What Are Some Symptoms of Poor Account Health?

The short answer is that poor account health often shows through issues like having too many redundant keywords, non-serving keywords, and conflicting negative keywords. These symptoms can lead to wasted spending and inefficiencies in your advertising campaigns.

Full Explanation

Account health problems tend to arise when the keyword structure is not optimized. Redundant keywords mean that multiple keywords in your account mean the same thing. This redundancy can cause the bidding system to inadvertently bid on more than one of these keywords at the same time, which leads to unnecessary spending. Non-serving keywords are another clear symptom; these are keywords that have not received any search queries for an extended period of time, typically 12 to 14 months. Their presence in your account signals outdated or irrelevant targeting. Additionally, conflicting negative keywords can indicate poor account health. These are negative keywords that potentially conflict with other targeting settings. While some advertisers use conflicting negative keywords intentionally as a strategic choice, they require close manual management to ensure they do not harm performance unintentionally.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. Identify redundant keywords: Look for keywords that have the same meaning or intent in your account. Recognize that the system might bid on multiple ones, causing overspending.
2. Spot non-serving keywords: Check for keywords that have not received any search queries in the last 12 to 14 months. These keywords are not contributing to campaign performance and may need to be removed or optimized.
3. Review conflicting negative keywords: Examine your list of negative keywords for conflicts with your active keywords or campaigns. Understand that while conflicting negatives can be used strategically, they require manual adjustments to avoid harming account efficiency.

Real Examples

While specific examples are not provided, consider the case of multiple keywords targeting the same phrase like “running shoes” and “shoes for running” both in your account. If both are active, the system may bid on both unnecessarily. Another example is a keyword that has not triggered any ad impressions for over a year, which indicates it is non-serving. Conflicting negative keywords could be a negative keyword such as “cheap” conflicting with active keywords targeting “cheap running shoes,” potentially blocking some searches unless carefully managed.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving redundant keywords unchecked, which wastes budget on overlapping bids.
• Ignoring non-serving keywords that no longer attract relevant traffic.
• Failing to manually adjust conflicting negative keywords, which may unintentionally block valuable searches or cause internal conflicts.
• Assuming conflicting negative keywords always indicate poor health without considering strategic usage.

FAQs

Q: What are redundant keywords?
Redundant keywords are multiple keywords in an account that mean the same thing and can cause overlapping bids.

Q: How long does a keyword have to go without search queries to be considered non-serving?
A keyword without any search queries for 12 to 14 months is considered non-serving.

Q: Are conflicting negative keywords always bad?
No, some people use conflicting negative keywords strategically, but they require careful manual adjustments.

Key Takeaways

• Redundant keywords waste budget by causing overlapping bids.
• Non-serving keywords are inactive keywords that haven’t received queries for over a year and a half.
• Conflicting negative keywords can reduce account health but might be used strategically if managed properly.
• Regular review and manual adjustments of keywords help maintain good account health.