When planning your PPC Campaigns and optimising your conversion rates, negative keywords are you best friend. Maybe you don’t know which negative keywords are relevant to your campaigns. To help you get started here is a list categorising some of the most used negative keywords.
Negative Keywords for Adwords Campaigns
It is highly likely however that you already know which keywords would be likely to cost you money rather than have a chance of making money from your Adwords campaigns in Google search results.
To help save you some time these keywords are a good starting point. This is a general list but If you want to be more specific within your industry we provide this service to our clients within our clients PPC campaigns.
Create the profiles of your time wasters & develop negative keyword lists to exclude them on multiple campaigns.
Every campaign should be considered unique and contain it’s own set of negative keywords to reduce your spend on non effective keywords and decrease your cost per conversion. Our list below is based on the the keywords used by the profiles of the types of people we do not want. Based on ruling out the searches that reference elements we know are of no value to that being offered. Negative keywords based on excluding the following:
- Job Seekers
- Students
- Legal Eagles
- Bargain Hunters
- Manufacturing & Materials
- Freelancers & Odd Jobbers
- Technically Irrelevant Keywords
- Researchers & Journalists
- Geographically Irrelevant searches
Make a list of the people who you do not want to attract if your PPC Campaigns and create separate lists for these. Add them to your Adwords shared library and then add the relevant lists to you have created to the different campaigns.
Negative Job Seekers & Recruiter Keywords
Prevent your ads from appearing for common employment and career-related searches:
career
careers
employment
hiring
intern
interns
internship
internships
job
jobs
recruiter
recruiting
resume
resumes
salaries
salary
Negative Reference Keywords
Don’t waste money on people looking for information that is only loosely related to your products/services or industry:
about
definition
diagram
example
examples
history
map
maps
sample
samples
what are
what i
book
books
case studies
case study
guide
guides
journal
journals
magazine
magazines
metrics
news
research
review
reviews
statistics
stats
success stories
success story
tutorial
tutorials
white paper
white papers
Negative Education / Students Keywords
Unless you’re a school or training company, you’ll probably want to exclude these keywords
class
classes
college
colleges
course
courses
education
school
schools
training
universities
university
Negative Bargain Hunters & Cheapskates Keywords
These negative keywords will help if you are positioned as a premium provider. If you do want visitors for these keyword concepts, create an additional campaign or ad group to focus on these discount concepts, and specifically bid on keywords that contain these words. And then make sure to add this list of negative keywords to the campaigns or ad groups that do not target the discount audience:
bargain
cheap
clearance
close out
close outs
closeout
closeouts
discount
discounted
free
inexpensive
liquidation
odd lots
overstock
remainder
remainders
Price Hawkers
price
prices
pricing
quote
quotes
Hobbyists & DIY Enthusiasts Keywords
In many industries there are “do-it-yourselfers” or hobbyists who are searching for information on how to take on a project themselves. It’s a good idea to screen out this audience if you do not cater to it:
craft
crafts
create
creating
hand made
handmade
home
homemade
how can
how does
how to
make
making
when can
when i
where can
Technically Irrelevant Keywords
This is a tricky one. If you are a company selling commercial or enterprise software, a) you are likely to want to avoid the thousands of software developers who are looking for free resources, and b) you want to avoid confusion with consumers looking for tools and home-use products. Use this list as a starting point, but also brainstorm and use keyword suggestion tools to find potential negative keywords that are specific to your software space:
burn
burner
cd
code
community
desktop
developer
developers
disk
download (if you don’t have one)
downloads (if you don’t have any)
dvd
error
file
files
forum
free
freeware
game
games
gnu
hack
hacks
libraries
library
microsoft
open source
public domain
retail
retail
retailer
retailers
shareware
shortcut
shortcuts
template
templates
tip
tips
video
windows
Manufacturers & Industrial Keywords
This is a very broad list of words, covering many different concepts related to manufacturing and industrial companies. Use this list to start the process of generating negative keywords specific to your industry, product lines, and business model.
antique
consumer
export
exporter
exporters
hobby
import
importer
importers
measurement
model
models
regulations
rent
rental
repair
repairs
retail
retailer
retailers
rules
safety
specifications
specs
standards
store
toy
toys
used
vintage
Products & Materials Keywords
Obviously not all of these materials will apply to one business. I created this list of product materials as a reminder to screen out searches for product types that a company does not offer. One might wonder if it is OK to not screen for these in the hopes that someone will search for one type of product, but be convinced to buy a different type once they see what is available. Most B2B marketers have limited PPC budgets, so usually it is a better idea to only show your ads to people who don’t have a specific alternative to your products already in mind:
aluminum
ceramic
cotton
fabric
glass
gold
iron
leather
metal
paper
plastic
rubber
silver
stainless steel
steel
stone
vinyl
wood
Legal & Policy Related Keywords
It is probably a good idea to prevent your ads from being shown to people looking for information related to legislation and regulations. There will be cases where this might not apply, especially if your product/service solves a regulatory/compliance issue (and if you have a landing page on your site that speaks to the legal issue AND provides a conversion action right there on the page):
act
act of
compliance
law
laws
legal
legislation
regulation
regulations
about
advisory
apartment
architecture
article
articles
Researchers & Statistician Keywords
Assuming you have a limited advertising budget, avoid people doing research in to subjects that may be more unlikely to yield a purchase. This would need to be modified depending on your content strategy & industry.
association
associations
bank
blog
blogs
book
books
bulletin
bulletins
case studies
case study
certification
channel
class
classes
club
clubs
college
colleges
condo
conference
conferences
council
councils
county court
course
courses
data
dating
define
definition
diagram
education
example
examples
FAQ
festival
forum
forums
foundations
guide
guides
history
homes
image
images
info
information
institute
institutes
jobs
journal
journals
learn about
library
logo
logos
magazine
magazines
map
maps
meaning of
metrics
music
music video
news
newsletter
newsletters
newspaper
newspapers
nursing
photo
photograph
photographs
photos
picture
pictures
police
program
programs
real estate
report
reports
research
resource
resources
review
reviews
ringtones
sample
samples
school
schools
seminar
seminars
sisterhood
statistics
stats
success stories
success story
theories
theory
trail
training
tutorial
tutorials
universities
university
warped tour
weather
what are
what is
white paper
white papers
wiki
wikipedia
workshop
workshops
More B2B Negative Keywords
Negative keywords for B2B advertisers. This is not a complete list as every industry is different however it gives you a good idea of which keywords we consider of lower value when targeting your campaigns towards more serious enquiries.
about
advice
agencies
agency
article
articles
association
associations
blog
blogs
book
books
bulletin
bulletins
buy
career
careers
case studies
case study
class
classes
club
clubs
college
colleges
conference
conferences
consultants
consulting
consumer
council
councils
course
courses
data
define
definition
developer
developers
diagram
direct hire
direct placement
education
employer
employers
employment
example
examples
FAQ
firm
firms
forum
forums
foundations
freelance
freelancer
freelancers
freelancing
frys
full-time
guide
guides
head hunter
hiring
history
home
house
household
image
images
independent contractors
info
information
institute
institutes
intern
interns
internship
internships
job
jobs
journal
journals
learn about
logo
logos
magazine
magazines
map
maps
meaning of
metrics
news
newsletter
newsletters
newspaper
newspapers
overstock
part-time
personal
photo
photos
picture
pictures
position
positions
program
programs
refurbished
recruiter
recruiters
recruiting
report
reports
research
resource
resources
resume
resumes
review
reviews
salaries
salary
sample
samples
school
schools
seminar
seminars
staffing
statistics
stats
store
stores
success stories
success story
temp
temporary
theories
theory
training
tutorial
tutorials
universities
university
what are
what is
white paper
white papers
wiki
wikipedia
workshop
workshops
Geographically Irrelevant Keywords
And the unwanted geographies! Be careful to not exclude the geographies you want! Even though you set the geographical interests within your Adwords campaigns that doesn’t stop Adwords from including many unwanted geographies unless you specify them.
Alabama
Birmingham
Montgomery
Mobile
Huntsville
Tuscaloosa
Alaska
Anchorage
Fairbanks
Juneau
Sitka
Ketchikan
Arizona
Phoenix
Tucson
Mesa
Chandler
Glendale
Arkansas
Little Rock
Fort Smith
Fayetteville
Springdale
Jonesboro
California
Los Angeles
Orange County
San Diego
San Jose
San Francisco
Fresno
Sacramento
Colorado
Denver
Colorado Springs
Aurora
Fort Collins
Lakewood
Connecticut
Bridgeport
New Haven
Hartford
Stamford
Waterbury
Florida
Jacksonville
Miami
Tampa
St. Petersburg
Orlando
Tallahassee
Georgia
Atlanta
Augusta
Columbus
Savannah
Athens
Hawaii
Honolulu
Hilo
Kailua
Kapolei
Kaneohe
Idaho
Boise
Nampa
Meridian
Idaho Falls
Pocatello
Illinois
Chicago
Aurora
Rockford
Joliet
Naperville
Springfield
Indiana
Indianapolis
Fort Wayne
Evansville
South Bend
Hammond
Iowa
Des Moines
Cedar Rapids
Davenport
Sioux City
Waterloo
Kansas
Wichita
Overland Park
Kansas City
Topeka
Olathe
Kentucky
Louisville
Lexington
Bowling Green
Owensboro
Covington
Frankfort
Louisiana
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Shreveport
Lafayette
Lake Charles
Maine
Portland
Lewiston
Bangor
South Portland
Auburn
Augusta
Massachusetts
Boston
Worcester
Springfield
Lowell
Cambridge
Michigan
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Warren
Sterling Heights
Lansing
Minnesota
Minneapolis
Saint Paul
Rochester
Duluth
Bloomington
Mississippi
Jackson
Gulfport
Hattiesburg
Southaven
Biloxi
Missouri
Kansas City
Saint Louis
Springfield
Independence
Columbia
Jefferson City
Montana
Billings
Missoula
Great Falls
Bozeman
Butte
Helena
Nebraska
Omaha
Lincoln
Bellevue
Grand Island
Kearney
Nevada
Las Vegas
Henderson
North Las Vegas
Reno
Sparks
Carson City
New Hampshire
Manchester
Nashua
Concord
Derry
Rochester
New Jersey
Newark
Jersey City
Paterson
Elizabeth
Edison
Trenton
New Mexico
Albuquerque
Las Cruces
Rio Rancho
Santa Fe
Roswell
New York
New York City
Buffalo
Rochester
Yonkers
Syracuse
Albany
North Carolina
Charlotte
Raleigh
Greensboro
Winston-Salem
Durham
North Dakota
Fargo
Bismarck
Grand Forks
Minot
West Fargo
Ohio
Columbus
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Toledo
Akron
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City
Tulsa Norman
Broken Arrow
Lawton
Oregon
Portland
Eugene
Salem
Gresham
Hillsboro
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Allentown
Erie
Reading
Harrisburg
Rhode Island
Providence
Warwick
Cranston
Pawtucket
East Providence
South Carolina
Columbia
Charleston
North Charleston
Mount Pleasant
Rock Hill
South Dakota
Sioux Falls
Rapid City
Aberdeen
Brookings
Watertown
Pierre
Tennessee
Memphis
Nashville
Knoxville
Chattanooga
Clarksville
Texas
Houston
San Antonio
Dallas
Austin
Fort Worth
Utah
Salt Lake City
West Valley City
Provo
West Jordan
Orem
Vermont
Burlington
Essex
South Burlington
Colchester
Rutland
Montpelier
Washington
Seattle
Spokane
Tacoma
Vancouver
Bellevue
Olympia
West Virginia
Charleston
Huntington
Parkersburg
Morgantown
Wheeling
Wisconsin
Milwaukee
Madison
Green Bay
Kenosha
Racine
Wyoming
Cheyenne
Casper
Laramie
Gillette
Rock Springs
ottawa
scotland
scottsdale
uk
india
london
toronto
canada
sydney
sussex
melbourne
australia
thailand
AL
Alabama
AK
Alaska
AZ
Arizona
AR
Arkansas
CA
California
CO
Colorado
CT
Connecticut
FL
Florida
GA
Georgia
HI
Hawaii
ID
Idaho
IL
Illinois
IN
Indiana
IA
Iowa
KS
Kansas
KY
Kentucky
LA
Louisiana
ME
Maine
MA
Massachusetts
MI
Michigan
MN
Minnesota
MS
Mississippi
MO
Missouri
MT
Montana
NE
Nebraska
NV
Nevada
NH
New Hampshire
NJ
New Jersey
NM
New Mexico
NY
nyc
New York
NC
North Carolina
ND
North Dakota
OH
Ohio
OK
Oklahoma
OR
Oregon
PA
Pennsylvania
RI
Rhode Island
SC
South Carolina
SD
South Dakota
TN
Tennessee
TX
Texas
UT
Utah
VT
Vermont
VA
Virginia
WA
WV
West Virginia
WI
Wisconsin
WY
Wyoming
Winnipeg
Louis
Pensacola
Montreal
Malaysia
Pakistan
NZ
Perth
South
Africa
Sri
Lanka
UAE
United
Arab
Emirates
Mumbai
Ireland
Leeds
Dubai
Brisbane
Bangalore
Canada
Canadian
China
Chennai
Delhi
Singapore
Europe
Russia
UK
Germany
Spain
Italy
Ukraine
France
Romania
Hungary
Belarus
Poland
Serbia
Austria
Italy
Russia
Germany
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Croatia
Latvia
Greece
Sweden
Poland
Netherlands
Moldova
Lithuania
Portugal
Finland
Bosnia
Norway
Denmark
Moscow
LONDON
St Petersburg
BERLIN
MADRID
ROMA
KIEV
PARIS
Bucharest
BUDAPEST
Hamburg
MINSK
Warsaw
Belgrade
Vienna
Kharkov
Barcelona
Novosibirsk
Nizhny Novgorod
Milan
Ekaterinoburg
Munich
Prague
Samara
Omsk
SOFIA
Dnepropetrovsk
Kazan
Ufa
Chelyabinsk
Donetsk
Naples
Birmingham
Perm
Rostov-na-Donu
Odessa
Volgograd
Cologne
Turin
Voronezh
Krasnoyarsk
Saratov
ZAGREB
Zaporozhye
Lódz
Marseille
RIGA
Lvov
Athens
Salonika
STOCKHOLM
Kraków
Valencia
AMSTERDAM
Leeds
Tolyatti
Kryvy Rig
Sevilla
Palermo
Ulyanovsk
KISHINEV
Genova
Izhevsk
Frankfurt am Main
Krasnodar
Breslau
Glasgow
Yaroslave
Khabarovsk
Vladivostok
Zaragoza
Essen
Rotterdam
Irkutsk
Dortmund
Stuttgart
Barnaul
VILNIUS
Poznan
Düsseldorf
Novokuznetsk
Lisbon
HELSINKI
Málaga
Bremen
Sheffield
SARAJEVO
Penza
Ryazan
Orenburg
Naberezhnye Tchelny
Duisburg
Lipetsk
Hannover
Mykolaiv
Tula
OSLO
Tyumen
Copenhagen
Kemerovo
MD/DC/VA keywords
Delaware
Wilmington
Dover
Newark
Middletown
SmyrnaMaryland
Baltimore
Frederick
Rockville
Gaithersburg
Bowie
AnnapolisVirginia
Virginia Beach
Norfolk
Chesapeake
Richmond
Newport News
