How do I manage negative keywords at the ad group level?

Managing negative keywords at the ad group level is crucial for optimizing your digital advertising campaigns and ensuring your ads are shown to the most relevant audience. Here's a step-by-step approach to effectively manage negative keywords:

1. **Review Search Terms Report**: Start by reviewing the search terms report within your ad group. This report shows the actual search queries that triggered your ads. Look for terms that are irrelevant, not converting, or driving up costs unnecessarily.

2. **Identify Irrelevant Keywords**: Identify keywords that are not relevant to your product or service offerings. These could include terms that are too broad, unrelated to your business, or attracting clicks but not conversions.

3. **Add Negative Keywords**: Once you've identified irrelevant keywords, add them as negative keywords at the ad group level. Negative keywords ensure that your ads do not appear for searches containing those specific terms. You can add negative keywords as exact match, phrase match, or broad match types, depending on your campaign's needs.

4. **Choose Match Types Carefully**: Select the appropriate match type for each negative keyword to control the scope of searches that trigger your negatives. For instance:
   - **Exact Match**: Prevents your ad from showing for searches that match the exact keyword or close variations.
   - **Phrase Match**: Blocks your ad from showing for searches that include the phrase in the same order.
   - **Broad Match**: Stops your ad from appearing for searches containing the negative keyword in any order and possibly with other terms.

5. **Monitor Performance**: Regularly monitor the performance of your ad group after adding negative keywords. Check how these exclusions impact metrics like CTR, conversion rate, and CPC. Adjust your negative keyword list as needed based on new search terms that may emerge.

6. **Use Shared Negative Keyword Lists (if applicable)**: If you have multiple ad groups or campaigns targeting similar themes, consider using shared negative keyword lists. This allows you to maintain consistency and efficiency across your campaigns by applying common negatives to multiple ad groups simultaneously.

7. **Refine Over Time**: Continuously refine your negative keyword strategy based on ongoing performance data and changes in your campaign objectives. Add new negatives as you identify them and remove or adjust existing ones that are no longer relevant or effective.

8. **Utilize Tools and Automation**: Take advantage of tools and automation features provided by advertising platforms (like Google Ads) or third-party tools to streamline the management of negative keywords. These tools can help identify potential negatives and suggest optimizations based on performance data.

By actively managing negative keywords at the ad group level, you can improve the relevance of your ads, reduce wasted ad spend, and increase the overall effectiveness of your digital advertising campaigns.