{"id":618,"date":"2023-05-01T12:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-01T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/en\/blog\/what-are-negative-keywords-and-when-should-you-use-them\/"},"modified":"2023-05-01T12:00:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T12:00:05","slug":"what-are-negative-keywords-and-when-should-you-use-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eye10.io\/blog\/what-are-negative-keywords-and-when-should-you-use-them\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Negative Keywords and When Should You Use Them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you tired of your online ads being triggered by irrelevant keywords? Enter the negative keyword. You can avoid appearing in unrelated searches by specifying certain words or phrases you don’t want to be associated with your ad.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if you sell shoes, you might want to add \u201cfree\u201d as a negative keyword to avoid paying for clicks from people who are not interested in buying. This saves you money and ensures that your ad is being shown to people who are interested in what you’re offering.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many businesses overlook this simple strategy and waste money on low-quality traffic. Using negative keywords in your Google Ads campaign can <\/span>boost your ROI<\/span><\/a> and save money on ad spend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike regular keywords that trigger your ads for relevant searches, negative keywords prevent your ads from showing up for sea; this strategy allows you to filter out searches unrelated to your products or services and avoid paying for clicks that don\u2019t convert.<\/span><\/p>\n

This way, you can <\/span>improve your ad performance metrics<\/span><\/a> such as click-through rate, quality score, and conversion rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Types of Negative Keyword Match Types<\/span><\/h2>\n

Not all negative keyword matches are the same. The difference is in the degree of control you have over each one. See below to discover the types available to you in Google Ads.<\/span><\/p>\n

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1. Negative Exact Match<\/span><\/h3>\n

An exact negative match is the most restrictive negative keyword match type. It will only exclude your ad from showing when the user\u2019s search query matches the exact term you specified.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can do this by adding a minus sign before the term. For example, [-red shoes] means your ad won\u2019t show for [red shoes], but it will show for other queries that are different from the term, like [buy shoes] or [red boots].<\/span><\/p>\n

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2. Negative Phrase Match<\/span><\/h3>\n

To use a negative phrase match, you need to put quotation marks around the phrase that you don\u2019t want your ad to show for. This will block your ad from appearing when someone searches for a query that includes the phrase in the same order.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is useful when you want to avoid showing your ad for a phrase that is irrelevant or unprofitable for your business. For example, if you sell shoes but not used shoes, you can add [\u201cused shoes\u201d] as a negative phrase match keyword to prevent your ad from showing for [buy used shoes] or [used shoes for sale].<\/span><\/p>\n

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3. Negative Broad Match<\/span><\/h3>\n

Sometimes, you might not want your ad to be triggered for certain terms regardless of the order (unlike the exact match and phrase match that follows a specific order). In that case, simply create a negative keyword list without entering any symbols.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if you have [red shoes] as a negative broad match keyword, your ad won\u2019t appear for queries that include all the terms you entered in any order, such as [shoes red] or [best red shoes].<\/span><\/p>\n

However, your ad will still appear for queries that include some or none of the terms, such as [red boots] or [blue shoes]. This is the least restrictive type of negative keyword match.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can also use a combination of different negative keyword match types to fine-tune your ad targeting and optimize your campaign performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

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How to Find Negative Keywords<\/span><\/h2>\n

Finding negative keywords is important in optimizing your PPC campaigns and reducing wasted ad spend. Here are some ways to find negative keywords:<\/span><\/p>\n

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