Most Common AdWords Mistake

Today's question is about AdWords campaign management and was e-mailed to me by Jimmy, last name withheld by request.

"i'm new to adwords and was wondering what is the most common mistake you see adwords newbies making?"

Jimmy,

It's so hard to just pick one:-)

In all seriousness I would have to say the most common AdWords mistake I see people making is the use of broad and or phrase matching options. There are some situations where using broad or phrase match makes sense but in most cases exact match is the way to go. Whenever I'm asked I almost always advise that people start with exact match and roll into broad and phrase matching options after they have a chance to see how exact match is performing. Set your benchmark with exact match then test the other options. And when you get ready to use the other matching options make sure to read up on negative keyword matching options before you start that first broad or phrase matched campaign.