Negative keywords are terms you add to your PPC campaigns to prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches.
For example, if you sell shoes online, you would add negative keywords like "car", "house", or "furniture" so your ads don't show for searches unrelated to shoes.
Negative keywords improve campaign performance by:
- Lowering your cost-per-click by avoiding irrelevant, low-converting clicks
- Increasing conversion rates by filtering out users not interested in your offerings
- Freeing up budget to bid higher on more relevant terms
Overall, negative keywords ensure you only pay for clicks from high-intent users likely to convert.
There are a few match types for negative keywords:
- Exact match - prevents ads from showing for that exact term
- Phrase match - prevents ads from showing for that phrase and close variations
- Broad match - prevents ads from showing for that term and relevant variations
For most negative keywords, phrase or broad match are best. Exact match is best for irrelevant branded terms.
Choose match types based on how restrictive you need to be for a term:
- Use broad match for very irrelevant keywords
- Use phrase match for somewhat relevant keywords
- Use exact match sparingly for specific branded terms
Here are tips for finding high-value negative keywords:
- Analyze search terms report to identify low-converting queries
- Review queries triggering ads that didn't lead to conversions
- Brainstorm variants of your keywords that are irrelevant
Some common negative keywords:
- Competitor brand names
- Common misspellings
- Unrelated products or services
Continuously add new negative keywords over time as you analyze performance trends.
The best times to add negative keywords are:
- When launching a new PPC campaign or ad group
- When you identify high-cost keywords with low conversion rates
- Continuously over time to optimize performance
Don't add too many negative keywords all at once. Add them gradually so you don't restrict your reach too severely.
To effectively use negative keywords:
- Add at campaign, ad group, and keyword level where relevant
- Organize into campaigns for easy management
- Regularly review and add new negative keywords
Avoid going overboard - some irrelevant traffic can still convert. Strike a balance between targeting and over-restriction.
Negative keywords work similarly in Google Ads, Amazon PPC, and Performance Max but with some key differences:
- Match Types - Google & Amazon support all match types, Performance Max only supports broad match
- Management - Google offers most control for organizing negatives, Amazon and Performance Max have limited organization
- Exclusions - Performance Max excludes based on user signals beyond keywords
Understand the unique options for negative keywords in each platform you advertise on. Optimize accordingly.
