Investing in a pay-per-click advertising campaign (PPC) on Amazon is a cost-efficient way to boost sales and drive customer traffic. With increasing levels of competition flooding the platform, developing effective PPC strategies is essential to any vendor’s success.

Amazon negative keywords could help you optimize your PPC campaign and lower your advertising cost of sale. Review the following information to see how being strategic with keywords can help you get the highest return on your investment. 

What Are Negative Keywords?

Keywords are words or phrases that help users find specific products they are looking for on Amazon. However, not all keywords are worth adding to a PPC campaign, even if they appear to describe a product. 

For example, many keywords are highly competitive – which can significantly reduce the visibility of your ad in a search query. You may also discover that your ads are showing up in the wrong product categories if you use broad keywords.

Negative keywords tell Amazon which searches to exclude your ad from during a campaign. As a result, you can isolate your ads to specific audiences and maximize your potential conversions.

Types of Negative Keywords

Positive keywords enable your ad to show up broadly across any search queries that mention the keyword. In contrast, Amazon negative keywords come in two variations: Phrase match and exact match. Explore how each of these variations works below.

Phrase Matching

Amazon’s negative phrase match algorithm searches for variables in your keyword that may change when a user types it into the search bar. Some of these variables include:

• Typos in one or multiple words
• Plural variations
• Missing spaces
• Punctuation

Consider the keyword “Red plastic cutting boards.” A negative phrase match may exclude variations like:

• Red Plastic Cutting Board
• Red plastic cutting bored
• Red/plastic cutting boards

Amazon only lets you use four words or fewer, so be strategic about your keywords. 

Exact Matching

Exact matches specifically exclude keywords from searches that use your precise phrasing. Unlike phrase matches, Amazon allows up to ten words.

Companies that help clients discover the best practices for Amazon listings suggest testing your PPC campaign with exact matching. This method lets you determine which words may be causing your ad to underperform.

Benefits of Using Negative Keywords for Amazon PPC Campaigns

Consider the following information to see how Amazon negative keywords can help you grow your business.

Saving Money

Negative keywords reduce your risk of paying for clicks that don’t lead to conversions.

Suppose you run an ad on coloring books for adults and use the keyword “Coloring book.” A user looking for coloring books for their children may click on the ad only to find out that the product is not what they expected. They immediately back out, costing you money.

Changing the positive keyword “Coloring book” into a negative keyword — such as “Coloring books for children” — may prevent wasteful advertising spending.

Boosting Click-Through Rates

In some cases, customers may realize your ad is irrelevant to their search queries before they even click on it — ignoring it altogether. As a result, your business will suffer a lower click-through rate. 

Low click-through rates hurt your brand’s ranking in Amazon’s algorithm. With a higher ranking, your products may become more visible during searches. You may also earn a buy box tool for your listings, significantly boosting your sales potential.

Optimizing PPC Campaigns

Amazon negative keywords prevent your ads from competing against each other when you run multiple campaigns simultaneously. 

For instance, suppose you are running two ads: one on yard work tools and another on power tools. Using the keyword “Tools” to maximize both advertisements’ visibility on Amazon could cause problems. Since both keywords use “Tools,” they will compete with each other, reducing the performance of both.

Instead, you can add the negative keyword “Power tools” to the yard work tool ad and “Yard work” to the power tool ad to prevent broad-match keywords from cannibalizing each other.

Finding the Right Negative Keywords for an Amazon Ad Campaign

Amazon allows you to view PPC metrics through your Seller Central dashboard. Using this data will allow you to determine which positive keywords are useful and which you should reassign as negative keywords.

Look through your metrics to identify:

• Words or phrases with high click rates but low conversions
• Keywords with low conversions and click rates
• Keywords with low clicks but high impressions

These keywords may be more effective as negative keywords.

How To Deploy Negative Keywords in Your PPC Campaign

Amazon’s PPC features are intuitive. Keep reading to see how you can add negative keywords in just seconds.

Access Your Advertisements

Log in to Seller Central and hover over the “Advertising” tab in the toolbar. Click “Campaign Manager.” Choose the PPC ad campaign you want to edit and go to the “Negative keywords” tab.

Add Negative Keywords

A box will prompt you to add or search Amazon negative keywords. Input the word you want to use, then check whether you want the keyword to be a negative exact or a negative phrase match.

Select a Targeting Type

Some PPC ad campaigns require you to select “Keyword targeting” or “Product targeting.”

Keyword targeting is practical when you know which words your market audience uses to find products like yours. Product targeting is best when you want users to find your product while they explore other products or categories through Amazon.

Jumpstart Your Amazon PPC With Click Fluency

Do you need help managing your PPC campaign on Amazon? Amazon account management specialists will ensure that you don’t waste money on inefficient ads. The experts at Click Fluency will assess your current Amazon marketing approach and develop a comprehensive strategy to rank higher in the algorithm.

If you aren’t sure which Amazon negative keywords to use, our experienced professionals will. You can sit back and watch your revenue grow while we scale your store with metrics-proven strategies.

Click Fluency marketing specialists can also help you identify backend keywords for Amazon to maximize your ad’s visibility. Contact Click Fluency to schedule a free strategy consultation.