uGuX SEO

Using these negative keywords will increase your conversions (some claim 20-30%) — not your traffic — but rather your traffic-quality.

The why and how of PPC keyword negatives

There are different types of users (that we do not want!): ones that are looking for bargains, non-impulsive buyers; looking to research, study, learn, etc.; and free-seekers.

The list

Alright, I’ve added a huge list of keywords to negate in your PPC campaigns:

about
act
act of
association
associations
bargain
book
books
career
careers
case studies
case study
cheap
class
classes
clearance
close out
close outs
closeout
closeouts
college
colleges
complaint
complaints
compliance
course
courses
definition
diagram
discount
discounted
dumb
education
employment
example
examples
exposed
forum
free
guide
guides
hate
help
hiring
history
illegal
indictment
inexpensive
intern
interns
internship
internships
job
jobs
journal
journals
law
laws
legal
legislation
liquidation
loser
magazine
magazines
map
maps
metrics
news
odd lots
overstock
parts
price
prices
pricing
problem
problems
protest
quote
quotes
recruiter
recruiting
regulation
regulations
remainder
remainders
research
resume
resumes
returns
review
reviews
salaries
salary
sample
samples
scam
school
schools
secret
statistics
stats
stupid
success stories
success story
suck
sucks
support
training
tutorial
tutorials
universities
university
warranty
what are
what is
white paper
white papers

Here are a couple of sites that helped me compile this list:

http://socialmediasystems.com/06/06/ppc-negative-keyword-list-what-about-googles-negative-keyword-tool/

http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/200-plus-negative-keywords-to-consider-for-b2b-ppc/

http://www.redflymarketing.com/blog/how-to-build-a-negative-keyword-list/

http://www.ppchero.com/2007/03/30/positives-of-the-negative-using-negative-keywords-to-enhance-your-campaign%E2%80%99s-performance/

PS: If you think of any others, I’ll add ‘em.

Edit: As commented by Marc Kantoori (below), sometimes people looking for freebie offers can be helpful — so you may want to take out the word “free” in certain circumstances.

Google has a traffic estimator (aka Traffic Estimator Sandbox) that allows you to check the amount of clicks each key term/phrase will generate per day, but they require you to put in a lot of information (regarding CPC, target country, etc.).

So, if you bookmark this page, this form could just make things a little bit simpler:

Keyword tips

[keyword] - if you want to measure an exact search term/phrase.

“keyword” - includes phrase with possible search terms added to it.

keyword - broad/general search.

-keyword - negates a term.

PS: I don’t think anyone else has posted this form on any websites, but it’s always possible.

I just received an email from the site (or was forwarded it) from the site I discussed earlier for selling .edu links. It appears that a third party (SEOer) is involved in the project and has some affiliation with Adison University — or this person is the webmaster for Adison University. Here’s part of the email:

50 Permanent links on .edu - .gov and .com/.net/.org sites for $300
250 Permanent links on .edu - .gov and .com/.net/.org sites for $1500
Individual links on .edu - .gov sites at $10 each - minimum of 10 links

There are certainly more cost effective ways of building links. I have to say that this idea is certainly ingenious, and I’ve also have noticed that there are a lot of .edu links already sold. By the way, I hope no one that reads this blog actually believes these links are more valuable than any other TLD links (.com, .net, .org, etc.).  Matt Cutts wrote the following:

Typically, our policy is: a link is a link, is a link; wherever that link’s worth is, that is the worth that we give it. Some people ask about links from DMOZ, links from .edu or links from .gov, and they say: “Isn’t there some sort of boost? Isn’t a link better if it comes from a .edu?” The short answer is: no, it is not. It is just .edu links tend to have higher PageRank, because more people link to .edu’s or .gov’s.

I hope this settles the myth.

For those of you who do advertise on Google AdWords, may have noticed that the ROI for website advertising is weak.  So, I’ve turned off all my content advertising, and now Google has decided to send me an email — trying to resolve possible concerns I may have:

“I’d like to know where my ads are showing on the content network and how they perform on various sites”

Done. We recently released Placement Performance Reports, which provide site-by-site performance metrics for your contextually-targeted campaigns — tracking clicks, impressions, cost, and conversion data at the URL level. Placement Performance reports can show you the placements where you’re meeting your objectives, and those where you aren’t. Read tips on how to use these reports effectively to boost campaign performance.

If you do decide to advertise on other sites, I recommend using an entirely different campaign so no effect on your CTR will be skewed.