Keyword Tool Best Practices

This is what you can do with the Keyword Tool:

• Create new, separate ad groups with similar keywords. We recommend creating several ad groups in each campaign, each with a small, narrowly focused set of similar keywords. Use the Keyword Tool to discover ideas for relevant keywords, then divide them into lists of 5 to 20 similar terms. See examples of ad groups promoting s and  product or service multiple products or services.

• Identify negative keywords. The Keyword Tool may sometimes show you keywords that are not related to your business. For instance, suppose you sell cut flowers and you enter the term flowers into the Keyword Tool. The tool may deliver the term gardens, which you don't want to use as a keyword. However, it would be useful as a negative keyword, since it would stop your ad from showing on searches containing the word gardens. Negative keywords help make sure only interested customers see your ads.

• Specify a language and location. If you're using the Keyword Tool while signed in to your AdWords account, you can tailor your results to a particular location and language. If you happen to be targeting Spanish speakers who live in France, make sure you set the Keyword Tool to that language and location.

• Start broad and then get specific. Try broad terms like flowers in the Keyword Tool first. Then try specific terms like red roses or miniature cactus.

• Keyword selection should be based on quality over quantity; more relevant keywords are likely to give you better results. Keep in mind that keywords with higher search traffic or more advertiser competition don't necessarily provide more qualified leads.
• You can download your keyword results and the accompanying statistics by using the Download button above the keyword table. The Competition and Local Search Trends columns will show numbers ranging from 0 to 1 that correlate with the shaded bars in the Keyword Tool. A 0.8, for instance, would correspond to a bar that's 4/5 shaded. The Local Search Trends information, available to signed-in advertisers only, shows a keyword's fluctuation in traffic over the past 12 months. Each bar represents a different month.
• To sort your keyword results in descending order, click the column header. Click it again to sort your results in ascending order. You can also use the Sort by ... menu above the table.

About Campaign Negative Keywords

Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing whenever a user includes a certain term in his or her search query. You can apply negative keywords at both the ad group level and the campaign level. Adding a negative keyword at the ad group level means that the term will only affect the ads in the ad group. A campaign-level negative keyword will apply to all ads in all ad groups in that campaign.

Note that negative keywords work slightly differently on the Display Network than they do on search results pages. On search pages, negative keywords will prevent your ad from appearing for specific search terms. On the Display Network, our system compares your negative keywords with the content of the placements where your ads are eligible to appear. If your negative keywords match the content of a particular placement, your ad is less likely to appear on that page.

To add and edit negative keywords, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at https://adwords.google.com.
2. Select the campaign or the ad group that you'd like to edit.
3. Select the Keywords tab.
4. Scroll down to find the negative keywords section below the main keywords table. Expand the section by clicking "+".
5. You'll see two tables: "Ad group level" and "Campaign level." The following buttons appear at the top of each table.
• Add: Add your negative keywords, one per line. No need to put a negative sign (-) before each keyword. (When you're viewing an ad group, you won't be able to add campaign-level negative keywords .)
• Edit: Select the existing negative keywords you'd like to edit, and click the "Edit" button. You can then edit the keyword or change the match type. Click "Save" when you're done, or click "Cancel" to go back without making changes.
• Delete: Select the negative keywords you'd like to delete. Click "Delete."
• More actions: This drop-down offers several other options for your negative keyword tables. For example, choose "Export table" to download your entire list of campaign or ad group negative keywords. You'll be prompted to choose a format for the file. Then, click "Download" in the prompt window.</LI< ul>

Campaign Negative Keywords Best Practices

By filtering out unwanted impressions, negative keywords can help you reach the most appropriate prospects, improve your CTR, and increase your ROI. For example, the negative keyword '-free trial' would prevent your ads from showing on any search queries containing the terms 'free' and 'trial'. It wouldn't prevent your ads from showing on variations of these terms, however. It also wouldn't prevent your ads from showing on search queries that only contain one of the terms.

So, the search queries 'one-day trial' and 'free test' could trigger your ads, while 'free one-day trial' could not.

The process to add negative keywords to your ad group is just like adding any other keyword. The only difference is that you put a negative sign (-) before the term. You can also add negative keywords at the campaign level.

The Keyword Tool and the search term report are two great ways to find potential keywords