Negative Keywords in Adwords and Their Importance

Negative Keywords in Adwords and Their Importance | NWA

Posted February 9, 2018

If you’ve used Adwords before, you probably know how the platform works; Google puts your ads in front of your target audience, and for every impression or whenever your ads are clicked (depending on the type of campaign you’re running), you pay them a certain amount. To get the ball rolling, you’re asked to select keywords that best define your business, and when people type these keywords in Google, your ads are triggered.

So, for instance, if you sell calendars, your keywords would include phrases such as “calendar,” “calendars,” “printable calendars,” and so forth. This way, whenever people type queries containing these words and phrases in Google, your ads would be displayed. Of course, there are several other processes involved such as bidding, but at its simplest, that’s how Adwords works.

However, there’s another side to the story. What if the consumer is actually looking for a type of calendars that you don’t sell? What if they are looking for, say, Chinese Lunar Calendars?

You wouldn’t want your ads to show up for those types of searches, right? Why show up when the searcher has absolutely no interest in the products you sell? It would be a complete waste of your ad budget.

Incredibly, this is exactly what could be happening with your Adwords campaign. Unless you’ve put appropriate measures in place, it’s likely that you’re paying for your ads to be shown to people who are 100% not interested in your products; people whom you have absolutely no chance of converting to customers.

That’s where negative keywords come in!

What are negative keywords?

In Google’s own words, negative keywords are “a type of keywords that prevent your ads from being triggered by certain words or phrases.”

Think of them as opposites of your keywords. So, if you sell “boys’ shorts,” for instance, one of your primary negative keywords would be “girls’ shorts.” The reason is that some people will just be searching for “shorts,” and Google never turns down an opportunity to make money even at your detriment. The only solution, therefore, would be to prevent your ads from being triggered by the unwanted phrase – in this case; “girls’ shorts.”

Why would I use negative keywords?

Easy – so that your ads don’t show up for untargeted phrases. That way, you won’t have to pay Google for impressions that don’t add value to your campaign.

The great news is that it’s super easy to enter your negative keyword list in your Adwords campaign. When adding keywords, you’ll see a tab for negative keywords. Click on this tab to proceed.

There are two ways to use the negative keywords within a campaign. You can either add them at the campaign level if you want them to apply to the entire campaign, or you can introduce them at the ad group level if you’d like them to only apply within a specific ad group.

One thing you’ll notice is that, like with target keywords, you can define whether you want your negative keywords to be exact match, broad match, or phrase match.

Always begin with a starter list

If you’re just getting started with Adwords, it’s advisable that you begin with a starter list. Starter lists comprise the most common negative keywords. The following is one of our lists to help you get you going;

At Home
Do it Yourself
Home Made
How To
Pre Owned
Second Hand
Soft Ware
About
Act
Act of
Aluminum
Antique
Appendix
Article
Articles
Association
Associations
Bachelors
Bargain
Blog
Blogs
Book
Books
Bulk
Burn
Burner
Career
Careers
Case studies
Case study
CD
Ceramic
Cheap
Class
Classes
Clearance
Clip
Clips
Closeout
Closeouts
Club
Clubs
Code
College
Colleges
Community
Compact disc
Compare
Comparison
Comparisons
Compliance
Consultants
Consulting
Consumer
Cotton
Counterfeit
Coupon
Course
Courses
Craft
Crafts
Craigslist
Create
Creating
Definition
Degree
Degrees
Desktop
Developer
Developers
Diagram
Diagrams
Diploma
Diplomas
Discount
Discounted
Disk
Disks
DIY
Do-it-Yourself
Download
Downloads
DVD
eBay
Education
Employer
Employers
Employment
Error
Example
Examples
Export
Exporter
Exporters
Fabric
Fake
Faux
File
Files
Fix
Fixes
Fixing
Forum
Forum
Forums
Free
Free
Freeware
Full time
Game
Games
Gift
Gifts
Glass
Glossary
Gnu
Gold
Graphics
Guide
Guides
Hack
Hacks
Hand made
Handcrafted
Handmade
Hire
Hiring
History
Hobbies
Hobby
Home
Homemade
How do i
How to
How To
Image
Image
Imagery
Images
Images
Import
Imported
Importer
Importers
Imports
Index
Inexpensive
Info
Infographic
Information
Instruction
Instructions
Intern
Interns
Internship
Internships
Iron
Job
Jobs
Journal
Journals
Jump drive
Law
Laws
Learn
Leather
Legal
Legislation
Libraries
Library
Liquidation
Magazine
Magazines
Make
Making
Map
Maps
Master
Masters
MBA
Measurement
Memory stick
Metal
Metrics
Microsoft
Model
Models
Naked
News
Nude
Occupation
Occupations
Odd lots
Online
Open source
Opinion
Opinions
Outline
Overstock
Paper
Part time
Pay
PhD
Photo
Photograph
Photographs
Photos
Pic
Pics
Picture
Pictures
Plastic
Preowned
Price
Prices
Pricing
Public domain
Quote
Quotes
Rank
Ranking
Rating
Ratings
Rebate
Rebates
Recruiter
Recruiters
Recruiting
Recruitment
Regulation
Regulations
Remainder
Remainders
Rent
Rental
Repair
Repairs
Research
Resume
Resumes
Retail
Retailer
Retailers
Review
Review
Reviewer
Reviewers
Reviewing
Reviews
Reviews
Rubber
Rules
Safety
Salaries
Salary
Sample
Samples
School
Schools
Score
Scores
Scoring
Screenshot
Screenshots
Secondhand
Send
Sending
Shareware
Shortcut
Shortcuts
Silver
Snapshot
Snapshots
Software
Specifications
Specs
Stainless steel
Standards
Statistics
Stats
Steel
Stone
Store
Success stories
Success story
Sweepstakes
Template
Templates
Textbook
Textbooks
Tip
Tips
Torrent
Torrents
Toy
Toys
Training
Tutorial
Tutorials
Universities
University
USB flash drive
Used
Video
Vintage
Vinyl
Webinar
What are
What is
White paper
White papers
Wholesale
Windows
Wood
Work
Workshop
Workshops
YouTube

Other ways to find negative keywords

Other than a starter list, you can also use the following strategies to find negative keywords for your Adwords campaign:

Using your Search Terms Report

The Search Terms Report shows you the actual search terms typed into Google that triggered your ads. By looking at this list, you can tell the type of negative terms that triggered your ads and add them to your negative keyword list. Alternatively, check the click-through and conversion rate of each search term and add all non-performing terms to the negative keyword list.

Using the Google Keyword Planner

Although the keyword planner is meant to help you find keywords to bid on, you can also use it to find negative keywords for your campaign. Simply click on a keyword you’d like to bid on and you’ll be shown a list of related keyword searches for that phrase. When you see a phrase that doesn’t apply to your business, add them to the negative keyword list.

Using a negative keyword tool

Finally, you can also turn to negative keyword tools where you enter a keyword associated with your business and get several negative keywords associated with that phrase. Although most of them are premium services, some of these tools are available for free.

Remember to update your list regularly for the best results

It takes a lot of adjustments to come up with a great negative keyword list. Don’t just create a list in one sitting and forget about the campaign. Instead, stay on top of the campaign, always trying to find new negative keywords, and regularly updating the list as appropriate. Your efforts will be rewarded with improved efficiency, reduced wastage, and a solid increase in your ROI. Reach out to the team at Simplemahine to help you get set up on Adwords and to manage your account if you feel you are unable to properly.