Choose keywords by writing down what your buyer types right before they're ready to act, then bid on those phrases and block the rest. Start with the searches that name the thing you sell plus a sign of intent: "emergency plumber near me," "commercial HVAC repair quote," "estate planning attorney." Leave the broad, curious searches alone until the account has proven it can turn the narrow ones into leads.
That's different from what most people do first, which is list every word that describes the business. A list like that feels thorough. In practice it buys a lot of clicks from people researching, comparing, or just wondering, and you pay for every one of them.
Think about the moment, not the topic
A keyword is the phrase someone types into Google, and your ad can show when that phrase matches. The mistake is treating the phrase as a topic. "Plumbing" is a topic. "Water heater leaking in basement" is a person standing in an inch of water with their phone out.
The second searcher is worth far more to you, even though far fewer people type it. So before you open the keyword tool, answer one question in plain words: what does someone type when they have decided to hire, not when they're curious? Then work backward from there.
Words that usually signal readiness: a location ("near me," a town name), a transaction ("quote," "cost," "hire," "book"), or an urgent situation. Words that usually signal browsing: "how to," "ideas," "examples," "jobs," "salary," "free." None of this is a rule, because every business is different. It's a starting point for sorting your list.
Match types, in plain English
Every keyword you add has a match type — a setting that controls how closely a search has to resemble your keyword before your ad can show. There are three, and the differences decide where your money goes.
- Exact match: shows your ad for searches that mean the same thing as your keyword. It's the narrowest and the easiest to control.
- Phrase match: shows your ad when the search includes the meaning of your phrase, with extra words allowed before or after it.
- Broad match: shows your ad for searches Google decides are related, even when they share no words with your keyword. It reaches the most people and gives you the least say.
Broad match isn't wrong. Google's automation has gotten better at using it, and on an account with clean tracking it can find searches you'd never have thought of. But broad match without discipline buys browsers instead of buyers. It hands the steering wheel to the auction, and the auction can't tell a qualified lead from a curious reader. Only your conversion tracking can.
A sensible order: begin with exact and phrase match on your clearest buying phrases. Once those are producing real leads, test broad match on a small slice of budget and watch what it brings in.
Negative keywords are half the job
A negative keyword is a search you tell Google never to show your ad for. If you sell new furnaces, add "used," "DIY," "manual," and "jobs," and you stop paying for people who were never going to call.
You can't guess your whole negative list on day one. You build it by reading the search terms report, which shows the actual phrases that triggered your ads. Check it often at first. Every irrelevant search you find is money you can stop spending, and the list gets more valuable the longer an account runs. This is a big part of what disciplined Google Ads management comes down to.
Judge keywords by leads, not clicks
A keyword with a low cost per click can still be your most expensive one, if none of its clicks turn into inquiries. A keyword that costs more per click can be your cheapest source of customers. You only find out which is which when the account records real leads against each phrase.
If you're already running ads and the leads aren't coming, keywords are one of three places to look. We cover all three in why Google Ads stop converting.
A short way to start
- Write down the phrases a ready-to-hire customer types. Aim for the specific ones.
- Add them as exact and phrase match, and add an obvious starter list of negatives.
- Check the search terms report every few days at first, and add negatives for anything off target.
- Compare keywords by the leads they produce, not by clicks or cost per click.
- Test broad match only after the first four are working.
If you'd like a second set of eyes on what your account is paying for, an outside audit will show which keywords bring buyers and which only bring traffic.