Google Adwords – PPC Strategy Using Modified Broad Match Type

This article assumes that the reader already has a grasp of the basic fundamentals of PPC, including registering an Adwords account.  Having said that, if you are just starting to out with PPC advertising, one of the most difficult aspects to master is the actual Google Adwords interface and following along with the step-by-step instructions within this article will certainly help.

Overview of the process:
– Find Keywords with med/low competition using Keyword Planner
– Find keywords with high click through rate from adwords interface
– Create Ad group for each keyword that you find
– Create 3 or 4 adverts for each keyword/Ad Group
– Pause worst performing adverts
– Add negative keywords based on irrelevant search terms that trigger ads

To use this particular modified broad match strategy, start by creating a new campaign. To do this simply click on the campaigns tab:

Then click on the red “+ Campaign” button.

From the drop-down menu choose “Search Network Only”

On the next screen, give the campaign a descriptive name:

Fill in the rest of the details on the page. You can change the bid amount later, so just put down a low default bid and budget for the time being.

I would recommend using site-links; these help your advert to take up more space or ‘real estate’ on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Your “Landing page” refers to the page which users will go to once they’ve clicked on your advert. Remember to make this as relevant and as specific as possible in relation to your advert.

Once the account details are filled in, and the first ad group has been established; you will need to do some keyword research.

If you are creating a brand new campaign, then to do this, you should stop off at the Google Keyword Planner.

Click on the top option on the left hand side:

Type in one of the main keywords related to your website. For example, if you sell boxing equipment, you might want to type in “boxing gloves”:

Check the location settings, I’d also recommend turning off the broad-match option to begin with, by choosing to be shown “ideas closely related to my search term”.

When the results appear, click the “keyword ideas” tab and make a list of all the relevant keywords that you see. Pay special attention to the ones that are longer phrases and low competition.

If, on the other hand, you already have a campaign in place; you can glean some great keyword information

This should give you a list of all the keywords that have triggered one of your adverts to be served on the SERPs.

If you find any keywords that are irrelevant – which you probably will if you’ve been using broad-match – then add them as negative keywords.

To add negative keywords – click on a title of an Ad Group in the left hand side-bar (you might have to click on the Campaign title to see the Ad Groups). Campaigns have the magnifying-glass icon next to them; which represents the Search Network. The campaigns ‘open up’ to show the Ad Groups that are inside of them when they are clicked.

Then click on the keywords tab, and then click on “negative keywords” near the bottom on the left:

Now the negative keywords are in place; look to find the keywords that had a high click through rate (CTR). These are the keywords that triggered your advert, and then prompted people to click on your advert.

Let’s say “Ladies boxing gloves” triggered your advert 10 times, and out of those 10 times was clicked on 5 times.
Create a new Ad Group just for the one keyword – Ladies boxing gloves.

Scroll down and enter your keyword / phrase.
To make sure they are treated as Modified Broad Match keywords, add a plus sign in front of each word:

Add 2 or 3 more adverts for this Ad Group. All adverts, in each ad group, will be for one keyword. Create the different adverts using different calls to action and by describing different selling points. If required, put a full stop at the end of the first description to truncate it when it’s displayed.

Keep the keyword in the headline. Try using hyphens between selling points in the second description.

To make the adverts occupy more ‘real estate’ on the SERPs, add “Ad Extensions” by clicking on the tab shown below:

Try using different types of ad extensions for different adverts in the same Ad Group and compare the adverts performances after a set number of days or impressions.

Sitelinks will add links at the bottom of your advert to different parts of your website. Choose sitelinks from the drop down menu, then click the +New sitelink button. Fill in the details as prompted in the pop up box:

Once the adverts are in place, monitor them for a set number of days or a set number of impressions. Pause any poorly performing keywords, and check which search terms are triggering your adverts. If any are irrelevant, add them to the negative keywords list.

Unfortunately, this process needs to be repeated for each highly-relevant keyword that you find with a high CTR or a high search volume and low/med competition.
– Identify the effective, or potentially effective keywords
– Create an Ad Group for each keyword
– Create 3 or 4 different adverts within each Ad Group
– Monitor adverts
– Pause poorly performing adverts
– If any irrelevant keywords trigger adverts. Add them to the negative keyword list