The Different Keyword Match Types

Meeting a person who does not own a computer is rare. It is even more rare to hear of a company who is not fully automated. 

What is not so rare, is the business owner who knows very little about a computer. They understand that they need to be on the internet. 

They also understand that they need people to visit their site. They may call for an internet marketing agency who can help with their web traffic. 

The marketing teamwill then offerthe business owner an explanation of how search engines send traffic to internet sites. 

They explain that there are certain keywords that should be incorporated into the content of the website. 

They also explain that when a person types in a word in the search engine, the search engine looks for sites associated with that word and if their site is properly optimized, their company’s site will show up among the search engine results. 

But did you know that there are three different kinds of keyword types and that they all play different roles? Let us explain.

Broad Match

When conducting keyword research, you have three choices of how you want the keyword to match the search. The first choice is a broad keyword match. 

Let’s say you are a distributor of tires for heavy equipment.  Your SEO team strategically places the keyword “tires” with a broad match selection. 

Every time someone (usually in your area) types in the word tires in a search engine, your site will pop up. 

However, most of this traffic is useless to you. 

How many of those people are looking for tires for farm equipment, over the road trailers, or commercial vehicles? 
You will get traffic from people who need tires for cars, bikes, motorcycles, and lawn mowers. Because it is a broad match, your traffic is just that. Traffic.

Exact Match

The second kind of keyword match is “exact match.”

Using our example above, assume your keyword is entered as an exact match for “Bridgestone M854 tire.”

Unless the person types in Bridgestone M854 tire, they are not going to be directed to your website. 

If they know exactly what they need and happen to type it, it's a good hit, and could be a sale.

But, how many secretaries, drivers, or service techs know the exact name and number of the tire. 

This choice with keyword match can sometimes result in the opposite effect and be equally as bad as the broad match.

Phrase Match

Finally, there is the keyword phrase match. Most common people search with phrases. 

For example, they may type in “concrete truck tires in Nashville.”

This gives the search engine plenty of room to spider through the websites and grab all the sites that are relevant. 

This is the best keyword match option of the three. Your interest flow will be reasonable, and the consumers who come across your site are looking for someone with services just like you. 

Before you start feeding your website with keywords, make sure you know what is and is not relevant to your business, your website, and ultimately, your consumers.