Jump to the checklist and PDF download
1. Open the report and set a useful date range
A plumber can pay for a click from someone who wants a repair, a replacement part or employment. Only some of those searches fit a repair campaign.
The Google Ads search terms report shows what people searched for. Use it to decide which searches deserve a closer look.
Open Google Ads on a computer and follow along with one Search campaign. Other campaign types have different controls.
The steps below cover opening the report, saving an exclusion and checking its effect. You can review without changing anything; saving an exclusion requires account-editing permission.
A keyword is a word or phrase you choose to help determine when your ad appears. A search term is what someone searched for.
Add the Keyword column to see which keyword triggered the ad.
Dynamic Search Ads do not use keywords, so this column is blank for those ads.
The report’s Match type describes how the query relates to that keyword. It may differ from the match type you selected for the keyword.
Start with the last 30 days, then adjust for your volume and time to conversion. Compare an earlier period of similar length.
If customers book days after clicking, the newest days will be incomplete. An emergency repair customer may decide sooner than someone planning a system replacement.
Some low-volume queries are withheld for privacy. The visible rows do not cover every search, so their totals do not represent the whole campaign.
How to set up a useful search-term review
Follow along in Google Ads on desktop
- Open the right account and report. If you manage several businesses, enter the individual account first. In the left menu, choose Campaigns → Insights and reports → Search terms.
Open Search terms under Insights and reports. Screenshots throughout this guide have identifying details and account figures removed. Open larger image (new tab) - Narrow the campaign. Use the campaign selector or campaign filter to choose one Search campaign. Confirm its name before reviewing rows. For example, review residential AC repairs separately from installations.
- Set your dates. Open the date picker above the report. Start with Last 30 days, or choose a custom period suited to your campaign’s volume. Apply the range. Allow time for people who clicked recently to contact you.
The selected date range appears above the report. Open larger image (new tab) - Choose the columns. Open Columns above the table. Include Clicks, Cost, Conversions, Conv. rate and Cost / conv. Under Attributes, select Keyword. Keep Campaign and Ad group visible where available, then Apply.
Choose Columns to change which measurements appear in the table. Open larger image (new tab) - Put the largest costs first. Click the Cost heading until the highest-spend rows are at the top. Read the entire query before deciding what it means. Download the report if you want a spreadsheet for review notes.
- Work through one row. In the sample above, “AC repair manual” has $45 in spend and no requests. A repair-only business would investigate its DIY intent. “AC installation cost” has $120 in spend and one request; an installer would check that request’s quality before excluding it.
2. Separate bad fit from weak performance
Start with the unfiltered report, sorted by cost. Read the highest-spend searches first.
To find spending without recorded results, open the filter control above the table. Add Cost greater than 0 and Conversions equal to 0, then apply.
Treat those rows as an investigation list. Zero conversions alone is not a reason to exclude a relevant search.
Clear the filters afterward so you also review searches producing inquiries.
Ask two separate questions: could your business satisfy this search, and what happened after the click?
A technician job search is a poor fit for a repair campaign, even if it costs very little.
A homeowner seeking the repair you sell may need a better page or a returned call.
Label each query keep, investigate or exclude in your notes. The fictional examples below assume a residential HVAC business offering both repair and installation.
| Search | Likely need | What to review |
|---|---|---|
| AC repair near me | A repair service | Check service area and lead quality; investigate the page or missed calls if results are weak |
| AC repair manual | DIY instructions | Investigate DIY intent; consider a precise exclusion if the query does not fit |
| AC installation cost | Researching an installation | Keep eligible if installations fit; explain the estimate process on the page |
| HVAC technician jobs | Employment | Exclude from the repair campaign; keep any recruitment campaign separate |
Illustrative examples, not account data or blanket exclusion advice.
- Keep: the service, area and customer need fit, with useful inquiries or enough reason to keep gathering evidence.
- Investigate: the intent fits, but the outcome is weak or unclear. Check tracking, the destination page and call handling.
- Exclude: the query clearly seeks work, products or services this campaign should not advertise.
3. Check what a “conversion” actually means
Before judging a search by its conversion count, check what that number includes.
A phone-number tap, a submitted request and a qualified repair inquiry are different events. A campaign optimized around easy clicks can look busy while producing little work.
Primary and secondary conversion settings control reporting and, with campaign goals, bidding. Check which actions your campaign actually uses.
Secondary actions normally appear in All conversions and are not used for bidding. Actions in a custom goal are used for reporting and bidding, even if marked secondary.
Ask the person responsible for measurement to review the setup before changing it.
Compare ad reports with call and lead records where attribution is available. Record the service requested, location, whether someone responded and whether the job was booked.
You may not be able to connect every inquiry to its exact search term. Mark unknowns rather than guessing.
For a fictional example, suppose $600 in ad spend produces 12 tracked requests. Only four are qualified.
That is $50 per tracked request and $150 per qualified lead. If two become booked jobs, ad spend per booked job is $300.
None of those figures is profit. Include job margin, cancellations and other acquisition costs when deciding what you can afford.
Calculate the cost of the outcome you need
Work it out for your account
- Choose one group of inquiries. Use the same campaign and acquisition period for the spend and lead records. Allow those inquiries time to reach a booking decision.
- Separate the outcomes. Count valid requests, qualified leads and booked jobs. Remove duplicate records and keep unresolved inquiries visible.
- Divide the spend. Divide ad spend by each count. If a stage has no outcomes, report that directly; its cost per outcome is not zero.
4. Add a negative keyword and verify it
A negative keyword blocks matching searches. Before adding one, write down what you want to stop and which useful searches must stay eligible.
Check any industry-wide exclusion list against your business before adding it to the account.
For Search campaigns, negative exact match [ac repair manual] blocks that query without extra words.
Negative phrase match “repair manual” blocks searches containing those words in that order. Negative broad match repair manual blocks searches containing both words in any order.
Negative keywords do not expand to all synonyms or singular/plural forms. Google handles casing and misspellings automatically.
Review meaningful variations rather than assuming one exclusion covers them all.
Choose the right scope: an ad group, a campaign or an account-level list. The account-level list applies across eligible Search and Shopping traffic in the account.
An account-wide exclusion can cut off demand another campaign needs.
Words such as “cost,” “price” and “free” need context. “AC installation cost” may come from a homeowner planning a purchase.
“Free estimate” may match an offer you actually make. One poor query is not a reason to exclude those words everywhere.
See what each negative match type blocks
Add one negative keyword from the report
- Select the unwanted search. Return to Search terms. Tick the checkbox beside one query you have decided to exclude, such as “ac repair manual.” Choose Add as negative keyword above the table.
Selecting a row reveals Add as negative keyword. This screenshot was taken after exclusion; for a new exclusion, select the unwanted query you have just reviewed. Open larger image (new tab) - Choose where it applies. Select Ad group or Campaign. Check the destination shown: an ad-group negative affects that group; a campaign negative affects every ad group in that campaign. Use a shared list only when the exclusion fits every campaign using it.
Choose where the negative applies, then check its text and match type before saving. Keyword, campaign and ad group names are hidden here. Open larger image (new tab) - Confirm the text and match type. Report-added negatives default to exact match. For this example, keep [ac repair manual] to block that specific query. Use the comparison above before broadening it to "repair manual" or repair manual.
- Save the exclusion. Recheck the query, match type and destination, then select Save. Historical clicks and costs remain in the report; saving a negative does not erase earlier activity.
- Verify the saved entry. Open Campaigns → Audiences, keywords, and content → Search keywords, then Negative search keywords. Some layouts label these Keywords and Negative keywords. Find the entry and confirm its match type and campaign or ad group. If you used a list, check its campaign assignments too.
The report can show Excluded in the Added/Excluded column. Match type here describes how the original search matched your keyword; verify the negative’s match type in your negative keyword settings. Open larger image (new tab)
5. If your screen looks different
If you cannot find individual queries, open Search terms under Insights and reports.
Search terms insights groups demand into themes. Report editor creates a separate reporting view and does not let you add negatives directly.
Use the Search terms table for the checkbox-and-exclusion steps above.
If no rows appear, check the account, campaign, date range and active filters. A new or low-volume campaign may have little reportable activity.
Expanding the dates can help. Privacy restrictions still keep some queries out of the report.
If Add as negative keyword is missing, select a row. Confirm you are in the Search terms table for a Search campaign.
If you can view reports but cannot save changes, ask the account administrator to check your access.
To fix a saved exclusion, find it in the Negative keywords table at the level where you saved it.
Use its pencil control to correct the wording or match type, then Save. To delete it, select the entry and choose Remove.
Check any confirmation before finishing. Editing a shared list affects every campaign using that list.
6. Give relevant searches the right next step
If the query fits but the page does not, fix the destination.
A search for a new system deserves an explanation of installations, the estimate process and the area served. A generic homepage may leave those questions unanswered.
For inquiries outside your coverage, inspect location targeting and actual lead locations. A city name in a query does not tell you where the searcher is.
If good calls go unanswered, address staffing or scheduling before blaming the search.
Look for useful demand as well as waste. Repeated relevant searches about a service may justify clearer ad copy or a better service page.
They do not automatically justify another campaign or a higher budget.
7. Return to Google Ads and check the effect
Keep a short change log: query or theme, evidence, decision, exact exclusion and match type, scope, date and follow-up date.
For example: “Excluded [ac repair manual] from the residential repair campaign; requests were for instructions.” That gives your next review more context than “Cleaned up keywords.”
A weekly review is a reasonable starting routine for an active small account. Review new campaigns or sudden spending changes sooner.
Low-volume accounts may need longer before performance decisions are meaningful. These are working habits, not Google requirements.
At the next review, return to the same campaign’s Search terms report. Choose a date range after the change.
Turn on Compare in the date picker and select an equally long earlier period. Apply it.
Compare cost, conversions and cost per conversion. Then check qualified inquiries in your lead records.
Use completed periods and allow for conversion delay, budget changes and seasonality. Lower spend alone does not show that the change helped.
No universal click count or spend threshold makes every zero-conversion search a bad one.
Act quickly on clear mismatches. For relevant searches, use reliable outcomes and job economics to decide whether they deserve more time.
8. Run the search terms review checklist
Use this checklist for one Search campaign at a time. Record the date range, label queries keep, investigate or exclude, and write down why.
If a check reveals a gap, leave it unchecked and give the next task an owner.
Download the fillable PDF to keep your review. Or copy the checklist link to share this section with your team.
On-page checkmarks are temporary. They are not included in the shared link or PDF.
A one-page review you can fill in or print, with room for a decision and follow-up.
Keep, investigate or exclude based on intent and lead quality. A zero-conversion row alone is not a reason to block a useful search.
Sources
- Google Ads: Search terms report and instructions
- Google Ads: Negative keyword match types
- Google Ads: Add negatives from the search terms report
- Google Ads: Find, edit and remove negative keywords
- Google Ads: Negative keywords and campaign lists
- Google Ads: Primary and secondary conversion actions
- Google Ads: Conversion delay and reporting
