Sales and Marketing - Jen Jordan
Jen Jordan brings a wealth of life and leadership experiences to her writing. After 10 years creating a variety of content for a nonprofit, Jen decided to establish her own writing business. She specializes in creating high quality blog and website content for small businesses. When she's not writing, Jen is a competitive triathlete with a goal of completing a triathlon in all 50 states.
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Maximize Your Marketing Budget with Negative KeywordsEvery marketing dollar needs to work as efficiently as possible for small businesses. If you’re running online ads through Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or other pay-per-click platforms, you can use "negative keywords" to maximize your marketing budget. Understanding and using negative keywords correctly can help improve your return on ad spend (ROAS) and ensure your ads reach the right audience. What Are Negative Keywords? Negative keywords are words or phrases that prevent your ad from appearing in searches that aren’t relevant to your business. When you add negative keywords to your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, you tell the advertising platform not to display your ad when a search includes those terms. For example, if you sell high-end handmade furniture, you wouldn’t want your ads to appear for searches like "cheap furniture" or "DIY furniture plans." Including "cheap" and "DIY" as negative keywords prevents your ad from appearing for people who search for a similar product but aren’t your ideal customers. Another example might be a lawn care company that only provides commercial landscaping services. This company might add "residential" or "home lawn mowing" as negative keywords to prevent people searching for residential lawn care from finding and clicking on the ads. In short, negative keywords save you money by preventing people who are not ideal clients from clicking on your ads. How Negative Keywords Improve Your ROAS ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) measures how much revenue you generate for every dollar you spend on ads. Wasted ad spend on irrelevant clicks can significantly reduce your ROAS. There are a number of benefits to using negative keywords in your online ads. Reduce Wasted Ad Spend - Having your ad appear in more relevant searches increases the likelihood of conversion and reduces unnecessary costs by eliminating as many irrelevant searches as possible. Improve Click-Through Rate (CTR) - When your ads only appear for relevant searches, your CTR improves, which can improve your ad rankings and reduce costs per click (CPC). Boost Conversion Rates - Targeting the right audience means more qualified traffic coming to your website, leading to higher conversion rates and better profitability. Increase Ad Relevance - Search engines reward ads that align with user intent. Using negative keywords helps ensure your ads appear in the most relevant searches. How to Use Negative Keywords Review Your Search Terms Report - Platforms like Google Ads provide reports showing which searches triggered your ads. Look for irrelevant search terms and add them as negative keywords. Think Like Your Customers - Consider what people might search for that is similar but not relevant to your product or service. If you’re a plumber who only offers repair services, you might want to exclude terms like "plumbing jobs" or "plumbing training." Use Negative Keyword Match Types - Just like regular keywords, negative keywords can be broad, phrase, or exact match:
Regularly Update Your List - Consumer search behavior changes over time. Regularly reviewing and refining your negative keyword list ensures you’re keeping up with the evolution. Negative keywords are a powerful tool for small business owners looking to maximize their marketing budget. By filtering out irrelevant traffic, you can improve your ROAS, attract higher-quality leads, and drive more sales. Take the time to refine your ad campaigns and watch your advertising dollars work smarter, not harder. Works Cited https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2453972?hl=en https://www.wordstream.com/negative-keywords https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/06/06/negative-keyword-guide https://www.semrush.com/blog/negative-keywords/ https://neilpatel.com/blog/using-negative-keywords/ |
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