What is a Keyword Close Variant?

Keyword close variants allow Google Ads to show your ads for searches that are similar to your targeted keywords, even if they contain misspellings, singular/plural forms, abbreviations, or slight variations. This feature ensures that you don’t miss potential customers due to minor differences in search queries.

Key Features of Keyword Close Variants:

1. Includes common variations – Covers misspellings, plural/singular forms, stemming (e.g., “run” vs. “running”), and abbreviations.
2. Applies to all match types – Works for broad match, phrase match, and exact match keywords.
3. Expands reach – Helps capture relevant traffic without adding multiple variations manually.
4. Can’t be turned off – Google automatically applies close variants to exact match and phrase match keywords.

Example Use Case:

If you bid on “women’s shoes”, your ad may also show for:
✅ “womens shoes” (misspelling)
✅ “woman shoes” (singular variation)
✅ “ladies’ shoes” (synonym)
✅ “women shoe” (grammatical variation)

Why It Matters?

• Increases reach by covering additional relevant searches.
• Saves time since you don’t need to add every variation as a separate keyword.
• Improves ROI by ensuring ads show for meaningful variations.

Pro Tip:

Use negative keywords to prevent your ad from showing on unwanted close variants. For example, if you sell running shoes but not formal shoes, you can add “formal” as a negative keyword.

Would you like help optimizing your Google Ads keyword strategy?