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How to Use Negative Keywords to Eliminate Irrelevant Clicks and Increase ROAS
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Negative keywords can prevent Google from draining your budget on irrelevant clicks. They’re a powerful tool to increase campaign efficiency and boost ROAS. But… what exactly are they? When should you use them, and where can you find them? That’s what we’ll cover in this article.
What Are Negative Keywords?
As Google defines them: “Negative keywords let you exclude search terms from your campaigns and help you focus on only the keywords that matter to your customers. Better targeting can put your ad in front of interested users and increase your return on investment (ROI).” (source).
Negative keywords work like a counterpart to regular keywords, which are used to target relevant searches. Instead, negative keywords prevent your ads from showing up for non-relevant queries, helping you protect your budget from wasteful clicks.
But what exactly is a “non-relevant” click?
That depends on your marketing goals, but here are some common examples:
- Out-of-area: If your services are limited to a specific location (city, neighborhood, etc.), you can use negative keywords to avoid clicks from users searching outside that area.
- Branded terms: Exclude your brand name in non-branded campaigns to keep traffic directed toward branded campaigns.
- Competitors: Avoid firing ads for queries mentioning competitors unless you’re running a targeted competitor campaign.
- Low-intent queries: Keywords like "How to," "Free," or "Craigslist" often signal low buying intent and are strong candidates for your negative keyword list.
Why and When to Use Negative Keywords
Using negative keywords stops your budget from being drained by clicks that won’t generate revenue. But there’s an added benefit: ad relevance. Google’s Quality Score rewards more relevant ads with higher ad rank and lower CPCs. So, using negative keywords can help you achieve better ad placement and lower costs.
When should you use negative keywords? It’s an ongoing process that PPC marketers should stay on top of—ideally, weekly or even daily.
Where to Find Negative Keywords
Negative keyword research is an ongoing process and a key component of comprehensive PPC Keyword Research. In this section, we’ll highlight three valuable sources for identifying negative keywords: pre-made lists, Google Keyword Planner, and the Search Terms report.
1. Start with Pre-Made Lists
A quick way to start is by using pre-made negative keyword lists. You can find them online or download our Negative Keywords List for New Campaigns here.
These lists include common low-intent terms like "How to," "Free," and "Craigslist." They’re a good starting point but should be customized for your specific campaign.
2. Using the Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner, typically used for building keyword lists, is also a great tool for identifying negative keywords.
Here’s how to use it:
Go to Tools > Planning > Keyword Planner > Discover New Keywords
Enter your product or service, set the language and location, then click Get Results
To organize your findings, create a spreadsheet with columns for different categories (e.g., General, Branded, Competitors, Out-of-Area) and start identifying irrelevant keywords.
For example, I see “Amazon PPC” but I don’t offer Amazon-related services, so I’ll add it to an “Out-of-Scope” column.
You can also use the Refine Keywords feature to speed up the process:
Click Refine Keywords in the top-right of the report.
Deselect all categories except those irrelevant to your campaign, like brands or platforms you don’t work with (e.g., Amazon, Bing, LinkedIn).
With this approach, you’ll quickly find a pool of potential negative keywords to add under “Out-of-Scope.”
3. Checking Search Terms Insights
Your Search Terms report is invaluable for identifying negative keywords after your ads go live. This report reveals which keywords triggered your ads, so you can pinpoint terms that drained your budget without delivering quality leads.
To access it go to Campaigns > Insights & Reports > Search Terms
Review the list, identify irrelevant keywords, and add them to your negative keyword list. This step is essential for optimizing post-launch.
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How to Add Negative Keywords to Your Campaigns
Once you’ve identified your negative keywords, it’s time to add them to your Google Ads account. Negative keywords can be set at three levels:
Account-level
Affects all campaigns. Go to Admin > Account settings > Negative keywords.
Campaign-level
Affects all ad groups within a specific campaign. Go to Campaigns > Audiences, keywords, and content > Search keywords > Negative search keywords, click the blue + button, and select Add to Campaign.
Ad group-level
Affects only the selected ad group. Follow the same process but select Add to Ad group instead.
When possible, use account-level keywords to avoid redundancy. Campaign and ad-group levels should be reserved for more specific exclusions.
Another best practice is to create negative keyword lists, which can be easily updated and applied to new or existing campaigns. For example, you might have lists for Out-of-Scope Keywords, Branded Keywords, General Keywords, etc.
To create these lists go to Tools > Shared Library > Exclusion Lists, click the blue + button, name your list, and add your negative keywords.
What Match Type to Use for Negative Keywords
Negative keywords don’t function exactly like positive search keywords in Google Ads. Unlike them, Google doesn’t account for close variants with negative keywords, so you’ll need to handle typos, synonyms, and plurals manually.
Here’s a breakdown of match types for negative keywords:
Negative Broad Match
Your ad won’t show if all terms in your negative keyword appear in any order.
Negative Phrase Match
Your ad won’t show if the exact keyword terms appear in the same order.
Negative Exact Match
Your ad won’t show if the search contains the exact keyword terms without extra words.
Back to our example, instead of adding several negative keywords containing the work amazon, we could use amazon as a negative broad match to save time.
Wrap Up
In summary, negative keywords are essential for reducing waste and increasing ad relevance in PPC campaigns. They help you save money by preventing irrelevant clicks and improving your Quality Score, which can lead to higher ad rank and lower CPCs. To get the most out of your negative keywords, make frequent adjustments (weekly, if possible), and check your reports regularly.
High-performance Google Ads campaigns require time, expertise, and continuous optimization. Ready to elevate your PPC strategy? Schedule a free 30-minute call with our experts for actionable advice—no strings attached.
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High-performance Google Ads campaigns require time, expertise, and continuous optimization. Ready to elevate your PPC strategy? Schedule a free 30-minute call with our experts for actionable advice—no strings attached.
Act fast—limited slots available!
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