The best negative keywords are the ones that are the most often used in various industries. These should industries that are not relevant to your own.
*NB– Every industry is different, so although these are popular negative keywords- you will need to go through each category and keyword to ensure that they are in fact irrelevant 100% of the time. For most industries, these negatives can be applied all of the time. The negative keyword list included below is over four hundred of the most popular negative keywords.
For tips on using negative keywords and how to build negative keyword lists, see our blog post Negative Keyword Guide & Tips.
Why Use Negative Keywords?
Negative Keywords help you save time and money by eliminating irrelevant impressions and clicks, which subsequently increases CTR and conversion rate. Negative keywords improve targeting by preventing your adverts showing for irrelevant searches.
Using the Adwords Search Terms Report is the most common way of finding negative keywords. This search terms report shows the actual searches typed into Google by people who have clicked on your adverts and been to your website. While this is an essential exercise, creating a negative keyword list before you start advertising can save money from the outset. We have created this list of negative keywords below. These are some of the most popular negative keywords and most frequently used negatives & common negatives.
Negative Keywords List for other industries.
The negative keyword list is grouped into categories- each of which should be checked to ensure these are in fact irrelevant to your industry. The best negative keywords are industries that do not relate to your own.
- Academic Training & Certification, Education & Schools
- Jobs & Careers, Informational
- Blog, Websites
- Legal
- DIY
- Medical & Health
- Product Materials
- Software
- Locations
- Used/Free
- Advertising & Media.
Some words can actually go in more than one category as their context and therefore meaning varies. You can also copy this sheet from Google Drive.
Academic, Certification, Training, Education, Schools & University
For many industries, all of these keywords can be negative. If you provide training services, then training naturally would not be negative- but some others might.
| about |
| admission |
| admissions |
| article |
| articles |
| association |
| associations |
| book |
| books |
| calculator |
| certification |
| certifications |
| class |
| classes |
| club |
| clubs |
| college |
| colleges |
| conference |
| conferences |
| council |
| councils |
| course |
| courses |
| degree |
| degrees |
| education |
| exam |
| exams |
| guide |
| guidebook |
| guidebooks |
| guides |
| institute |
| institutes |
| instruction |
| instructions |
| instructor |
| instructors |
| journal |
| journals |
| learn |
| learning |
| lesson |
| lessons |
| libraries |
| library |
| manual |
| manuals |
| program |
| programs |
| scholarship |
| school |
| schools |
| seminar |
| seminars |
| studies |
| study |
| teacher |
| teachers |
| test |
| tests |
| textbook |
| textbooks |
| train |
| trainee |
| trainer |
| training |
| tutor |
| tutorial |
| tutorials |
| tutors |
| uni |
| universities |
| university |
| white paper |
| white papers |
| workshop |
| workshops |
Jobs & Employment
These are perhaps the best negative keywords to use for most industries. Stop job seekers clicking on your adverts can be a big saver.
career
careers
employer
employers
employment
hire
hiring
intern
interns
internship
internships
interview
interviews
job
jobs
position
positions
recruiter
recruiters
recruiting
recruitment
resume
resumes
salaries
salary
staff
staffing
temps
vacancies
vacancy
wage
wages
Blog & Informational Search Terms
Websites
Legal
Unless you are actually selling legal related services or products, these should be good for you. Certainly for most industries.
act
law
laws
lawsuit
lawyer
lawyers
lease
legal
legislation
legislations
regulation
regulations
Photos & Images
DIY
Unless you offer these type of products or services- add them to the negative keyword list.
craft
crafts
diy
do it yourself
hand made
handmade
homemade
make
making
Health & Medical
drug
drugs
hospital
medical
Materials
| aluminum |
| ceramic |
| cotton |
| fabric |
| glass |
| gold |
| iron |
| leather |
| metal |
| paper |
| plastic |
| rubber |
| silver |
| stainless steel |
| steel |
| stone |
| vinyl |
| wood |
Software
Unless you sell software, these negatives will be useful to most advertisers.
API
burn
burner
calculator
calculators
cd
cds
cms
code
codes
desktop
developer
developers
disk
download
downloadable
downloads
dvd
dvds
file
files
film
films
freeware
game
games
gnu
hack
hacks
javascript
licence
licences
license
login
map
microsoft
office
open source
php
platform
platforms
play
plugin
program
programs
saas
seo
shareware
shortcut
shortcuts
sign
SMS
software
template
templates
VPN
windows
Used & Free
| fix |
| free |
| rent |
| rental |
| repair |
| repairs |
| secondhand |
| used |
| old |
Locations
Advertising & Media
adsense
advertisement
advertising
advice
affiliate
affiliates
animation
animations
magazine
magazines
movie
movies
mp3
msnbc
mtv
music
news
video
videos
Negative Keyword List Setup Instructions
Once a negative keyword list is created, attach to all the search campaigns that will use this.For tips on using negative keywords and how to build negative keyword lists, see our blog post Negative Keyword Guide & Tips.
It is good practice to run a keyword diagnostic on the positive keywords after updating negative keywords. This will identify if any negatives are conflicting with positive keywords. Google’s Help Centre also provide more information on negative keywords.
Conclusion.
Knowing popular negative keywords can save money, instead of just relying on the search terms report after the costs have been incurred. When setting up a new AdWords account, using these popular negative keywords is learning from past accounts. Applying keywords in the most efficient manner involves using negative keyword match types, single word negatives as well as multiple-word negatives. One PPC provides specialist Google Ads management where we set your account up with the best combination of negative keywords.
