“The advertisement is one of the most interesting and difficult of modern literary forms.” – Aldous Huxley.
This quote by Huxley still stands true in today’s world, where the advertising world has grown more extensive and more complex over the years!
Knowing how to use Google or PPC ads is just not enough! You need to dig into deeper detail to actually benefit from your ad campaigns.
Negative keywords and your PPC campaign are inextricably linked. Negative keywords make it nearly difficult for your Google Ads account to perform properly if not done right. It has a massive impact on overall performance because it reduces the possibilities of unwanted clicks and enhances conversion rates.
And understanding how your target audience searches will allow you to employ these exact keywords to limit wasted clicks & Increase your ROI efficiently.
For those who have yet to grasp the significance of Negative Keywords, we will discuss why marketers must include them in their successful ad campaigns in this blog.
What Are Negative Keywords and How Do They Work?
Negative keywords are words that you might use in your PPC campaign to prevent your advertisements from appearing in search searches that contain them. This prevents advertising from appearing for irrelevant searches that will not result in clicks or conversions.
Negative Keywords are those irrelevant terms for which you don’t want your ad to rank. You might include rhyme as a negative keyword if you sell ‘eyeglasses’ and don’t want your advertisements to appear for keywords like ‘wine glasses’ or ‘beer glasses.’ As a result, your ad will not appear when someone searches for terms like ‘wine glasses, or ‘beer glasses.’
As a result, your ad will not appear when someone searches for terms like ‘wine glasses, or ‘beer glasses.’ The negative keyword match type assigned to a query or search impacts how and when it gets blocked.
Another example is that you are a firm aiming to promote a ‘paid marketing software.’ Your ads can appear for various broad match keywords, such as “free marketing software” or “marketing software for free”. Any customer who clicks on your ad will be disappointed when they find out that your program isn’t free.
You pay for each time your advertisements appear on Google, and appearing for irrelevant searches can quickly deplete your advertising budget. So, in this case, we can simply add “free” to your list of negative keywords.
Negative Keywords and Their Types
When creating a PPC ad campaign, you can use broad match, phrase match, or exact match keywords. To ensure that you’re effectively filtering inquiries, you’ll need to consider factors like synonyms, misspellings, and other distinctions when adding negative keywords.
Let’s try to understand them better one-by-one
Broad Negative Match
When it comes to negative keywords, your default settling will negative broad match. Your ad will not appear in searches that include all of your negative keywords if you choose that particular category.
You can use the negative broad match keyword setting to block ads for searches that include a phrase, regardless of the order in which it appears.
More specifically, your ad may still appear if the search includes only some of the keyword terms.
For example, if your negative broad match keyword is ‘sports shoes,’ your ad may show up for searches like ‘blue sports shoes’ or ‘sports gear,’ but not for searches like ‘blue sports shoes, ‘shoes sports,’ or the phrase ‘sports shoes.’
Negative Phrase Match
Negative phrase match keywords are more specific than negative broad match terms. Your ad will appear in a search only if the search has the same terms in the same precise sequence as your ad.
For example,if your negative phrase match keyword was ‘head massage,’ your ad would not appear for searches like ‘head massages near me’ or ‘head massage in my area,’ but it might appear for searches like ‘facial and back massage’ or ‘shoulder massage.’
Negative Exact Match
Negative exact match keywords are the most strict because your ads will only be shown in searches that contain the same exact term, in the same order, and without any extra words.
You can use the exact negative match to remove all searches for your ads that contain the exact phrase you specified. In other words, it must be entirely the same, with no added terms i.e., if the search has your phrase but also contains specific more keywords, your ad will still be displayed.
For example, if your negative exact match keyword is ‘summer vacation,’ your advertising will only appear on search results pages when users look for’ summer vacation.’ Your ads may still show if any other version of the phrase ‘summer vacation’ is searched.
Why use Negative Keywords
Suppose you’re a marketing agency offering PPC service and using Google Ads to promote a small to medium-sized business. In that case, you will know that every penny counts, so making your ad groups as targeted as possible becomes even more crucial.
Here are a few reasons you should pay attention to using the right negative keywords if you want the right type of hits in your Google Ads or PPC marketing campaigns.
More Targeted Ads
While Google Ads makes it simple to create and manage campaigns with a range of keyword match choices, employing Broad or even phrase match keywords will demand the use of negative keywords. When you use match-type advertising, your campaign might still appear as a result of keywords other than the ones you selected.
You read more about Keywords Match Types used in Advertising Here
Boost your CTR
Negative keywords ensure that your ads are only displayed in response to relevant searches for your business. Put another way, it presents your adverts with more relevant impressions, resulting in fewer wasted clicks and a higher return on investment (ROI) & improves your Click-Through-Rate (CTR).
Increased Conversion Rate
We can use negative keywords to ensure that your ad appears in searches relevant to your business. As a result, it can benefit you in generating more high-quality leads for your website and displaying your ad to people who are more likely to convert, resulting in a higher conversion rate.
The right use of Ad budget
Negative keywords help your ads reach out to people who are really interested in your products & services. If someone who isn’t interested in your goods clicks on your ad, you’ll be forced to pay for that click. By including negative keywords in your Google Ads campaign, only potential customers will see your ad, leading you to save your ad budget.
Make More Targeted Ad Groups
You can improve the relevance of your ad groups by filtering out terms that aren’t relevant to your business. Small, closely related ad groups enable you to create a single message that addresses the complete set of keywords.
Long story short, if you aren’t using negative keywords or aren’t keeping them up to date, then you’re wasting precious ad dollars. Go and check your account (or reach out to your media buyer) to make sure you’re not running ads for keywords that don’t convert.
