Keyword Match Types in Google Ads & SEO [2023]

Keyword match types affect which search queries your ads show for in Google. But they don’t play a role in organic rankings.

Here’s what you need to know for your PPC and SEO campaigns:

What Are Keyword Match Types in Google Ads?

In Google Ads, the keyword match type determines the scope of search queries that could trigger your ads. Your choice affects the potential reach and relevance of your paid search results.

These are the three keyword match types:

• Broad match: Queries must relate to your chosen keyword (highest reach, lowest relevance)
• Phrase match: Queries must include your keyword’s meaning (medium reach, medium relevance)
• Exact match: Queries must match your keyword’s meaning (lowest reach, highest relevance)

You can also use these keyword match types for negative keywords.

This means the different types of keywords in Google Ads are broad match keywords, phrase match keywords, exact match keywords, broad match negative keywords, phrase match negative keywords, and exact match negative keywords.

Keep reading to learn more about each one.

1. Broad Match

Broad match means your ads can show when searchers use related keywords (as determined by Google’s AI). It provides the widest reach of any keyword match type.

Here are some of the relevancy signals that broad match considers:

• Other keywords in your ad group
• The user’s previous searches
• The user’s location
• Your landing page content

Broad match is the default keyword match type on Google Ads. It doesn’t...