Whenever running Google Ads campaigns, most PPC marketers focus on targeting the right keywords, placements, and audiences. While this is important, another almost equally effective approach is preventing your ads from showing up where they shouldn't be. That is where exclusion lists come into play. Exclusion lists allow advertisers to prevent wasting ad spend on irrelevant or poorly performing sources of traffic.
Using exclusion lists, you have greater control over your campaigns, and your advertisements appear only to the appropriate people and at the appropriate time. Your campaign performance metrics as a whole are not only optimized but also improved in terms of click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates. Let us now learn in depth about what exclusion lists consist of, how they work, and how to properly create them.
Types of Exclusion Lists in Google Ads
There are different types of exclusion lists, and each one is meant to address a particular inefficiency in your campaigns. Knowing them will assist you in learning how to utilize them correctly.
Keyword Exclusion Lists
Exclusion keyword lists are created to prevent certain search terms or keywords from making your ads visible. For example, if you are selling pricey sporting shoes, you can have "cheap sneakers" or "free running shoes" excluded from triggering your ads so that ad spend wastage is prevented and you avoid those not likely to make a conversion. Excluding irrelevant keywords will tighten your targeting and have your ads appearing before people who actually care about your product.
Placement Exclusion Lists
Placement exclusion lists are what determine where your ads appear on the Google Display Network or YouTube. If you find that some websites, apps, or channels are sending you low-quality traffic or aren't in line with your brand image, you can exclude them. For instance, suppose your gaming application is providing disinterested clicks or a high number of bounces for your business-oriented campaign, then including it in your placement exclusion list blocks your ads from showing there in the future.
Audience Exclusion Lists
Exclusion audience lists are of immense value in sophisticated PPC strategies. Exclusion lists enable you to exclude specific audiences that were unable to convert or have already achieved your desired conversion. For example, if you're marketing to new customers, you can exclude your existing customer audience to ensure uniqueness. You can also exclude age groups from your consideration if you're selling a product only for a particular age group - for example, you might choose a YouTube placement exclusion list that excludes channels for children.
How to Construct Exclusion Lists in Google Ads
It's not as difficult as you believe creating exclusion lists, and it is a step that must be incorporated into the workflow of all PPC marketers. Simply follow these steps:
- Log into your Google Ads account and select the campaign or ad group that you're going to modify.
- Go to the "Excluded Keywords," "Placements," or "Audiences" tab based on the exclusion list you wish to create.
- Enter the target keywords, placements, or audiences that you wish to exclude based on your campaign goals.
- Save and refresh your exclusions as frequently as needed to keep them in line with any campaign changes or strategy modifications.
Carefully planned exclusion lists will have a direct impact on the performance of the campaign, but they must be updated and managed to achieve maximum value.
Use Third-Party Tools for Exclusion Lists
Manual identification of relevant exclusions is a time-consuming task, but third-party software facilitates it. SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Optmyzr are some of the software that provide you with automated recommendations of low-performing or non-targeted traffic sources to include in your exclusion lists so that you can develop more intelligent exclusion lists. You can also work with a company that has ready-made lists for you to implement.
Master the Power of Exclusion Lists
Exclusion lists are a useful but often overlooked element of effective PPC advertising. By actively eliminating irrelevancies from keywords, placements, and audiences, you conserve valuable ad budget, enhance targeting, and achieve better campaign performance. Creating your lists manually or with third-party tools to determine exclusions, the process is a marketer's game-changer to scale a Google Ads strategy.
Keep in mind that succeeding with PPC is not all about finding the right targets, but knowing how to stop doing things wrong. Start excluding today, and your campaign will fly.