Google Ads keywords are burning through my budget, how do I build the right list?

Go straight to the search terms tab in the dashboard. Filter all the terms that got clicks over the last two weeks. Add terms like 'recipe', 'manual', 'diy', and 'forum' directly as campaign-level negatives. Also, strip your ad groups of broad single words and restrict them to just the service name plus city.

broad match bleeds every beginner dry mate then don't put money into ads without using quotation marks and square brackets... and without a negative list even 50 euros a day will just go down the drain.

We made a similar mistake last year for our cleaning company in Paris. In the first month, we spent 1,200 euros on broad match and only got 3 conversions. Once we switched to phrase match and added a 400-word negative keyword list, our monthly spend dropped to 750 euros, but our conversions jumped to 19.

Separating search intent is the foundation of the whole thing. The search patterns of a user looking for information versus someone looking to buy a service are completely different. If your budget is tight, write off informational queries entirely and focus purely on high-urgency terms like "service", "repairman", "price", and "breakdown".

Don't think that just switching to phrase match will save you. After recent updates, phrase match can still pull in completely irrelevant searches under the guise of "similar meaning". Narrowing the list alone isn't enough; your negative keyword list actually needs to be longer than your main keyword list.

For beginners, here are the steps to build a list using free tools: 1) Type your main service into the Google search bar, hit space, and note down the autocomplete suggestions. 2) Check the monthly volume and estimated costs of these keywords using Google Ads Keyword Planner. 3) Pick the 10-15 keywords with the highest intent and add them strictly as phrase match. 4) Weed out negative keywords from the related searches section at the bottom of the search results page.

So when adding negative keywords do we need to put them in quotation marks too? Or is just adding them as plain text enough to block those search results?

edit: typed from phone, sorry for typos.

sorry to hear that, but pretty much everyone pays that 800-euro "learning tax" when they first get into the ad dashboard then don't panic: pause the budget cleean things up, and test again with 15-20 euros a day—you'll see the difference right away.

Let me share my experience. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once.

Let me share my experience. Updating an existing page yields faster results than creating a new one.

Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late. If you post the result here it will help others too.

The discussion got scattered let me summarize. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

The real issue isn't the number, but what it's based on. Correct me if I'm wrong.

There is something to watch out for. If rankings stay the same but clicks drop, the issue isn't your page, but the search result appearance.

Just leaving this note it might be useful.

Ive been down this road let me tell you. tbh a page that answers one question works better than one touching on five topics.

Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

There's a part I don't understand. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

Proven by experience.

I feel the same way. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Timely topic.

Yes, that's exactly how it is with google ads keywords. People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there.

Speed is a threshold issue; if you're already fast making it faster changes nothing. If you post the result here, it will help others too.

We got stuck at the same point for a while. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

The biggest time-waster for us was not knowing who had the final say. Proven by experience.