Why Would I Want to Add a Search Term as a Negative Keyword?

Short Answer: Adding a search term as a negative keyword helps prevent your ads from appearing to people who are likely not your target customers, such as do-it-yourselfers searching for specific brands. This ensures your ad budget is focused on reaching the right audience.

Full Explanation

When someone searches for a specific brand of material, it is often assumed that they prefer to do the work themselves rather than hire a service or purchase from a professional provider. These individuals are referred to as do-it-yourselfers (DIYers). If your business does not cater to DIYers, showing ads to this group could mean spending your advertising budget on people unlikely to convert.

By adding those specific brand-related search terms as negative keywords in your ad campaigns, you effectively filter out audiences that may not be interested in what you offer. This strategic exclusion saves money and increases the effectiveness of your ads by focusing only on potential customers who are more aligned with your services or products.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Identify Search Terms: Find the specific brand names or product terms that attract DIYers.
Analyze Your Target Audience: Confirm that these users with specific brand searches are not the customers you want to reach.
Add Negative Keywords: Include those search terms as negative keywords to prevent ads from showing to these users.
Monitor Campaign Performance: Track how excluding these terms improves ad performance and refines your audience targeting.

Real Examples

While the main idea revolves around excluding people searching generically for specific brands, applying this approach means your ads do not appear to potential DIYers. For instance, if someone looks for a particular brand of paint or hardware with the intention to buy and use it themselves, your ads can be safeguarded from displaying, focusing instead on those likely to hire professionals or buy complete services.

Common Mistakes

Not Adding Negative Keywords: Failing to exclude specific brand searches can result in wasted ad spend on users who are not your intended customers.
Over-Excluding: Adding too many negative keywords might accidentally filter out valuable potential clients, so select terms carefully based on your business goals.

FAQs

Q: How do I know which search terms to add as negative keywords?
You should focus on terms that indicate a do-it-yourself approach or searches for specific brands indicating non-target customers.

Q: Will adding negative keywords reduce my ad reach?
Yes, it will reduce your reach to some extent, but it helps increase ad relevance and save budget by filtering out uninterested users.

Key Takeaways

Adding search terms as negative keywords targets your ads to the right audience by excluding unlikely customers.
This is especially useful when specific brand searches suggest a do-it-yourself intent.
Strategic use of negative keywords can improve ad effectiveness and reduce wasted spend.