AdArchitectThe 4 Kinds of Amazon Keywords, and Which Ones Deserve Your Budget First
2026-08-21 · By Andreas K.
Most keyword advice stops at match type: broad, phrase, exact. That answers how tightly a term is targeted. It doesn't answer a more basic question: out of every search term you could bid on, which ones actually deserve your limited budget first?
The four categories
Dr. Travis Zigler's Amazon PPC course lays out a clean way to group every keyword you're considering, based on how close the shopper is to already knowing they want you specifically:
- Competition: your competitors' brand names. The shopper searching this already has a favorite, and it isn't you yet. Least converting, most expensive, since you're bidding against their own loyal customers. Most sellers either skip this entirely or add it as a negative rather than actively bid on it, especially early on.
- Browse: generic, problem-aware terms where the shopper hasn't picked a specific product type yet. Something like "eye care solution" for an eyelid-wipes product. Higher cost, lower conversion than the categories below, worth bidding on once budget allows, not first.
- Shop: category-aware terms where the shopper knows the type of product but not the brand. "Eyelid wipes" instead of "eye care solution." Strong conversion potential, and usually the first place real budget should go.
- Brand name: your own brand terms. Highest converting, cheapest, since the shopper is already specifically looking for you.
Why this matters more than match type alone
Match type controls how tightly a term is targeted. This framework controls something match type can't: which terms are worth targeting at all, and in what order. A tightly-targeted exact-match bid on a Competition-tier term can still be a bad use of budget. A broad-match bid on a Shop-tier term can still be a good one.
The priority order for a limited budget
Brand-name and Shop terms first: they're closest to purchase and give you the most efficient early data. Browse next, once budget allows you to bid on demand that hasn't fully decided yet. Competition last, if at all, since you're paying premium rates to compete for someone else's loyal customer.
This is exactly the kind of prioritization decision that's easy to skip when you're just trying to get a campaign live. Skipping it doesn't mean it goes away. It means your budget quietly spreads itself across all four categories evenly, when it should be concentrated where it converts best.
Working out which keywords actually fit your specific catalog, priced and prioritized, is exactly what the free campaign structure check starts with. The $16 plan turns it into a real bulk-upload file.
Frequently asked questions
Should I ever bid on my competitors' brand names?
Some sellers do, deliberately, once they have budget to spare and want incremental volume. It's rarely where a new or small seller should start, since you're paying to compete for someone else's already-loyal customer, and the category has the lowest conversion of the four by design.
How do I know which category a keyword falls into?
Read the term the way a shopper would type it. A brand name is obvious. A term naming a product type ("eyelid wipes") is Shop. A term naming a general problem or need ("eye care solution") is Browse. Anything naming a competitor by name is Competition.
Does this replace match type, or work alongside it?
Alongside it. Match type controls how tightly a term is targeted; this framework controls which terms are worth targeting at all and in what order. Use both together, not one instead of the other.
Where does this framework fit if I'm just starting out?
Right at the beginning, before you write your first keyword list. It's a fast way to sort a long candidate list into "bid on this now," "bid on this later," and "skip or negative" without needing a formal scoring process.
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