Exclusionary keywords – what are they and how to use them?

Are you running your Google Ads marketing efforts on a small budget and looking for ways to optimize your campaigns? Do you want to avoid wasting money on misguided leads and maximize your return on investment? Maybe you’re struggling with high ad impressions, but conversions are negligible because no one is clicking on them? If the answer to any of these questions is YES – be sure to read the following article to learn more about what exclusionary keywords are and how they can help you.

What are exclusionary keywords?

Exclusionary keywords, or negative keywords, are a tool in Google Ads campaigns to help prevent your ads from showing up in inappropriate search results. Their role is to exclude specific phrases or words that don’t align with your offering as an advertiser, allowing you to better tailor your ads to potential customers and avoid wasting your budget. Exclusionary keywords act like a sieve – they filter and prevent ads from being displayed to people who are searching for products or services that don’t match your offering. 

For example, when selling designer furniture, you can exclude words such as „cheap” or „discounted” from your campaigns so that your ad is not displayed to users searching for products in the lower price range. This will help you focus on reaching people who might actually be interested in your offer, which improves your click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate.

Negative keywords can be envisioned as the gatekeepers of Google Ads campaigns. They allow you to refine your targeting and ensure that your ads are displayed to the most relevant audiences. Understanding their applicability will help improve the performance of your campaigns.

How to avoid the trap of wasted budget? By using exclusionary keywords!”

The right way.

Benefits of using exclusionary keywords

Using exclusionary keywords in Google Ads campaigns, brings a number of benefits that allow you to better tailor your ads to your audience and improve your budget efficiency.

1. Precise ad targetingExclusionary keywords eliminate irrelevant searches, allowing ads to reach audiences more relevant to your offer. This allows you to focus on those who are actually interested, making your campaigns more effective.
2. Better quality score
   With more relevant ads, your click-through rate increases, which in turn improves your quality score in the Google Ads system. A better quality score leads to higher ad positions and can lower click-through costs (CPC).
3. Higher conversionsBy eliminating irrelevant queries, ads reach people who are more likely to make a purchase or other conversion. This increases conversion rates and improves your return on investment (ROI).
4. Budget savings
   Using exclusionary keywords prevents you from spending your budget on irrelevant clicks that don’t lead to conversions. This reduces budget wastage, which contributes to better use of advertising resources.
5. Improving CTRRemoving ad impressions for people who are not interested in your offer increases the chance that your ads will only be clicked on by potential customers. The increase in CTR contributes to better ad positioning and higher campaign effectiveness.
6. Increased relevance of ad groups By excluding keywords unrelated to your offer, you will create more consistent and relevant ad groups. This allows you to better match your advertising message to your target group, which in turn increases the effectiveness of your campaign.
7. Protect your brand imageNegative keywords help you avoid associating your ad with undesirable topics or terms, which can affect brand perception. This protects the brand from being associated with buzzwords that may lower its value in the eyes of customers.
8. Higher ROASWith better ad targeting, you avoid burning through your budget on ineffective clicks, leading to a better return on your advertising investment.
9. Control over campaigns
   Exclusive keywords allow you to better optimize your ad campaigns, matching them to changing audience needs and market conditions. This allows you to continuously improve the effectiveness of your advertising efforts.

Matching types of exclusionary keywords

In Google Ads, there are three main types of matching exclusionary keywords – corresponding to the division of keywords, 

Wide match

In wide matching, the ad will not be displayed if the user’s query contains all the exclusionary keywords in any order. For example, if the exclusionary keyword is „road bikes,” the ad will not run when someone searches for „road bikes.” However, searches with minor differences, such as „road bicycle,” may still trigger the ad. Broad matching is flexible, allowing you to exclude many query variants, but may not exclude all similar phrases, so your ad may display in similar contexts.

Wide phrase matching

This type of matching ensures that your ad will not be displayed if the query contains the exact key phrase in the same order. Additional words can come before or after the phrase, but the core must remain the same. For example, if the exclusionary keyword is „road bikes,” the ad will not be displayed for a search for „triban road bikes,” but may appear for queries such as „lightest road bikes.” Phrase matching offers precise exclusion of specific phrases, but does not work if the order of words in the query is changed.

Tight match

Tight matching ensures that your ad will not be displayed when the user’s query exactly matches your exclusionary keyword, without any additional words or characters. For example, if the exclusionary keyword is „road bikes”, the ad will not be displayed for the search term „road bikes” only. However, other versions of the phrase, such as „lightest road bikes” or „road bike,” may still trigger the display of the ad. Strict matching gives the most control over which queries are excluded, but can limit effectiveness if users modify the phrase slightly.

Both in the early stages of campaign planning and later optimization, it is important to carefully analyze the keywords that direct users to your products or services. Analyzing search terms will help you not only choose the words you want to target, but also those you should avoid. 

Manual search in Google Ads is an easy way to identify exclusionary keywords. Simply search for words related to your ad and carefully review the results. If you notice irrelevant phrases appearing that could potentially attract unwanted traffic, it’s a good idea to make a note of them and add them to the list of exclusionary words. 

The Keyword Planner is a useful Google Ads tool that can help you identify exclusionary phrases. You can find queries related to your industry, as well as potentially unwanted terms that may generate unwanted clicks. Just use the „discover new keywords” function and check which of the suggested words are irrelevant to your campaign, then add them to the list of exclusionary keywords.

In the „Search terms” tab in Google Ads, you can see exactly what queries triggered your ads. You can find it in the „Campaigns” > „Statistics and Reports” > „Search terms” section. This allows you to identify irrelevant searches that generate unnecessary costs.

Exclusionary keywords can be set at three levels: account, campaign and ad group.

At the account level, exclusionary keywords apply to all campaigns within an account. Instead of manually adding the same keywords to each campaign, you can manage them globally, which saves time and minimizes the risk of mistakes. For example, you can create a list of undesirable keywords that could harm your brand image, and immediately apply it to all campaigns.

At the campaign level, exclusionary keywords affect all ads within that particular campaign. When, for example, you add the word „free” as an exclusionary at the campaign level, no ads from that campaign will be displayed for queries containing that word.

At the ad group level, keyword exclusions work more precisely, referring only to specific ad groups. This allows you to more accurately manage which ads are displayed in response to which searches.

The ad exclusion group is a more precise way to manage which ads are displayed in response to which searches.

Negative keywords are important because reducing the amount of irrelevant traffic not only helps reduce wasteful spending, but means that money can be allocated to keywords that are effective for your business.

Summary

With exclusionary keywords you can easily run hit Google Ads marketing efforts on a small budget, avoid wasting money on misplaced leads and maximize ROI and increase your CTR. With exclusionary keywords, you will gain more control over YOUR campaigns, which will translate into better ROI and budget savings. This is a must-have if you want to run your Google Ads marketing efforts effectively!