Law Firm Marketing Agency
Keywords are a foundational element of search engine marketing. When creating a new PPC campaign with Google or Bing, you are required to specify the keywords that are relevant to your business (ideally, those that prospective clients are using to find your law firm). Equally important to the success of these campaigns are negative keywords.
What Are Negative Keywords?
Negative keywords tell Google what search queries are irrelevant to you, and prevent your ads from appearing in those searches. This allows your law firm to focus on more relevant keywords for your practice.
Law Firms Should Use Negative Keywords in Their Ads
Adding negative keywords is an essential strategy for your PPC campaign. It’s just as important as bidding for the correct search terms. By utilizing negative keywords, you’re creating a stronger focus for your target audience to be reached.
The primary benefits of negative keywords include:
- A comprehensive negative keyword list, which can reduce cost-per-click and increase Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)
- More accurate consumer targeting
- Improvement of overall Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- An increase in conversion rate
Negative keywords can be added to either a specific campaign or a particular ad group.
The Types Of Negative Keywords
There are three types of negative keywords: broad match, phrase match, and exact match. Each of these types has a different function.
Board Match Negative Keyword
Broad match keywords are used if you want to exclude all search queries containing certain words. For instance, if you’re a law firm that doesn’t deal with criminal cases, then add “criminal” to your negative keyword list. All searches including this word won’t trigger your ads.
Phrase Match Negative Keyword
Phrase match keywords are used if you want to exclude the phrase in the exact order. Using the previous example, if we were to add the phrase, “criminal lawyer” to our list then only searches with this phrase order won’t show your ads. However, if someone searches the terms “criminal” or “lawyer” separately, or searches a variation of “lawyer.. criminal” then your ad will most likely show up.
Exact Match Keyword
Exact match keywords are used to exclude the exact keyword terms. It is the most precise option. If your exact keyword is “criminal lawyer”, then your ads won’t appear in “criminal lawyer” search results. However, your ads will show if someone searches “criminal lawyer nearby” or a modified variation.
Utilizing Negative Keywords for PPC
Properly utilizing negative keywords can be a greatly beneficial to the success of your overall PPC account. It’s recommended to have this list completed when launching your ads. If you have any questions on how to best apply negative keywords in your PPC campaign, speak to one of our PPC experts today!