Negative keywords for roofers and remodelers: what to block, what to keep

What negative keywords should roofers and remodelers use?

Four groups of searches rarely turn into a signed roof or remodel:

1. Job seekers: jobs, hiring, salary, apprentice, training.
2. Do-it-yourself: diy, "how to", tutorial, youtube.
3. Supplies and products: supply, wholesale, "for sale", "roofing nails", "peel and stick".
4. Work you don't do: metal or flat roofs for a shingle roofer, decks or pools for a kitchen remodeler.

A fifth group looks like waste but often is not: free, cost, price, how much, near me, hail damage, insurance claim. People type these when they are close to hiring. Keep them, and watch them in your search terms.

The lists below are examples to adapt, not a finished list. Your own search terms report decides what goes on yours.

What is a negative keyword?

Google puts it simply: "Negative keywords let you exclude search terms from your campaigns." You add a word or phrase, and your ad stops showing for searches that match it.

For example, a roofer who bids on "roofer near me" may also get "roofer jobs near me". Add jobs as a negative keyword and that job seeker no longer sees your ad, so you don't pay for the click.

A negative keyword does not choose who sees your ads. Your keywords, location and budget do that. Negatives only remove searches.

Broad, phrase or exact: which negative match type?

Google says: "For Search campaigns, you can use broad match, phrase match, or exact match negative keywords." Broad is "the default for your negative keywords". The three types work differently from normal keywords:

Test your negative

Here is what the negative roofing jobs blocks in each match type. Our examples, built from Google's rules above:

The last row surprises people. Google says: "Negative keywords won't match to close variants or other expansions." So jobs does not block job. Google adds that "you'll need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions if you want to exclude them." Add job and jobs, career and careers, supply and supplies.

The good news: Google says "Negative keywords automatically account for casing and misspellings". You don't need to add "roofng jobs" or "ROOFING JOBS".

One side effect to check: because close variants are not matched, a negative license is a different word from licensed. If you block "license" to keep out contractors searching for their own license, check that searches like "licensed roofer near me" still show your ads in your search terms report.

The "how to" trap

Most negative keyword lists online tell you to add how to. If you add it as broad match, Google blocks every search that contains both "how" and "to", in any order. That includes:

• how much to replace a roof
• how much to remodel a bathroom
• how long to replace a roof

Those are homeowners pricing a job, not DIY fixers. Add "how to" as phrase match instead (with the quotes). Phrase blocks "how to fix a roof leak" but lets "how much to replace a roof" through.

The rule: single words can be broad. Negatives with two or more words should usually be phrase, unless you are sure every order of those words is waste.

Negative keyword list for roofers

Examples to adapt. Words in quotes are phrase match and paste into Google Ads as phrase. Words without quotes are broad.

Copy box — roofing negatives to adapt

jobs
job
hiring
career
careers
salary
apprentice
training
course
school
diy
"do it yourself"
"how to"
tutorial
youtube
video
supply
supplies
wholesale
"for sale"
"roofing nails"
underlayment
"felt paper"
"roofing tar"
"roof rack"
"roof rake"
"roof top tent"
"rooftop bar"
"rooftop restaurant"
"rv roof"
"roofing software"
"roofing crm"
"roofing leads"
"roofing marketing"
"contractor insurance"

How to read the roofing list

Notes for roofers:

• Only block a job type you really don't do. If you install metal roofs, "metal" is a buyer word for you.
• Storm roofers: keep "hail damage" and "insurance claim". A homeowner searching "hail damage roof inspection" is the person you want. Watch them, don't block them.
• "Repair" depends on you. If you only do full replacements, block repair in your replacement campaign. If you do repairs, it is one of your best words.
• "Video" and "school" are on the list because most of those searches are tutorials or roofing schools. If you offer drone video inspections or you roof schools, take them off.

For the keywords roofers should bid on, see our guide to Google Ads for roofers.

Negative keyword list for remodelers

Examples to adapt, same rule: quotes = phrase, no quotes = broad.

Copy box — remodeling negatives to adapt

ideas
inspiration
pictures
photos
gallery
pinterest
houzz
hgtv
"tv show"
magazine
"design software"
app
"home depot"
lowes
ikea
amazon
"for sale"
"used cabinets"
diy
"how to"
"peel and stick"
jobs
job
salary
hiring
training
"contractor license"
grants

How to read the remodeling list

Notes for remodelers:

• "For sale" already covers "cabinets for sale", because phrase match blocks any search that contains those words in that order. You don't need both.
• Store names are a choice. Most "home depot" or "ikea" searches are shoppers, not people hiring a remodeler. If your search terms show buyers coming through them, take them off.
• "Before and after" and "small bathroom" look like idea searches. Watch them: some of those people are planning a project now.
• "Roof" does not block "roofing". They are different words, so add both if you don't do roofs.

Which words should you not block (yet)?

These look like waste in a quick scan, but often come from homeowners who are ready to hire:

• Free, when it is in your own offer. If your ad says "free inspection" or "free design consultation", a broad negative free blocks the very people your ad invites. Block narrower phrases like "free shingles" or "free cabinets" only if you see them.
• Cost, price and how much. "Roof replacement cost" and "kitchen remodel cost" are people pricing a job. Watch them for a few weeks before deciding.
• Near me. Someone searching "roofer near me" wants a local company now.
• Hail damage and insurance claim, if you do storm work.
• Repair, if you do repairs.
• Calculator. "Roof replacement cost calculator" is an early-stage buyer. Leave it out of your block list unless your search terms prove otherwise.

Your own search terms report is the judge. If a word brings calls, form leads and signed jobs, it stays.

Cross-negatives: how do you keep your own campaigns apart?

If you run more than one campaign, the same search can match several of them. Cross-negatives send each search to the campaign that should own it.

Roofers: repair vs replacement

• In the replacement campaign, add repair and "roof leak" as negatives.
• In the repair campaign, add replacement, replace and "new roof". (Replace and replacement are different words; add both.)

Remodelers: one campaign per project type

• In the kitchen campaign, add bathroom, bathrooms and bath.
• In the bathroom campaign, add kitchen and kitchens.
• Our guide to Google Ads for remodelers explains why one campaign per project type helps.

Decide who owns the mixed searches. A search like "kitchen and bathroom remodel" contains both words. If both campaigns block the other word, that search is blocked everywhere. Pick one owner (often a whole-home campaign) and leave the word open there.

Out-of-area towns. Fix your location setting first: Presence keeps ads to people in or regularly in your area (see our guide to Google Ads settings for contractors). Then add a town name as a phrase negative only if your search terms show searches for a town you don't serve. Never block the names of neighborhoods or suburbs you do serve.

Where do negative keywords go?

A shared list saves time: Google says you "just add it to the negative keyword list, and the change applies to all campaigns that share the list." A simple setup for most roofers and remodelers is one shared list (jobs, DIY, supplies) on every campaign, and campaign-level negatives for the cross-negatives.

Performance Max. Google has rolled out campaign-level negative keywords to all advertisers (announced January 2025). Google says "You can choose whether to add negative keywords to all campaigns or a specific Performance Max campaign," and you "can review predicted performance" before adding them. They apply to Search and Shopping inventory only.

Local Services Ads. Local Services Ads don't use keywords. Your ads are matched by the job types and service area you set, and Google no longer gives credits for leads marked "job type not serviced" or "geo not serviced". So your job types and service area do the work negatives do in search ads. See our guide to Local Services Ads for roofers.

How do you find new negative keywords every week?

Google's search terms report "shows actual terms that a significant number of people searched for which triggered your ad." That is where new negatives come from.

The steps in Google Ads: Campaigns → Insights and reports → Search terms → tick the terms you want to block → Add as negative keyword → choose the ad group, campaign or list → Save.

Watch the default. Google says: "By default, negative keywords added to a Search campaign from the search terms report are added as negative exact match." Exact blocks only that one search. That is fine for one odd search. When a word is the problem, change it before you save. If you see "roofing jobs near me", block jobs (broad) or "roofing jobs" (phrase), not just [roofing jobs near me].

A 15-minute routine, once a week

1. Open search terms for the last 7 days and sort by cost, highest first.
2. Ask one question for each term: "Could this person hire us for a job we do, in our area?"
3. No: block it, at the right level (list, campaign or ad group) and the right match type (a single word or a phrase, not the default exact).
4. Not sure: keep it, and write it down. Next week, check what it brought: calls, form leads and, most of all, signed jobs in your CRM.
5. Once a month: read your own negative lists for any word your ads use, such as free, repair or a job type you now sell.

Worked example. Worked numbers in this guide show the method; they are not real client results.

Judge words by signed jobs, not clicks. A word with few leads but two signed roofs is worth more than a word with many cheap leads that never sign. Our guide to cost per signed job shows how to track it.

What are the most common negative keyword mistakes?

1. Blocking "free" while your ad offers a free inspection or free estimate. Your ad invites the search, and the negative blocks it.
2. Broad "how to". It blocks "how much to replace a roof". Use phrase "how to".
3. Only the singular. Job does not block jobs. Add both.
4. Blocking cost and price on day one. Many of those searches are buyers.
5. One list for every campaign, with job types in it. Put "metal" on the shared list and you block your own metal roofing campaign later.
6. Saving the exact-match default from the search terms report. It blocks one search, and the next week the same word comes back in a new search.
7. Set once, never checked. New searches show up every week.
8. Blocking towns or neighborhoods you serve. Check the city names on your list against your service area.