Streamlining Google Ads for Mortgage Brokers: The Power of Negative Keywords

As a mortgage broker navigating the complex waters of Google Ads, understanding the strategic use of negative keywords can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns. Negative keywords are not just about avoiding unnecessary clicks; they're an essential tool for honing in on your target audience, ensuring your budget is spent on leads with genuine interest. Let’s dive deeper into how negative keywords can refine your Google Ads efforts, including their crucial role in Performance Max campaigns.

Understanding Negative Keywords

At its core, a negative keyword is a type of keyword that prevents your ad from being triggered by a specific word or phrase. Their primary purpose is to help you exclude search terms not a good match for your service. For mortgage brokers, this means avoiding wastage of ad spend on searches irrelevant to the specific mortgage products and services you offer.

An example could be that you are offering certain types of mortgage products that are not for mainstream customers. There will be terms that are associated with the mainstream products that you will want to add as a negative keyword to prevent your ad from showing and gaining an irrelevant click and, most importantly, costing you money.

By strategically deploying negative keywords, you can significantly improve the quality of your leads and enhance your campaigns' overall ROI.

The Different Levels of Negative Keywords

Negative keywords can be applied at various levels within your Google Ads account, each serving a unique purpose:

Ad Group Level:

Applying negative keywords at the ad group level allows for granular control. This is particularly useful when your campaign houses diverse ad groups representing different mortgage services or products. For example, if one ad group focuses on “first-time buyer mortgages,” you might add “remortgaging” as a negative keyword for this ad group to ensure clarity and relevance in your ad targeting.

Campaign Level:

When you apply negative keywords at the campaign level, they filter out unwanted traffic across all ad groups within that campaign. This broad-stroke approach is practical for excluding searches universally irrelevant to your offerings, such as terms associated with “free mortgage advice” if you're targeting premium service seekers.

Negative Keyword Lists:

For efficiency and consistency, Google Ads allows you to create lists of negative keywords that you can apply to multiple campaigns. This is especially beneficial for mortgage brokers operating several campaigns simultaneously. A shared negative keyword list might include generic terms like “jobs” or “salaries” unrelated to seeking mortgage advice or services, ensuring these irrelevant searches don’t trigger your ads.

Implementing Negative Keywords in Performance Max Campaigns

With the introduction of Performance Max campaigns, Google Ads has provided a more goal-driven approach to campaign management. Understanding how to leverage negative keywords within these campaigns is vital for mortgage brokers.

Although Performance Max campaigns automate much of the targeting process, they still allow for the specification of negative keywords to refine your audience and prevent your ads from appearing in unrelated contexts. This is crucial for maintaining campaign quality and ensuring your ads reach potential clients who are genuinely interested in mortgage services.

Best Practices for Using Negative Keywords

Regular Review: Make it a habit to check your search terms report frequently. This report unveils the actual queries triggering your ads, helping you identify new negative keywords to add.

Match Types Matter: Negative keywords have match types just like regular keywords. Utilising them correctly can further refine your targeting.

Ongoing Optimisation: The digital landscape and user behaviour are constantly evolving. Continually updating your negative keyword list ensures your campaigns remain relevant and efficient.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

While negative keywords are incredibly beneficial, there are pitfalls to watch out for. Over-filtering with negative keywords can unnecessarily restrict your campaign's reach. Similarly, failing to update your negative keyword list regularly might mean missing out on optimising new search trends relevant to your mortgage brokerage.

Conclusion

For mortgage brokers committed to maximising their Google Ads campaigns, mastering negative keywords is non-negotiable. By applying negative keywords thoughtfully at different levels — and within the new framework of Performance Max campaigns — you can significantly improve your campaign's focus, driving more relevant, high-quality leads to your business. Optimising your Google Ads is ongoing, but with negative keywords as part of your arsenal, you're well-equipped to make every click count.

If you're a UK based mortgage broker looking to sharpen your Google Ads campaigns but unsure where to start or need more personalised advice, my Google Ads Power Hour could be the perfect solution. Together, we can tackle your specific challenges, enhancing your campaigns for better performance and more significant ROI.