Have you every wondered what people are actually searching for when they reach your website?
You know what keywords you’ve put into your account, but Google can show your Ads to people where they feel your keywords are still relevant to a similar search, so what keywords are Google showing your Ads for?
Well, let me introduce you to Search Term Reports. Where you’ll be able to see the exact search made for your Ad to show… mind blowing, I know!
So, what are Search Term Reports?
Search Term Reports are one of the most important steps in optimising your Google Ads account and making sure your budget is spent as effectively as possible. This is where you can find the actual keywords people search for in Google that trigger your Ad to appear.
For example, let’s say you own a business selling premium dog food.
Now, it’s likely that you have the word ‘dog food’ as a keyword in your account, but if you have added it as phrase or broad match, you could also appear for ‘cheap dog food’.
Now, you’d be barking mad to spend money paying for clicks from someone looking for cheap dog food when you sell premium, high-end dog food.
Of course, there’s always a chance that you could make a sale, but you could spend your budget more effectively on better quality keywords.
So how do we make sure we stop appearing for irrelevant search terms?
This is where the wonders of Negative Keyword Lists come in!
In the instance of our premium dog food business, we need to add the irrelevant word, ‘cheap’, to the Negative Keywords List.
By doing this, we are telling Google that we no longer want our Ads to show when a search includes the word ‘cheap’.
When creating negative keyword lists, make sure that you only add the irrelevant word and not the whole search term. We don’t want to be excluding searches for ‘dog food’ we just want to add the word ‘cheap’ as a negative.
Once you’ve been through your list of search terms and added all of the irrelevant searches to your Negative Keywords list, you have now improved the quality of all future traffic coming through your paid Ads, giving you a greater chance of getting more leads, sales and customers… from the same level of click spend.
Now, what if you also have a range of products or services that might be considered cheap, alongside your higher priced options? It wouldn’t make sense to exclude one keyword for every ad in your account.
You would be right and there’s a way around that. Negative keywords can be added at Account, Campaign or Ad Group level. So, if there’s a word you want to exclude only from certain campaigns or ad groups, you can do just that! Other ad groups or campaigns can still run with that keyword allowed.
The other great thing about Search Term Reports is you can see exactly which searches have converted. This means if a keyword that you didn’t have in your account converted, you can go ahead and add it in! Improving your account even further!
How do I carry out a Search Term report?
So, to start your Search Term Report journey, select which campaign or ad group you would like to view. Now go to the sub menu in your account and click ‘Insights & Reports’ then click the ‘Search Terms’ tab.
Now you can see a list of all the search terms. Scroll through and look for any keywords that you want to add to the Negative Keywords list.
To do this, make a note of the offending word, head over to the Negative Keywords tab and paste it in there, or simply select the searches and then the ‘Add as negative keyword’ button at the top. Make sure you only add the offending keywords though!
This can be a long process but it’s one that’s definitely worth staying on top of, as in the long run it will save you money, drive more relevant traffic to your site and highlight new opportunities for keywords.
So go and have a look at your search terms and see what you can find!
Would you like a FREE Performance Review of your Google or Facebook Ads activity, from a multi-award-winning expert?
We’ll give you good, honest feedback on your paid ads performance, including what’s good, what’s not so good and the untapped potential in your account, to get more customers each day/week/month… without spending a penny more on clicks!
Just call us on 01420 408054 or email Steve on steve@pixal.co.uk