One of the most useful reports in Google Adwords is one of the hardest to find. Called the Search Term Report, it tells you exactly which search terms triggered your ads, and how they performed.
You may think that your Keyword Report is already telling you this, but not so. Let’s say you sell wrought iron garden arches, and you bid on the keyword “garden arch” as Phrase Match.
Check your Search Term Report, and you’ll probably find that your ad showed for all kinds of searches that aren’t a good match for what you’re selling. For instance:
“cheap garden arch”
“garden arch Walmart”
“gate for garden arch”
“plants for garden arch”
“vinyl garden arch”
“white garden arch”
By adding negative keywords for cheap, Walmart, gate, plants, vinyl and white, you can eliminate all that unqualified traffic.
In addition, the Search Term Report can help you find new keywords to bid on. If, for instance, you learn that “metal garden arch” is performing well and getting a lot of traffic, add that to your Ad Group as a keyword.
You can find the Search Term Report by logging into your Adwords account and clicking on the Keywords tab. Then click the Details button that’s above your statistics table, and select the first All that appears in the drop-down menu.
Spend a little time on your Search Term Reports, and you’ll discover a wealth of information to help improve your PPC performance.
