Lesson 5.2: The "I Already Have a List" Scenario

By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to audit and rebuild a keyword list you didn't research yourself — including the seven signals that tell you a keyword is dead weight.

If you've inherited an account or built a list before taking this course, you don't have to start over. But you do have to be honest about what you have.

Here are seven signals that tell you a keyword deserves to be paused or removed:

1. It has significant spend with zero conversions, and you can't trace any assisted value from it. The campaign has been running long enough that this keyword has had a real test. It failed. Pause it.

2. It has search volume and clicks, but every search term in the report is clearly off-target. The keyword is attracting the wrong traffic regardless of match type. The problem is the keyword itself, not just the negatives.

3. Its average CPC makes the math impossible. If the keyword costs $60/click and your offer converts at 2% to a $500 sale, you're paying $3,000 per sale. Pause it.

4. It exists because "it used to work." Markets change. Bidding environments change. A keyword that was efficient two years ago may be wildly different today. Test it with current data, not historical faith.

5. It's broad match with no meaningful negative keyword coverage. This isn't a keyword problem. It's a configuration problem. Fix the match type and negatives before evaluating performance.

6. It has search volume so low that meaningful conversion data is impossible to accumulate. If a keyword gets three clicks a month, you'll never know if it works. Either find ways to increase relevance (landing page, bid, ad copy) or acknowledge it can't give you useful signal and remove it.

7. You can't write a one-sentence intent rationale for it. If you don't know why it's in the campaign, you don't know whether it should be. Apply the intent signals checklist retroactively.