If you run Adwords for your business (and I strongly recommend all business owners try it at least once - always "know enough to be dangerous") then you need to make frequent use of the search term report.
As you might be aware, Google Adwords runs off the back of keywords you want your ads to show on.
For example, if you're selling dog toys, then you might bid on the keyword 'dog toys'.
All seems simple, right?
However, depending on the 'match types' you've used, the actual search terms (what people are searching into Google) that trigger your ads could be quite different.
Depending on your match types and negative keywords, you could be showing up for searches like:
"Worst dog toys"
"2nd hand dog toys"
etc
All things that you might not want your brand to appear for, and which you probably DON'T want to pay for clicks on.
So how do you know if this is happening? How can you actually tell what searches are triggering your ads (as opposed to what keywords you want to trigger your ads)?
You use the Search Terms report.
From within your Keywords tab of a campaign, you select the "Search Terms" option (see the screenshot).
This will show you what search terms are actually triggering your ads.
Reviewing this frequently will allow you to see:
* Undesirable search terms that you can block using negative keywords
* Good search terms that you can add directly as keywords, meaning better results
Just a word of warning - if you haven't run a search term report in a long time, you might be a bit frustrated at some of the terms Google shows your ads for (especially if you use lots of broad match keywords).
This is why it's so important to check regularly, and stay on top of things with negative keywords etc.
Ask any questions in the comments below and I'll help you out!
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