How to Mine Google Ads for Keywords That Actually Convert
Finmark Solutions
Most business owners running Google Ads are either burning budget on untargeted broad match, or locking into exact match too early with no data to back it. There's a better approach — and it uses Google's own algorithm to do the research for you.
The Setup: Two Ad Groups, One Campaign
One campaign per product. Inside it, two ad groups:
- Ad Group 1 — [Your Product] Broad — casts the net
- Ad Group 2 — [Your Product] Exact — locks in what works
Ad Group 2 starts empty. You'll fill it from the data Ad Group 1 generates.
Phase 1: Let Broad Match Do the Research
Load Ad Group 1 with 5–10 core broad match keywords. Write a strong responsive search ad (8–10 headlines, 3–4 descriptions) and set a modest daily budget. You're buying data at this stage, not conversions.
After the first few days, go to Campaigns → Keywords → Search Terms. This shows the actual queries that triggered your ads — some junk, some gold. Don't wait weeks — irrelevant traffic accumulates fast, and a week of unchecked broad match can burn a meaningful chunk of budget on queries you'd never consciously bid on.
Add the junk as negative keywords immediately. Common culprits: DIY queries, wrong locations, job seekers, competitors you're not targeting. Check every 2–3 days in the first month, then weekly once things stabilise. This is ongoing hygiene, not a one-time task.
Phase 2: Promote Winners to Exact Match
Take the high-volume, high-intent queries and add them to Ad Group 2 as exact match:
[buy your product online australia][your product supplier sydney]
Write ad copy in Ad Group 2 that speaks directly to each query — not the same generic ad from Ad Group 1.
Critical: Add those same exact match terms as negatives in Ad Group 1. Otherwise both groups bid on the same query and you inflate your own CPCs.
Pro-level: Add a separate ad group per exact match, with exact wording to match in the ad group and ad extensions etc. This really makes you relevant in Google's eyes. I.e. Product 1 exact match, Product 2 exact match, etc.
Repeat Every 2–4 Weeks
Once the campaign has stabilised, review search terms → cull negatives → promote winners → tighten ad copy on a fortnightly cycle. Over time, Ad Group 2 becomes your main performer. Ad Group 1 keeps finding new territory on a leaner budget.
The result: lower CPCs, better Quality Scores, and a campaign that compounds in efficiency rather than just spending at a flat rate indefinitely.
Manual CPC for Discovery, Smart Bidding for Performers
Google will push you toward Smart Bidding, but for the broad match discovery phase, manual CPC is the better call — provided you don't yet have solid conversion history in the account.
Here's why: broad match in Ad Group 1 is a research tool, not a performance tool. You're not trying to optimise for conversions yet — you're trying to see what queries surface at a controlled, predictable spend rate. On a new or low-volume account, Smart Bidding has no real signal to work with, so it makes aggressive bids based on guesswork. That costs money at exactly the stage you can least afford it.
Manual CPC keeps the discovery phase disciplined. Set a conservative max CPC, let the search terms roll in, mine the data, and add negatives. That's the whole job at this stage.
Once your exact match ad group (Ad Group 2) has proven converters behind it, that's when Smart Bidding earns its place with confidence. Switch to Maximise Conversions or Target CPA once you have 30–50 conversions of history. The algorithm finally has real signal to work with, and that's where it genuinely helps.
Want a second opinion on your Google Ads structure? [Get in touch.]
