When it comes to running paid ad campaigns, particularly on platforms like Google Ads, every dollar counts. You want to ensure your ads reach the right audience, so your marketing budget is being spent efficiently. One powerful, often overlooked tool in this quest for efficiency is negative keywords.
Negative keywords are a simple but effective way to ensure that your ads don’t show up for irrelevant search queries. This can help save money, improve ad targeting, and increase your conversion rates. But how do you use negative keywords effectively? In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know.
What Are Negative Keywords?
Negative keywords are words or phrases that prevent your ads from showing up for certain searches. When you add a negative keyword to your campaign, it tells the advertising platform to exclude any search queries containing that keyword. For example, if you sell premium leather handbags, you might add “cheap” as a negative keyword to ensure your ads don’t show up when someone searches for “cheap leather handbags.”
The purpose of negative keywords is to filter out irrelevant traffic, helping you target users who are more likely to convert, and keeping your ad spend focused on the most profitable clicks.
Why Negative Keywords Matter in Paid Ads
1. Save Money
Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing up for irrelevant searches. This ensures you’re not wasting your budget on clicks from users who aren’t interested in what you offer. If you’re targeting specific keywords that attract high-quality traffic, negative keywords help ensure that you avoid clicks that won’t convert.
2. Improve Click-Through Rate (CTR)
By preventing irrelevant searches from triggering your ads, you’re improving the quality of traffic to your site. This can lead to higher engagement rates, which in turn can boost your CTR. A higher CTR improves your Quality Score on Google Ads, which could lower your cost-per-click (CPC) and improve your overall ad performance.
3. Enhance Conversion Rates
Negative keywords help you refine your audience and ensure you’re attracting people who are most likely to convert. By blocking irrelevant or low-intent searches, you ensure that the traffic coming to your website is more relevant, increasing the chances of conversions.
4. Better Ad Relevance
Using negative keywords makes your ad campaigns more relevant to your target audience. For example, if you’re selling a high-end product, excluding terms like “discount” or “cheap” ensures that your ads are shown only to users who are looking for products in your price range, improving the likelihood of a sale.
How To Find the Right Negative Keywords
1. Analyze Search Terms Reports
The first step in adding negative keywords to your campaign is to review your search terms report. This report shows the actual search queries that triggered your ads. By examining this data, you can identify irrelevant queries that are wasting your budget and add those terms as negative keywords.
- For example, if you’re running a campaign for a luxury shoe brand, but you notice that your ad has been triggered by searches for “cheap shoes,” it’s time to add “cheap” as a negative keyword.
2. Think About User Intent
Consider the intent behind the search terms. Are users looking for exactly what you offer? If not, add those terms to your negative keyword list. For example, if you’re selling a product but not offering services, you could add terms like “free,” “services,” or “how to” as negative keywords to exclude people looking for free information or tutorials.
3. Use Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research tools, such as Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMrush, can help you find potential negative keywords. These tools allow you to analyze search volume and competition for specific keywords, giving you a better understanding of which keywords may not align with your business.
4. Look at Competitors
Review the search queries that competitors are targeting, and identify keywords they may be ignoring. If they’re missing certain exclusions that would be irrelevant to your product, it might be worth adding those to your negative list.
5. Use Broad Negative Keywords Strategically
If you’re running a large-scale campaign, consider using broad negative keywords to filter out entire categories of irrelevant traffic. For example, you could add “free,” “cheap,” or “how to” to exclude broad searches that are unlikely to convert.
How to Add Negative Keywords in Paid Ads Platforms
1. Google Ads
Google Ads allows you to add negative keywords at the campaign or ad group level. Here’s how you can do it:
- Step 1: Log into your Google Ads account and go to the campaign or ad group where you want to add negative keywords.
- Step 2: Click on “Keywords” from the left-hand navigation menu, and then click on “Negative Keywords” at the top of the page.
- Step 3: Click the “+” button to add new negative keywords. You can choose from different match types (broad, phrase, or exact) to refine your exclusions.
- Step 4: Once added, review performance regularly to ensure that you’re optimizing effectively.
2. Microsoft Ads (Bing Ads)
For Microsoft Ads, the process is similar to Google Ads. You can add negative keywords directly within the platform:
- Step 1: Go to the “Keywords” tab and select “Negative keywords.”
- Step 2: Choose to add negative keywords at the campaign or ad group level.
- Step 3: Add your negative keywords and select the match type.
3. Facebook Ads
Although Facebook Ads doesn’t allow for direct negative keyword targeting, you can achieve similar results using interest-based targeting and audience exclusions. By excluding users who are interested in certain topics or demographics, you can avoid showing your ads to irrelevant audiences.
Best Practices for Negative Keywords
1. Regularly Review and Update Your Negative Keyword List
Your negative keyword list should be a living document that you revisit frequently. As you gather more data and refine your targeting, keep an eye on your search terms report and adjust your list accordingly.
2. Use Negative Keywords in Combination with Exact and Phrase Matches
To strike the perfect balance, combine negative keywords with exact or phrase match types. This ensures you exclude terms with high potential for irrelevant clicks but don’t inadvertently block relevant traffic.
3. Avoid Over-Excluding
While negative keywords help you save money, avoid going overboard. If you exclude too many terms, you might block valuable traffic that could have resulted in conversions. Take care to strike the right balance between exclusion and reach.
Conclusion: Master Negative Keywords for Better Ad Performance
Negative keywords are a simple yet powerful tool for improving the efficiency of your paid ad campaigns. By filtering out irrelevant searches, you’ll save money, enhance your ad relevance, and increase your chances of attracting high-quality traffic.
Start by analyzing your search terms, choosing the right keywords to exclude, and regularly refining your negative keyword list. When done right, negative keywords can become a key part of your conversion optimization strategy, ensuring that your paid ads perform at their best.
