Finding Negative Keywords Using the Keyword Suggestion Tool<\/h2>\n
Go into your Google Ads dashboard and go to Tools and Settings > Keyword Planner<\/p>\n
![\"finding](\"https:\/\/sourcelinemedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/keyword-tool.png\")
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This is a great tool for finding keywords to bid on Google Ads campaigns.\u00a0 However, it is also an excellent tool for finding Google Ads negative keywords.\u00a0 Search the general topic of your business and check off the keywords that do not want to show up in your paid ads.<\/p>\n
Using Search Terms Report<\/h2>\n
Unfortunately, you will show up for a lot of irrelevant terms.\u00a0 As an example, we do not sell supplies, but Google might show our listing when someone searches “janitorial supplies.”\u00a0 So we add terms like supplies to our Google Ads negative keyword list.<\/p>\n I like to go through the search terms report and sort by impressions, so I get the search terms that come up most often.\u00a0 Then I check the boxes on the ones that I want to add to our Google Ads negative keyword list.\u00a0 As you select the keywords you can click on “Add as negative keyword”\u00a0 and this will bring up another page that allows you to add them to the list.<\/p>\n This example above is for a mature Google Ads campaign.\u00a0 We still will show up for the thousands of other searches for cleaning services.\u00a0 I like to remove competitor names because historically they convert poorly.\u00a0 The only exception is that really large competitors that are well known with a great reputation.\u00a0 We don’t mind showing up for their searches, as large companies usually need several bids and we’ve seen conversions.<\/p>\n When managing Google Ads negative keywords, it\u2019s important to keep an eye on how they\u2019re performing and make adjustments as needed. Regularly review the search terms report in Google Ads and add any new terms as necessary. I will do this everyday on a brand-new search campaign and then usually once or twice a week depending on the budget and how “clean” the campaign is.<\/p>\n One common mistake is not adding enough Google Ads negative keywords, or not adding them at all. Without proper management, it\u2019s easy for irrelevant search terms to slip through the cracks and end up costing you money on wasted ad spend.\u00a0 \u00a0We recently got a new client, a very large company that decided to pay someone on Fiver to do their ads.\u00a0 They were running about a $10,000 budget each month for the past year.\u00a0 We estimated around $79,000 was spent on irrelevant search words.\u00a0 \u00a0If they had hired a professional, it would have cost them a small percentage of that.\u00a0 Saving money is always a good idea, but if your ad budget is over $1000 a month, a professional service is likely going to get save you in the long run or at least ensure you get to maximize your ROI.<\/p>\n Some advertisers make the mistake of adding too many words to the Google Ads negative keywords list, which can limit their reach too much and prevent their ads from being seen by potential customers who may be interested in what they have to offer.\u00a0 Luckily, Google Ads watches for this and you will see it show up in your recommendations.\u00a0 They may notice you missing out on searches due to Google Ads negative keywords, and then check with you to make sure you really want to keep the keyword on the list.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve implemented a list of Google Ads negative keywords into your campaigns, it\u2019s important to measure your campaign by CPC, CPM and most important cost per conversion.\u00a0 After several months, you will see that cost per conversion go down while the conversion rate increases.\u00a0 This is always a great comparison to make a few months after you start. This type of report is excellent for showing a client or showing your manager.<\/p>\n![\"selecting](\"https:\/\/sourcelinemedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/searchterms-253x300.png\")
Google has two different keyword reports under the Keyword section.\u00a0 The first is search keywords. These are the actual terms you are bidding on. The other report is called “Search Terms” and this report shows the actual term that the user put in the search bar.\u00a0 Because Google uses broad terms, they will try to give you clicks for search terms that were close to what you bid on.\u00a0 For example, if I bid on “janitorial service” then google might also give me an impression when someone searched<\/a> “janitorial cleaning service” which would be appropriate.\u00a0 Often you’ll notice you get impressions from misspellings such as “janitrial service.”<\/p>\nAdding Negative Keywords from Search Terms Report<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nBest Practices for Managing Google Ads Negative Keywords<\/h2>\n
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Negative Keywords<\/h2>\n
Measuring the Impact of Google Ads Negative Keywords<\/h2>\n
Negative Keywords and Google Ads Management<\/h2>\n