(After you read this article, consider using our free Keyword List Generator to build large lists of target keywords and/or negative keywords.)

Every search engine advertiser should be using negative keywords in their Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns and/or Ad Groups. Negative keywords are words and phrases that you do not want searchers to associate with your products and services (see Google’s AdWords blog for some high-level information about negative keywords).

When you add negative keywords to your PPC campaigns your ads will not be served if those words are part of the user’s search query.

Not only does this benefit you by directly saving money on wasted clicks, it also improves the click through rate (CTR) of your keywords/ads, which helps improve your ad quality scores in Google, Yahoo, and MSN. Improved quality scores can help you with bidding strategies by allowing you to bid less than a competitor (who is not as knowledgeable, skilled intelligent, talented, sophisticated, etc. as you are), and maintain high/higher ad positions on a search results page.

Over my 6+ years managing Pay Per Click campaigns, I have built up a list of negative keywords that are useful when conducting B2B PPC campaigns (I am providing some of my list only :)).

This list is by no means exhaustive, and each company has its own unique market positioning. So, do not use this list of negative keywords indiscriminately!!! The list of B2B negative keywords below is meant to be a resource for you, and a starting point when you are deciding which words you do not want associated with your ads.

Avoiding Job Seekers

Prevent your ads from appearing for common employment and career-related searches:

career

careers

employment

hiring

intern

interns

internship

internships

job

jobs

recruiter

recruiting

resume

resumes

salaries

salary

Reference Keywords

Don’t waste money on people looking for information that is only loosely related to your products/services or industry:

about

definition

diagram

example

examples

history

map

maps

sample

samples

what are

what is

No Research & Stats

Assuming you have a limited advertising budget, avoid people doing research, and make sure your are using your advertising $$ to generate sales and qualified leads:

association

associations

book

books

case studies

case study

guide

guides

journal

journals

magazine

magazines

metrics

news

research

review

reviews

statistics

stats

success stories

success story

tutorial

tutorials

white paper

white papers

We Don’t Provide Education

Prevent your ads from being shown to people looking for classes and education:

class

classes

college

colleges

course

courses

education

school

schools

training

universities

university

No Bargains

These negative keywords will help if you are positioned as a premium provider. If you do want visitors for these keyword concepts, create an additional campaign or ad group to focus on these discount concepts, and specifically bid on keywords that contain these words. And then make sure to add this list of negative keywords to the campaigns or ad groups that do not target the discount audience:

bargain

cheap

clearance

close out

close outs

closeout

closeouts

discount

discounted

free

inexpensive

liquidation

odd lots

overstock

remainder

remainders

Avoiding Price Shoppers

You may want visitors to your site looking for pricing and/or quotes, but if not, make sure to add in these words as negative keywords to avoid prospects who may be more concerned with price than with quality or service:

price

prices

pricing

quote

quotes

Avoiding DIY

In many industries there are “do-it-yourselfers” or hobbyists who are searching for information on how to take on a project themselves. It’s a good idea to screen out this audience if you do not cater to it:

craft

crafts

create

creating

hand made

handmade

home

homemade

how to

make

making

Selling Commercial Software

This is a tricky one. If you are a company selling commercial or enterprise software, a) you are likely to want to avoid the thousands of software developers who are looking for free resources, and b) you want to avoid confusion with consumers looking for tools and home-use products. Use this list as a starting point, but also brainstorm and use keyword suggestion tools to find potential negative keywords that are specific to your software space:

burn

burner

cd

code

community

desktop

developer

developers

disk

download (if you don’t have one)

downloads (if you don’t have any)

dvd

error

file

files

forum

free

freeware

game

games

gnu

hack

hacks

libraries

library

microsoft ( 🙂 )

open source

public domain

retail

retail

retailer

retailers

shareware

shortcut

shortcuts

template

templates

tip

tips

video

windows

Manufacturing & Industrial

This is a very broad list of words, covering many different concepts related to manufacturing and industrial companies. Use this list to start the process of generating negative keywords specific to your industry, product lines, and business model.

antique

consumer

export

exporter

exporters

hobby

import

importer

importers

measurement

model

models

regulations

rent

rental

repair

repairs

retail

retailer

retailers

rules

safety

specifications

specs

standards

store

toy

toys

used

vintage

Product Materials

Obviously not all of these materials will apply to one business. I created this list of product materials as a reminder to screen out searches for product types that a company does not offer. One might wonder if it is OK to not screen for these in the hopes that someone will search for one type of product, but be convinced to buy a different type once they see what is available. Most B2B marketers have limited PPC budgets, so usually it is a better idea to only show your ads to people who don’t have a specific alternative to your products already in mind:

aluminum

ceramic

cotton

fabric

glass

gold

iron

leather

metal

paper

plastic

rubber

silver

stainless steel

steel

stone

vinyl

wood

Legal/Law

It is probably a good idea to prevent your ads from being shown to people looking for information related to legislation and regulations. There will be cases where this might not apply, especially if your product/service solves a regulatory/compliance issue (and if you have a landing page on your site that speaks to the legal issue AND provides a conversion action right there on the page):

act

act of

compliance

law

laws

legal

legislation

regulation

regulations

Other Negative Keywords B2B Marketers May Consider

Here are just a few more words that seem to come up in B2B search advertising campaigns…

club

clubs

consultants

consulting

gift

gifts

online

photo

photograph

photographs

picture

pictures

send

sending

Remember, the list above is not comprehensive, and does not apply to all B2B marketers.

Please add your suggestions to this list!