How to optimize search terms in Google Ads

Once we have our advertising campaign enabled in Google ads, with their ad groups and their corresponding keywords, only wait for the ads to be shown so they can analyze the data from the moment of its start of activity . Within the post-activation analysis of a campaign, you have to take into account many factors influencing your performance, and one of them is the search terms report.

What is the search terms report?

The search terms Report is a compilation of all searches made by users who have activated your ad and who, after displaying the ad with that search, have clicked on it. This report also allows you to see the number of impressions and clicks you have had, the cost you have assumed and whether you have generated conversions, among many other data. You can see it both generally (at the campaign level) and at a more specific level (at the ad group level), although the ideal is that you focus on the Ad Group level to deepen more in the terms of that group and to be able to detect more easily the possible inconsistencies and rect Ificarlas to improve your performance.

In saying, you can know the behavior of your target audience and if the search terms are really the right ones to activate your ads. It is very important not to confuse Keywords With search terms. On the one hand, the keywords are those that The advertiser (we) intentionally chose for each ad, and the search terms are the words that the user has used to perform a search.

Steps to access the search terms report

1. Select the desired campaign.
2. Within the ad groups, choose the one you want to analyze first.
3. In the Google Ads side menu, enter the section called “keywords”.
4. Within the keyword category, in the top menu, click ‘ Search terms ‘.
5. Select the time period you want to analyze in the top right.
6. Finally, in the Columns section, select all the items you want to view and, if you want, you can make filters for your analysis to be more specific (for example, that the report only shows you search terms without conversions and with a cost exceeding €10 In the last 30 days).

How can I optimize my ads ‘ traffic with search terms?

To optimize your campaigns, you must constantly review the terms and add or exclude those that are necessary to improve the quality of your ads and achieve better performance.

This means that, if you see that through a search term is often shown the announcement, provides conversions and the return of advertising investment is positive, you can add that term as a keyword for more probabilities That the ad is triggered when someone makes that search.

On the contrary, if we see that there are search terms that generate too much cost and does not provide conversions or their return of advertising investment is not the desired, we can exclude it so that the next time a user uses that search term, does not activate The announcement. It may also happen that a search term has nothing to do with the advertised product, so it should also be excluded to improve its profitability. For the rest of the terms that fit the ad, we will have to check them constantly to see if they are profitable over time or not.

What negative words should I use to optimize my campaigns?

By default, if you select a search term and then “add as a negative keyword”, this term will be excluded with the exact match. That is, the ad will not be displayed when the search term is exactly the same, with no additional words or alterations in the order.

Therefore, if you notice that a term without consistency with the ad is repeated, you can add it as a negative keyword with the phrase concordance, so that whenever it is displayed in that order do not activate the ad, no matter if there are additional words in the Search (for example “with lemon gas” in a lemon juice AD).

On the contrary, if you observe that words are repeated unrelated to the ad, you can make only that word, but this time with the wide negative concordance (for example “orange” in a lemon juice AD). That is, whenever a search term includes that word, the ad will never be activated, regardless of order or additional words.

How often should we analyze the search terms report?

In short, the frequency will depend on both the duration of the campaign and its own volume. However, regardless of this, it is advisable to do at least one weekly review to observe possible inconsistencies that may affect cost, quality and performance.

If you have any questions you can leave it in the comments or on the contrary, if you want more information, you can find a wide variety of articles on Advertising in Adwords?