Negative keywords might sound counterintuitive, but they're actually a crucial component of any successful online advertising campaign. If you're unfamiliar with this concept, negative keywords are words or phrases that you exclude from your PPC (pay-per-click) ad campaigns, so your ads aren't displayed to people who are searching for irrelevant topics.
By including negative keywords in your advertising strategy, you can ensure that your ads are only shown to the most relevant and qualified prospects. This approach can help reduce unnecessary clicks, save you money, and increase your overall ROI. In this article, we'll explore more about negative keywords, how they work, and how to use them effectively.
Understanding Negative Keywords
Negative keywords can be confusing for some business owners, but it's essential to understand how they work before you start using them. Negative keywords are the words and phrases that you don't want your ads to appear for. For instance, let's say your business sells high-end watches. If you've added "cheap" as a negative keyword, people searching for "cheap watches" won't see your ads.
Types of Negative Keywords
There are different types of negative keywords, including broad match, phrase match, and exact match. Broad match negative keywords prevent your ad from showing up in the search results when someone types in any of the words in your negative keyword phrase. Phrase match negative keywords will prevent your ad from being displayed if the search query includes your negative keyword phrase in the exact order you specified. Exact match negative keywords are the most specific since they only prevent your ad from being displayed if the exact phrase you specified is included in the search query.
Why Use Negative Keywords
Using negative keywords can be an effective way to reduce the number of irrelevant clicks, improve your click-through rate, and increase your conversion rate. By avoiding irrelevant traffic, you can focus on the people who are most likely to convert into customers. Negative keywords can help you save money on your advertising campaigns since you won't be paying for clicks on irrelevant searches.
Finding Negative Keywords
Looking for negative keywords can be a little challenging since you're trying to identify words that you don't want your ad to appear for. A great place to start is by using Google's Keyword Planner, which can provide suggestions for negative keywords based on your advertising goals. You can also use data from your previous PPC ads to identify negative keywords – check out the keywords that brought traffic to your site that didn't convert into sales or leads.
Implementing Negative Keywords
Once you've identified your negative keywords, it's time to apply them to your advertising campaigns. You can usually set negative keywords in your advertising platform under the campaign settings, where you'll find the option to add negative keywords. Note that negative keywords must be included at the campaign level, so they'll apply to all ad groups within that campaign.
Negative keywords can be confusing, but they're a valuable tool to keep your PPC campaigns focused and cost-effective. Now that you understand what negative keywords are and how they work, it's time to start applying them to your campaigns. By identifying and using negative keywords, your ads will be displayed to the most relevant prospects, ultimately increasing your conversions and ROI. Get started with Scavo Media today – we'll help you take your online advertising campaigns to the next level.