad' search to get some extra niche ideas, but after that - pick 'exact' to find out if your niche Really has any customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Local Trifecta
    Originally Posted by kolohe View Post

    I mean, if you appear on the first page for 'real estate san jose' for example, you are definitely going to be on the first page for 'sell real estate san jose' as well, which would be a phrase and broad match keyword.
    K ... lets just be clear ... this is not true. Each of the three match types are specific to pay per click and pay per click alone. I dont even trust the numbers ... I would just use a free $100 adwords coupon to ensure the exact match numbers are realistic.

    BROAD MATCH - This means that based on the term you gave google and all the "other" phrases google "could" show the ad for there are a larger number. To quote Google "With broad match, the Google AdWords system automatically runs your ads on relevant variations of your keywords, even if these terms aren't in your keyword lists."

    I added the bold elements just to highlight how inaccurate these numbers are.

    PHRASE MATCH - This is the balance between exact and broad. Phrase match means there can be terms before and after the term but the term has to be included. It isnt statistically relevant from an SEO perspective but is a TON more accurate than broad.

    EXACT MATCH - This means the exact term needs to be searched in order to trigger an impression ... the numbers tend to be inflated in my opinion but are much more applicable.

    Like I said Pay Per Click is the single best SEO tool available ... simply plug in your keywords in phrase and exact (never broad) and use the $100 Google gives away like candy to actually TEST and find those exact match terms.

    To take this one step further ... if your following the absolute best practices you would create a unique page for each high value keyword term. I have seen substantial differences just reversing two word phrases (ie seattle lawyer and lawyer seattle). Optimizing for a more competitive term is no guarantee you will be ranking well for a long tail phrase that includes the term.

    Hopefully that made sense ... you just made it sound like you were using the Google Keyword Tool as a definitive way to optimize a page/site which is a little like putting the cart in-front of the horse.
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Originally Posted by Local Trifecta View Post

      I added the bold elements just to highlight how inaccurate these numbers are.
      Hi Trifecta,

      To be "accurate", it isn't the numbers that are inaccurate, it is the interpretation of the numbers that is often inaccurate. The numbers are accurate, we just need to understand what the numbers represent and learn how to use the data correctly in our analysis.

      @Kolohe

      I mean, if you appear on the first page for 'real estate san jose' for example, you are definitely going to be on the first page for 'sell real estate san jose' as well, which would be a phrase and broad match keyword.
      If you spent just 5 minutes reviewing the SERPs you would quickly see how incorrect you are to assume that to be true.

      The bottom line is that the only data that shows search volume for an individual keyword is the exact match data.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bofu2U
    If you're looking to make a "meta authority site" look at broads, then run it again with exact and see all of the terms that go into that big one.

    Example:

    health on broad brings xxxxxxx
    because it includes like... 10/searches a month for "how do I increase my health because I'm a man".

    Normally I go reverse, find an exact match that does decent volume then look at the other exact matches in the realm of that volume/competition rating within the bigger, broad niche - and decide whether a site directly focused on that is better than an authority on everything overall.
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