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The Surprising Power of Negative Keywords: How To 2x The ROI Of Your PPC Campaigns & Reduce Your CPC To $0.50 Or Lower

by Radostina Stefanova

Are you a Shopify merchant running a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign but still not seeing the results you want?

One often-overlooked strategy that can help improve the performance of your campaigns is the use of negative keywords.

Negative keywords may seem counterintuitive at first – after all, aren't you trying to get as many clicks as possible?

However, by adding negative keywords to your campaigns, you can actually save money and improve your return on investment (ROI).

In this article, we'll explain exactly what negative keywords are and how they work, specifically in the context of Shopify and PPC campaigns.

You'll learn why they're important for your PPC campaigns, and we'll provide tips and best practices for finding and adding negative keywords to your campaigns.

By the end of this article, you'll have a solid understanding of how negative keywords can benefit your Shopify business and how to use them effectively.

Outline

  • What is a negative keywords list & why is it important?
  • How will a negative keywords list benefit you?
  • How to create & manage your negative keywords list?
  • Examples & resources
  • Takeaways
  • Conclusion

What is a negative keywords list & why is it important?

A negative keywords list is a list of words or phrases that you can add to your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to exclude your ads from being triggered by certain search terms.

For example, if you’re a local producer and deliver organic fruit to people in the area, but run PPC ads to increase your brand exposure, you may want to include words like “Apple” (the brand) and its relevant LSI keywords, such as “iPhone,” “iPad,” “Macbook,” etc. in your negative keywords list.

This is important because it helps you control your ad spend and improve the relevance of your ads for your target audience.

Here are a few key stats that demonstrate the importance of using negative keywords in your PPC campaigns:

  • Improving ad relevancy can increase your click-through rate (CTR): By adding negative keywords to your campaigns, you can improve the relevance of your ads. According to Google, this can lead to higher CTR. It can also lead to better quality scores and lower costs-per-click (CPC).
  • Negative keywords can help to reduce ad spend: According to Google, using negative keywords can help to reduce your ad spend by excluding your ads from being shown for irrelevant searches and queries with different search intent. This can be especially important for merchants who are targeting broad or generic keywords, as their ads may be shown for a wide range of irrelevant searches.
  • Negative keywords can improve the quality of traffic to your website: By adding negative keywords to your campaigns, you can drive more targeted traffic to your Shopify store and gain more qualified leads. This can lead to a lower bounce rate, higher conversions, better return on investment (ROI), and a better overall website performance.
  • A well-defined negative keywords list can significantly improve the performance of your campaigns and reduce wasted spend: According to WordStream, a well-defined negative keywords list can improve the performance of your campaigns by reducing wasted ad spend, improving ad relevancy, and increasing the quality of traffic to your website. This can lead to lower costs-per-acquisition (CPA), higher ROI, and better overall results.
  • Enhanced website performance: If your ads are being shown for irrelevant searches, you may be attracting low-quality traffic to your website. This can result in a high bounce rate, which can negatively impact your website’s performance and your overall ROI.

To sum up, here are some specific pain points that negative keywords can help you address:

  • Wasted ad spend
  • Low-quality traffic
  • Poor ad relevance

How will a negative keywords list benefit you?

It is difficult to provide specific numbers on how a negative keywords list can benefit you, as the impact will depend on a variety of factors, including your specific industry, target audience, and campaign goals.

However, here are a few examples of how a negative keywords list can impact the performance of your PPC campaigns:

  • Increased click-through rate (CTR): By improving the relevance of your ads, you can increase your CTR, which is the percentage of users who click on your ad after seeing it. For example, let's say that you are running a campaign with a CTR of 2%. By adding negative keywords to your campaign, you may be able to increase your CTR to 4% or higher.
  • Reduced costs-per-click (CPC): By improving the relevance of your ads and increasing your CTR, you may be able to reduce your CPC, which is the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. For example, let's say that you are running a campaign with a CPC of $1. By adding negative keywords to your campaign, you may be able to reduce your CPC to $0.50 or lower.
  • Increased return on investment (ROI): By reducing your ad spend and increasing your conversions, you can improve your ROI, which is the profit or loss you make on your ad spend. For example, let's say that you are running a campaign with a ROI of 10%. By adding negative keywords to your campaign, you may be able to increase your ROI to 20% or higher.
  • Reduced costs-per-acquisition (CPA): By reducing your ad spend and increasing your conversions, you can also reduce your CPA, which is the amount you pay to acquire each customer. For example, let's say that you are running a campaign with a CPA of $50. By adding negative keywords to your campaign, you may be able to reduce your CPA to $25 or lower.

To sum up, here are some benefits of creating a negative keywords list:

  • Improved ad relevancy
  • Enhanced campaign performance
  • Greater control over ad spend
  • Reduced wasted ad spend
  • Enhanced website performance

How to create & manage your negative keywords list?

There are several ways to discover relevant negative keywords:

  • Analyze your search query report: Your search query report shows the actual search terms that triggered your ads. By analyzing this report, you can identify any irrelevant or low-performing search terms and add them as negative keywords. To access your search query report, go to the "Keywords" tab in your Google Ads account and click on the "Search terms" button. This will show you a list of the search terms that triggered your ads, along with data on impressions, clicks, and conversions. You can then use this data to identify any low-performing or irrelevant search terms and add them as negative keywords.
  • Use a keyword research tool: There are many keyword research tools available that can help you to identify potential negative keywords. Some popular options include Google's Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These tools can provide data on the search volume and competition for different keywords, which can help you to identify potential negative keywords to add to your list. For example, if you see that a particular keyword has a high search volume but low relevance to your business, you may want to add it as a negative keyword.
  • Analyze your website traffic and conversions: By analyzing the traffic and conversions on your website, you can identify any low-performing pages or keywords and add them as negative keywords. To do this, you can use a tool like Google Analytics to see which pages or keywords are driving the most traffic and conversions on your website. If you see that a particular page or keyword is not performing well, you may want to add it as a negative keyword to exclude your ads from being shown for that term.
  • Consider the context of your business: Consider the context of your business and the types of products or services that you offer. This can help you to identify potential negative keywords that are specific to your business and industry. For example, if you are a luxury clothing retailer, you may want to add "cheap" as a negative keyword to exclude your ads from being shown for searches related to cheap clothing.
  • Use negative keywords lists: There are many pre-made negative keywords lists available that can provide ideas and inspiration for negative keywords to add to your campaigns. You can find these lists by doing a quick online search or by checking with your PPC platform or agency. These lists can be a helpful starting point, but be sure to tailor them to your specific business and industry.
  • Test and refine your list: This can be done through A/B testing, where you create two versions of a campaign with different negative keywords and compare the results. You can also use tools like Google Analytics to track the performance of your campaigns & identify areas for improvement.

Also, you can use a tool to streamline the entire process. There are several tools that can help you to create and manage your negative keywords list. Some popular options include:

  • Google Ads: Google Ads provides a negative keywords tool that allows you to create and manage your negative keywords at the campaign or ad group level. You can also use the Keyword Planner tool to see the search volume for different keywords and identify potential negative keywords to add to your list.
  • Microsoft Ads (formerly known as Bing Ads): Microsoft Ads provides a negative keywords tool that allows you to create and manage your negative keywords at the campaign or ad group level.
  • SEMrush: SEMrush is a paid tool that provides a keyword research tool that allows you to see the search volume for different keywords and identify potential negative keywords to add to your list.

Examples & resources

Here are some examples of negative keywords that you might add to your campaigns:

  • Free: If you are selling a product or service, you might want to add "free" as a negative keyword to exclude your ads from being shown for searches related to free products or services.
  • Jobs: If you are a business that does not offer job opportunities, you might want to add "jobs" as a negative keyword to exclude your ads from being shown for searches related to job openings.
  • Cheap: If you are selling high-end or premium products or services, you might want to add "cheap" as a negative keyword to exclude your ads from being shown for searches related to cheap products or services.

Here are some resources that you can use to gain more information about building a negative keywords list:

Takeaways

Here are a few key takeaways on negative keywords:

  • A negative keywords list is a list of words or phrases that you can add to your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to exclude your ads from being triggered by certain search terms.
  • Adding negative keywords to your campaigns can help you to control your ad spend, improve the relevance of your ads, and attract higher-quality traffic to your website.
  • There are several ways to discover relevant negative keywords, including analyzing your search query report, using a keyword research tool, analyzing your website traffic and conversions, considering the context of your business, and using negative keywords lists.
  • If a merchant does not have a negative keywords list, they may miss out on benefits such as improved ad relevancy, enhanced campaign performance, greater control over ad spend, reduced wasted ad spend, and improved website performance.
  • Negative keywords can impact a merchant's PPC campaigns in various ways, including increased CTR, reduced CPC, increased ROI, and reduced CPA.

Conclusion

Negative keywords are a powerful tool in PPC advertising, allowing you to exclude your ads from being shown for certain search terms. By adding negative keywords to your campaigns, you can improve the relevance of your ads, reduce wasted ad spend, and attract higher-quality traffic to your store.

There are many ways to discover relevant negative keywords, including analyzing search query reports, using keyword research tools, analyzing website traffic and conversions, considering the context of the business, and using negative keywords lists. By taking the time to carefully research and build a negative keywords list, you can significantly improve the performance of your PPC campaigns and achieve better overall results.

In conclusion, negative keywords are an essential component of any PPC campaign, helping you to control your ad spend, improve ad relevancy, and achieve better performance. By leveraging the power of negative keywords, you can optimize your campaigns and drive better results for your e-commerce business.

I hope you found this article helpful! Stay tuned for more SEO and business advice. If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

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