How to read your Google Ads search terms report (in 15 minutes a week)
Where to find it
In Google Ads, open Insights and reports › Search terms (or the Keywords section). Set the date range to the last 7 or 30 days.
The 15-minute routine
- Sort by cost. Start with what cost the most.
- Block the obvious waste. Jobs, DIY, parts, wrong services, wrong towns. Add them as negatives.
- Find winners. Searches with conversions that aren’t keywords yet: add them, ideally with their own ad group.
- Check intent. Are research searches ("what is", "how much") eating budget? Decide whether you want them.
- Note surprises. New services people ask for can become new pages or services.
What good looks like
After a month of weekly pruning, most spend should be on searches that clearly mean "I need this service near me".
Want a second pair of eyes?
In a free audit we total how much went to searches that could never book a job. Our Google Ads management does this every week.
Sources
- About negative keywords, Google
- Google Ads Help Center, Google
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