How do PPC keywords work (in 2022)?

6 Jun

What is a keyword? In general marketing terms it’s quite straightforward - A word, or phrase used when trying to find information. In PPC, keywords are matched against searches (aka queries) users make in a search engine, which then returns results from different advertisers. So you type what you want into the search engine, and it shows you what you searched for. Simple, right?

Well if you are reading this blog, you’re probably aware that there’s a bit more to it than that - Read on and let’s get into what you should know in order to stay on top of your campaigns in 2022.

Changing trends and search behaviours

Every day billions of searches are made on Google, and amazingly many are completely unique. There are new trends emerging everyday, and people often begin searching for products or services they don’t fully understand yet, and they are using the search engine to learn more.

Whilst it’s not a suitable strategy for everyone, in many cases, being visible to these audiences and becoming a part of the learning process can give brands a valuable head start over their competition. Read on to find out why being aware of this isn’t only important for the keywords you choose, but also their match types.

Keyword Match types

One of the fastest changing (and easiest to be behind the times on) areas of PPC is keyword match types.

There are many rabbit holes in which to delve into here, but we’ll keep things relatively simple and use the marketers favourite visualisation to represent how they work (in theory) - The funnel.

In this example, we see the same keyword text {lawn mowing service}. Below you see example results of that keyword text applied using the 3 different match types available.

These match types have 3 key functional differences.

Broad match will serve your ads to those users it believes are searching for things related to your keyword.
Phrase match will serve your ads to those users which have searched for things it believes to include the meaning of your search (for example your search + near me)
Exact match will serve your ads to users searching for things with the same meaning as your keyword.

In theory, this suite of functionalities across match types will allow you to control who your adverts show to. Use broad match to get maximum reach and spread the net wider. Or keep things super specific with only exact match down at the bottom of the funnel.

Great, so now that we’ve got match types nailed down we’re ready to go?

Not quite yet, there’s one vitally important thing to understand before you apply the above information to your campaigns. It’s a PPC secret only spoken about in hushed tones at conferences, or in forum threads found on the lesser known parts of the internet (bing).

Here it is…

Google doesn’t know everything.

Ok well so maybe that was a touch dramatic, but that relatively obvious statement is still important when it comes to your PPC keyword decisions.

Why it’s important comes down to that 7 letter word used across Google’s match type definitions…

meaning.

If Google doesn’t understand the meaning of the users search, it can’t effectively pair it with your keywords and your budget can quickly go up in smoke.

So how do you know if Google understands what your audience is searching for?

Unfortunately, there aren’t any ways to know for certain, but you can give yourself an advantage by learning a bit about how Google actually goes about understanding the meaning behind searches.

How does Google understand meaning?

Google’s clever use of data is the reason “I’ll Google it” has become such a commonly used phrase in everyday life. A huge contributing factor to this popularity is just how insanely good they are at surfacing relevant information to users with just a few keystrokes.

Just cast your mind back to the early days of search engines, when finding answers to specific queries took multiple attempts and wrangling the order of the words in your search (Google calls this searching in ‘keyword-ese’).

Thankfully, those days are long gone and it’s easy to take for granted how easy it is to get the answers you need. Even recent changes have had a big impact on how effective search is for the end user;

Searching for “can you get medicine for someone at a pharmacy” used to return general search results around filling a prescription. Now, we understand that “for someone” is an important part of this query, and it matches to a result based on picking up a prescription for another person.

But how do they do it? The technical specifics are beyond the scope of this article, but we’ll provide a general overview. (For an in-depth breakdown of how natural language processing (NLP) is used in Google search, read more here.)

Over the years, there have been 2 methods of matching queries to search results at Google;

(the old way) Syntax - Matching up the words in the search with your keyword.
(the new way) Semantics - Understanding the meaning behind the search.

In 2018, thanks to technologiocal advances, Google launched BERT - A system for training AI models to better figure out what people mean when they search (known as semantics). Read a more technical insight into how BERT works here.

BERT changed things in several ways, but most importantly it allowed for more accurate results in searches like the above pharmacy example - Where words like “for” or “to” can completely change the context of the search.

This was no doubt an impressive and impactful development in Google’s quest for understanding meaning in search, but there are a few things to consider when deciding on your approach to PPC keyword match types (and how much trust to give ol’ BERT);

Neural networks & AI require large data-sets to work effectively.

This means either really popular recent searches, or searches that have been around for longer are likely to be better understood. Promoting travel or car leasing? Try broad. First to market with your new blockchain based moisturizer? Stick with exact.

A big chunk of daily search is completely new queries.

How long does it take your audience to speak your language? If someone researching your offering likely doesn’t know how to search correctly straight away, but you offer a product or service that Google should know well (plumbing services, for example) - Go broad and let BERT do the leg work. If you’re in a niché or emerging market, we’d keep the reins pretty tight to begin with.

Broad match goes beyond the keyword.

Thanks to an incredible wealth of information, when using broad match keywords Google will also assess a variety of other signals beyond the query itself in an attempt to qualify the most relevant users. This includes a users location, and their recent searches. For example a user searching for Rose might find ads related to flowers, or wine merchants. Results could depend on if their previous searches had been “flower arrangements” or “summer drink recipes”. Remember though this magic only works if Google understands your product or service well.

How do you decide what’s best for your account?

As with most things PPC, there isn’t a one-size fits all answer to this. Ultimately, we believe that controlled testing and a solid understanding of the fundamental systems at play behind the scenes is key to getting the most out of your campaigns.