Welcome back to part 3 of the many-part series on starting, setting up and managing a Google AdWords advertising account for your fitness business. In Part 1, I went over the basic details of what AdWords is and how PPC advertising worked. In Part 2, I went into detail about setting up your first gym marketing and advertising campaign. In part 3 below, I explain the different types of PPC keywords and explain how each affects your Google AdWords impressions and click. Enjoy!

Broad Match Keyword Explanation

Broad match keywords for a fitness business are going to get you a LOT of impressions, but you’re also going to get a lot of people seeing your advertisement who might not be interested in your business. If they decide to click your ad (and believe me, people click your ads for the dumbest reasons), then you’ll be paying for a wasted click. In the example to the left, your ad might show up if someone searches, “fitness equipment in denver”. This person is obviously not looking for a gym membership, but your ad will show up either way. Broad match keywords are a great way to find new keywords for future advertising. You can use the search terms report to figure out these new keywords. Take-away: Broad match keywords are a great way to generating search terms that you can use in future ad campaigns. However, you’re going to be spending a ton of money on wasted clicks, so get ready for the “you gotta pay to play” side of AdWords.

Phrase Match Keyword Explanation

Phrase match keywords are pretty much exactly as they sound; you’re bidding on a certain phrase that a person must type into the Google search box. The longer your phrase match keyword, the less times your advertisement will show. If you use “gym in denver”, you’ll get a decent amount of advertising impressions. However, if you’re using “low cost in denver colorado” well then you’re putting your money on the fact that someone will type that super-long keyword into the Google search box. Chances are slim, but if they do, your ad will show. It’s best to keep phrase-match keywords to 2-4 words. Try to put yourself into the head of your clients; what would they type into Google to find your business? Take-away: Phrase match keywords are going to cost you a little more to bid on, since they are more related to the product or service you are selling. However, you can guarantee that most of the click you are going to receive have something to do with your product. You’ll waste less money with these.

Modified-Broad Match Keyword Explanation

Modified broad match keyword are my personal favorite. They’re the best of both the exact match word, while giving you the flexibility of a phrase match keyword. By putting a “+” sign in front of your keyword, you’re telling Google that that word can exist anywhere in the search term, but it MUST be in the search term. So, instead of guessing possible phrases that someone might type into Google, you can just add some keywords that are tied to your business and let people type what they want. Take-away: ModBroad are by far the best keyword in my opinion. You get to chose only the words you want to show up, but you don’t have to worry about any order. You can get the same granularity as an exact match keyword, but you won’t pay nearly the same prices.

Exact Match Keyword Explanation

Exact match keyword cost the most money to use, but they also guarantee that the people who are seeing your ads are directly interested in what you’re offering. For the example at left, the gym’s advertisements will only show if someone types in one of those exact phrases, nothing more, nothing less. If someone were to type in one of those phrases, you can guarantee that you know what they’re looking for. For that reason, if they click your ad and you’re bidding on an exact match keyword, you can expect to pay a much higher PPC. Take-away: Exact match keyword are great if you have the money to spend. These clicks are going to get very pricey, since you know exactly what the person was searching more. Use sparingly, or not if you have a huge budget.

Negative Keywords will Save You Money

A negative keyword is a word that CANNOT exist in the search query that someone types into Google. A GREAT negative keyword to use is the word “free”. In your negative keyword column, add “-free” to the list. There are hundreds and thousands of cheapskates out there typing, “free gym membership in ______” with the blank being a city name. These people do not intend to pay for gym membership, but they’re going to click on your ad if it shows up, racking up some big bills. By including “free” as a negative keyword, you’re going to save yourself thousands of dollars in bad clicks. Check that search terms report every week and see what other words you might be able to ad to your negative keyword lists.

Good negative keywords will save you so much money. At my old job, I spent 5 hours every Friday going through search terms and figuring out new negatives. It was tedious, but I was saving the company $1000s a week in bad clicks. Make sure to use the negative sign, otherwise you’re adding “free” as a broad match keyword and you’re going to hemorrhage money. Ahhh, the fun of Google AdWords.

Come back next week for Part 4 in the series, where I talk about landing pages and how to use them.