These are the figures from an account audit based on the last 30 days. 95 clicks occurred from 5 search terms, and ad spend was $57.82. There were 0 orders. One of these search terms alone accounted for 61 clicks and $36.30. This money was spent on search terms that have a low probability of leading to sales.
Why does this happen? Auto-targeting or broad matching casts a wide net for seemingly relevant search terms. In this process, exploratory searches not driven by purchase intent, or even search terms from entirely different categories, can be exposed. The same applies to ASIN targeting. If you're targeting a competitor's product page but your product doesn't meet that demand, only clicks accumulate.
Three steps are sufficient to organize this.
First, look at search terms in your search term report that have clicks but 0 orders. It is effective to set a minimum click count of 3-5 and sort by ad spend, as the amount spent is a more direct indicator of loss than the number of clicks.
Second, evaluate in order of highest ad spend. Search terms that have spent $1-2 don't require much attention, but search terms that have spent over $30 represent a significant portion of a month's ad budget. However, if it's a recently listed product or a seasonal product, it's better to give it more time for data to accumulate.
Third, register them as negative keywords. You must distinguish between exact match and phrase match when adding them. If you block based on a single word with an exact match, even search terms that were converting normally might be blocked. After registration, check the report again after 1-2 weeks to see if spending has decreased.
SellerVisor's Negative Keywords screen handles this process on a single screen. It automatically collects and displays search terms with clicks but no orders, sorted by the highest wasted spend. Each item includes the number of clicks, ad spend, number of orders, and the reason why it was displayed. After review, clicking the Add button immediately adds it to the negative keyword list. Since already registered negative keywords are also managed together, there's no need to worry about duplicate entries or omissions.
Ad optimization yields quicker results by stopping leaking spend rather than by adding new features. This week, open your search term report just once and organize the top 5 search terms with no orders. In most accounts, tens of dollars will be immediately recovered.
SellerVisor can be started for free. You can immediately check your initial audit results by linking your ad account.