How to Use Negative Keywords in Google Ads
Remember that time? It wasn't long ago. Joanie and I—and let's not forget our dear friend, Simon—sat around my rickety, makeshift coffee table, tearing our hair out over the latest Google Ads campaign disaster. We had inadvertently advertised premium cat food to dog owners. Whoops. That's when the concept of negative keywords came into our frazzled lives, like a surprise relative showing up at your doorstep with life-altering wisdom rather than annoyance.
Understanding the Power of Negativity
Simon, bless his ever-enthusiastic soul, was the first among us to suggest, "Maybe we're doing this keyword thing all wrong?" If you're nodding your head knowingly, like we do now, you understand that including every conceivable keyword won't always put you on the fast train to the land of relevance. Instead, negative keywords—those surprisingly no-nonsense words—help us sculpt our ads with the precision of a seasoned ice sculptor. These are the words we deliberately exclude. Let's keep out those pesky dog-food seekers from our feline utopia.
The Joy of Discovery
Our merry trio gathered 'round the laptop. As Joanie balanced a mug of hot chocolate precariously on one knee, Simon clicked on our Google Ads dashboard. Here's where I'll share the secrets we stumbled upon, brought to you from our shared experience, embellished by caffeine and late-night laughs.
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Diving into the Dashboard: First, we needed to be in the Google Ads interface. Easy enough, right? Find 'Keywords' in the navigation panel and bless it with a click. Peruse around until you spot 'Negative Keywords'. This is the gold mine.
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The Add Button—a Bustling Friend: We noticed a rather unassuming button named 'Add'. Click on it. You feel like an artist brandishing a paintbrush as you enter your negative keywords. For us, these were words like "dog food," "bark," and "canine." We could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from our target audience of cat enthusiasts.
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List or individual freedom?: Do you select that charming tick-box of 'Create new' for an entire list, or do you 'Add to existing one'? The choice is yours, dear reader. Our crew opted for the custom list—much like the exclusive guest list to a very cool, very private party.
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Tools of Control: Not just for crazy scientists anymore! Use modifiers like broad, phrase, or exact match with your negative keywords. Each has its own wit and wisdom, like choosing between coffee blends on a memory-laden morning. We won't lie; we tried them all before settling on the sweet spot of a phrase match.
In the end, we laughed like the mad hatters of Google Ads, having forged a campaign that now purred like a content cat. Simon danced, Joanie did a triumphant pseudo drum roll on the table, and I silently toasted to the simple yet profound discovery of using our noggin power to get those clicks in the right domain.
It's a lesson we ponder and laugh over during our subsequent bouts of strategy sessions. And in sharing this little expedition with you, our journey transforms into not just a geeky showdown with technology but rather a meaningful quilting of friendship funded by common sense and curiously delightful missteps.
Next time you dive into the world of Google Ads, embrace the embrace mission of negative keywords. They might just be the delightful oddball friend your campaign needs. Cheers to clever exclusion!