Will adding quotations to a single keyword such as widgets "widgets" make a difference in Adwords or is it the same? What affect does it have if you have both in your ad (if they are the same)?
It makes a difference for sure! I know you only talked about phrase and broad match but I'm going to talk about exact as well. As you probably already know - with google there are 3 different match types - broad, phrase and exact so like you said with the keyword widgets [widgets] - would be exact match "widgets" - would be phrase match widgets - would be broad match if someone searches for widgets - ads for any of the 3 could be displayed, although most likely the exact match would be shown if someone searches for blue widgets - ads for either phrase or broad would be shown, however most likely the phrase matched ad would be shown if someone searches for widget - ads for only broad would be shown.. hope this somewhat helps
yes, it does. So you are saying that the phrase will be shown first before the broad match and also that a broad match for widgets will include singular and plural variations? Thanks.
Chris uses the words "most likely show" but it will show. The order is exact first, phrase next, broad last. Whatever someones types in as their search term, Google checks to see if you have an exact match. If not, it checks for any phrase matches and only then does it check for broad matches. Phrase and broad matches also check on any negative keywords as well. Not only will Google expand your broad matched keywords to include plural/singular variations, it will check its dictionary of synonyms. If you think that's great, think again. That's why I suggest never to use short tail broad matches and get as many impressions on phrase and exact as possible. Another reason is that Google will sometimes drop some words in your broad matches and you can have your ads shown for a search on "paper clip" when your broad match keyword is "paper waste basket" or even "waste basket".
Thanks for your input Lucid Web Marketing I needed to learn something new today other than the basics of adwords. Thanks!
Lucid is correct. I'd add that if you do go down the broad match route, think of it more as a KW research exercise. Set your broad matches off into a separate campaign. Keep a close eye on what is triggering them - in the new UI, go to the Keywords tab, check the phrase and then click See Search Terms. Use the info to pick your negatives first of all so your "paper clip" phrases won't be shown under "paper waste basket" etc. Then look at the matches that are performing well for you - pick the good performers and paste them as a phrase and exact match in the campaign where you have your phrase and exact matches located. Eventually you'll have a broad match campaign that won't be profitable and you can just switch off, but you'll have a phrase / exact campaign totally full of profitable / high CTR phrases that you may never have found without broad match
You're welcome, all of you. I've got more for those interested. It's a PDF I just put together called Adwords FAQ available here: www.lucidwebmarketing.com/adwords-faq.html