Google Ads Keyword Setting Guide | How to Select the Right Keyword Match Type

Also, the cost of advertising with Google Ads varies depending on the number of keywords to be set and search volume. It is important to understand the mechanism of Google Ads keywords, such as keyword search volume, budget, and target audience, and to place appropriate advertisements.

This article covers information such as how to set and select keywords for Google Ads, and changes in customer base for each budget. Please refer to it.

Table of Contents

Keyword selection is key to getting the best results in Google Ads. One of the reasons for Google Ads is that they are “search-linked ads” that display ads according to the keywords searched by users.

For example, when a user searches for the keyword “men’s shampoo”, ads related to the keyword “men’s shampoo” will be displayed.

Therefore, advertisers must choose which keywords to display their ads appropriately. To take an extreme example, running an ad for men’s shampoo with the keyword “women’s shampoo” won’t lead to sales.

In order to deliver ads to users who are highly relevant to the products you want to sell, it is important to select keywords that can be searched by the target group you want to sell.

If you distribute with keywords that are far from the product, there is also a concern that users will be disappointed when they click on it, saying, “It doesn’t match what they want.” This is a disadvantage for both users and companies because it leads to withdrawal from the advertisement page and the cost effectiveness of advertising expenses decreases.

How to properly set keywords that match your product will affect the results of listing advertisements.

It is important to understand the types of keywords when running Google Ads. Depending on the keyword you choose, the customer base, contract rate, and advertising fee will change.

Here are the types of keywords in Google Ads.

big word

As a type of keyword, the big word is given first. Big words are keywords with high search volume. There is no clear definition of big words, but it generally refers to keywords with more than 10,000 searches per month. Since there are so many people searching, it is characterized by being able to deliver advertisements to a wide range of users.

A specific example is keywords such as “men’s shampoo.”

If you can display advertisements with big words, you can effectively raise awareness of your products and services. However, on the other hand, many competitors are also aiming for advertisement placement, so the disadvantage is that there is a high possibility that bids will be flooded and the cost per click will increase.

small word

Small words are keywords with low monthly searches. In general, keywords with less than 1,000 monthly hits can be considered small words. Specifically, there are product names with low recognition and compound keywords such as “Men’s Shampoo Hypoallergenic Organic.”

Small words get fewer searches than big words, so your ads can reach only a limited number of users. However, since there is a tendency for there to be fewer competitors, there is a higher possibility that the delivered advertisement will be displayed at the top.

nomination keywords

Named keywords are keywords that specify a specific name such as a company name or product name, such as “Pantene” or “Gatsby”. It can be said that users who search with nomination keywords have a high willingness to purchase because they search after recognizing the company name and product name.

Named keywords are highly likely to lead to conversions if ads can be displayed, so it is a keyword that you want to actively target. However, if the product name or company name is not well known, the number of searches will be small in the first place, so a high effect cannot be expected.

When targeting nominated keywords, estimate the effectiveness of your advertising by referring to the degree of awareness of your company’s products and the number of monthly searches for your company name.

general keywords

General keywords are general nouns that are not proper nouns, such as “shampoo” and “smartphone”. Since the number of monthly searches tends to be large, it may be classified as a big word. Cost-per-click tends to be high because many competitors go to auction.

In addition, users who search with nomination keywords have a strong tendency to want to compare and consider specific items. So, even if you can direct users to your ad, it doesn’t mean that you will close the deal.

While general keywords can attract a large number of users, they also have disadvantages such as “high cost per click” and “users’ willingness to buy is not necessarily high”.

Here, I will show you how to actually set keywords for Google Ads.

1. Open Google Ads Editor
2. Select [Keyword] and click [Add Keyword]
3. After displaying the message, select the campaign and group to add the keyword
4. Add keyword(s) and select match type in edit panel

From here, let’s take a look at how to select specific keywords. In order to increase the cost-effectiveness of Google Ads, it is important to accurately grasp the keywords that can be searched by users who are highly motivated to purchase your products.

Identify KW from product features and targets

When choosing keywords for Google Ads, be aware of the characteristics of the product you want to sell and your target audience. Taking “men’s shampoo” as an example, you can identify keywords as follows. Search for as many keywords as possible that are associated with product features and targets.

• Product features
  • Scalp care such as AGA
    → KW “AGA Care” “AGA Shampoo”
  • Can be purchased for less than 1,000 yen
    → KW “Men’s Shampoo 1,000 yen or less”
• Product target
  • Men who are concerned about oily scalp
    → KW “Men’s Scalp Care”
  • Men who are concerned about clogged pores
    → KW “Pore Care Shampoo”
  • Men who want AGA care
    → KW “AGA prevention”

Extract KW from competitors, EC sites and Q&A sites

As a keyword selection method, it is also recommended to extract from keywords used by competitors and EC sites. For example, if you search for men’s shampoo on an EC site, you’ll get hits for various types such as “organic shampoo” and “oily skin shampoo.”

In other words, for “shampoo”, some users search based on the type and materials used.

In addition, reviews and Q&A sites on EC sites are also helpful. By searching for products and things on the question site, you can find out the questions that various users have about them.

It is possible to guess search keywords from users’ simple questions such as “How to choose the right men’s shampoo?”

Look for paraphrases

Look for paraphrases when choosing keywords . For example, men’s shampoo can be rephrased as follows.

• phrasemens shampoo
• paraphrasing phraseMen’s shampoo, men’s shampoo, men’s shampoo, etc.

In some cases, looking at paraphrases can lead to new keywords that lead to purchases.

Find the axis keyword from the collected keywords

After using all the keywords, we will find the axis keyword from the collected keywords. For example, in this example, “shampoo” and “men’s shampoo” are key keywords.

In addition, when targeting a more niche customer base, there are cases where keywords are focused on specific needs, such as “AGA shampoo”.

Extract keywords to multiply with axis keywords

After deciding on the axis keyword, we will extract keywords that will be multiplied by the axis keyword. For example, “men’s shampoo AGA”, “men’s shampoo recommended”, “men’s shampoo under 1000 yen”, etc.

The point when choosing keywords to be multiplied is to preferentially choose words that seem to have a high purchasing motivation as much as possible. Among the three keywords I introduced earlier, “men’s shampoo under 1,000 yen” has a specific budget, so we can see a high willingness to buy.

If you can select keywords that have a high willingness to buy, you can expect a high closing rate and high advertising effectiveness.

So far, I have explained how to select keywords for Google Ads, but some people may think that it seems to be difficult or that they can not cover all the keywords. In that case, use a keyword selection tool.

Here are two free tools that can help you with keyword selection.

Google Keyword Planner

When selecting keywords, we recommend using Google Keyword Planner. In particular, it is useful for selecting keywords to be combined (related phrases). Google Keyword Planner can be used by following the steps below.

1. Sign in to Google Ads
2. From the upper right of the management screen, select “Tools” → “Planning” → “Keyword Planner” and press “New Keyword”
3. Enter the axis keyword in the search window and select “Display results”

Extracted phrases can also be output in Excel. You can decide whether to use it based on the output Excel, so you don’t have to worry about omissions.

In addition, Keyword Planner allows you to see the search volume and bid price of your keywords. You can see the number of monthly searches for keywords and the price, which is also useful for understanding your budget.

sea ​​otter keyword

When selecting keywords, it is also important to check the suggested keywords. When you enter characters in the search window, you may have experienced that candidate keywords judged by Google came out. Suggested keywords are keywords displayed by Google in relation to the keyword searched by the user.

Sea otter keywords are also recommended as a tool to search for suggested keywords. By using it, it will extract keywords with high related frequency. You can also search for “Yahoo Chiebukuro” and “Tell me goo” questions related to search terms at the same time.

User needs can be investigated at the same time as suggested keywords, which is useful for user analysis.

Choosing the right match type is key to using Google Ads effectively . Match type is to set the range of ad distribution for the set keyword. Here are the match types for Google Ads keywords.

kind of match type

The types of keyword match types in Google Ads are: Keep in mind that match types can significantly affect your ad coverage.

• Perfect matchingAds will only appear when the keyword you set matches exactly what the user is searching for . This allows you to target your target audience with your ads. However, since the range of displayed keywords is narrow, it may lead to opportunity loss.
• phrase matchIf there is a matching phrase within the user’s search term, it will be listed. For example, if you register the keyword “shampoo recommended” with phrase matching, your ad will be posted even if there is an extra keyword such as “shampoo recommended cheap”.
• *Partial match for narrowing down* Phrase match and unification in July 2021 By setting “+ shampoo” and “+ recommended”, ads will be posted if the above search terms are entered regardless of word order. Currently, it is standardized to the specification that if the phrase matches, regardless of the word order, it will be posted.
• Partial MatchDisplayed when there is a search term that partially matches the registered keyword . For example, in the case of “shampoo recommended”, ads will also be placed in “shampoo for women” and “conditioner recommended”. There is a high possibility that the advertisement range will be too wide and lead to irrelevant users. Note that this is set by default.

Even exact matches are displayed in similar words

Some people may be worried that using exact match will limit the search term too much. However, even if the match type is set to exact match, don’t worry because it supports spelling variations of search terms and similar words.

The patterns in which ads are displayed even for exact matches are as follows. Ads will be displayed if it is determined that there is the same search intent.

• Variation in notationSetting keyword “estimate”
  Search phrase “estimate”
• word order errorSetting keyword “Shampoo for men”
  Search phrase “Shampoo for men”
• conjunctions and particlesSetting keyword “Shampoo for men”
  Search phrase “Shampoo for men”
• abbreviationSetting keyword “acoustic guitar”
  Search phrase “acoustic guitar”
• SynonymSetting keyword “PC”
  Search phrase “PC”
• Phrases with similar search intentSetting keyword “men’s shampoo”
  Search phrase “men’s shampoo”

Quick Reference for Match Types and Ad Placements

Based on the information so far, let’s use a quick reference chart to explain the relationship between match types and advertising. For example, if you select “Men’s Shampoo AGA” as a keyword, the listing for each match type will be as follows.

An exact match will only show your ad if the search strings are the same or out of order. If even one letter of the search term is different, your ad will not be displayed. The feature is that the target to distribute advertisements is very narrow.

Phrase match is a match type where your ad will appear if the keyword you set is included in the search term. If the search term contains the set keyword, it will be displayed even if other search terms are added, so you can deliver your ad to a wide range.

In the case of partial match, ads will be displayed if even one set keyword is included. You can reach a very wide range of ads, but there is a high risk that your ads will be displayed for irrelevant phrases.

Understand the nature of match types and choose the one that best suits your purpose.

Exact match or phrase match is recommended first

There are many different match types, but the first match type you want to try is exact match or phrase match. Broad match can deliver ads to a large number of users, but on the other hand, the target demographic is too wide, and there is a possibility that ads will be delivered to users with low purchasing motivation.

It is not a good idea to set it all at once, as it may cost you money unnecessarily.

If you have only one keyword, you can use exact match, and if you want to target multiple keywords, you can use phrase match to appeal to users who match your target audience.

Setting up your ad doesn’t end with the match type. It is also important to set negative keywords to reach users with more targeted keywords .

Here’s what Google Ads Negative Keywords are all about.

What are negative keywords?

Negative keywords are keywords that do not display Google ads. If you set the match type as an extended type such as partial match, ads may be displayed even for search terms that you did not intend.

For example, let’s say you set the search keyword as “recommended izakaya” when posting a listing ad for a restaurant that is looking to increase sales. Depending on the match type, your ads may be displayed even for phrases that the users you want to reach do not search for, such as “recommended jobs at izakaya”.

Negative keywords are useful for excluding keywords that are out of the original target group, appealing to accurate targets and suppressing wasteful budgets. It is ideal to select exclusion keywords at the initial keyword selection stage, but if it is difficult, there is no problem if you check the inflow keywords during operation and exclude them as appropriate.

In the early stages of operation, set negative keywords carefully.

How to set negative keywords

Next, I will explain how to set negative keywords. Negative keywords can be set individually or using an exclusion list. Individual settings are useful when applying only to specific ad groups, but if you want to manage them collectively for each ad campaign, use the negative keyword list.

Negative Keyword List can be set by selecting “Negative Keyword List” from “Tools & Settings”. Be sure to set it up in order to accurately deliver ads to your target audience.

Proper keyword selection in Google Ads increases the likelihood that your ads will show to people who match your target demographic. When selecting keywords, it is important to search for keywords that are easy to reach your target users and select them according to your budget.

Choose appropriate keywords while conducting product analysis, competition analysis, and user needs analysis. For keyword analysis, we also recommend using tools such as “Keyword Planner” and “Otter Keywords”. By using the tool, you can prevent omissions of keywords and check the bid price.