The conversion rates between Broad, Phrase and Exact match differ greatly. So when initially setting a CPC, the bid for a Broad match should be much lower, and Exact match should be highest. Eventually one would adjust based on conversions, but when starting out, what rough ratio do you usually use as a guideline to set the CPCs for the different match types? e.g. your bid for Broad match is 50% of that for Phrase match, and so on.
actually bidding equally across the board is usually the best starting point. Not all situations does broad have poorer conversion ratios. I have seen many times the exact match have much worse conversions because its targeted to only 1 keyword which does not convert often, and a broad keyword convert much more often then an exact keyword because its capturing a wider range of traffic giving more options for conversion. It makes sense that broad match should be bid on less... but as a general rule I like starting all the bids equally because you never know what will happen. Then adjust the bids based on what is really happening. Dont sell yourself short on misconceptions... you could be losing out on many valuable conversions
Thanks. I've found that bidding the same for broad match has actually lost me quite a bit of money, across various markets. Do others have any other bidding strategies when it comes to segmenting bids by match type?
I start mine equally to start also. However, I have had a couple of campaigns where I had some solid negative keywords and a lot of competition so I started my broad match higher. I was later able to lower my bids on broad match drop phrase match and raise my bids on exact match.