Using Negative Keywords for Better PPC Results

When running a pay per click campaign, using negative keywords is an absolute must. As more of us are forced into bidding on only the most popular keywords, use of broad match types is often necessary but to get the best results, you’ll need to specify negative keywords too.

What Are Matching Types?

By using different matching options with your keywords, you’ll have better control over what searches trigger your advert to be shown. Google AdWords offers 4 main different matching types:

• Exact match
• Phrase match
• Broad match
• Negative match

Find more information about match types here.

A broad match key phrase might be “ladies clothing”. This means that whenever anyone enters a search which includes the words “ladies” and “clothing” your ad will be triggered. However, if you are an equestrian supplier, if someone types in “ladies fashion clothing”, using broad match, your ad would be triggered. Now clearly, someone looking for fashion clothing isn’t looking for specialist equestrian clothing and so the chances of a click through are very low and if you do achieve a click through, the chances of that person making a purchase is even lower because your products aren’t relevant to them.

By using negative keywords, you can essentially filter out more irrelevant searches and stop your ad from being triggered, avoiding the need to pay for a potential click through that will not convert. In this instance you could use a number of negative keywords which might include “fashion” “football” “sports” and so on.

Benefits of using Negative Keywords

• Better click through rate  (CTR)
• Improved conversion rate
• Higher quality score

Much of the time Google won’t allow you to bid on niche keywords because it predicts a ‘low volume’ of searches. Now, low volume can actually be a pretty good thing. If your keywords are very specific and highly relevant, the quality of the traffic you receive is likely to be much higher, leading to a lower bounce rate and ultimately better conversions. However, Google doesn’t want you to benefit from these types of keywords as it doesn’t make as much money from them; instead, it forces you to use more popular keywords and more popular of course means, more competition, which in turn forces you to place higher bids.

When it comes to setting up your campaigns, i’d suggest creating one main negative keyword list and applying it to all related AdGroups. To help you get started, below you will find some lists of negative keywords that you might want to use to modify your P.P.C. campaign.

Negative keyword list Ideas

Comparison shoppers

alternative
compare
comparison
compared
estimate
prices

Price shoppers & bargain hunters

bargain
cheap
clearance
closing down sale
discount code
discount
discounted
end of line
free
low cost
offer
overstock
price drop
price
pricing
sale
sample
special offer
value
voucher code

Researchers

advice
book
case studies
download
eBook
guide
how to
journal
news
reference
research
reviews
statistics
tutorial
training
white papers

Industrial & economic

building
builders
building
consultant
design
diagnosis
diagram
exports
exporter
fabrication
guidelines
guide lines
health and safety
making
mechanics
method
methodology
measurement
model
regulations
rental
repair
specialist
services
tooling

Authored by: Shell Robshaw-Bryan

The post Using Negative Keywords For Better PPC Results appeared first on Marketing & Social Media Blog | Marketing insights, tips and advice.