Negative Keyword

What are Negative Keyword ?

The opposite of a keyword: if a user searches using a negative keyword, your results will not show. This is useful if a link is easily confused with something else.

A type of keyword that prevents your ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase. Your ads aren’t shown to anyone who is searching for that phrase. This is also known as a negative match.

For example, when you add “free” as a negative keyword to your campaign or ad group, you tell Google Ads not to show your ad for any search containing the term “free.” On the Display Network, your ad is less likely to appear on a site when your negative keywords match the site’s content.

A negative keyword is a PPC match type (or keyword targeting option) offered by most search engine advertising platforms, including Google AdWords. Negative keywords allow you to selectively filter who sees your ad, based on their search queries.

Q:  Why should I use negative keywords?

A:  Use negative keywords when you want to ensure that your ad doesn’t show for a word. By preventing your ad from showing on irrelevant searches, you save money on wasted clicks and create more opportunities for it to display on searches that are relevant and could lead to conversions.

Q:  What are the benefits of effectively using negative keywords?

A:  The benefits of effectively using obstructive keywords in your PPC campaigns include:

• Start Improved click-through rate or CTR (percentage of searchers who viewed your ad and decided to click on it)
• Try Improved conversion rate (percentage of users who clicked on your ad and went on to convert)
• Improved Quality Score (a Google AdWords quality rating that affects the amount you pay for ads)

Q:  When should I do negative keyword research?

A:  Negative keyword research should be an ongoing process just like regular keyword research, but here are three common scenarios:

• Before a PPC campaign is launched – This is considered proactive negative keyword research. By brainstorming and researching all the different irrelevant searches your ad could be shown on, and setting those negatives before you launch, you can save money on wasted clicks, and prevent the detrimental effect they have on your Quality Score.
• Once a campaign is live – This is considered reactive obstructive keyword research because it is in response to irrelevant searches that your ad has already matched against. Within the first few days of a campaign going live, you should mine your search query reports for keywords with high impressions and low clicks.
• On an ongoing basis – Many PPC marketers do obstructive keyword research on a weekly basis, but negative keyword research at any time can only help a live campaign. Mine search query reports for dips in conversion rate or Quality Score. These are indicators that your ads are being shown on irrelevant searches and negatively impacting your campaign performance.

Q:  How does the Free Negative Keyword Tool work?

A:  Just enter a topic and the tool will generate a list of obstructive keyword contenders for you to review. Click No to add them to your list of negative keywords, then enter your email address to export the list. Click Yes to remove a keyword from the list of contenders and narrow down your results.

Q:  Where do the negative keyword contenders come from?

A:  The database of over a trillion keywords that fuels the Free obstructive Keyword Tool is obtained through several search industry partnerships, which include:

• Internet Service Providers
• Browser Toolbars
• Search Engines

We then apply sophisticated statistical models to this massive keyword data source, aggregating the different keyword data sets, applying various weightings and powerful semantic algorithms to compute the most popular negative keyword suggestions.

Q:  How is the list of negative keyword suggestions sorted?

A:  The list is sorted by a combination of search volume and relevancy (relative frequency). You should work your way from the top down because the negative modifiers at the top of the list will have the greatest impact on your PPC campaign. WordStream collapses all variations on a single modifier into one row, saving you time by compressing what could otherwise be a very exhaustive list of obstructive keywords to review. For example, all keyword variations that include the keyword “free” will be compressed into one suggestion, so you only must accept or reject “free” keywords once.

Q:  What if I don’t see the negative keyword suggestions I expected to see?

A:  The negative keyword results are affected by:

• Your initial search term (it might be too specific or too general). Try refining your search.
• Search volume (the words you are thinking of might not be as much of a threat because there is such low search volume for them).
• Since Word Stream’s Free obstructive Keyword Tool is driven by search engine volume, the negative keyword contenders we suggest are the most popular and will have the greatest impact on your PPC campaign.

Q:  How do I set a negative for something other than the highlighted term?

A:  You can manually add a negative to your list by typing it into the “Manually add negative keywords” query box and clicking “Add.”

Refer : Wordstream

 

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