Negative Keywords: The Strong Force Behind PPC Campaigns

PPC Rockstars with David Szetela © Copyright 2008. Find Me Faster Nashua, NH. All Rights Reserved.

All Trademarks used are property of their respective owners.

Matt Van Wagnermatt@findmefaster.com

Going Negative

Why You Need Negative Keywords

How to Use Them

How They Really Work

How to Implement

Best Practices

Why You Need Negatives

Save $$

- Reduce Unproductive Clicks Charges

- Reduced Ad Impression, Improve QS Lowers CPCs

Improve Campaign Performance

- Better results when correct ads are shown.

- Improved user experience.

How To Use Negatives

Boxing Out

- Eliminate Bad Costly Clicks

- Reduce Ad Impressions to Improve QS

Boxing In

- To Make Sure the Right Ads get Served.

Boxing Out

Your Campaigns-evil

-swear-bad

evil words

bad words

swear words

Boxing Out

Your Campaigns-evil

-swear-bad

evil words

bad words

swear words

Shields up!

Boxing In

Wood Ceiling Wood Ceilings Panels

$5.00 $2.50 $ .50

Faux Wood Ceiling

Faux Wood Ceiling Panels

Boxing In

Wood Ceiling Wood Ceilings Panels

$5.00 $2.50 $ .50

Faux Wood Ceiling

Faux Wood Ceiling Panels

Faux Wood Ceiling Panels

Boxing In

Wood Ceiling Wood Ceilings Panels

$5.00 $2.50 $ .50

Faux Wood Ceiling

-faux -faux

Google Adwords

3 Match Negative Match Types Negative Broad

Negative PhraseNegative Exact

- Negative Broad works differently than you may expect.

- No Limitations on # of Negatives

- Apply at Campaign /Ad Group Levels

- Important for Content Campaigns, too

- Tip! don't forget the (-) sign when editing online.

Google Broad Match

If your Adgroup contains: pug dogs

User searches on: Will your ad show?

pug dogs…………………what is a pug dog………dog with pug nose……dog pugs…………………pug………………………

dumbell nebulla books...pet cat handbooks......

yesyesyesyes probably

possibly

possibly

Google Negative Broad

If your Adgroup contains: pug dogs - pug dog

User searches on: Will your ad show?

Will the negative stop the Ad?

pug dogs…………………what is a pug dog………dog with pug nose……dog pugs…………………pug………………………

dumbell nebulla books...pet cat handbooks......

yesyesyesyes probably

possibly

possibly

noyesyes

nononono

Yahoo! Search Marketing

Yahoo calls them "Excluded" Keywords

For Advanced Match only.

Reasonably Limited # of Excludes (Negatives)

- Account Level: 250 - Ad Group Level: 250

Match Driver takes care of misspellings, plurals.

Microsoft AdCenter

AdCenter has an Interesting Implementation

- Negative Match is sort of like broad match - add plurals, misspellings

- Maximum: 1022 characters (1K) total

- Keyword length < 100 characters

- Cascading Application of Negatives:

Campaign >> Adgroup >> Keyword

Evaluating Negatives

Be Selective About Negatives - Contain your impulse to add randomly. - Implement in batches, measure impact.

Keyword Discovery - what is real volume? - what is real impact against your keywords?

Document Your Negatives - Why did you choose it? - What impact did you expect to have? - If it didn't have an impact, try others

Evaluating Negatives

Focus on High Payoff Words - Even 100 keywords are a lot to manage. - Create a Hierarchy of Importance - Keep lists shorter, rather than longer.

Keyword Volume Associated Word Trying to Eliminate:

Plastic 10,000 Faux Panels Plastic Panels

Foam 100 Faux Panels Foam Panels

Styrofoam 1000 Faux Panels Styrofoam Panels

Stirofoam 10 Faux Panels Stirofoam Panels

Best Practices

Be Selective - Negatives are easy to add, but campaigns get bulky. - Some keywords that seem important, aren't. - Look at your weblogs for evidence of 'leakage'

Add Negatives Conservatively - If you want to grow, add a volume dimension. - Don't cut & paste from adgroup to adgroup blindly.

Think Portability - Each network has slightly different limits. - Design for lowest common denominator.