How to Improve Your Search Terms: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Google Ads

TL;DR: Improving your search terms means regularly reviewing what people actually type before clicking your ads, removing irrelevant queries, and adding high-intent keywords to your campaigns. This guide walks you through the exact process—from accessing your Search Terms Report to building effective negative keyword lists and scaling your winners. Whether you're managing one account or dozens, these steps will help you cut wasted spend and focus your budget on searches that actually convert. Let's get into it.

Your search terms are the truth serum of Google Ads. While you might think you're bidding on "enterprise software solutions," your Search Terms Report reveals that someone just clicked your ad after typing "free enterprise software download crack." That's the reality gap most advertisers face—and it's costing them money every single day.

The good news? Fixing this doesn't require a PhD in PPC or a massive budget. It just requires a systematic approach to reviewing what's actually happening in your account and making smart adjustments based on real data.

What usually happens is advertisers set up their campaigns, let them run, and wonder why their cost-per-conversion keeps climbing. They're essentially paying Google to show their ads for searches they'd never want to appear for. The mistake most agencies make is treating search term optimization as a quarterly task instead of a weekly discipline.

In most accounts I audit, I find the same pattern: about 30-40% of search terms are completely irrelevant to what the business actually sells. That's not because the advertiser is incompetent—it's because match types cast a wider net than most people realize, especially with how broad match has evolved over the past few years.

This guide is built from real campaign management experience. No theoretical fluff—just the exact workflow you need to clean up your search terms, protect your budget, and scale what's working.

Step 1: Access and Export Your Search Terms Report

First things first: you need to see what people are actually searching for when they click your ads. Navigate to the Search Terms Report by clicking on "Insights & Reports" in the left sidebar of Google Ads, then selecting "Search Terms."

Here's where most people get the date range wrong. If you're running a low-volume account, go with 90 days to capture enough data for meaningful patterns. For high-volume accounts pulling hundreds of clicks per day, 30 days is plenty—anything longer just makes the data harder to work with.

The columns you care about most are search term (obviously), match type, clicks, impressions, cost, and conversions. Match type tells you which keyword triggered the ad—this is critical for understanding whether your broad match keywords are going rogue or if your exact match terms are performing as expected. For a deeper dive into how match types affect search term targeting, check out our complete breakdown.

Cost and conversions are your efficiency indicators. A search term with $50 in spend and zero conversions deserves immediate attention. One with $5 in spend and two conversions? That's a winner you should be scaling.

If you're managing multiple campaigns or want to do deeper analysis, export the report. Click the download icon and grab it as a CSV. In most accounts I manage, I keep a running spreadsheet of flagged terms by month so I can spot seasonal patterns—like "Black Friday" queries showing up in July from overly aggressive broad match.

The native interface works fine for quick reviews, but exporting gives you the flexibility to sort, filter, and compare data across campaigns. You'll especially want this if you're managing client accounts where you need to show before-and-after improvements.

One thing to watch: the Search Terms Report only shows terms that got at least one impression. If a search term didn't trigger your ad at all, you won't see it here. That's why negative keyword strategy is both reactive (removing bad terms you've already paid for) and proactive (anticipating what you don't want before it costs you).

Step 2: Identify and Remove Low-Quality Search Terms

Now comes the detective work. You're looking for search terms that fall into three categories: completely irrelevant, wrong intent, or brand confusion.

Completely irrelevant terms are the easiest to spot. If you sell B2B marketing software and someone searched "marketing degree online," that's not your customer. They're researching education, not buying software. Add it as a negative immediately.

Wrong intent is more subtle. Let's say you sell premium kitchen knives and someone searches "how to sharpen kitchen knives." That's related to your product, but they're looking for information, not ready to buy. These informational queries can eat budget fast because they get clicks but rarely convert.

Brand confusion happens when your ads show for competitor names or unrelated products. If you're running broad match on "project management tool" and your ad shows for "Asana pricing," you're paying for clicks from people already committed to a different solution. In most accounts, competitor terms convert poorly unless you're specifically running a conquest campaign with tailored messaging.

Here's the filter trick that saves time: sort your search terms by cost in descending order, then add a secondary filter for zero conversions. This surfaces your most expensive mistakes first. A term that cost you $200 with no conversions is a bigger priority than one that cost $2. Our guide on Google Ads search terms analysis covers more advanced filtering techniques.

Watch out for misspellings that change meaning entirely. "Paid marketing tools" and "paid marketing tolls" might look similar, but one is about software and the other might be about highway fees. Google's close variants can sometimes make weird connections.

The mistake I see agencies make here is being too aggressive too fast. If a search term has only gotten 3 clicks and no conversions yet, that's not necessarily bad—it might just need more data. Focus first on terms with meaningful spend and clear irrelevance.

When you find a term that needs to go, you have two options: add it as a negative keyword right there in the Search Terms Report (click the checkbox next to the term, then "Add as negative keyword"), or batch them together for your negative keyword list, which we'll build in the next step.

Document your reasoning as you go. I keep a simple note in my account spreadsheet: "negative added - informational query" or "negative added - competitor brand." This helps when you're reviewing months later and wondering why you blocked something.

Step 3: Build Strategic Negative Keyword Lists

Instead of adding negative keywords one at a time to individual campaigns, smart advertisers build reusable negative keyword lists. This is one of those workflow improvements that compounds over time.

Go to Tools & Settings, then Negative Keyword Lists under Shared Library. Create themed lists based on common patterns you see across accounts. Here are the ones I use in almost every account:

Job Seekers List: Include terms like "jobs," "careers," "hiring," "salary," "resume," "employment." These searchers are looking for work, not buying your product.

Free/Cheap List: Add "free," "cheap," "discount," "coupon," "deal" if you're selling premium products. These searchers have a price expectation you can't meet profitably.

DIY/Tutorial List: Terms like "how to," "tutorial," "guide," "learn," "diy" signal informational intent. They want to do it themselves, not hire you or buy your tool.

Academic List: "Research," "study," "thesis," "paper," "education," "course" if you're not in the education space. Students aren't your buyers.

Match type matters enormously here. Broad negative keywords block the widest range of variations—if you add "free" as a broad negative, it blocks "free trial," "free shipping," and "free consultation" too. That might be too aggressive if you actually offer a free trial.

Phrase negative keywords give you more control. Adding "free download" as a phrase negative blocks "software free download" and "free download tool" but still allows "free trial" or "free consultation."

Exact negative keywords are surgical. They only block that precise term and close variants. Use these when you want to block something specific without affecting related searches.

Apply your negative keyword lists at the campaign level for most use cases. Click into a campaign, go to Keywords, then Negative Keywords, and select your lists. For account-wide patterns, you can apply them at the account level, but be careful—overly aggressive account-level negatives can accidentally block good traffic across all campaigns. Learn more about how to use negative keywords in Google Ads effectively.

What usually happens in accounts that don't use negative keyword lists is the same junk terms keep showing up across multiple campaigns. You add "free software" as a negative in Campaign A, but it's still burning budget in Campaigns B, C, and D. Lists solve that.

Step 4: Promote High-Performing Search Terms to Keywords

This is where you find your winners. Scroll through your Search Terms Report looking for queries that have solid conversion rates, strong engagement metrics, or just feel like exactly what your ideal customer would search for.

Let's say you're bidding on "email marketing software" as a broad match keyword, and you notice the search term "email marketing automation for ecommerce" has converted 3 times at a $40 cost-per-conversion while your campaign average is $75. That's a signal.

Add that search term as its own keyword. Click the checkbox next to it in the Search Terms Report and select "Add as keyword." Now you can bid on it directly with more control.

Choose your match type strategically. If the search term is already highly specific like "email marketing automation for ecommerce stores," you might add it as exact match to capture exactly that query. If it's broader like "email marketing tool," you might add it as phrase match to capture variations while maintaining some control.

In most accounts I manage, I create dedicated ad groups for top-performing search terms. If "email marketing automation for ecommerce" is converting well, it deserves its own ad group with ad copy that speaks directly to ecommerce businesses. Generic ads about email marketing won't resonate as strongly.

Set competitive bids for proven converters. If a search term has demonstrated it converts at a profitable CPA, you can afford to bid more aggressively to capture more of that traffic. This is how you scale what's working instead of just cutting what's not.

The mistake most advertisers make here is only looking at conversion volume. A search term with 1 conversion might be more valuable than one with 5 conversions if the cost-per-conversion is dramatically better. Look at efficiency, not just volume.

Also watch for search terms that have high click-through rates even if conversions are still building. A CTR of 8-10% suggests the search intent is highly aligned with your ad—those searchers are interested. Give it time to accumulate conversion data before dismissing it. Understanding the difference between search terms and keywords helps you make smarter promotion decisions.

Step 5: Refine Match Types Based on Performance Data

Your initial match type choices were educated guesses. Now you have data to make them smarter.

Pull up your Keywords report (not Search Terms—this is the actual keywords you're bidding on). Sort by match type and look at the quality of traffic each type is delivering.

If your broad match keywords are attracting a ton of irrelevant search terms despite your negative keyword lists, it's time to tighten them. You have a few options: switch them to phrase match for more control, add more granular negatives, or pause them entirely if they're not profitable.

What usually happens with broad match is it works great at first, then gradually drifts as Google's algorithm explores variations. A broad match keyword like "project management tool" might start showing for "project management certification" or "project management job description" over time. You need to rein it in.

On the flip side, look for exact match keywords that are performing well but have limited volume. These are candidates for expansion. If "email marketing software for small business" as exact match is converting profitably but only getting 20 clicks per month, try adding it as phrase match to capture variations like "best email marketing software for small business" or "email marketing software small business owners."

The balance you're looking for is reach versus precision. Tight match types (exact, phrase) give you control and relevance but limit volume. Loose match types (broad) give you reach but require aggressive negative keyword management.

In high-budget accounts, I often run a hybrid strategy: exact match keywords for my proven converters with competitive bids, phrase match for related variations with moderate bids, and a small budget test on broad match with heavy negative keyword oversight. If you want to improve CTR with exact match, we've got strategies that work.

For smaller accounts with limited budgets, stick to phrase and exact match. You can't afford the exploration tax that broad match charges while it figures out what works.

Step 6: Establish a Regular Review Schedule

Search term optimization isn't a one-time project. It's a recurring discipline that separates efficient campaigns from wasteful ones.

For high-spend accounts (let's say $5,000+ per month), review your search terms weekly. That's enough time to accumulate meaningful data but not so much time that bad terms drain your budget unchecked.

For smaller accounts spending $500-$2,000 per month, bi-weekly reviews are fine. You need enough clicks and conversions to make decisions—reviewing daily when you only got 10 clicks isn't useful.

Set a recurring calendar reminder. I block 30 minutes every Monday morning for search term reviews across my accounts. It's become muscle memory: pull the report, sort by cost, flag negatives, promote winners, update my tracking spreadsheet.

Track your improvements over time. Compare your cost-per-conversion month-over-month. Look at what percentage of your search terms are irrelevant this month versus last month. These trend lines tell you if your optimization efforts are working. Mastering search term report optimization is what separates profitable accounts from money pits.

Create a simple checklist to make reviews consistent. Mine looks like this: Export Search Terms Report, identify terms over $50 with zero conversions, add negatives to appropriate lists, identify terms with 2+ conversions, add winners as keywords, update tracking sheet, done.

The advertisers who win at Google Ads are the ones who treat this as a habit, not a chore. It's like going to the gym—the results compound over time, but only if you show up consistently.

Know when to use tools to speed up the process. If you're managing multiple accounts or campaigns with thousands of search terms, the native Google Ads interface becomes painfully slow. You're clicking through menus, waiting for pages to load, copying and pasting between tabs. That's where workflow tools make sense—they let you do in minutes what would take hours manually.

Putting It All Together

Let's recap the complete workflow: Pull your Search Terms Report regularly, remove junk terms immediately, build reusable negative keyword lists, promote winners to keywords, adjust match types based on data, and stick to a review schedule.

Improving your search terms isn't a one-time task—it's an ongoing process that compounds over time. The difference between an optimized account and a neglected one shows up clearly in the metrics: lower cost-per-conversion, higher conversion rates, better Quality Scores, and ultimately, more profitable campaigns. Once you've cleaned up your search terms, you'll want to focus on improving your Quality Score for even better results.

Start with your highest-spend campaigns today. Those are where bad search terms cost you the most and where good search terms have the most upside. Work your way through your account systematically—one campaign per week if you need to—but start.

The mistake I see most often is advertisers who understand all of this conceptually but never actually do it consistently. They'll do a big cleanup once, feel good about it, then let the account drift for three months. By then, new junk terms have crept in and they're back where they started.

Make this a non-negotiable part of your campaign management routine. Block the time. Build the habit. Track the results.

If you're managing multiple accounts or just want to speed up this entire process dramatically, consider tools that work directly inside Google Ads. Start your free 7-day trial of Keywordme to remove junk search terms, build high-intent keyword lists, and apply match types instantly—right inside Google Ads. No spreadsheets, no switching tabs, just quick, seamless optimization for just $12/month. Take your Google Ads game to the next level.