How can I manage negative keywords in my campaign?

Managing negative keywords effectively involves applying general negative keywords across your entire account, excluding irrelevant locations at the campaign level, and refining exclusions within specific ad groups. If your campaign isn’t receiving enough impressions, it’s important to review your restrictions and consider removing some negative keyword exclusions.

Full Explanation

To manage negative keywords efficiently in your campaign, you start by setting general negative keywords that impact the entire account. These broad exclusions help prevent unwanted searches from triggering your ads. Next, at the campaign level, you can narrow down by excluding cities or locations that are not relevant to that specific campaign, ensuring more targeted delivery. For finer control, within each ad group, you can further exclude particular terms that don’t align with the ad content or targeting goals. However, if you notice a decline in impressions, this could be a sign that there are too many limitations, and it may be necessary to relax some of your negative keyword restrictions to ensure your ads are seen by the right audience.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. Apply General Negative Keywords: Begin by inserting negative keywords that apply at the account level to prevent irrelevant searches across all campaigns.
2. Exclude Irrelevant Cities Per Campaign: For each campaign, identify and exclude locations that do not match your campaign goals to better focus your advertising reach.
3. Refine Exclusions at the Ad Group Level: Within individual ad groups, exclude specific terms to avoid showing ads for irrelevant queries related to that segment.
4. Monitor Impressions: Keep track of how many impressions your ads receive to ensure your exclusions are not overly restrictive.
5. Adjust Exclusions if Needed: If impressions are too low, revisit your negative keyword lists and remove some exclusions to expand reach while maintaining relevance.

Real Examples

While no specific industries or numbers are mentioned, the concept can be illustrated by how you might exclude broad terms across your account, city names irrelevant to a campaign at the campaign level, and particular keywords unrelated to an ad group’s focus within that group.

Common Mistakes

• Having too many negative keywords at multiple levels without reviewing their overall impact can lead to severely limited ad impressions.
• Failing to exclude irrelevant locations at the campaign level may cause wasted spend in areas that aren’t targeted.
• Not adjusting negative keywords based on performance data can prevent ads from reaching potential customers.

FAQs

Should I add negative keywords at multiple levels?

Yes, it’s effective to have general negative keywords for your whole account, exclude irrelevant cities at the campaign level, and refine exclusions within ad groups for maximum control.

What if my campaigns get very few impressions?

You may have set too many restrictions with your negative keywords. Consider removing some exclusions to increase your reach.

Key Takeaways

• Use broad negative keywords at the account level for overall control.
• Exclude locations unrelated to each campaign for better targeting.
• Fine-tune exclusions within ad groups for specific focus.
• Regularly monitor and adjust negative keywords to maintain sufficient ad impressions.