So now you have created a set of keywords or key-phrases or, perhaps, both. Now that that is done, you are faced with the problem of how to match your keywords or phrases to your advertising strategy and your search engine strategy. In a previous article, I suggested that you use hundreds of keywords and phrases for your PPC advertising while concentrating on just a few (around ten) for your search engine strategy. In this article, I want to narrow the focus just a little and talk about how to think in search matches in order to develop a comprehensive strategy that covers both your PPC and search engine approaches.
Let's do some defining as a start. A narrow match simply means that you are keying an exact word or phrase for the result of an ad shown or a search request. The idea of a broad match search means that your are targeting not only specific phrases but you are also reaching out for similar or apparently similar keywords or phrases.
The broad match strategy creates significantly more traffic without having to manage hundreds of keywords or phrases. But there are significant disadvantages to broad match strategies, The broad match is, in effect, un-targeted. It is something like dropping bombs from an airplane flying at 20,000 feet and letting gravity guide the bombs to their target. If you are hoping to inflict damage on a specific building you must drop hundreds of bombs around the intended target and hope that one or two hit their mark. But, even then, there is no guarantee of success. Large volume for a small return does not make for a successful strategy unless you have unlimited funds to sustain a large scale campaign waiting for around a 1% return.
The narrow match strategy is more like the smart bomb that is guided to a specific target and rarely misses the mark. While each smart bomb costs more money per unit, the return on the investment is quite high and, in the long run, costs far less than the broader approach. We generally recommend focusing on narrow match strategies from the beginning.
The disadvantage of the narrow match strategy is that it requires significantly more research to make it work effectively. It means that one must, this deserves repeating, MUST spend time looking at effective keyword searches and then concentrate on one to three that will push your listing to the front of the pack on natural search engine requests. This approach means that you must find popular search patterns without choosing the most popular searches. You must look at which searches work best for you and your business and concentrate on those as optimization targets. Finally, you must be willing and prepared to be flexible in your strategies and make changes as you begin to see a falloff in results from any given optimized keyword search.