In our last
blog post, we recommended using negative keywords for your content network campaigns to help improve your targeting. We got a number of questions asking for more details, so we're taking a deeper look into that topic here, using the example of a client selling gourmet chocolate gift boxes.
- Use negative keywords at the ad group and campaign level, as appropriate. If you have negative keywords that apply to all your ad groups within a content campaign, save time by adding them at the campaign level.
- Get ideas for negative keywords from the Keyword Tool. For example, if you enter chocolates in the Keyword Tool, you'll see a number of related concepts. Select your negative keywords based on the traffic you're interested in excluding. In this case, you may not want to appear on pages related to the LG chocolate phone, chocolate Labrador dogs, or the books and movies Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Like Water for Chocolate. Add these terms as negative keywords to help target your ads.
- Keep in mind that users are browsing content network websites rather than searching for specific terms, so you can still receive relevant traffic from sites that aren't directly related to your product or service. You may want your gourmet chocolate ads to show on sites for other gourmet foods, desserts, or gifts, so choose your negative keywords accordingly.
Posted by Danh Ly, Thu Nguyen, and Alice Lin, Optimization Specialists
