mysql: what's the difference between MATCH and LIKE?

[partha]

is there any difference for search for a single word in a column? what about a phrase?

[coopster]

MATCH ... AGAINST is used in full-text [dev.mysql.com] indexing and searching.

What really matters is how you are searching. The page How MySQL Uses Indexes [dev.mysql.com] and some FULLTEXT reading are in order before you make a decision about your columns and indexing.