Have you ever wondered what symbol to use for adding negative keywords to your Google Ads campaign?
Negative keywords are essential in ensuring that your ads are not shown to irrelevant audiences, saving your budget, and improving your ROI.
However, it can be confusing to know which symbol to use when adding negative keywords to your campaign.
Fortunately, there are only two symbols that you can use to add negative keywords:
The minus sign (-) and the exclamation point (!).
The minus sign is the most commonly used symbol and is used to exclude specific keywords from triggering your ads.
For example, if you are selling luxury watches and do not want your ads to appear for people searching for cheap watches, you can add the negative keyword “-cheap” to your campaign.
On the other hand, the exclamation point is used to exclude all search terms that contain the specified keyword.
For instance, if you add the negative keyword “!free” to your campaign, your ads will not show to people searching for any term that contains the word “free,” such as “free watches” or “free watch repair.”
Knowing which symbol to use when adding negative keywords can make a significant difference in the success of your Google Ads campaign.
What Symbol Would You Use To Add A Negative Keyword?
Negative keywords are an essential component of any successful Google Ads campaign.
They allow you to exclude certain search terms from triggering your ads.
This ensures that your ads are only shown to people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services.
When adding a negative keyword, you need to use a specific symbol to indicate that it should be treated as a negative keyword.
The symbol you use is the minus sign (-).
For example, if you sell men’s shoes but don’t carry any women’s shoes, you might want to add “women’s shoes” as a negative keyword.
To do this, you would simply add “-women’s shoes” to your negative keyword list.
It’s important to note that you can add negative keywords at both the campaign and ad group levels.
Negative keywords added at the campaign level will apply to all ad groups within that campaign.
Negative keywords added at the ad group level, on the other hand, will only apply to that specific ad group.
In addition to the minus sign, there are a few other symbols that you can use when adding negative keywords to your list.
These include:
- Periods (.) – You can add periods to your negative keywords, but they will be ignored.
- Pluses (+) – Adding a plus sign to a negative keyword will usually be ignored.
It’s also worth noting that you should be careful when choosing negative keywords.
Adding too many negative keywords can limit the reach of your ads, potentially causing you to miss out on valuable traffic.
Make sure you’re regularly reviewing your negative keyword list and removing any that may be too broad or unnecessary.
Overall, using the minus sign to add negative keywords is a simple and effective way to ensure that your ads are being shown to the right audience.
Just be sure to use it wisely and regularly review your list to ensure it’s helping, not hindering your campaign’s success.
How To Add Negative Keywords
When running an advertising campaign, it is important to ensure that your ads are being displayed to the right audience.
One way to improve targeting and ROI is by using negative keywords.
Negative keywords are used to tell ad hosts not to show an ad based on the keywords entered.
Adding negative keywords to your account or campaigns is a simple process that can have a big impact on your campaign’s performance.
Here is how to add negative keywords:
- Log in to your advertising account and navigate to the campaign or ad group where you want to add negative keywords.
- Click on the “Keywords” tab.
- Scroll down to the “Negative keywords” section and click on “+ Add.”
- Enter the negative keyword you want to add and select the match type.
- Click “Save.”
It is important to regularly review and update your negative keyword list to ensure that you are not excluding relevant traffic.
You can use the search terms report to identify new negative keyword opportunities.
When adding negative keywords, keep in mind the following best practices:
- Use broad match negative keywords sparingly, as they can exclude a lot of relevant traffic.
- Use phrase match or exact match negative keywords to exclude specific search queries.
- Review your search terms report regularly to identify new negative keyword opportunities.
- Avoid adding too many negative keywords, as this can limit the reach of your ads.
In summary, adding negative keywords is a simple but effective way to improve the targeting and ROI of your advertising campaigns.
By regularly reviewing and updating your negative keyword list, you can ensure that your ads are being displayed to the right audience.
Common Mistakes When Adding Negative Keywords
When it comes to adding negative keywords, there are a few common mistakes that many advertisers make.
In this section, we will discuss two of the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
Incorrect Symbol Use
One of the most common mistakes when adding negative keywords is using the wrong symbol.
Negative keywords are added to your Google Ads campaign as a phrase or exact match.
Using the correct symbol to indicate the type of match is a must.
Using the incorrect symbol can cause your negative keyword to be interpreted as a positive keyword.
This can lead to your ads being displayed for irrelevant searches.
For example, if you add “free” as a negative keyword without using the correct symbol, your ad may still be displayed for searches that include the word “free.”
To avoid this mistake, make sure to use the correct symbol when adding negative keywords.
Use a minus sign (-) before the keyword to indicate a negative phrase match.
Or, you can use brackets around the keyword to indicate a negative exact match.
Overuse Of Negative Keywords
Another common mistake when adding negative keywords is overusing them.
While negative keywords can be a powerful tool for improving the relevance of your ads, using too many negative keywords can limit the reach of your campaign.
Overusing negative keywords can cause your ads to be displayed less frequently.
This can result in lower click-through rates and fewer conversions.
It can also make it more difficult to identify new keyword opportunities and optimize your campaign.
To avoid this mistake, focus on using negative keywords that are most relevant to your campaign and avoid using too many negative keywords.
Keep in mind that negative keywords should be used to exclude irrelevant searches, not to limit the reach of your campaign.
In summary, when adding negative keywords to your Google Ads campaign, make sure to use the correct symbol and avoid overusing negative keywords.
By avoiding these common mistakes, you can improve the relevance of your ads and increase the effectiveness of your campaign.
Benefits Of Using Negative Keywords
Using negative keywords in your Google Ads campaigns can be highly beneficial for your business.
Here are some benefits of using negative keywords:
Improved Ad Relevance
Negative keywords help to improve the relevance of your ads by ensuring that they are shown to the right audience.
By adding negative keywords, you can prevent your ads from appearing in search results that are not relevant to your business.
This means that your ads will only be shown to people who are more likely to be interested in your products or services.
For example, if you sell high-end luxury watches, you might want to add “cheap” as a negative keyword.
This will prevent your ads from appearing in search results for “cheap watches.”
It ensures that your ads are only shown to people who are looking for high-end luxury watches.
Cost Efficiency
Using negative keywords can also help you save money by preventing your ads from being shown to people who are not interested in your products or services.
This can help to reduce your cost per click (CPC) and improve your return on investment (ROI).
For example, if you sell luxury watches, you might want to add “free” as a negative keyword.
This will prevent your ads from being shown to people who are looking for “free watches,” who are unlikely to be interested in your high-end products.
By excluding these irrelevant searches, you can save money on clicks that are unlikely to result in a sale.
In summary, using negative keywords can help to improve the relevance of your ads and save you money by preventing your ads from being shown to irrelevant audiences.
By taking the time to identify and add negative keywords to your campaigns, you can improve your overall ad performance and achieve better results for your business.
Key Takeaways
Negative keywords are a powerful tool in advertising that can help improve targeting and ROI.
They tell ad hosts not to show an ad based on the keywords entered.
For instance, if you add ‘discounted,’ as a negative keyword, search engines won’t show your ad if ‘discounted’ is in someone’s search query.
To add a negative keyword to your ad campaign, you need to use a symbol.
The most common symbol used to add a negative keyword is the minus sign (-).
Simply add the minus sign before the keyword that you want to exclude from your campaign, and it will be added as a negative keyword.
There are two main strategies for using negative keywords: protective use and exclusionary use.
Protective use means using negative keywords not because you don’t want to ever bid on the given terms, but because you want them triggered from a specific campaign.
Exclusionary use means using negative keywords to exclude specific terms from your campaign entirely.
When building a negative keyword list, it’s important to keep in mind that negative keywords can impact your campaign or ad group in several ways.
Negative keywords can improve click-through rate, reduce cost per click, and improve conversion rates.
However, it’s important to monitor your negative keyword list regularly to ensure that you’re not excluding keywords that could be valuable to your campaign.
Overall, adding negative keywords to your ad campaign can help you target your audience more effectively and improve your ROI.
By using the minus sign to exclude specific keywords from your campaign, you can ensure that your ads are only shown to the most relevant audience.