Search Term report is the go-to place for most advertisers as it shows what actual queries were matched against your keywords. As you know, each search term is matched to your keyword in the ad group.
If you work with broad or phrase match keywords (even exact), you know that your keyword can trigger various search terms. Some searches are good, but some need to be excluded. But there is a bit more to it.
Let’s look at how you can use the Search Term report to optimize your campaigns in a way only a few people do.
Search Term report basics
Before we dive into how to work with the Search Term report, let’s go over some of the basics.
Don’t add keywords from search report just for the sake of it. It will make your account unnecessarily big and hard to manage.
Don’t add low-volume search terms as keywords. If you have a phrase or broad match keywords, they can handle those search terms. Focus on the ones with volume.
There are many reasons why you would want to add a search term as your keyword. But usually, if you want to:
- Write a better ad for that search query (adding to a different/new ad group)
- Control CPC, increase bids, impressions, etc.
- See better reporting
- Assign a different budget (add to a different/new campaign)
When you already have campaigns and ad groups, it might be confusing where to add that keyword. You would not always add a search term to the same ad group. Without a proper process, you could end up having a chaotic structure.
This is what I use to decide if the keyword goes into the same ad group or a new one. It may look complicated, but when you go through it, it’s actually quite easy.
And, of course, you can exclude search terms by adding them as negative keywords. Usually, you would add them as phrase or exact match. You should be very careful when using broad negative keywords.
Take a look at this search term report:
The first keyword is performing well but has a low CTR. I could add it to a different ad group and write better ads, as it has a decent amount of impressions. This might result in additional conversions.
The second keyword does not convert that well and may need another landing page. It has almost 3 times fewer conversions than the first one, so I might just focus on that one. That is if I have limited time or resources. I might try a different landing page to increase the conversion rate, but that requires more work. I won’t get more impressions since it already has 94% of impression share. And CTR is quite good. I may still increase it, but it will require some time. The question remains: can I double the conversion rate, which is pretty hard?
Most of the time, you will have to decide what course of action you should take to gain the best results. That means sometimes ignoring keywords and focusing on more promising ones.
Where to find the search term report
I hope you know this, but in case you’re new, go to your keywords in the ad groups, select one or a few, and the Search term report will appear:
Once you click on it, it will give you all the search terms your selected keyword triggered.
With low-budget/niche accounts, select a longer period. Start with the last 3 months and increase to 12 months if you don’t see enough volume.
If you have a large spend, then the last 30 might be enough.
💡 Quick tip. If you have a large spend and many keywords, you could look at last 30 days or last 3 months. Also, double-check that the search term was converted in the last 12 months as well. Most advertisers focus on shorter periods but forget about seasonality, trends, and other factors that might impact conversions. You don’t want to exclude a converting keyword.
Non-converting spenders
First, it’s important to find all the keywords that spend more than your CPA and never convert. In each scenario, we’re going to use filters to help us quickly scan all the keywords.
In the search term report, use the filter:
Cost > $100 (or whatever your CPA is)
Conversions < 0.01 (the reason we use 0.01 instead of 0, is because there are only < or > conditions, no =0. And you might have data-driven attribution)
This is what you might see. Exclude as an exact match all of them that you don’t need.
💡 Quick tip. Before excluding each of the keywords, try to understand why they did not convert. Maybe there is something you can do to fix it. If not, just exclude and forget.
Hidden budget wasters
There might be plenty of keywords that get a few clicks with a low spend and a low CTR (2-3x below average). Those are hard to see due to low click volume, but if you have a hundred of those, that could be a significant spend. You need to see what those keywords are because low CTR might indicate that the ad does not resonate that well.
It might be your ad or just the keyword.
Filter:
CTR <1% (ad group avg. 3%)
Clicks > 0
Cost <20€
Conversions <0.01
In this case, the savings would be around $130 per month. It might not be a lot, but this is just one ad group. It adds up really quickly.
High rollers
Find search terms that have a CPA above your ad group average. I usually go 2x my avg. CPA, and then lower it as I filter out other keywords.
Filter:
CPA > $150
Conversions > 0
This works great if you need to lower your CPA, but don’t forget that you might lose some conversions. Like in the image above, the CPA is high, but these search terms also drive conversions.
You might have a different ad group with a lower CPA for those keywords to get some conversions at a lower CPA. Otherwise exclude them as exact match negative keywords.
Possible conversion drivers
Let’s find search queries that convert, but the ad does not resonate with that term, meaning they have low CTR. Again, you should look at your ad group average CTR and take it from there. I usually start with 2x lower CTR than my average. You can play with different CTRs to find different keywords.
Filter:
CTR <7%
Conversions > 0
Impressions >100 (optional if you get too many keywords)
Use the process I mentioned above to add keywords to the same or new ad group. You know that they search term converts and even CPA can be acceptable, you need to fix CTR, which basically means working on the ads.
💡 Quick tip. If you’re adding keywords to new ad group, don’t forget to add them in the current ad group as exact negatives.
No click keywords
These keywords are hurting your avg. CTR which affect your ad rank. You need to remove them or at least move to a different ad group or even campaign. Sort by impressions. You can exclude anything above 50 impressions per month. You can check your average ad group CTR, and calculate if you would have clicks after 50 impression.
For example, if your CTR is 5%, with 50 impressions for a particular search term, you would have gotten about 2 clicks. It’s not a strict rule, but more of a guideline. If you CTR is lower, you need more impressions, if higher you need fewer. But I would ignore anything below 20 impressions per month. Let them accumulate more and then come back again.
Filter:
Clicks =0
💡 Quick tip. Don’t forget to look at the keyword. It may have no clicks, but that could be due to your ad. Is it a keyword that is right for your business? If so, move it to a new ad group and work on ads.
High relevance but non-converting
High relevance, in this case, means they have a high CTR. Your ad matches search query intent. Look for keywords with above-average CTR. I usually go for 2-3x above average.
Filter:
CTR > 15%
Conversions < 0.01
If people like your ad but don’t convert, chances are they did not like what they saw on the landing page. Does your landing page match the query and the ad? Getting clicks is good, but getting conversions is the key.
Look at your landing page and try to understand why people did not convert. Is it a better landing page you can use for these keywords? Can something be fixed on the current one?
High CPCs
Even if you’re on eCPC, the actual cost may vary. But if you’re using automated bidding strategies, this is even more important. You will have keywords with high CPCs. I look at 2-4 times the average ad group CPC. I need to understand if it makes sense to spend that much on particular search terms.
Filter:
CPC > 15%
Conversions < 0.01
💡 Quick tip. Sort by clicks and then by impressions to find more keywords. We talked about high-CTR keywords, so have this in mind. With sorting by impressions, you will find low CTR and high CPC keywords that can probably be excluded without hesitation.
General negative keywords
Google says that 15% of daily searches are new. This means that you might get search terms that are not relevant to your business that you haven’t thought about before. While looking at your search term report, if you spot something, use a filter to look for more terms with that word.
Filter:
Search term = calculator
There is no calculator on the page anywhere, but people are searching for it. And it cost quite a penny. If it does not convert, then it doesn’t belong in the account.
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