Negative Keywords: A Starter List for Renovation Contractors

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Negative keywords tell Google which searches should never trigger your ad, and a renovation contractor who runs Google Ads needs a starter list on day one. Block do-it-yourself searches, job and course searches, unrelated trades, and big-box store searches, and your budget stops leaking into clicks that were never going to become a quote request.

Negative keywords for renovation contractors: what they block and why

Negative keywords stop your ad from showing on searches you never wanted, so your spend stays on searches from homeowners who are looking to hire. When you bid on a term like "kitchen renovation Montréal" or "basement finishing Laval," Google will sometimes match your ad to a DIY tutorial search, a rental listing or a renovation TV show. A negative keyword is the instruction that keeps your ad out of those results.

For a small operation with a tight monthly budget, every click you block is budget left for a homeowner who might call. I add negative keywords on every account I set up for contractors across Greater Montréal, and I treat the list as something I keep adding to. If you would rather have the campaigns built and watched for you, that is the work I do through Google Ads management in Montréal.

Negative match types: broad, phrase, exact and the missing close variants

Match type controls how widely Google applies each exclusion, so it matters as much as the word you choose. A broad match negative blocks a search only when it contains all of the words in your negative, in any order. A phrase match negative blocks searches that contain your words in the same sequence. An exact match negative blocks only that precise query and nothing else.

There is one trap that catches most contractors. Unlike your regular keywords, negative keywords do not match close variants, so a plural, a misspelling or an accented spelling can slip straight through. If you add "tutoriel" but a homeowner types "tutoriels," the block does not apply. You have to add each form yourself, which is why reading the search terms report becomes a monthly habit.

DIY and how-to searches: comment faire, tutoriel and video queries

DIY and how-to searches drain a renovation budget in two languages here, because the person searching "comment faire une douche italienne" or "tutoriel pose plancher flottant" is heading to YouTube, not hiring anyone. Add negatives like comment faire, tutoriel, tuto, bricolage, faire soi-même, DIY, how to, step by step and video across your campaigns.

Remember that close variants will not be caught for you, so include the forms you see in the report: tutos, moi-même, étape par étape. These queries signal someone who wants to do the work themselves, so they will not become a lead. When a campaign is new, read the search terms report every week so you can catch fresh French and English how-to phrases before they spend more of your money.

Job seekers, courses and unrelated trades: keeping them out of the account

Job, course and unrelated-trade searches cost you clicks from people who will never hire you, so they belong on your negative list early. Someone searching "emploi rénovation," "renovation jobs," "salaire menuisier," "cours de rénovation" or "examen RBQ" is looking for work or training, not a contractor. Add job and study terms like emploi, jobs, carrière, salaire, cours, formation and examen RBQ.

Unrelated trades are the other common drain. If your campaigns focus on kitchens and bathrooms, a search for "électricien," "electrician," "plombier" or "plumber" is rarely your customer, so exclude the trades you do not serve. Big-box store searches belong here too: someone typing "Rona," "Réno-Dépôt" or "Home Depot" wants a store aisle, not a contractor, so those brand names are safe to block.

Soumission is a buyer's word: French terms a contractor must not block

Some French words look like noise but are exactly how a Québec homeowner asks to hire you, so blocking them kills your leads. "Soumission" means "quote" or "bid," and a homeowner types it when they are ready to talk to a contractor. If you add it as a negative because it resembles the English "submission," you cut off your best buyers. Keep "soumission," "entrepreneur général," "rénovation," "salle de bain" and "cuisine" on a protected list you never exclude.

One term deserves a lighter touch. A search for "soumission gratuite" can be a homeowner or a directory shopper collecting free-quote listings, so leave it live and keep an eye on it in the search terms report rather than blocking it outright. When you are unsure whether a French term belongs to a buyer or a job seeker, ask yourself which one would type it before you exclude anything.

Campaign-level versus ad group-level negative keyword lists

Google Ads lets you apply negative keywords at two levels, campaign and ad group, and choosing the right one stops you from silencing traffic in the wrong place. A campaign-level negative applies everywhere under that campaign. An ad group-level negative applies only inside one ad group. Here is how I usually split them:

1. Put universal exclusions like DIY, comment faire and tutoriel at the campaign level, where they protect every ad group.
2. Put service-specific exclusions at the ad group level, so you can block "painting" inside your flooring ad group without hiding it from a painting ad group.
3. Keep a shared negative keyword list in your account library so you can reuse the same core exclusions across campaigns.
4. Review the search terms report every month and route each new negative to the campaign or ad group where it belongs.

Splitting the lists this way keeps one ad group's negatives from blocking another group's qualified searches.

Search Terms report: turning wasted queries into new negatives each month

The search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, which is where next month's negatives come from. Open the Keywords page in Google Ads and switch to the Search terms tab, and you will see the queries people typed, not the keywords you bid on.

Make it a monthly task. Sort or filter for the queries with impressions and few or no conversions, then scan for anything off target: DIY tutorials, product-only searches, job or course terms, competitor names or unrelated trades. Tick the box beside each bad query, add it as a negative, and assign it to the right campaign or ad group. Every negative you add there comes from a real search in your own market.

Starter negative keyword list in French and English for a renovation contractor

A renovation contractor in Greater Montréal has to block irrelevant searches in both official languages, so build the list in French and English from the first day. Add these categories right away:

1. DIY and how-to terms: "how to tile," "comment faire," "tutoriel pose," "bricolage," "faire soi-même."
2. Job and course terms: "renovation jobs," "emploi rénovation," "salaire," "cours de rénovation," "examen RBQ."
3. Unrelated trades: "electrician," "électricien," "plumber," "plombier."
4. Big-box and supply searches: "Rona," "Réno-Dépôt," "Home Depot," "prix céramique."
5. Low-intent research: "renovation ideas," "idées rénovation," "before and after photos."

Protect the buyer words at the same time: never exclude "soumission," and watch "soumission gratuite" rather than blocking it. I build this bilingual foundation into every new contractor campaign I set up around Mascouche, Laval and Montréal-Nord, then grow it month by month from the search terms report.

Further reading: for a similar project, see Bain Magique.