{"id":6157,"date":"2023-12-11T14:06:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T09:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/?p=6157"},"modified":"2023-12-22T13:23:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T08:23:36","slug":"what-is-a-negative-keyword","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/what-is-a-negative-keyword","title":{"rendered":"What is a Negative Keyword and Why It is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to Google Ads, effective paid search management is <em>essential. <\/em>Negative keywords help you fine-tune the keywords in your campaign to maximize ad relevance, fully optimize your ad, and therefore, <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/adwords-roi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">boost your Google Ads ROI<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4345\" style=\"max-width: 80%;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/what-is-a-negative-keyword.png\" alt=\"what is a negative keyword\"><\/div>\n<p>You can look at negative keywords as a filter that stops your ad being triggered by irrelevant search queries.<\/p>\n<p>This ensures your ads reach the most relevant audience for your products or services.<\/p>\n<p>Similar to <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/keyword-bidding-strategy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bidding on keywords<\/a>, you can select negative keywords in your account, at the <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/how-many-ads-per-ad-group\">ad group<\/a> or campaign level. In this article, we\u2019ll outline everything you need to know to use negative keywords in Ads \u2013 effectively.<\/p>\n<p>In this user-friendly guide, we\u2019ll take a deep dive into the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#tb1\">What Are Negative Keywords?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb2\">Why Negative Keywords is important?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb3\">Types of Negative Keywords<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb4\">Advantages of Negative Keywords<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb5\">How to Use Negative Keywords Effectively?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb6\">How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#tb7\">Wrap Up<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4345 ppc_signal_top_ads\" src=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/where-is-the-google-analytics-code-0f.jpg\"><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"tb1\">What Are Negative Keywords?<\/h2>\n<p>Negative keywords are a crucial aspect of online advertising, specifically in pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, allowing advertisers to refine their targeting and ensure their ads reach the most relevant audience. These are specific terms or phrases that, when used in a search query, prevent an ad from being triggered or displayed. By specifying negative keywords, advertisers can filter out irrelevant traffic, reducing ad spend on searches unlikely to lead to conversions. For instance, if a company sells high-end luxury watches but not affordable or used watches, they might use &#8220;cheap&#8221; and &#8220;used&#8221; as negative keywords to avoid displaying their ad to users looking for those specific terms. Effectively using negative keywords helps optimize ad relevance, improve click-through rates, and increase the overall efficiency of ad campaigns by focusing on the most qualified audience.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tb2\">Why Negative Keywords is important?<\/h2>\n<p>Negative keywords play a pivotal role in refining the targeting of online advertising campaigns, particularly in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Their importance lies in their ability to filter out irrelevant traffic and ensure ad spend is allocated more effectively. By strategically using negative keywords, advertisers prevent their ads from being triggered by searches that are unlikely to result in conversions or engagements. This optimization not only saves budget by reducing clicks from unqualified leads but also enhances ad relevancy, improving click-through rates and overall campaign performance. Essentially, negative keywords help businesses hone in on their target audience more precisely, ensuring that their ads are presented to users who are more likely to engage, thereby maximizing the return on advertising investment and driving higher-quality traffic to their websites or offerings.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tb3\">Types of Negative Keywords<\/h2>\n<p>Negative keywords can be categorized into different types based on their purpose and the level of specificity in preventing ads from being triggered. Here are a few types:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Broad Match Negative Keywords:<\/strong> These exclude a wide range of search queries containing the specified term. For instance, using &#8220;free&#8221; as a broad match negative keyword would prevent ads from showing for searches including &#8220;free shipping,&#8221; &#8220;free trials,&#8221; etc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Phrase Match Negative Keywords:<\/strong> These exclude searches that contain the specified phrase in a particular order. For example, using &#8220;second hand&#8221; as a phrase match negative keyword would prevent ads from appearing for searches like &#8220;second-hand products,&#8221; &#8220;buy second-hand,&#8221; etc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Exact Match Negative Keywords:<\/strong> These exclude searches that exactly match the specified term. For instance, using &#8220;cheap&#8221; as an exact match negative keyword would prevent ads from showing for searches solely containing the word &#8220;cheap.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Broad Match Modifier Negative Keywords:<\/strong> These exclude a specific term or variations but allow other terms to be present in the search query. For instance, using &#8220;+used&#8221; as a broad match modifier negative keyword would prevent ads from showing for searches like &#8220;used items&#8221; but allow variations like &#8220;buy used items.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By employing various types of negative keywords in PPC campaigns, advertisers can fine-tune their targeting, exclude irrelevant searches, and ensure that their ads are displayed to a more relevant and qualified audience.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tb4\">Advantages of Negative Keywords<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Improved Clickthrough Rate &#8211; <\/strong>Using negative keywords ensures your ads aren\u2019t triggering irrelevant queries, and therefore, attracting irrelevant traffic. This then leads to an <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/how-to-increase-ctr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improved\u00a0 clickthrough rate<\/a> (CTR).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Creates More Relevant Ad Groups &#8211; <\/strong>Filtering out irrelevant keywords helps create a more relevant ad group, which then allows you to craft messages which speak directly to your <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/identifying-target-audience\">target customers<\/a> and increase sales.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saves Money &#8211; <\/strong>Eliminating useless ad clicks can save money on ad spend.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Optimizes Campaign Performance &#8211; <\/strong>Using negative keywords in Google Ads refines traffic, which then leads to a more <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/how-to-optimize-google-ads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">optimized Ads Campaign<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boosts Conversion Rates &#8211; <\/strong>Using negatives will also ensure that your ads aren\u2019t displayed for terms that won\u2019t lead to conversions. Eventually, this will help boost your conversion rates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"tb5\">How to Use Negative Keywords Effectively?<\/h2>\n<p>Using negative keywords is crucial to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising success, as it offers marketers a powerful way of refining their traffic, which <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/how-to-spend-marketing-budget\">optimizes the campaign budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some top tips to consider while adding negative keywords to your campaign.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Avoid List Stuffing<\/h3>\n<p>This is most pertinent for larger accounts where bulk negative keyword uploads are commonplace. Adding all your negative keywords in one shot, or \u2018list stuffing\u2019 in your campaign can do more harm than good. This can cause an increase in <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/search-lost-is-rank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lost impression shares<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, gradually increase your lists so that you can gain proper performance control over your ads.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Check Existing Negatives<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s a good habit to periodically review your existing negative keyword lists to check that you\u2019re not blocking relevant traffic. By continually monitoring ad performance, you can avoid this problem, ensuring you don\u2019t discount any valuable keywords \u2013 and therefore potential customers.<\/p>\n<p>Merely checking your existing negatives is one of the most straightforward ways to understand why you could be losing out on impressions.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Irrelevant vs. Non-Converting Keywords<\/h3>\n<p>There is a difference between irrelevant and non-converting keywords. While some keywords in your negative list may be totally unrelated to what you\u2019re offering, other times, you may be adding keywords to that list because they don\u2019t generate a significant amount of conversions for your campaign.<\/p>\n<p>This low conversion rate can be for several reasons, including your budget allocation or because your ad copy isn\u2019t optimized to rival the competition. Make sure your budget and <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/advertising-copy\">ad copy<\/a> are on-point, or you may accidentally add valuable keywords to your negative list.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/ppc-audit\/free-ppc-audit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4345 ppc_audit_middle_ads\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ppcaduitaccount-3.png\"><\/a><\/div>\n<h3>4. Use Your Negative Keywords Strategically<\/h3>\n<p>Make sure you use your negative keywords to bring people to the proper page on your site. Create specific ad grounds for your different products. Use your negative keywords in all of your campaigns to avoid overlap, inner competition, and irrelevancy.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Match Type Intelligence<\/h3>\n<p>Negative keywords, like regular keywords, have match types. Knowing when to use <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/keyword-match-types\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">exact match type<\/a> negative keywords or broad match types is important, as it helps you improve your traffic quality even further.<\/p>\n<h3>6. Use Enough Data<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s essential to avoid adding keywords just because they haven\u2019t converted for you \u2013 yet.<\/p>\n<p>To avoid this, you can run your campaigns for a long enough period to gather sufficient performance data for each search query on your account. Do your research before declaring a keyword as negative.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tb6\">How to Add Negative Keywords in Google Ads?<\/h2>\n<p>Find the \u201ckeywords\u201d section in your <a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/google-ads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google Ads<\/a> account to begin adding negative keywords.<\/p>\n<p>This page will show the list of keywords you\u2019re currently bidding for in your campaign. However, it doesn\u2019t display the queries which triggered these keywords. To see this, click on the button, \u201cSearch Terms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On this page, you\u2019ll see the following options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Search Term &#8211; <\/strong>To see the queries that were used by Google users. These are what triggered your ads, based on the keywords you\u2019re bidding for.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Match Type &#8211; <\/strong>This will display the match type of the user search queries, which indicates how much control you have over the keywords in your campaign.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Added \/ Excluded &#8211; <\/strong>This displays the action you have taken on a specific search query.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To include negative keywords to your list, first, select the search term that you want to add. Once you\u2019ve chosen this term, you\u2019ll see a box open up, showing, \u201cAdd as a negative keyword.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It will then ask you to choose the keyword\u2019s level of assignment along with the match type. Once you\u2019ve defined this information, click \u201csave\u201d and you\u2019re done!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4345 ppc_signal_bottom_ads\" src=\" https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ppc-signal-ad-2.png \"><\/div>\n<h2>FAQs<\/h2>\n<h3>What is the primary purpose of negative keywords?<\/h3>\n<p>Negative keywords help exclude specific search terms from triggering ads, refining ad targeting and reducing irrelevant clicks.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"JlqpRe\"><span class=\"JCzEY ZwRhJd\"><span class=\"CSkcDe\">What are negative vs positive keywords?<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Positive keywords are terms that advertisers bid on to trigger their ads in search results, aligning with users&#8217; search queries. Negative keywords, on the other hand, are terms used to exclude specific searches from triggering ads, refining targeting by excluding irrelevant queries.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"tb7\">Wrap Up<\/h4>\n<p>As you can see, negative keywords are <em>just as<\/em> important as general keywords for your campaign success. These keywords help optimize your ads, ensuring you don\u2019t show them to the wrong audience. Soon enough, you can display your ads to the right audience, while also reducing your ad costs, and boosting your quality score, CTR, and conversion rate.<\/p>\n<p>By using a combination of exact match, phrase, and broad match negative keywords, you\u2019ll be able to fully optimize your ads to get ahead of your competition \u2013 and stay ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><p>Understanding and effectively using negative keywords can significantly impact the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of online advertising strategies.<\/p>\n&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/what-is-a-negative-keyword\"><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6157"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33857,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6157\/revisions\/33857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ppcexpo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}