Role of Keywords in Digital Marketing

Hey there! Welcome back again. Did you know that a proper keyword search lies at the heart of a successful marketing campaign? This is because keywords help in building contacts and paves way for potential customers. These keywords must stand out. Let us deep dive and understand what the different types of keywords are, and what role are do they play in digital marketing. Let us quickly get started.

About thirty years ago, the owner of a local store would have known all his customers personally and particularly their intent while making the purchase. Today, these same owners use digital marketing to reach out to their customers, one of them being pay per click. PPC (Pay Per Click) is one of the most effective channels that is used for generating leads. This is because PPC enables business owners/marketers to bid for different types of keywords that their customers are most likely to use while searching for a product.

PPC is the most common digital marketing platform that uses different types of keywords to trigger the most relevant brand ads. When an AdWords account is being set up, advertisers need to select the relevant keywords to match with Google search queries. When this match between the user’s search and the selected keywords hits, then only the ads will be eligible to be shown. On the other hand, if the ad budget has expired or if the bid set is too low then the ads will not be published. Let us now understand the different types of keywords used in paid search marketing.

The idea of keyword matching is critical as there are just three different keyword match types that advertisers may consider while designing their paid search marketing campaigns. They are as follows:

1. Broad Match:
• As the name suggests, a broad match is a keyword match that search engines use to determine in which search terms the ads are eligible to match against.
• The reason why it is known as broad is that it allows the ads to match with the widest range of possible keyword searches that may to some extent be relevant to the keyword.
• For example, if the ad group contains the keyword tennis shoes, the ad will be eligible to appear in any search query containing the terms tennis and shoes, in any order, and possibly with other terms.
• The interesting thing about broad match keywords is that it automatically matches with a broad array of related queries that the search engines may deem relevant to the business. This can be fruitful, especially when one wouldn’t be able to come up with such related queries on your own.
• Broad match is the most flexible option if you want to target many users, and at the same time potential customers to your website.
2. Exact Match:
• An exact match is that type of keyword match allowing you to reach prospects searching for only those specific keywords.
• Exact match keywords allow you to exercise tight control over the advertising budget, providing a greater return of investment on the ad investment.
• This is because exact match keywords mean that searches must match the keywords exactly as they are, and in some cases with a close variation.
• The only challenge with an exact match is that the number of searches that your ad will appear in will be a lot lower, but those consumers are more likely to be interested in purchasing the products. The only downside here is, that traffic received through search may be from users who may have typed a long query.
• Coming back to our tennis shoes example, matching only to the search query tennis shoes is great but what about woman’s tennis shoes? Or better yet buy tennis shoes? Here the intent seems to be very clear and who doesn’t want such prospects?
• Identifying these queries and adding them as keywords is equally crucial because their search volume tends to be low. Using only single-word exact match keywords won’t give you that opportunity, and you will be missing out on a ton of valuable traffic. 
3. Phrase Match:
• Phrase match is a keyword matching option where the ad is matched only against the keywords that include a phrase designated.
• A phrase match is comparatively better than a broad match but at the same time more flexible than an exact match.
• Coming back to the previous example, if you enter the keyword as tennis shoes, the ad could appear for the query black tennis shoes but not for shoes for tennis, tennis shoes, or tennis sneakers.
• The term tennis shoes would result in potential matches such as tennis shoes, best tennis shoes, tennis shoes for sales, etc.
• Similarly, the ad will not pop against shoes tennis, tennis shoe, tennis sneakers, etc.

Thus, to conclude to have the best ROI, more than 5-20 keywords should be used in a single ad group. However, more keywords do not mean more traffic. The ad copy at the same time should be appealing, grammatically correct, and should be related to the keyword match type. The focus must always be on high-performing keywords to avoid unnecessary budget spillage by constantly reviewing the negative keywords list on regular basis.

The concept of understanding keywords in terms of digital marketing is no different. Both are interrelated and dependent on each other to make sure that the business remains profitable in the long run. As an aspiring digital marketer, you must check out EduPristine’s Digital Marketing Master’s Program. Digital marketing course in India is gaining a lot of momentum and the opportunities available is immense. To know what is covered under the digital marketing course syllabus, feel free to get in touch with our counsellors. All the best and happy learning!