How to Deal with Negative Keywords on Amazon
Are negative keywords draining your Amazon PPC budget? If you're not using them correctly, they could be! Negative keywords are your best defense against irrelevant traffic, ensuring that your ads reach the right customers while cutting down wasted clicks. But managing them effectively can feel like a tricky puzzle. In this guide, we'll show you how to harness the power of negative keywords to boost ad performance, save money, and drive conversions. Ready to turn things around? Let’s dive in!
What Are Negative Keywords in Amazon PPC?
Negative keywords are specific words or phrases that prevent your ads from showing up in irrelevant searches. In Amazon PPC campaigns, these keywords help you filter out search terms that don't align with your product, ensuring your ads reach only the most relevant audience.
By using negative keywords, you block ads from appearing for searches that are unlikely to convert, reducing the number of irrelevant clicks. This, in turn, saves your ad spend and improves your campaign performance by focusing your budget on high-quality traffic. It's a simple yet powerful way to cut down on wasted costs and boost overall ROI.
Aspect | Positive Keywords | Negative Keywords |
Definition | Keywords that trigger your ads to appear in relevant searches. | Keywords that prevent your ads from showing in irrelevant searches. |
Purpose | To target potential customers actively searching for related products. | To block ads from appearing in irrelevant or low-converting searches. |
Effect | Increases visibility and drives relevant traffic. | Reduces irrelevant clicks and saves ad spend. |
Example | "Running shoes" (to target buyers searching for running gear). | "Free shoes" (to avoid showing ads to users seeking free items). |
Types of Negative Keywords
Negative keywords come in two main types: exact match and phrase match, each offering different levels of control over blocking irrelevant traffic.
Negative Exact MatchA negative exact match blocks your ads from appearing for specific search terms that you want to avoid. If a customer searches for the exact keyword you’ve marked as negative, your ad won’t show up. This is useful when you want to block highly specific, irrelevant searches that don’t match your product.
Example: If "cheap shoes" is a negative exact match, your ad won’t show up when someone searches for exactly "cheap shoes."
Negative Phrase MatchA negative phrase match blocks your ad from appearing when a broader combination of terms includes your negative keyword. This type of negative keyword is more flexible as it prevents your ad from showing for searches that contain the unwanted phrase, even if other words are added before or after.
Example: If "cheap shoes" is a negative phrase match, your ad won’t appear for searches like "buy cheap shoes online" or "cheap running shoes."
Identifying Negative Keywords
Effectively identifying and managing negative keywords is crucial for ensuring your Amazon PPC campaigns are cost-efficient and targeted. Here’s how you can do it:
Analyze Search Term Reports: Start by regularly reviewing your search term reports. These reports show which terms triggered your ads and provide valuable insights into what’s working and what’s not. Look for irrelevant or non-converting terms that drain your ad budget without contributing to sales.
Spotting Unproductive Keywords: Identify search terms that don’t align with your product or target audience. For example, if you're advertising "premium running shoes" and notice clicks coming from searches like "free running shoes" or "cheap running shoes," these terms are irrelevant and should be added to your negative keyword list.
Continuous Monitoring and Updating: Regularly update your negative keywords based on the performance data from your search term reports. This ensures that your ads remain focused on high quality, converting traffic, ultimately boosting ROI and minimizing wasted ad spend.
How to Add Negative Keywords in Amazon
Effectively managing your negative keywords is essential for refining your Amazon PPC campaigns. Here’s how to add and remove them:
Adding Negative Keywords:
Log in to Amazon Seller Central.
Go to the Campaign Manager.
Select the campaign you want to update.
Navigate to the Negative Keywords section.
Add the specific keywords you want to block from triggering your ads.
Removing Negative Keywords:
Go back to the Campaign Manager.
Choose the campaign where you want to make changes.
Click on the Negative Keywords tab.
Select the keywords you wish to remove and archive them.
Regularly reviewing and updating your negative keywords keeps your ad targeting on point, helping to maximize efficiency and minimize wasted ad spend.
Campaign Level vs. Ad Group Level Negative Keywords
Understanding the difference between campaign-level and ad group-level negative keywords is key to fine-tuning your Amazon PPC strategy:
Campaign-Level Negative Keywords | Ad Group-Level Negative Keywords |
These are used for broad targeting across the entire campaign. | Ad group-level negative keywords provide more granular control. |
By adding negative keywords at the campaign level, you block irrelevant terms across all ad groups, ensuring your ads don't show for searches that are not related to your products at a high level. | This allows you to fine-tune targeting within specific ad groups, ensuring that only highly relevant terms trigger the ads for each group, helping to refine ad spending and focus on specific product variations or audiences. |
Monitoring and Optimizing Negative Keywords
It’s important to continuously monitor and optimize your negative keywords to ensure your Amazon PPC campaigns stay efficient. Regularly reviewing keyword performance helps keep your ads targeted and prevents wasted ad spending on irrelevant clicks.
Continuous Review of Keyword Performance:
Regularly check search term reports to identify new irrelevant terms.
Adjust your negative keyword list based on evolving search trends and consumer behavior.
Ensure your ads align with high-converting, relevant search queries to maximize your ROI.
Tools and Tips for Effective Keyword Management:
Automated Tools: Using platforms like Sellermate.ai can simplify keyword management. Sellermate offers automated tracking and adjustment of keywords, saving you time while improving campaign efficiency.
Data-Driven Decisions: Sellermate.ai allows you to leverage detailed performance data to identify non-converting terms quickly and remove them from your campaigns.
Set Automated Rules: Create automatic exclusions for irrelevant terms using keyword rules to keep your campaigns optimized without constant manual intervention.
Regularly monitoring and refining your negative keywords ensures that your ad spend is used efficiently, targeting only the most relevant audiences and improving your campaign performance.
Ready to take control of your Amazon PPC with ease? Book a demo with Sellermate.ai today and see how their advanced keyword management tools can help you optimize your campaigns effortlessly.
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