Google Adwords is a Pay Per Click engine that can give amazing results, if you use it right. All the tools are there, but you need to understand how to effectively use them to make you successful. This post is for Beginning Adwords users, but I will cover the basis of the Adwords bidding strategies that I use in my most advance campaigns.

Types of Keywords in Adwords

• Broad match: Adwords Bidding Strategy that displays your ads any time your keyword is used in a search. Broad match is the default Adwords keyword because it ensures that your ad will show up as often as possible. Although this sounds like a good idea, it only hurts you if you aren't careful. Let's say you bid on Adwords Bidding Strategies, in a broad match format. Your ad could show up any time someone searches for any combination of those keywords in any order, or with any other word.
  
  
• Exact match: The Adwords Bidding Strategy that only allows Adwords to display your ad if someone types in the exact phrase you are searching for. This is the best way to bid on keywords in the beginning. It gives you the most control over your budget, so you don't get any clicks from people who don't belong on your site.
  
  
• Phrase match: The Adwords Bidding Strategy that allows Adwords to display your ad any time someone uses an specific phrase in their searches. This strategy gives you control over your traffic, but not complete control. If you bid on "Adwords Bidding Strategies", Adwords could display your ad any time someone searched Adwords Bidding Strategies, Great Adwords Bidding Strategies, Horrible Adwords Bidding Strategies, Adwords Bidding Strategies with any other word. This can be great if you carry a large line of a certain brand or service, and you wan to quickly bid on all of the product searches in that line.
  
  
• Negative Keywords: The Adwords Keyword type that prevents Adwords from displaying your ad when the words you type in are included. In your negative keywords list you would include any word that you never want Adwords to display your ad for. A good standard negative keyword is '-free'. If you are not giving your products away for free, you should prevent Adwords from displaying your ads when the word free appears in a search.
  

Adwords Keyword Types Notation:

Broad Match: Keyword
Exact Match: [Keyword]
Phrase Match: "Keyword"
Negative: -Keyword

Adwords Bidding Strategies:

Never use Broad Match Keywords. Every client I have ever done consulting for has wasted at least some money because of broadmatch keywords. One of the worst cases I have seen was a company I did consulting for that sold Outdoor sporting goods, mostly hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and camping equipment. They did not carry fishing supplies, hunting supplies, or several other outdoor sporting goods. They had bid on the broad match keywords 'Outdoor Equipment', 'Sports Equipment', 'Outdoor Sports' etc. It sounds logical, but at the end of 12 months they had wasted over $10,000 on keywords like:

Outdoor Computer
Fishing Equipment
Kayaking Equipment
Outdoor Weddings

There was a list of about 400 keywords that they had wasted money on, just because of the broad match keywords they had used.

It takes more time, but by using only exact match keywords you have the most control over your Adwords Campaigns.

A more advanced Adwords Strategy

If you have a keyword phrase that your site is highly relevant to, Phrase Match, combined with Negative Match is the best option for you. Bid on your main keyword phrase, and then list all of the negative keywords that you can think of to ensure you avoid unqualified traffic.

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