In this post I'm going to do a deeper dive into keywords in Google Ads, and how you can test them, input them into your campaign, and ensure the best success with them in Google Ads. As mentioned in my Google Ads post, which is linked below, there are 3 keyword types you can use in your Google Ads campaign. For more information on Google Ads in general, you can visit my other posts for an overview on creating campaigns and how Google Ads bidding works. 

Broad match keywords are keywords that per their name, have the broadest search ability. When you use a broad match keyword in your campaign, you allow for user search terms that are similar for the keyword to also show your site. One of the examples of this from the Google Ads Help Center is a keyword of  “low carb diet plan” also showing on searches for “carb free foods”. Broad match keywords can be very helpful in getting traffic to your site, but only having them in your campaign is not always a great approach. Phrase match keywords show on searches with the same meaning as the inputted keyword. An example from the Google Ads Help Center of phrase match keywords is “tennis shoes” also showing on searches for “shoes for tennis”. Phrase match keywords are a great way to ensure that your site is only popping up when relevant to the consumer. Exact match keywords are again, what they sound like. They only show on searches for the exact keyword inputted into your campaign. The 3 types of keywords are all essential to a successful campaign, but they must be used correctly. 

Having the correct keywords is essential to your campaign, because they ensure that your site will show up when a user makes a Google search related to your campaign. You don’t want users to constantly see your site when they aren’t looking for something related to it, because they won’t find you to be authentic. To add the three types of keywords to your campaign, you must make sure you correctly enter them. In Google Ads you need to navigate to the Keywords tab and click "add new keywords". For a broad match keyword, you enter the keyword without any extra notation. For a phrase match keyword you enter the keyword as "keyword". Exact match keywords are entered [keyword]. 

To further ensure that you are using keywords that will be valuable to your campaign, you can utilize Google's Keyword Planner. The Keyword Planner provides insights into search volume, cost estimates, and can help discover new keywords that may be beneficial to your campaign. To discover keywords in Google Keyword Planner, you can enter keywords directly into the “discover new keywords” section. This will showcase a list of keywords related to the search, which you can filter out based on a variety of factors to locate the keywords that will be most valuable to your campaign. After choosing keywords, you can generate a Keyword Forecast which will show the search volume for your chosen keywords and a forecast of how much traffic a keyword can provide. Keyword forecasts provide incredibly detailed data. In class this semester, we had an entire project devoted to keyword planning and understanding keyword forecasts. I highly recommend running experiments and playing around in Google Ads with keywords because it will help you with gaining knowledge on the best way to optimize your Google Ads and SEO performance. 

Understanding keywords and the Google Keyword Planner is essential to the success of your campaign, I hope this article helped give you a cohesive overview of keywords!