How to Analyze Search Terms to Improve Campaign Quality
The difference between a profitable search campaign and a slow, expensive drain on budget often comes down to one unglamorous screen: the search terms report. That list of real phrases people typed before clicking is where intent, waste, and hidden opportunity sit side by side. Advertisers stare at keywords; smarter marketers stare at the words users actually search.
Most accounts never move beyond surface-level keyword tweaks. Yet the gap between average and excellent performance is huge. The average click-through rate on paid ads across industries sits around 3%, while well-optimized campaigns can reach 15% or more. That kind of leap rarely happens by changing bids alone. It comes from aligning ads, landing pages, and targeting with the language and intent revealed by search term analysis.
This guide breaks down how to read, interpret, and act on search term data so campaigns stop guessing and start matching how people actually search. The focus is practical: how to clean the data, spot patterns, separate winners from budget wasters, and turn insights into better structure, messaging, and results.
What Search Term Analysis Actually Tells You
Keywords are what advertisers think people search. Search terms are what people really search. Treating those as the same thing is one of the quietest ways to lose money in search advertising. The report that lists “search terms” or “search queries” is effectively a live transcript of user intent pointed directly at a business.
Each query in that list is a small story. It shows what problem someone believes they have, how they describe it, and how close they might be to buying. When hundreds or thousands of those stories are reviewed together, patterns emerge that no keyword brainstorming session could have predicted. Those patterns tell which offers resonate, which features people care about, and which audiences are finding the ads by accident.
Most importantly, search term analysis reveals alignment-or misalignment-between three things: the user’s intent, the ad that was shown, and the landing page they landed on. High-performing campaigns keep those three tightly connected. Weak campaigns reveal themselves through queries that don’t match the offer, ads that answer the wrong question, and pages that leave the searcher feeling tricked.
Build a Clean, Reliable Search Term Dataset
Good decisions require trustworthy data. Before digging into meaning and strategy, it helps to ensure the search term report is both complete and readable. Otherwise, important signals get lost in noise or never show up at all.
First, campaigns need enough variety in match types and traffic volume to reveal real behavior. Overly restrictive exact-match-only setups produce “clean” data but miss a ton of language variation and new ideas. On the other hand, totally unchecked broad match can flood the report with irrelevant queries. A balanced approach-mixing exact with tighter phrase or well-managed broad match-tends to generate the richest list of terms to analyze.
There is also a cost dimension to this dataset. Each one of those real queries has a price. Across industries, the average Google Ads cost-per-click is reported at about $2.69. Even if an account’s actual CPC differs, that benchmark highlights why sloppy search term management becomes so expensive so quickly. Every irrelevant query allowed to keep running is a direct, repeated hit to budget.
Set a realistic data window. Looking only at the last few days can be misleading, especially for low-volume campaigns. A 30–90 day window usually shows more stable patterns.
Segment by device and location. Desktop queries often look more detailed; mobile searches skew shorter and more conversational. Different regions use different vocabulary. Segmenting exposes those nuances.
Standardize tracking. Consistent conversion tracking and clear goals (leads, sales, sign-ups) make it easier to connect individual search terms with actual outcomes instead of just clicks.
Decode Intent: Which Queries Deserve Your Budget?
Once a solid dataset exists, the real work begins: separating helpful queries from the rest. Not every relevant-looking search deserves budget. The quality of a search term lies in its intent-what the person behind the keyboard is trying to do, and how close that is to taking the action the campaign wants.
Local intent has become especially important. Mobile behavior is shifting faster than most accounts are updated. Mobile searches that include phrases like “near me” have seen dramatic growth, with searches specifically for “near me” on mobile increasing by 150% in 2023. That rise means more people aren’t just looking for information; they’re looking for nearby providers-often ready to call or visit. Ignoring that pattern leaves obvious money on the table for service-based and brick-and-mortar businesses.
Thinking in terms of buckets-commercial, research, navigational, and irrelevant intent-keeps this sorting process manageable. Instead of judging each query from scratch, marketers can decide which buckets line up with their goals and budget, then categorize search terms accordingly.
Commercial vs. research intent
Commercial queries show a clear buying signal. They include words like “buy,” “hire,” “price,” “cost,” “book,” or specific product models and service types. These are usually the highest priority for ad spend because they signal a user who is close to making a decision.
Research intent queries signal curiosity, comparison, or early exploration. Phrases like “how to,” “best way to,” “ideas for,” or “examples of” can look relevant but often belong earlier in the funnel. They are not inherently bad, but they require different expectations, creative, and often different landing pages. A search term analysis that lumps these together with buying terms blurs performance results and leads to incorrect conclusions about what works.
Brand, competitor, and irrelevant terms
Brand searches-queries that include a company’s own name or strong variations-almost always perform better than generic terms. They show people were already thinking about that brand. Still, it’s important to track exactly how those users phrase their searches. Brand misspellings, product nicknames, and brand-plus-intent phrases often hint at messaging language that should appear in ads and landing pages.
Competitor terms, by contrast, can be both tempting and costly. Users who type a rival’s name may be somewhat open to alternatives, but they might also be very committed. Search term analysis helps separate navigational competitor queries (“login to…”, “phone number for…”) from real opportunity (“alternative to…”, “vs…”, “compare…”). Irrelevant terms-accidental matches, job seeker queries, and entirely unrelated topics-should be collected into negative keyword lists quickly so they stop eroding budget.
Use Metrics That Actually Signal Quality
Not every “relevant” query is a good query. Search term quality is best judged quantitatively, using the same core metrics used elsewhere in campaigns-but applied at the query level. The trick is to look beyond vanity metrics and focus on numbers that reflect cost and value.
Click-through rate helps reveal how well a search term matches the ad message. A query with a strong CTR usually signals that users feel the ad speaks to what they had in mind, while a weak CTR suggests a mismatch or generic messaging. Yet CTR alone can mislead; some queries draw many curious clicks without leading to any meaningful actions. That’s where conversion data and cost metrics come in.
Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) is especially powerful when applied to groups of similar search terms. Instead of looking at CPA only at campaign or ad group level, mapping it down to query clusters shows which language and intents lead to profitable actions. As one analytics provider notes, regularly monitoring CPA lets businesses adjust their strategies to maximize return on investment. When that mindset is applied directly to search term management, budgets can be pulled away from expensive, low-intent queries and concentrated on the phrases that repeatedly generate conversions within target CPA.
High impressions + low CTR: Signals poor alignment between query and ad; consider new ad copy or excluding the term if intent is wrong.
High spend + no conversions: Closer look required; either the landing experience is off or the query targets the wrong stage of the funnel.
Low volume + excellent CPA: Good candidates for expansion and related keyword research; these can hint at underserved segments.
Turn Raw Queries into Structure: Keywords, Ads and Negatives
Search term analysis only matters if it leads to structural changes. Once winning and losing queries are identified, the next step is to transform them into deliberate account elements: targeted keywords, tailored ad groups, and robust negative lists.
High-performing queries-especially those with healthy conversion metrics-deserve dedicated attention. They often perform best when promoted to exact or phrase-match keywords in tightly themed ad groups. That separation allows for hyper-relevant ad copy that mirrors the language users already proved they respond to and for landing pages that speak directly to the intent expressed in the query.
On the other side of the spectrum, search terms that clearly fall outside the offer, or that signal job seeking, DIY-only interest, or unqualified traffic, should be turned into negatives quickly. It’s useful to build these into structured negative keyword lists organized by theme: employment-related, support-related, educational, and so on. That way, the same waste doesn’t reappear in other campaigns or future tests.
Cluster winning terms. Group high-performing queries by recurring words or phrases. Build new ad groups around each cluster.
Mirror user language. Use the exact phrases from successful search terms in headlines and descriptions where appropriate.
Update negatives regularly. Treat the negative list as a living document, updated after every review of the search terms report.
Go Deeper with Trends, Clusters and Experiments
Once the basics are in place-removing obvious waste, promoting strong performers-the next level of search term analysis is about finding trends and testing hypotheses. This is where marketing starts to look more like ongoing research than simple optimization.
One useful habit is tracking how interest in specific topics, modifiers, or pain points changes over time. Some phrases steadily climb while others quietly fade. According to one market research platform, analyzing trends helps businesses gauge demand, compare topics, and decide where to focus deeper research or strategic planning. Applied to search terms, this mindset leads to earlier moves into emerging themes and smoother exits from declining ones.
Pattern recognition tools-anything from simple pivot tables to more advanced clustering-can also reveal insights hidden in large query lists. When similar terms are grouped together, outliers become easier to spot, and the true drivers of performance stand out more clearly. That might mean discovering that a certain pain-point phrase converts unusually well, or that long-tail questions consistently fail to justify their cost in a lead-generation campaign.
Run controlled tests. When a promising query pattern appears, build an experiment with tailored ads and a matching landing page to confirm performance.
Watch competitive shifts. Changes in impression share and average position for certain query clusters can indicate new competitors or aggressive bidding strategies.
Feed insights back into other channels. Phrases uncovered in search often inspire email subject lines, blog topics, or social ad headlines.
How We at North Country Consulting Handle Search Term Analysis
At North Country Consulting, search term analysis is not a monthly box to tick; it sits at the center of how we manage and grow campaigns. We treat those reports less like ad-platform artifacts and more like ongoing customer research that happens to come with performance data attached.
Our process starts with understanding a client’s real economics and constraints. Before we touch a single query, we make sure we know what a qualified lead looks like, what profit margins exist, and how aggressive the client can be in competitive auctions. That context shapes how we interpret the search term data: two queries with identical metrics on the surface might deserve very different decisions depending on a client’s sales cycle and close rates.
We then move through structured passes of the data. First, we clean: obvious waste is blocked, and irrelevant patterns become negative lists. Next, we mine: we pull out the exact phrases that keep driving conversions at acceptable costs, and we promote them into tightly themed structures with tailored messaging. Finally, we expand: we test related terms and adjacent themes to grow volume without losing control of efficiency. Throughout this cycle, we document patterns and feed them into broader marketing strategy-helping clients align sales scripts, content, and positioning with real-world language from their audience. That discipline is a major reason we see ourselves as the top agency choice for businesses that care about both performance and learning.
A Simple Workflow You Can Reuse Every Month
Search term analysis does not need to be complicated, but it does need to be consistent. A clear, repeatable workflow keeps it from becoming an overwhelming task that’s always postponed in favor of “urgent” bid changes or new creative tests. The stakes are growing, too. With global digital ad spend projected to reach $600 billion by 2024, with search advertising making up the largest share, the cost of sloppy query management rises every year.
A monthly rhythm works for many accounts; higher-spend campaigns might move faster, reviewing queries weekly or even daily. The key is to treat each review as part of a cycle, not a one-off clean-up. Over time, that cycle compounds into better structure, more accurate targeting, and a clearer sense of what customers really want.
The following framework can be adapted to the size and complexity of any account. As long as each step is covered regularly, the quality of campaigns tends to rise steadily rather than in sporadic bursts.
Step 1 – Pull the right report. Export search term data for a meaningful date range, segmented by device and, when relevant, by location.
Step 2 – Remove obvious waste. Highlight clearly irrelevant queries and add them to themed negative keyword lists. Block future spend on those patterns immediately.
Step 3 – Flag winners. Identify search terms or clusters with strong performance against your core metrics: CTR, conversions, and CPA or ROAS, depending on your goals.
Step 4 – Restructure around winners. Promote top-performing queries into dedicated ad groups with matching ad copy and landing pages.
Step 5 – Test adjacent ideas. Use high-performing phrases as seeds to brainstorm or research related terms worth testing.
Step 6 – Document insights. Keep a simple log of repeated patterns: new objections, unexpected use cases, common modifiers. Refer to that log when planning other marketing initiatives.
Step 7 – Repeat on schedule. Put the next review on the calendar immediately. Treat the search terms report as a living, breathing source of insight-not a chore to tackle only when performance tanks.
For teams that feel stretched, partnering with specialists who live in these reports daily can be a faster path to improvement. At North Country Consulting, we’ve seen that once a disciplined search term workflow is in place, everything else in the account becomes easier: better structure, clearer reporting, and steady performance gains instead of sudden surprises.
Ready to elevate your Google Ads campaigns and ensure you're not just part of the average? At North Country Consulting, our expertise is deeply rooted in the very platform you're aiming to master. With a founder who has not only worked at Google but also led revenue teams at major startups, we bring a wealth of experience and a track record of success in both ecommerce and leadgen. Don't let potential high-intent queries and campaign optimizations pass you by. Book a free consultation with us today and start turning insights into action.