Just starting out with Adwords and I'm confused about whether keyword matching options should be in a the same ad groups or different ad groups. And what are the pros and cons. Please help.
Why write different ads for each match type? Wouldn't that make it more difficult to compare results?
Because those ads could be triggered by different terms. If I'm using EM I know exactly what term will trigger the ad and I can tailor that ad to that term. If I'm using BM it's likely that a number of different terms could trigger that ad so it needs to be more of a "catch all" type ad. No. Even if it did I would do it anyway - this is marketing and those looking for the easy way to do things to be get crushed by those who do things the right way, regardless of the level of difficulty associated with the task at hand.
Hmmm! Didn't read about that anywhere, and it makes some sense. Any other reason why one should have a separate ad group for each match type?
If you feel that the value of additional sales you will make from separating the ads are greater than the value of additional time it will take to split it up, then go ahead. Otherwise don't bother. If it were an excel formula it may look like this: IF(Time To Add Extra Groups > Value of Additional Sales, Don't Proceed, Proceed)
How would I know what the value of additional sales I will make from separating the ads is as this is my first adwords project. How does one estimate or guess that before starting the campaign?
This is difficult! It's all estimation. Do the calculations based on conservative figures and leave a margin for error. Think about the timeframe over which you plan on running the campaign. The longer you plan to run the campaign, the more time you should be willing to spend initially.
There's a QS / actual CPC element you need to consider as well. Better ads = higher CTR = higher QS = lower actual CPC.
But again, even this comes down the concept of marginal product. Does the lower bids justifiy the time spent on separating up groups?
If you use the editor the time to separate ad groups is negligible. Even if we really stretched and said it took 10 hours to separate everything that's a one time exercise. Spread that 10 hours over the life of the campaign looking at the lower cpc and it make sense. Some people put all match types in the same ad groups - I've seen that work too. There is no universal right or wrong answer to the question.
You're right. I tried using the adwords editor and it's snap to create another ad group with a mach type. It's just copy paste and change the type (exact or phrase). It doesn't show the quotes or brackets though as you see them on the web version. Wonder if just selecting from the drop down menu will work??