Google gives you direct insight into the queries that trigger your ads, and this guide teaches you how to analyze the report, identify negatives and keywords to scale, and implement changes that improve ROI. Use external perspective with resources like Google Ads search terms report: 5 tips for better results to refine your approach and strengthen your campaign decisions.
Key Takeaways:
- Shows actual user queries that triggered your ads, helping align keywords, ads, and landing pages.
- Access it in Google Ads via Keywords > Search terms (apply date ranges and filters to focus analysis).
- Use it to add negative keywords and stop wasted spend from irrelevant or low-intent queries.
- Identify high-performing search terms to add as exact/phrase keywords, adjust bids, and tailor ad copy.
- Review regularly to refine match types, bids, and landing page relevance, and to capture long-tail opportunities.
Understanding Google Ads Search Term Reports
Search term reports show the exact queries that triggered your ads, with metrics like clicks, impressions, cost, conversions, CTR and match type; you can filter by date ranges, campaign, or ad group to spot patterns. Use the data to spot high-cost irrelevant queries, uncover unexpected top performers, and validate match-type behavior so you adjust bids, add negatives, or create new keywords quickly.
Types of Search Terms
You’ll encounter five practical categories: exact matches, phrase matches, broad matches (including modifiers), close variants and clearly irrelevant queries; each needs a different action. Assume that you should turn high-converting queries into keywords, add non-converting ones as negatives, tighten broad-match exposure, and monitor close variants for spelling or localization opportunities.
| Exact | Query exactly matches keyword – low volume, high intent; consider higher bids |
| Phrase | Query contains keyword phrase – moderate intent; refine bids by ad group |
| Broad/Modified Broad | Wide variations – high impressions, watch cost and add negatives |
| Close Variant | Misspellings/plurals – capture volume, consider adding as keywords |
| Irrelevant | Off-topic queries – add as negatives to stop wasted spend |
- Add negatives for irrelevant intent to cut wasted spend.
- Promote consistent converters into their own ad groups or keywords.
- Track match-type bleed from broad to spot expansion opportunities.
Importance of Search Term Reports
You rely on search term reports to reduce wasted spend and improve relevance: advertisers commonly find 10-40% of clicks on queries that don’t match intent, and cleaning those up typically lowers CPA. Use conversion and cost columns to prioritize which queries to promote, pause, or negate so your budget focuses on high-return intent.
When you audit regularly-weekly or every 7-14 days-you detect trends like seasonal queries, rising brand leakage, or competitor terms. Filter for queries with conversions >0 or cost over a threshold (for example, $10 in 30 days) to act fast; then test promoting winners as exact keywords and set negatives for top non-converters to steadily improve ROI.
Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Search Term Reports
Quick Steps to Access the Search Terms Report
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sign in to your Google Ads account. |
| 2 | Open the left-hand menu and select “Keywords”. |
| 3 | Click the “Search terms” tab to view queries that triggered your ads. |
| 4 | Set the date range (last 7/30/90 days), apply campaign/ad group filters, and add columns like Clicks, Impr, CTR, Avg. CPC, Cost, Conversions. |
| 5 | Export using the Download icon (CSV, Excel, Google Sheets) or schedule recurring reports. |
You can generate a usable Search Terms report in under five minutes by following the table steps; the report surfaces query-level metrics so you can spot wasted spend or new high-intent queries, and you should always filter by campaign or ad group to avoid mixing data across different funnels.
Navigating Google Ads Interface
Open your account, use the left navigation to go to Keywords, then the Search terms tab; adjust the top-right date range and apply filters for campaign, ad group or conversion actions, and customize columns with Clicks, Impr, CTR, Avg. CPC, Cost and Conversions to get the precise metrics you need.
Generating the Report
After filtering and adding columns, segment by Match type or Device if you want deeper insight, then click the Download icon to export as CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets, or choose the Schedule option to email the report daily or weekly for ongoing monitoring.
If you drill deeper, use examples like flagging queries with high clicks but zero conversions-e.g., 250 clicks, $320 cost, 0 conversions-to add as negatives; alternatively, spot queries with high conversion rates to expand into new keywords. Also segment by Match type to separate broad match noise from exact-match intent and schedule weekly exports to track changes over time.
Analyzing Search Term Data
Key Factors to Consider
You should prioritize metrics that show intent and profitability: CTR, conversion rate, cost per conversion, search volume, and match type. Use the following quick checks:
- CTR under 2% may indicate low relevance
- Conversion rate above 4% suggests a strong term
- Search volume >1,000/mo favors scaling
- High cost-per-conversion (> $50) needs bid or landing page fixes
After analyzing these, set negatives for irrelevant queries and boost bids on high-performing terms.
Identifying Successful and Underperforming Terms
You classify terms by ROI and behavior metrics: ROAS, CPA, conversion rate, and engagement. For example, tag queries with ROAS >400% or conversion rate >5% as winners, while CTR <1% or CPA >$100 flag underperformers. In one ecommerce account, removing 25% irrelevant queries lowered CPA by 30% and raised conversion rate from 2.1% to 3.4%.
You should take action: add high-volume irrelevant queries as negatives, pause low-converting terms, and increase bids 15-30% on top performers. Also segment winners by match type and device; in mobile-heavy queries tailor landing pages and expect CTR lifts of 10-25% after copy tests. Use weekly reports for terms with >=100 clicks to ensure statistical significance before scaling.
Tips for Optimizing Campaigns
Prioritize actions that move the needle quickly: add negative keywords for irrelevant queries, convert high-converting search terms into exact-match keywords, and tighten match types on broadly matching hits to cut wasted spend. Test bid adjustments in 10-30% increments and run single-variable experiments so you can attribute lifts in CPA or ROAS. This reallocates budget to higher-return queries and improves overall efficiency.
- Add negatives for irrelevant modifiers (e.g., “free”, “jobs”, “template”) to reduce wasted clicks.
- Promote any search term with ≥3 conversions or a cost/conversion below your target into an exact-match keyword.
- Move broad-match winners to phrase or exact to stabilize CPC and CTR.
- Adjust bids in 10-30% steps based on conversion rate and CPA trends.
- Align ad copy and landing pages to the intent signaled by top queries.
Using Search Term Reports for Optimization
Export the Search Terms report, sort by conversions and cost/conversion, then filter out queries with low intent or high CPC that don’t convert; convert consistent winners into exact-match keywords and add clear negatives for irrelevant traffic. For example, if a query has 5 conversions and a CPA 20% below target, create a dedicated keyword and tailored ad; if a query has high clicks but CTR <1% and zero conversions after 50 impressions, add it as a negative or adjust match type.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Overreacting to short-term noise is a frequent error: avoid pausing queries after only a few clicks, adding overly broad negatives that block intent, or optimizing solely on impressions instead of conversion metrics. Also, don’t assume a high-traffic query is profitable without checking CPA, conversion rate, and lifetime value.
Be systematic: set thresholds like a minimum of 50 impressions or 3 conversions before judging a search term, and use conversion-rate and cost-per-acquisition trends over 7-30 days to decide. Avoid blanket negatives such as removing whole phrase segments without testing, since a modifier can flip intent (e.g., “used” vs. “new”); instead, use scoped negatives and test landing page changes or adjusted bids on suspect terms.
Pros and Cons of Search Term Reports
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reveals high‑intent queries (you can find terms with 3-8% CVR vs account avg 1-2%) | Huge data volume – hundreds to tens of thousands of unique queries per month |
| Reduces wasted spend by adding negatives (case studies show 20-30% spend cut) | Time‑intensive: manual review can take 4-8 hours weekly for mid‑size accounts |
| Improves Quality Score and ad relevance, lowering CPC by ~5-15% | Privacy thresholds and sampling hide low‑volume queries |
| Uncovers long‑tail keywords with lower CPC and higher ROAS | Short‑term spikes can mislead – seasonal shifts may produce false signals |
| Supports landing page optimizations with query‑level intent | Requires cross‑referencing with analytics to confirm true conversions |
| Guides match‑type and bidding refinements | Overreacting to low‑volume terms can reduce scale and growth |
| Exposes irrelevant or negative phrases to exclude | Automating negatives without thresholds can accidentally block valid traffic |
| Provides competitor phrasing and market insight | Some competitor queries may trigger policy or brand issues |
| Enables rule‑based automation (pause low‑converting queries) | Automation errors can rapidly scale costly changes |
| Enhances audience and keyword strategy when combined with SQRs | Complexity grows with account size; you may need tooling to manage it |
Advantages of Utilizing Reports
When you analyze search term reports weekly, you can cut wasted spend by 20-30% through negatives, identify high‑intent queries that convert at 3-8% versus an account average of 1-2%, and discover long‑tail phrases with lower CPCs that boost ROAS; for example, an ecommerce client improved ROAS 25% in eight weeks after SQR‑driven negatives and bid adjustments.
Potential Drawbacks
You may encounter privacy thresholds and sampling that hide low‑volume queries, plus enormous noise – some accounts surface 10-50k unique terms monthly – which makes manual triage hard and increases the risk of false positives when you apply negatives or bids too aggressively.
Analysis also costs time and can introduce errors: manual review often consumes 4-8 hours weekly for mid‑size accounts, and broad automation rules can scale mistakes quickly. To mitigate, focus on terms with clear conversion data, set minimum volume/conversion thresholds (e.g., ≥10 clicks or ≥1 conversion), and always cross‑check with landing page and conversion metrics before applying wide‑ranging negatives or bid changes.
Best Practices for Effective Use
Use the Search Terms Report to implement a tight feedback loop: add high‑intent queries (3-8% CVR vs your account avg ~1%) as exact or phrase match keywords, add negatives for irrelevant queries, and segment by device, location, and time to spot patterns. If mobile queries convert at half the desktop rate, adjust bids or create mobile-specific ads. Aim for simple thresholds: promote queries with CTR >5% and CVR >2%, and set rules to avoid manual overload.
Regular Review and Adjustments
Audit weekly for your high‑spend campaigns and biweekly for smaller ones; you should flag new queries, add negatives, and move winners into dedicated ad groups. Use a 14-30 day lookback to avoid short‑term noise; pause queries that spent >$50 with zero conversions in 30 days or that push you over CPA targets. Automate alerts and saved filters so you can act on patterns instead of individual rows.
Integrating with Overall Marketing Strategy
Feed top search queries into your landing page tests, ad copy, and SEO content to close the intent gap; if many queries mention “fast setup” or “integration API”, surface those benefits in your headlines and meta descriptions. Share a weekly export with content and product teams so paid query insights inform organic pages, blog topics, and product messaging to improve cross‑channel relevance.
Map search terms to funnel stages-informational, comparison, purchase-so you match messaging and conversion paths. Tag queries in your reporting (e.g., “brand”, “pricing”, “support”) and build audience lists from converters to retarget with tailored offers. Track page‑level conversion lifts after you deploy landing or copy changes to quantify how paid query alignment moves metrics like CVR and CPA.
Final Words
To wrap up, the Google Ads Search Term Report Guide equips you to uncover which queries drive conversions, tighten negative keyword lists, and refine match types so your ads reach the right intent. Regularly audit the report, align bids and ad copy with top searches, and use findings to steadily improve campaign efficiency and ROI.
FAQ
Q: What is the Google Ads Search Terms Report and how does it differ from the Keywords report?
A: The Search Terms Report lists the actual queries users typed that triggered your ads, while the Keywords report shows the keywords and match types you set in your account. The Search Terms Report reveals the mapping from user queries to the keyword that matched (broad, phrase, exact, or broad match modifier behavior). Use it to identify high-performing exact queries that should be added as targeted keywords, and to find irrelevant queries that need negative keywords. It also surfaces long-tail queries, misspellings, and variations that you might bid on or exclude to improve relevance and ROI.
Q: How do I access and export the Search Terms Report?
A: In Google Ads UI go to Campaigns (or All campaigns) → Keywords → Search terms. Set the date range and filters (campaign, ad group, match type, conversions), then click the download icon to export CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets. From an MCC account, select the client account first. For programmatic access use the Google Ads API search_term_view or the Reports in Google Ads Editor for bulk work. When exporting, include columns for clicks, impressions, CTR, CPC, cost, conversions, conversion value and match type to enable effective analysis.
Q: How should I analyze the Search Terms Report to refine keywords and add negative keywords?
A: Start by sorting queries by conversions, cost, CTR and conversion rate. Identify: 1) high-converting queries to add as exact or phrase keywords (start with conservative bids and track performance); 2) high-spend, low-value queries to add as negative keywords (choose the appropriate negative match type); 3) queries with high CTR but low conversion that may indicate landing page or intent mismatch; 4) search trends or seasonal queries worth separate campaigns. Use segmentation (device, time, match type) to detect patterns. When adding negatives, apply them to the campaign or shared negative lists based on scope. Re-evaluate after changes to ensure you don’t accidentally block valuable traffic.
Q: What reporting limits and privacy considerations affect the Search Terms Report?
A: Google may omit or aggregate queries that have very low volume or that could reveal personally identifiable or sensitive information, so the report won’t show every single query. Data sampling and attribution differences (click-level vs session-level) can cause discrepancies with Analytics. Broad match and automated features (broad match with Smart Bidding, dynamic targeting) can surface queries that aren’t obvious from your keywords alone. Be aware of the API and UI differences in available fields and historical retention windows when planning exports and audits.
Q: What are practical best practices and cadence for using the Search Terms Report in account management?
A: For high-spend or conversion-focused accounts review the report weekly; for smaller accounts biweekly or monthly is sufficient. Maintain shared negative keyword lists for recurring irrelevant queries. Add top-performing queries as new keywords using appropriate match types and separate campaigns/ad groups if intent differs. Use automated rules or scripts to flag sudden spikes in irrelevant queries and to notify when new high-converting queries appear. Track the impact of changes by comparing performance before and after updates, and keep negative lists pruned to avoid blocking valuable long-tail traffic.