When you operate a business on the Internet, you must have a good understanding of keywords. Keywords help people find your website, and when used correctly, they can help your website rank higher in search results. Since Google drives about 70% of the search engine market, it’s a good idea to start your keyword research using the Google Keyword Tool.

Before you start using the tool, make sure you understand the match types you can choose from. There are 3 match types you can choose from when running searches; comprehensive, exact and sentence. Each has its pros and cons. Remember, while it’s important to use keywords correctly, always create your content for people first and search engines second. If it doesn’t make sense when people read your content, it doesn’t matter how much traffic your site gets.

BROAD MATCH TYPE

Broad will give you very high search volume results, as the results will include each and every variation of the keyword you type. For example, if she runs a search on “pepperoni pizza”, the monthly search volume includes any search with the word “pepperoni” or “pizza”. It’s not a very accurate reflection of the volume she might expect when she chooses to target a specific keyword phrase.

TYPE OF SENTENCE MATCHING

When you run a search using “phrase”, the results will include the exact phrase with variations. For example, if you type “pepperoni pizza,” the monthly search volume will include the exact keyword phrase, as well as variations, such as “good pepperoni pizza” or “best pepperoni pizza.” For single word keywords, the results will be the same as for “broad” searches.

EXACT MATCH TYPE

Using the “exact” match type is a much better indication of the traffic you could receive if your web page appears on the first page of Google search results. The exact match type includes only the exact phrase search volume, with no variations. So when you type “pepperoni pizza”, you only get the search volume results for that exact phrase. If you appear on the first page of Google for a specific phrase, you may get additional traffic for similar keywords, but it’s better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.