This is the 13th post in the SEM Intermediate Series, a collection of posts intended for search engine marketing professionals looking for guidance in monitoring and adjusting the key performance indicators (KPIs) that determine the success of a PPC campaign. This series is a continuation of the SEM Beginner Series.
If you haven't already read the SEM Beginner Series on negative keywords, negative keywords are specific words or phrases that help to prevent your ad from being displayed to customers who are unlikely to click your ad. They help to filter out irrelevant traffic and, in turn, increase click through rate (CTR), position and cost per click (CPC).
Also make sure you read the recent post on researching negative keywords, which gives you several different methods of researching negative keywords using Microsoft tools.
Implementing negative keywords
Negative keywords can be applied at the campaign and ad group level with the lower level negatives trumping the others. Once you determine which negative keywords you want to add and to which level, you can add them directly in Microsoft adCenter or by using the adCenter Desktop (Beta).
Using Microsoft adCenter
Applying negative keywords at the campaigns or ad group level is easy to do in Microsoft adCenter.
Start by selecting the account and campaign in which you'd like to add negative keywords. Once you reach the campaign page, click on the Change settings link.
In the lower left hand corner under "Campaign exclusions", click the Edit link next to "Negative keywords". The following will open on your screen:
You can now add negative keywords directly into the field. Just make sure to use a comma to separate multiple words or phrases, and click Apply when you're finished.
Please note: Negative keywords can be added to the ad group level this same way, except you will first need to select the ad group that you wish edit.
adCenter Desktop (Beta)
You can quickly and easily add negative keywords across multiple campaigns and ad groups using the adCenter Desktop (Beta).
First, start by selecting the campaigns to which you'd like to add negative keywords. Then click the Exclusions button on the bottom left corner of the tool.
Clicking on this button will open a new window for you to add the negative keywords. Make sure to separate the negative keywords by using a comma or pressing Enter.
Once you've completed the list, click Add and then OK. This will save the negative keyword list to your campaign. Please note, you can also use the Find similar keywords button to help expand your list even further.
If you have any questions when you're implementing negative keywords in adCenter, please leave a comment below.
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