Keywords are words or phrases that are used to match relevant ads with the searches people make on Google. If you build a keyword list based on the words used when people search for what you offer, your ads can reach potential customers interested in your product or services.
Every time someone searches on Google, Google Ads runs an auction to decide which ads appear. If your keywords match the search term, your ad is eligible to show. That’s why we recommend using tools like Keyword Planner to help you find high-quality keywords for the ideal audience you want to reach.
There are 3 keyword match types you can add to your keyword list to control which searches can trigger your ads: exact match, phrase match, and broad match. Starting with exact match keywords gives you the most control over who views your ad. You can then reach a wider variety of searches by adding phrase match and broad match options for keywords that are performing well.
Add keywords
- Select a campaign, then an ad group for your new keyword.
- Tap + Add a keyword.
- Enter a word or phrase as your keyword, then choose the right keyword match type.
- Tap the checkmark
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- Tap Save, or to continue adding keywords to the same ad group, tap + Add a keyword.
.Build an effective keyword list
- Consider using negative keywords to prevent your ad from showing for terms that aren't relevant to your product or service. To add a negative keyword, go to the Keywords page and click Negative Keywords from the sub-menu.
Example: If a shoe store only sells men's shoes, you might consider adding "women" and "girls" as negative keywords to prevent your ad from showing when people search for women's shoes or girls' shoe
- Learn more about adding negative keywords to campaigns.
- Include terms or phrases your customers would use to describe your products or services.
Example: If you sell men's athletic footwear, perhaps use keywords like "men's athletic shoes” or "men's sneakers".
- Combine your keywords with broad match to improve your ad performance. When you combine keywords with broad match, you capture all the searches of narrower match types, plus more.
- Learn more about broad match.
- Group similar keywords into ad groups to show more relevant ads.
Example: If all your keywords and ads are in one ad group, users searching for "formal shoes" may be shown your ad about "running shoes". Instead, you can create an ad groups for each keyword to show users either “formal shoes” or “running shoes”.
- Learn more about how ad groups work.
- Use specific keywords to make sure your ad only appears for terms that apply to your business. But don’t make your keywords too specific otherwise you might not be able to reach as many people as you'd like.
Example: If you only sell basketball shoes, then the keyword “shoes” might be too broad, and you may get better results with the keyword “basketball shoes”. However, a keyword like “men’s high top basketball shoes NYC” may be too specific and may not provide as much traffic as you’d like.
- Find new keyword ideas and estimate traffic with Keyword Planner. This tool will show you how a list of keywords might perform and their average number of searches. Use this information to decide which keywords might increase ad clicks and increase product awareness.
Example: If you enter the phrase "running shoes" in the Keyword Planner, it might show you "discount running shoes" or "motion control running shoes" as additional keywords.
- Learn more about using Keyword Planner.
- Consider using keyword match types to gain greater control over who views your ads. To change the match type of a keyword, go to Keywords and click the keyword to select a new match type.
Example: If you want to show your ad only to people interested in buying men’s running shoes, you can add a term like “men’s running shoes” as an exact match keyword. That way, your ad will be eligible to show when people search for that exact term or a close variation such as “running shoes for men”.
Your ad won’t show when people search for terms like “best running shoes for men” because that phrase includes the term “best”, which isn’t an exact part of your keyword or close variations of it.
