How Do You Choose Broad Match Keywords In Google Ads?

[Toast_Digital]

I usually start with your best performing exact match keywords and expand them to broad match. The key is having really solid negative keyword lists first tho. Also make sure your conversion tracking is dialed in because broad match without good data is just burning money. If you want I can take a quick look at your setup and give you some pointers, just shoot me a DM.

[DiscussionLate9101]

Good question, it’s a different way of thinking compared to exact/phrase match.

Think of them less as keywords and more as “themes” or “signals” for the AI. I don’t use a huge list. I pick 5-8 of the most ideal, high-intent keywords for an ad group to act as the core theme.

You’re spot on that longer keywords work better. A broad match for “waterproof hiking boots” gives the system much better context than just “boots”. It helps steer the AI in the right direction from the start.

The real key is pairing it with smart bidding and being diligent with your negative keywords, especially in the first few weeks.

A big word of caution though, you need sufficient data for broad match to work well. If your Google Ads account is new and doesn’t have a solid history of conversions, use phrase and exact match first to build that data up.

[GoogleAdExpert]

I usually start with intent-heavy phrases (3–4 words, core service + qualifier) and let Smart Bidding shape traffic. Order and wording do affect matches, but negatives + search term pruning are what really make broad work well.

[variousthings1776]

Honestly, I typically don’t. Phrase match is more like broad match used to be these days. I typically do exact and phrase match and then closely monitor and manage negatives from there.

[johnny_quantum]

Broad march can cast a pretty wide net – Google likes to match up a lot of queries to your broad match terms just to get more clicks (and more revenue for them).

This match type can work, but you have to put some really tight controls on it. Choose keywords that are highly relevant to what you sell, and are specific. Two-to-three word phrases are better than single words.

You have to use negative keywords as well. Start with a list that excludes unqualified traffic. Words like “jobs,” “free,” and “diy”. Monitor your search term reports and add in new negative keywords regularly.

[Few_Presentation_820]

How well broad match does varies so much on the stage our campaign is at. I don’t like at all to use broad match right from the start with no conversion data, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Google does not know the kind of leads to find so it will start showing our ads to any query that remotely relates to your keyword which eats up the budget fast.

So I would first like to have the needed quality conversion data in the campaign in the month using exact & even phrase match using manual CPC

Then add a huge number of negatives & switch to max conversions with a competitive enough target CPA.

Now that we’ve trained the algo on what leads to get us & the campaign is mature then comes the broad match part.

Following all those steps, I find long tail broad match keywords delivering far better results

[Unique_Housing_5493]

We often take the best performing exact match keyword in an ad group and add this one as a single broad match keyword. Works pretty well most of the time if combined with solid conversion tracking and a good amount of data already present in the campaign/ad group.

[Single-Sea-7804]

I don’t choose any real selecting process other than making sure it aligns with the LP and service I am advertising for – what really matters is what search terms pop up and how often I am adding them as negative.

[theppcdude]

You pick broad match keywords from phrase or exact keywords that are already performing well.

Usually how I do it, is we start with either exact match or phrase match, and then go down the match types as we see results.

The cool thing about broad match is that your CPCs can really get low. But the best thing is the Max Conversions + Broad Match combo which turns on AI.

I run Google Ads for Service Businesses. When they get to $10-15K in ad spend, we usually start turning on broad match.