Get positive results with negative keywords
If your business advertises on Google, knowing negative keywords is a must!
It's a smart feature on Google Ads that lets you increase your return of investment and ensures a narrowed focus on relevant keywords.
It's a crucial feature for your advertising dollars!


Why do you need to manage negative keywords?
As we mentioned before, negative keywords allow you to increase your ROI with more certainty and focus exclusively on search terms that are relevant to your campaign and interested users. This way, you can target your campaigns and avoid them being unaffected by other traffic.
You should welcome negative keywords with open arms, as they ensure that your ad budget isn't wasted on clicks where the user has a completely different search intent than what your campaign intends. Improved targeting means greater return of investment and real potential customers. That doesn't sound too bad, if we do say so ourselves.
How do you create negative keywords?
If you're thinking that setting up negative keywords sounds a bit confusing, all we can say is: "Fear not". Fortunately, it's pretty straightforward.
When you create your campaign in Google Ads, you add keywords to a 'Negative keyword list', which is then linked to the specific campaign, list, ad group or ad. This way you can exclude searches where you don't want a specific search type - for example, query searches (Wh-words).
The difference between campaign, list and ad
You add your negative keywords at different levels - whatever makes the most sense for your Google Ads. In most cases, all the levels below are used across the ads.
- Campaign - If you want specific search terms for different ad groups across the campaign, create your negative keywords at campaign level.
- List - A super smart feature that lets you create and save lists of negative keywords that you can later add across your Google Ads account.
- Ad - This is where you work at the most specific level, where you really care about each ad group. It's time-consuming but can save you a lot of money and unnecessary ad spend if the negative keyword is specific to the ad group.
The difference between 'broad match', 'phrase match' and 'exact match'
When you create negative keywords, you can also choose which variant the search term should be included in - a 'broad match', a 'phrase match' or an 'exact match'. We'll go through the three different match types for you now.
Negative broad match
A 'broad match' is the most standard type when creating negative keywords. It excludes searches that include all your negative keywords - even if they are in a different order than the one you created. However, your ad may be visible if the search only contains some of your search terms.
In the example below with the negative search term "shoes for running", you can see how a negative broad match will trigger your ad.

Negative phrase match
A 'negative phrase match' is used relatively rarely as it excludes the exact search terms in the same order. If the user's search contains other words, your ad may still be visible unless all search terms are included in the same order.
You can see an example of a negative sentence match below.

Negative exact match
'Negative exact match' is a combination of the other two match types. This means that your ad will not appear if the search contains the exact search terms in the same order and without additional words. However, if the search consists of additional words in combination with your created negative match, the ad will still be shown.
The example below shows a negative exact match in action.

How do you choose the right negative keyword and search match?
You're in deep water when you start working with negative keywords. Because creating the wrong search terms can have major consequences for your ad dollars. One of the few ways you can avoid this is by using something as simple as your rational mind and assessing what makes the most sense for your Google Ads.
When creating search terms, you can also think of negative keywords that are similar to your chosen search terms. For example, if your store sells new shoes, it would be a good idea to exclude the keyword "Used shoes". This way, your ads won't be shown to customers who want to buy used shoes and you avoid unnecessary clicks.
It's all about understanding your segment's thinking patterns and considering what they will Google to find your products, while also considering search terms that have nothing to do with your company's services and products.
Negative keywords have both pros and cons...
Negative keywords are generally a really smart feature in the Google Ads toolbox. But advantages rarely come without a number of disadvantages. We list them for you.
Benefits and advantages
- Negative keywords improve the quality of traffic coming to your website.
- Allows you to increase the average time visitors spend on your site.
- Your business saves money.
You increase your ROI and lower your cost per conversion.
Disadvantages
- Too many negative keywords can limit your campaign to reach fewer users/customers
- Negative keywords don't match close variants, so your ads may still show up on searches or pages that contain close variants of your negative search terms.
Common negative search terms you should consider adding to your Google Ads account
- "Employment" and "job" related keywords.
Unless your company is in the recruitment business, in most cases your ads should attract new customers, not new employees. Job seekers often use Google to find job openings in their industries and click on company ads. For this reason, you should create job-related keywords as negative search terms.
- Information and facts related keywords.
Many people search the web for "how-to's" and other information. Unless you provide this, consider creating these as negative search terms so you don't waste ad dollars on information seekers rather than potential customers in the market with a clear search intent.
- Search terms like "free" and "cheap".
If your company does not offer free products or services, these should be negative keywords. If your products or services are of premium quality, you don't want to be associated with keywords like "cheap". This is an important internal decision in your company that you should define early in the creation of your Google Ads.
- Keywords that your competitors are using.
Competitor search terms can be really useful if you dare to invest your advertising dollars in them. If a potential customer searches on your competitor's name, your ads can become visible and convert traffic to your business via competitor searches. It's smart, but a risk you have to be willing to take!
- Searches that don't convert.
If a keyword isn't converting after a long period of time, it might be a good idea to pause it.
Need help creating negative keywords?
Our experienced PPC specialists are ready for a sparring session where you can assess which negative keywords you should include in your Google Ads!
Fill out the contact form or call us on 70 60 50 28!
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