Add These 100 Negative Keywords to Your PPC Account
When launching a paid search campaign, many digital marketers underestimate the significance of negative keywords. A thoughtfully crafted negative keyword list is as crucial as your targeted keyword list, acting as a barrier, ensuring your ad only appears to the most relevant audience.
Negative keywords can be sifted through at the campaign level and added to both ad group and campaign levels. However, doing this over time creates a conflicting web between targeted keywords and negative keywords. To prevent this complexity and to maintain a seamless workflow, we recommend creating negative keyword lists that reside at the account level. These lists can then be applied to specific campaigns or the entire account, ensuring a more efficient and simplified approach.
Why are Negative Keyword Lists Important?
Implementing negative keyword lists at the account level provides several benefits:
Efficiency: It simplifies the process of managing negative keywords across different campaigns.
Cost-Efficiency: It saves on the ad spend by filtering out irrelevant clicks.
Relevance: It ensures that your ads are only displayed to the most pertinent audience, increasing the chances of conversions.
Performance: It improves overall campaign performance and ROI by eliminating wasteful ad spend on irrelevant searches.
100 Negative Keyword Examples Sorted by Category:
If you’re unsure of what to include in your account negative list, here is a list of 100 examples, categorized for easy reading:
1. Price/Ecommerce:
Free
Cheap
Bargain
Discount
Clearance
Coupon
Deal
Sale
Offer
Outlet
Wholesale
Promo
Return
Refund
Exchange
2. Employment/Jobs:
Internship
Unemployment
Freelance
Part-time
Full-time
Career
Resume
Application
Salary
Vacancy
Hiring
Interview
Recruitment
Training
Position
3. Legal:
Lawsuit
Attorney
Litigation
Legal advice
Solicitor
Barrister
Court
Judge
Defense
Prosecution
Settlement
Contract
Legal aid
Claim
Damages
4. Media:
Streaming
Download
Torrent
Free movies
Free music
Subscription
Podcast
eBook
PDF
Audiobook
Video
Clip
Channel
Series
Episode
5. Research/Stats:
Study
Survey
Report
Statistics
Data
Analysis
Findings
Research paper
Journal
Academic
Citation
Reference
Thesis
Dissertation
Methodology
6. Computer:
Software
Freeware
Upgrade
Patch
Download
Installation
Error
Bug
Crash
Virus
Malware
Spyware
Update
Driver
Firmware
Conclusion:
Negative keywords are critical components of any paid search strategy - small or large. By creating concise, category-specific negative keyword lists at the account level, digital marketers can ensure the relevance, efficiency, and performance of their campaigns. It helps in reducing ad spend wastage and enhances the overall ROI by allowing the ads to reach the most appropriate audience.
Remember, an efficient negative keyword list is a dynamic one; regularly revisiting and refining your list will keep your paid search strategy sharp and effective.
Call to Action:
Need assistance in managing your PPC strategy effectively? Reach out to our team at Upstream. We’d be happy to discuss negative keywords & broader PPC trends & strategies.
