If digital advertising campaigns were a kitchen, search terms would be your fresh ingredients, and negative keywords would be the spices you carefully leave out. In the wrong combination, you get a dish no one wants to eat. In the right combination, magic.
When looking at ways to increase performance in an AdWords campaign, whether it’s text ads or product listing ads, reviewing your incoming search terms is one of the smartest, most revealing steps you can take. It’s where you uncover what’s working well and what’s quietly draining your budget.
How to Find the Search Terms That Matter
Inside your Google Ads account, go to the campaign or ad group you want to analyze. Go to the Campaign tab on the left of the screen, Click Insights and Reports drop down, and select Search Terms. From there, you can sort by impressions, clicks, or conversions to see exactly what people are searching for when your ads appear. This is like pulling back the curtain, suddenly, you can see which searches are bringing you high-value traffic and which ones are just taking up space.
Note: This process is a fantastic way to filter your traffic and increase your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
Spotting Irrelevant Traffic Before It Costs You
Sometimes, search term reports reveal the kind of “oh no” moments every advertiser dreads.
Imagine you’re selling a Volkswagen Golf. Everything’s going great… until you notice your ads are being triggered for “golf clubs.” Completely unrelated, zero chance of converting, and yet, without action, those clicks could quietly eat into your budget.
This is where negative keywords save the day. By adding “golf clubs” (and any similar irrelevant terms) to a negative keyword list, you stop paying for traffic that has no interest in your product.
Negative Keywords: Your Budget’s Bodyguards
Negative keywords tell Google Ads, “Don’t show my ads when someone searches for this.” They keep your budget focused on high-intent clicks, improve CTR, and can even boost Quality Score.
The most effective approach? Make a list of negative keywords by match type, broad match negative, phrase match negative, and exact match negative, to fine-tune your filtering. And don’t just set it and forget it.
Search behavior changes. New irrelevant searches pop up. This review should be done periodically, weekly or at least monthly, so you can catch and block unwanted clicks before they waste spend.
Turning Insights into Optimization
Once you’ve identified which search terms are bringing in conversions, you can:
- Harvest them as exact match keywords for more precise targeting.
- Eliminate irrelevant ones by adding them to your negative keyword list.
Do this consistently, and your campaigns will start working smarter, not harder. Your ROAS improves. Your ads reach the right audience. And you stop throwing money at searches that will never convert.