The Google Ads search terms report shows the real queries that caused your ads to appear. For a small business, a focused weekly review can reveal wasted spend, new customer language and gaps between an ad and its landing page—without turning account management into a daily guessing exercise.
This guide explains a practical review process for Search campaigns. It also shows when to use search terms insights, how to add negative keywords carefully and which changes deserve more evidence before you act.
The short version
- Review search terms on a consistent date range.
- Judge relevance and business value before adding exclusions.
- Use conversion data, not clicks alone, to prioritise changes.
- Promote valuable queries into clearer keyword, ad and landing-page themes.
- Record every material change so you can evaluate it later.
What the search terms report actually tells you
A keyword is the targeting instruction you add to an ad group. A search term is what a person typed or searched before your ad appeared. The two can differ because keyword match types can connect an ad with related searches and close variants.
Google says the report includes queries used by a significant number of people that triggered impressions and clicks. Some low-volume queries are omitted for privacy, so the report is useful but not a complete transcript of every search.
You can open it in Google Ads under Campaigns → Insights and reports → Search terms. Add the Keyword column if it is not already visible; this helps you see which keyword matched each query.
Search terms report vs. search terms insights
These two views answer different questions. Use them together rather than treating one as a replacement for the other.
| View | Best used for | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Search terms report | Reviewing visible individual queries, match relationships and query-level performance | Not every low-volume query is shown |
| Search terms insights | Understanding broader intent categories, subcategories and demand patterns | Aggregated themes are less suitable for deciding whether one exact query should be excluded |
Google states that search terms insights group queries into intent-based categories and can account for lower-volume searches without revealing each query. That makes insights helpful for creative, landing-page and market-demand ideas. The report remains the more direct workspace for individual query decisions.
Before the weekly review
A search-term workflow depends on trustworthy measurement. If your primary conversion actions are incorrect, a query can appear valuable or wasteful for the wrong reason. Check the campaign’s goals before making budget or targeting decisions. Our Google Ads conversion goals guide explains that foundation.
For a useful working view, include these columns where available:
- Search term and matched keyword
- Match type
- Impressions, clicks, cost and click-through rate
- Conversions, conversion rate and cost per conversion
- Conversion value and return on ad spend when revenue data is reliable
Choose a date range that gives the campaign enough data for its normal sales cycle. A weekly review can use the last 7 or 14 days, but low-volume businesses may need a longer window. Avoid judging a query from one click unless it is clearly irrelevant or unsafe.
A practical seven-step weekly workflow
1. Start with business relevance
Read the query as a customer question. Is the person looking for something you sell, in a location you serve, at a stage where your offer can help? Relevance comes before the metric columns. A query can have a cheap click and still be wrong for the business.
2. Label the intent
Use a simple internal label: strong commercial intent, useful research intent, ambiguous, irrelevant or brand-sensitive. This makes the review consistent and prevents random decisions based on mood.
3. Triage the query
| What you see | Likely action | What to check first |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant query with conversions | Keep it; consider a clearer keyword or ad theme | Conversion quality, value and landing-page fit |
| Relevant query with clicks but no conversion | Observe or improve the experience | Sample size, sales cycle, page speed and message match |
| Clearly irrelevant query | Consider a negative keyword | Whether the exclusion could block a valuable variation |
| New recurring theme | Build a keyword, ad or landing-page test | Demand, intent and whether the offer genuinely covers it |
| Ambiguous low-volume query | Do not rush | More data and related query patterns |
4. Add negative keywords carefully
Negative keywords prevent ads from serving for matching searches. They are useful when a query is clearly outside your offer—for example, a paid professional service repeatedly matching searches for free templates.
Do not copy every non-converting query into a negative list. A search may be relevant but need a better page, stronger offer or more time. Google also notes that negative keyword match types work differently from positive keyword match types and do not match close variants in the same way.
- Negative exact: the narrowest option for excluding one specific search.
- Negative phrase: useful when a phrase consistently signals the wrong intent.
- Negative broad: can block more combinations and deserves the most caution.
Google’s current instructions say terms added directly from the report default to negative exact match unless you change the symbols. Review the intended scope before saving.
5. Promote valuable language
When a relevant phrase appears repeatedly, do more than add it as a keyword. Compare it with the ad copy and landing page. The customer’s language may reveal a clearer headline, a missing service detail or a separate ad-group theme.
Adding a keyword does not guarantee more traffic or better results. It simply gives you a more deliberate way to organise targeting and messaging. Keep the structure aligned with the actual offer.
6. Check the landing-page promise
If the query is relevant but users leave without acting, inspect the page before blaming the traffic. Does the heading answer the search? Is the location, price range or service type clear? Can a mobile visitor find the next step quickly? Search-term research is also usability research.
7. Keep a change log
Record the date, campaign, query theme, change, reason and metric you plan to review. Avoid making several unrelated changes at once when possible. A short log helps you separate real learning from hindsight.
Illustrative example: a local accounting firm
Assume an accounting firm advertises bookkeeping services. The following example is illustrative; it is not drawn from a live client account.
- “monthly bookkeeping for small business” is closely aligned with the offer. If it converts or shows repeated qualified engagement, the firm could test a dedicated ad message and landing-page section.
- “free bookkeeping spreadsheet” may be informational and misaligned with a paid service campaign. The reviewer should check whether “free” is consistently unqualified before adding it as a negative.
- “bookkeeping jobs near me” signals employment intent rather than buyer intent. A jobs-related negative may be appropriate if the business is not recruiting.
- “bookkeeping help” is ambiguous. It may deserve more data rather than an immediate exclusion.
The important habit is to connect the query with the business model, not to apply a generic negative-keyword list without context.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Optimising for clicks alone. High click-through rate does not prove commercial value.
- Excluding too aggressively. A broad negative can block useful demand beyond the original query.
- Ignoring conversion quality. A form submission is not automatically a qualified lead or completed sale.
- Changing targeting, ads and landing pages together. Too many simultaneous edits make the result difficult to interpret.
- Reviewing without a schedule. Frequent random checks encourage overreaction; a consistent cadence produces better comparisons.
- Assuming the report shows every query. Privacy thresholds mean some lower-volume searches are not individually visible.
A 20-minute review checklist
- Confirm the date range and conversion columns.
- Sort by cost to find the largest areas first.
- Flag clearly irrelevant intent.
- Review high-value and high-converting query themes.
- Check ambiguous queries with enough data.
- Add only well-justified negatives with the intended match type.
- Write down tests for keywords, ads or landing pages.
- Log the changes and set a review date.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a small business review search terms?
Weekly is a useful starting cadence for an active account. Very low-volume campaigns may need a longer data window, while a new campaign may need closer observation for clearly irrelevant traffic. The goal is consistency, not constant intervention.
Should every search term without a conversion become a negative keyword?
No. One non-converting query may still be relevant, especially with limited data or a longer decision cycle. Exclude based on intent and evidence, not simply the absence of a conversion.
Can the report find new keywords?
Yes. Relevant queries can reveal customer language and new themes. Before adding one, check that it fits the offer, campaign structure, ad message and landing page.
Why do search terms insights show more demand than the report?
Google groups searches into categories and can include lower-volume activity in aggregated themes or “other queries” without exposing every individual query. That makes insights broader, while the report provides visible query-level detail.
Sources and methodology
This guide was checked against Google’s official documentation for the search terms report, search terms insights, negative keyword ideas and negative keywords. Product interfaces and help documentation can change, so confirm the labels in your own account.
Editorial disclosure: Seolign used AI assistance to help draft and organise this article, followed by source checking and editorial review. No client account results, original experiments or hands-on Google Ads tests are claimed. The accounting example is illustrative.
Featured image: Vitaly Gariev via Unsplash.