What Are Negative Keywords? The Key to Protecting Your Budget in Paid Ads

At some point, we have all found ourselves needing to launch a Google Ads or Bing Ads campaign. The impressions roll in, and sometimes even go beyond the limits, but what about our conversion rate? Doesn’t spike much. In short, you end up spending your budget significantly, but not seeing the expected return. 

Why does this happen? Chances are, your ads are showing up in irrelevant search results, draining your budget without conversions. You might be targeting the right keywords, but without negative keywords, you’re likely paying for clicks from users who have no intention of converting. 

So, if you are running paid search campaigns and want to stop spending your budget on irrelevant traffic, negative keywords might be the secret ingredient you need. In this blog, we will explain negative keywords, why they play such an important role, and how you can utilize them effectively to improve your allocated advertising ROI. 

What Are Negative Keywords?

Simply put, negative keywords prevent your ads from being shown in certain search results. When someone searches for something that involves a negative keyword, your ad won’t be visible, even if the rest of the search requisition matches your targeting spot. 

Think about it like this: regular keywords tell Google where your ads should appear, while negative keywords specify where they should not. 

Let’s say you run a high-end custom furniture business, and you are looking to show up for searches like “handcrafted wood sidetable” or “custom bookshelf.” But you don’t want to be subjected when someone searches for “cheap furniture” or a “DIY bookshelf tutorial.” 

By stuffing words such as cheap, free, DIY, or tutorial as negative keywords, you are filtering out low-intent traffic and protecting your budget, which can be allocated later on.

Don’t Let Irrelevant Clicks Drain Your Budget

Every click on your ad costs money, and if the user has no intention of purchasing, that click is a wasted expense with no return.

That is where negative keywords act in, by filtering irrelevant searches from your targeting, you improve your campaign efficiency in several key ways, such as:

• Higher Click-Through Rate (CTR): Your ad will appear in fewer but more relevant searches, increasing the chance that users will click.
  
• Better Conversion Rate: When only qualified prospects see your ad, you’ll likely see more conversions.
  
• Improved Quality Score: Google rewards relevant ads. When your CTR and landing page experience improve, your ads may cost less per click.
  
• Stronger Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): More efficient spending means more value from your ad budget.
  

Negative keywords are a savior that helps you stop paying for traffic that won’t ever convert and focus your current ad dollars on the people who are most likely to buy. 

Grab my Negative Keywords Guide to help you make the most of your ad spend!

Spot the Difference: Smart Targeting vs. Wasted Spend

Example 1: A Local Bakery

For example, a bakery specializing in custom cakes might bid on ‘wedding cake,' but if their ads are triggered by ‘free birthday cake' or ‘DIY cake decorating tips,' that’s wasted budget. Adding words such as free, DIY, and tips as negative keywords will help narrowing down their reach to only customers who have high-intent of buying it. 

Example 2: A Software Company

Now take this example for a minute, imagine if a software company starts selling paid project management tools, if their ads are affected and triggered by searches such as “free project management tool PDF” or “project management tutorial,” they are likely to be flooded with traffic driven by students or researchers, not the actual paying customers. But, with the help of negative keywords like free, PDF, or tutorial, they are locking their deal only to those who are looking forward to investing in a solution. 

The result? More qualified leads, better ad performance, and improved ROI.

Digging into the Data: How to Find Negative Keywords

1. Use the Search Terms Report

With Google Ads, the search term report shows exactly what users searched on Google before they clicked your ad. If you see a term that is irrelevant, low-quality, or unqualified, add it to the list of your negative keywords. 

2. Use Keyword Research Tools

Tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you find relatable terms you want to exclude. Ubersuggest and Moz are great tools for identifying potential keyword overlaps that aren’t relevant to your product or services. 

3. Use Common Sense

Sometimes, finding negative keywords requires looking at things from your customer's perspective: 

• Who is NOT your ideal customer?
  
• What kind of searches might seem related but aren't actually?
  
• Are there terms that signal low purchase intent?
  

Start compiling a list based on these insights, and you'll have a strong foundation for refining your ad targeting.

Implementation Made Simple

Adding negative keywords is simple, but it’s important to understand your options. In Google Ads, you can apply negative keywords on different levels, such as: 

• Ad Group Level: Prevent specific ad groups from showing for certain queries.
  
• Campaign Level: Block negative terms across the entire campaign.
  

You’ll also need to choose your match type:

• Broad Match Negative: Blocks searches that contain all the negative terms, in any order.
  
• Phrase Match Negative: Blocks searches that contain the exact phrase.
  
• Exact Match Negative: Only blocks the exact search term.

Looking to save time while staying more organized? Simply create a negative keywords list; they are easily utilized across various campaigns and make managing exclusions much easier, especially on a larger scale. 

Fine-Tune Your Ads, Protect Your Budget

The question ‘What are negative keywords?' is often overlooked, but they are the most powerful tools when it comes to your paid advertising toolkit. If used correctly, they help you avoid wasted spend, look for better leads, and boost your return on investment.

So, if you are just starting with your Google Ads or running multiple campaigns a month, Take the time to review your setup, explore the search term report, and make strategic adjustments. Remember to think about the customers you want to deal with and have find you and with the ones that you don’t want to deal with (or have find you). We'd love to help you in this process to get the best return on your ad spend investment. Let's connect!

OR Grab my Negative Keywords Guide to help you make the most of your ad spend!