Google Ads are a must-have when it comes to digital marketing. If you want fast and potentially quality traffic to your website there is nothing better than running Google Ads for your business. However, Google Ads are not for beginners even though Google wants everyone to think Google Ads are so easy that anyone can use them. The truth is if you are not an expert in setting up and running Google ad campaigns there is a high chance you are throwing money down the drain.

One way people use Google Ads improperly is by setting up their campaigns with broad match keywords. This is something Google highly recommends but can negatively impact your ads if not used correctly. Let's get into why.

What is Google Ads Broad Match Keywords?

Google Broad Match keywords are one of the three options you have when it came to targeting keywords. It is also the default match type that all your keywords are assigned by when initially adding keywords to an adgroup. With Broad Match you give good a keyword related to your business and Google with find other keywords that are related but they don’t have to have those exact words for phrases in the related keyword. This basically gives Google free reign to decide what is considered relative to the keyword you provided. They do this by using a mixture of AI technology, and historical data, and testing relevant keywords to see which ones perform the best. If a related keyword performs well it gives Google signals that this is a highly related term.

The syntax for a broad match is to simply input the keyword. Below is an example of how a broad match will work:

What Are the Concerns On Using Broad Match Keywords?

The thing about broad match keywords is you are letting Google’s AI decide what are the best related keywords to place your ad under. Now, don’t get me wrong Google’s AI is very smart and is getting smarter every date it is collecting data. However, Google’s AI is not perfect and makes mistakes frequently because it does not know the nuances of your business and how it operates.

For example, I might have a wealth management company and we help clients invest in specific assets to help build their wealth over time. Now, if I tell Google Ads to place my ads under a broad match of “investment management” Google is going to put my ad under many different related keywords like 401K investments, crypto investing help, pension fund investing, and so on. To you, this might sound harmless and those categories are all part of investment management but the big difference is my company only helps its clients with stocks and bond investing. This means there are a lot of people coming to my website looking for help with different investment types but we can’t help them because we only do stock and bond investing.

You might be thinking at this point, “well why don’t they just get more specific with their keywords” and that can be helpful but it does not solve the root cause of the issue which is Google does not know the specifics of my business and what my ideal customer looks like. If you get more specific with your keywords you run into two main issues

1. the more specific you are with your keywords the longer they typically are which means they have low search volume or no one is searching that keyword.

2. Even if you make your keywords more specific Google can still put you on keywords that are not relevant to your business or services.

How To Avoid Broad Match Keyword Issues So It Does Not Hurt Your Campaigns Performance?

When I am first creating Google campaigns for my clients I will break each of their services and products up into their campaigns. From there I will ad keywords that are related to those products and services however all or most of my keywords will be phrase match or exact match keywords so I know they are relevant.

What are Phrase and Exact Match Keywords?

• Phrase Match: With phrase match, a user's word order matters only when it changes the intended meaning of your keyword. When you use phrase match, your ads get to the right users without the creation of an extensive list of keywords and phrases.

• Exact Match: A keyword match type that allows you to show your ads on searches that have the same meaning or same intent as your keyword. Exact match gives you the most control over who sees your ad but reaches fewer searches than both phrase and broad match.

With this method, you know that your ads are being placed on keywords that are actually relevant to your business. As time goes on you can test a few broad match keywords that you feel best represent your company’s products or services to see if the search terms they are being placed on are relevant.

If you are not familiar with the search terms feature in Google Ads you will need to look at it on a daily or weekly basis. It is under the keywords tab in an account, campaign, or adgroup. Search terms are the related terms people are typing in that Google is deciding to place your ad on. If you see any terms that are not related to your business you can mark them as a negative keyword so Google knows not to place you on that keyword going forward and it also gives Google’s AI some guidance on what is considered a bad keyword for your business.

Conclusion

Google Ads is difficult and complex as you can see from reading this article. I see many business owners thinking they can easily set up Google Ads and customers will come flooding into their business. This is the picture Google wants to give business owners of how easy it is to run Google Ads but the reality is the Google Ads Manager is highly technical and you will need an expert to help you with getting the most out of your Google Ads campaigns or you will get burned and never want to use Google Ads again.

If you are a business owner that wants your business to grow the right way make sure you hire a Google Ads expert or agency like Orange SEO before you start your campaigns to make sure you are not making mistakes that can cost your business hundreds of thousands of dollars.