What is a negative keyword?

When you run ads online, you pay money each time someone clicks on your ad. You want those clicks to come from people who are truly interested in what you offer. This is where negative keywords come in handy. Think of them as a filter for your ad campaigns. They are specific words or phrases that you tell advertising platforms, like Google Ads, to avoid showing your ads for.

For example, if you sell new cars, you would not want your ad to appear when someone searches for 'used cars' or 'free cars'. By adding 'used' and 'free' as negative keywords, you stop your ads from showing up in those irrelevant searches. This helps you save your advertising budget and ensures your ads are seen by the right people. Using negative keywords is a smart way to make your ad campaigns more efficient and target your audience more precisely.

Why negative keywords are essential

Negative keywords play a crucial role in the success of your paid advertising efforts. They directly impact how well your ads perform and how much value you get from your marketing budget.

Prevent wasted ad spend

Every time an irrelevant person clicks your ad, you pay for that click. If your ads show up for searches that have nothing to do with your product or service, you are essentially throwing money away. Negative keywords stop this by blocking those wasteful clicks, ensuring your budget is spent on valuable impressions and clicks from potential customers.

Boost ad relevance and click-through rates

When your ad appears for a search that closely matches what you offer, people are more likely to click on it. This makes your ad more relevant. Higher relevance often leads to a better click-through rate (CTR), which is the percentage of people who see your ad and click it. Ad platforms like Google Ads often reward relevant ads with better ad positions and sometimes even lower costs per click.

Improve conversion performance

Ultimately, you want your ad clicks to turn into sales, leads, or sign-ups. By filtering out irrelevant traffic, negative keywords ensure that the people clicking your ads are more likely to be interested in buying or signing up. This means a higher percentage of your clicks will result in a desired action, leading to better conversion rates and a stronger return on your advertising investment.

How to find and implement negative keywords

Putting negative keywords into practice is straightforward, but it requires a bit of thought and ongoing effort.

Discovering negative keywords

The best way to find negative keywords is by looking at your existing ad campaign data.

• Search term reports: In platforms like Google Ads, you can view a 'search terms report'. This report shows you the exact words people typed into Google before seeing and clicking your ad. Go through this report regularly and identify any searches that are clearly not relevant to your business. For example, if you sell 'running shoes' and see searches for 'running shoe repair' or 'running shoe laces', those might be good negative keywords.
• Brainstorming: Before launching a campaign, think about what people might search for that is similar but not quite right for your business. If you sell 'digital marketing courses', you might want to negate terms like 'free marketing courses' or 'marketing jobs'.

Adding them to your campaigns

Once you have a list, you can add them to your ad campaigns. Most platforms allow you to add negative keywords at different levels:

• Campaign level: This means the negative keyword applies to all ad groups within that specific campaign. It is good for broad, irrelevant terms that should never trigger your ads.
• Ad group level: This is more specific. A negative keyword added here only applies to the ads within that particular ad group. This is useful when different ad groups target slightly different aspects of your business.

Understanding negative match types

Just like regular keywords, negative keywords also have match types that control how strictly they are applied:

• Negative broad match: Your ad will not show if the search includes all the words in your negative keyword, no matter the order. For example, if 'running shoes free' is a negative broad match, your ad will not show for 'free running shoes'.
• Negative phrase match: Your ad will not show if the search contains your exact negative keyword phrase, in that order. For example, if 'running shoes free' is a negative phrase match, your ad will not show for 'best running shoes free delivery' but might still show for 'free running shoes'.
• Negative exact match: Your ad only gets blocked if the search query is an exact match for your negative keyword. For example, if '[running shoes free]' is a negative exact match, only that exact search is blocked.

Best practices for ongoing management

To get the most out of negative keywords, it is important to manage them actively.

• Start early: Do not wait until you have wasted a lot of money. Brainstorm and add initial negative keywords before your campaign even launches.
• Review regularly: Your search term reports are your best friend. Make it a habit to check them weekly or monthly to find new irrelevant searches.
• Be careful not to over-negate: While it is good to be thorough, do not add so many negative keywords that you accidentally block relevant searches. Always double-check your list to ensure you are not missing out on potential customers.
• Use different match types strategically: Sometimes a broad negative match is fine, but other times, you might need a phrase or exact match to block only very specific irrelevant searches without affecting relevant ones.

Negative keywords are a fundamental tool in paid advertising that helps you control where your ads appear. By diligently adding and managing them, you can significantly improve your campaign's efficiency, save money, and ensure your marketing efforts reach the right audience. Make them a regular part of your ad campaign optimization routine for better results.