Why do you need to get to grips with negative keywords?
As we mentioned earlier, negative keywords exist so you can increase your return on investment with greater certainty and focus exclusively on search terms that are relevant to your campaign and to interested users. That way, you can target your campaigns and stop them being affected by other traffic.
So you should welcome negative keywords with open arms, as they make sure your ad budget isn't wasted on clicks where the user has a completely different search intent from what your campaign has in mind. Better targeting means a greater return on investment, and real potential customers. That doesn't sound too bad, if we do say so ourselves.
So how do you create negative keywords?
If you're sitting there thinking that setting up negative keywords sounds a bit overwhelming, all we can say is: “Fear not”. Fortunately, it's fairly straightforward.
When you create your campaign in Google Ads, you need to add keywords to a ‘Negative keyword list’, which is then linked to the specific campaign, list, ad group or ad. That way, you can exclude searches where you don't want a particular type of search, for example question searches (wh-words).
The difference between campaign, list and ad
You add your negative keywords at different levels, depending on what makes 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, you need to create your negative keywords at campaign level.
- List - A really smart feature that lets you create and save lists of negative keywords, which you can later add across your Google Ads account.
- Ad - Here you work at the most specific level, where you really lavish attention on each individual ad group. It's time-consuming, but it 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 part of: a ‘broad match’, a ‘phrase match’ or an ‘exact match’. We'll walk you through the three match types now.
Negative broad match
A ‘broad match’ is the default type when you create negative keywords. It excludes searches that include all your negative keywords, even if they appear in a different order from the one you created. However, your ad can still 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 can still be visible unless all the search terms are included in the same order.
You can see an example of negative phrase match below.
Negative exact match
‘Negative exact match’ is a combination of the other two match types. So your ad won't be shown if the search contains the exact search terms in the same order and without extra words. But if the search includes additional words in combination with the negative match you created, 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 match type?
You're heading into deep water when you start working with negative keywords, because creating the wrong search terms can have major consequences for your ad spend. One of the few ways to avoid this is to use something as simple as your own rational thinking and judge for yourself what makes most sense for your Google Ads.
When you create search terms, you can also think up negative keywords that resemble your chosen search terms. For example, if your shop sells new shoes, it would be a good idea to exclude the keyword “Used shoes”. Then your ads won't be shown to customers who want to buy used shoes, and you avoid unnecessary clicks.
So it's all about getting inside your segment's way of thinking and considering what they would Google to find your products, while also considering search terms that have nothing to do with your business's services and products.
Negative keywords have both advantages and disadvantages…
Negative keywords are generally a really smart feature in the Google Ads toolbox. But advantages rarely come without a few disadvantages. We'll list them for you.
Advantages
- Negative keywords improve the quality of the traffic that comes to your website.
- They give you the opportunity 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, so it reaches fewer users/customers
- Negative keywords don't match close variants, so your ads may still be shown for searches or pages that contain close variants of your negative search terms.
General negative search terms you should consider adding to your Google Ads account
- “Hiring” and “job”-related keywords.
Unless your business works in recruitment, your ads should in most cases attract new customers, not new employees. Jobseekers often use Google to find vacancies in their industries, and they click on companies' ads. For that reason, you should create job-related keywords as negative search terms.
- Information and fact-related keywords.
Many people turn to the internet to find “how-tos” and other information. Unless you provide this, consider creating these as negative search terms, so you don't waste ad spend on people looking for information rather than potential customers in the market with a clear search intent.
- Search terms such as “free” and “cheap”.
If your business doesn't offer free products or services, these should be negative keywords. And if your products or services are premium quality, you naturally won't want to be associated with keywords like “cheap” either. It's an important internal decision for your business, and one you should make early on when setting up your Google Ads.
- Keywords your competitors use.
Competitors' search terms can be really useful if you dare to invest your ad spend in them. If a potential customer searches for your competitor's name, your ads can appear and in that way convert traffic to your business through competitor searches. It's smart, but it's a risk you need to be willing to take!
- Searches that don't convert.
If a keyword hasn't converted after a longer period, it may be a good idea to pause it.
Do you need help creating negative keywords?
Our seasoned PPC specialists are ready and waiting for a sounding-board session, where together you can assess which negative keywords you should factor into your Google Ads!
Fill in the contact form or call us on 70 60 50 28!
