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The "Fishing Net" Analogy: Reach vs. Control

How wide do you want to cast your net?

When you give Google a keyword, you aren't just telling it what to target; you are telling it how strict to be.

Think of it like fishing:

Broad Match: A giant commercial trawler net. You catch everything—tuna, boots, sharks, and tin cans. Great for volume, bad for precision.

Phrase Match: A smaller, targeted net. You catch specific schools of fish, but might still get a few unexpected ones.

Exact Match: A speargun. You aim at one specific fish. You rarely miss, but you won't catch anything you didn't see coming.

Deep Dive: Exact Match (The "Sniper")

High control, lower volume.

Symbol: [brackets] (e.g., [red tennis shoes])

This tells Google: "Only show my ad if the user searches for exactly this meaning." It creates the highest relevance, which usually means a cheaper Cost Per Click (CPC) and higher conversion rate.

✅ Use this for:

Your highest value keywords: Terms you know lead to sales (e.g., "buy leather boots size 10").

Low Budget Campaigns: When you can't afford to waste a single penny on irrelevant clicks.

⚠️ The "Close Variant" Trap: Even Exact Match isn't 100% exact anymore. Google will still show your ad for misspellings or "same intent" variations (e.g., [lawn mowing] might match "cut grass").

Deep Dive: Phrase Match (The "Balance")

The middle ground for most advertisers.

Symbol: "quotes" (e.g., "red tennis shoes")

This tells Google: "The user's search must include the meaning of my phrase, but they can add words before or after."

Example: Keyword: "moving services"

Will Match: "Cheap moving services," "Moving services near me," "Best moving services for pianos."

Won't Match: "Moving house checklist" (doesn't include the core service).

✅ Use this for:

Core Keywords: When you want to capture long-tail variations without opening the floodgates to junk traffic.

Most Service Businesses: Great for catching "Plumber in [City]" or "[City] Plumber."

Deep Dive: Broad Match (The "Discovery Tool")

High risk, high reward (if used with Smart Bidding)

Symbol: None (just text, e.g., red tennis shoes)

This tells Google: "Show my ad for anything related to this topic." If you aren't careful, Google might show your "tennis shoes" ad to someone searching for "tennis racket" or "repair shoes."

✅ Use this ONLY if:

You use Smart Bidding: If you use "Maximize Conversions," Google's AI will filter out the bad clicks for you.

You have a large Negative Keyword list: You need to actively block bad terms.

You want to find NEW keywords: It's great for discovering search terms you never thought of.

💡 ClickSambo Critical Warning: Broad Match is the #1 source of invalid traffic. Because it casts such a wide net, it often picks up accidental clicks and bot traffic hiding in unrelated search terms. If you run Broad Match, you must have fraud protection active.