Negative Keywords for Plumbers: A Starter List and How to Use It

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Summary: Negative keywords stop your plumbing ads showing for searches that will never call, such as job seekers, DIY readers and parts shoppers. Start with a short list by theme, choose the right negative match type, and review the search terms report every week. By default a negative keyword is broad match, so it blocks a search only when all its words appear, in any order. Judge the result on cost per booked job.

Every Search ad is triggered by a search you did not write. Negative keywords are how you tell Google which searches you do not want. For a plumber they are one of the cheapest fixes in the account, because the wasted clicks are easy to spot and easy to block.

What a negative keyword does

You add a word or phrase, and your ads stop showing for searches that match it. You can set negatives at different levels of the account, so check where each one applies in Google Ads before relying on it.

Two points trip people up:

• Negatives are not close variants. Plurals, synonyms and misspellings are not added for you. If you block "job" you may still see "jobs". Add both.
• Match type works differently from positive keywords. See below.

Negative match types, with examples

So a broad negative "water heater parts" stops "parts for a gas water heater" but lets "water heater repair" through, which is what you want. Watch short words. As a negative broad keyword, "how to" would block "how much to replace a water heater", which is a customer. Use phrase match for "how to fix" and think before blocking.

The starter list, by theme

These are example negatives to test in your own account. Not all will suit your business, and a search that looks like junk to one plumber is a job for another.

Be careful with "cheap" and "price". A homeowner may type "cheap plumber near me" and still book you at your normal rate. Decide with your own data.

A negative can be wrong in the other direction. If you offer water heater installation, "install" is a word you want. If you do commercial work, do not block it. Check each word against what you sell.

How to build the list from your own account

1. Open the search terms report for the last 30 days. Google omits low-volume searches for privacy, but you will see most of the spend.
2. Sort by cost. Read the top 50 searches that cost money and produced no call.
3. For each, ask: would I do this job? If no, add a negative.
4. Add the narrowest negative that blocks the junk. A negative exact for one oddly specific search is safer than a broad one.
5. Repeat every week for the first month, then every month. The rest of the month-one routine is in your first 30 days on Google Ads.

Google advises adding irrelevant searches as negatives from this report. It also lists the search terms that triggered your ads, which is the only direct view of what your money bought.

Where to put them

The levels available depend on your account, so check them in Google Ads. The principle is the same everywhere: broad junk goes wide, specific steering goes narrow.

• Account-level or shared lists, where available: the universal junk, such as jobs, DIY and free. One list, applied to every campaign.
• Campaign-level: negatives that differ by campaign. Your drain campaign might block "water heater" so it does not overlap the water heater campaign.
• Ad group level: to steer a search to the right ad group. If "tankless water heater" has its own ad group, add it as a negative in the general water heater ad group.

Overlap is common in plumbing. Emergency, water heater and drain campaigns all trigger on a search like "water leak". Give each campaign its own territory with negatives, then check the search terms report to see which campaign is winning which search.

Check your own keywords for traps

A negative can accidentally block your own keywords, so before saving, ask whether any word on your list appears in a keyword you bid on.

Broad match is the most common source of junk. It can catch related searches that lack your keyword's direct meaning, and Google calls Smart Bidding critical with it. If you use it, put more weight on your negatives and on conversion tracking. For the keyword side of the account, our Google Ads playbook for plumbers lists ad groups and match types.

Negatives are not a fix for a weak page

If searches are right and calls still do not come, blocking more words will not help. Check the page and the phone. Our guide to why plumbing ads get clicks but no calls puts negatives first in the order of fixes, then the page, the schedule and tracking.

What it is worth: example numbers

Example numbers to swap for yours. An account spends $2,000 a month. A review shows $380 went on clicks from jobs, DIY and parts searches, none of which called.

• Before: $2,000 buys 25 leads, so $80 a lead. At a 35% close rate that is about $229 per booked job.
• After: blocking those searches leaves $1,620 working on relevant clicks. If you keep spending $2,000, that extra $380 is redirected to better searches. Say the lead count rises to 29, so $69 a lead and about $197 per booked job.

That is an illustration, not a forecast. Some accounts have more waste than this, some far less. What does hold is the method: find the money spent on searches that did not call, block them and measure again. Across the accounts Opus Group runs, leads have averaged $63 over the last twelve months, and cost per booked job is cost per lead divided by close rate.

What to do this week

1. Download the last 30 days of search terms.
2. Mark every term you would not take a job from.
3. Add an account-level list for jobs, DIY and parts.
4. Add campaign-level negatives where campaigns overlap.
5. Note the date, and compare cost per booked job a month later. The free guide, How a local service business can spend $1,000 and make $60,000 in a month, shows the cost per lead and close rate chain behind that number. Its $60,000 is worked math, not a promise.

FAQ

What are negative keywords in Google Ads?

Words or phrases that stop your ads showing for matching searches. They save money on searches that will never become customers.

What negative keywords should a plumber use?

Start with jobs and careers, DIY, parts and supplies, training, and work you do not do. Test each against your own search terms report.

Do negative keywords include plurals?

No. Google does not add plurals, synonyms or close variants of a negative, so add the forms you want to block.

Can a negative keyword block my own customers?

Yes. Short words like "how to" can block "how much to replace a water heater" as a broad negative. Use phrase or exact match and review the report.

How often should I review negatives?

Weekly for the first month, then monthly, and after any big change to keywords or campaigns.

Opus Group runs Google Ads, Local Services Ads and high-converting landing pages for local service businesses. See how it works.

Opus Group is a plumbing marketing agency working with plumbers across the US, including Chicago, Sacramento, San Diego and Charlotte.

Theo Prada is the founder of Opus Group, which runs Google Local Services Ads and Google Ads for local service businesses.