Ad copy and search term hygiene

How to optimize paid search: ad copy testing and search term hygiene

The biggest gains in paid search usually come from two complementary disciplines: testing messages that drive qualified conversions and controlling which searches trigger your ads. The goal isn't simply a higher click-through rate (CTR) or lower cost per click (CPC). It's more profitable conversions from the right audience.

Here's a practical framework for Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, adaptable to most search campaigns.

1. Best practices for ad copy testing

1. Test one strategic hypothesis at a time

Compare distinct value propositions, such as price vs. quality, speed vs. reliability, or free trial vs. demo. Keep the audience, landing page, targeting, and conversion measurement as consistent as possible.

2. Write copy around search intent

Match the message to what the searcher wants. Someone searching “enterprise payroll software” likely needs different proof and messaging from someone searching “how to calculate payroll taxes.”

3. Measure business outcomes, not just engagement

Prioritize conversion rate, cost per acquisition (CPA), conversion value, and return on ad spend (ROAS). A headline with a lower CTR can still be the winner if it attracts higher-value customers.

A practical testing matrix

Start with the dimension most likely to influence buying decisions. Don't launch six unrelated changes simultaneously if you need to understand why performance changed.

How to run a sound test

1. Define the hypothesis. Example: “Cost-saving headlines will lower qualified-lead CPA among small-business searches.”
2. Choose a primary KPI. For lead generation, use qualified-lead CPA where possible; for ecommerce, use conversion value or profit-based ROAS.
3. Set a decision rule in advance. Define the minimum effect worth acting on and the required evidence before looking at results.
4. Allow enough time and conversions. Account for conversion lag, weekday effects, and differences in query mix. Don't stop early because one variant leads after a few clicks.
5. Make a controlled change. Roll out the winner, document the result, and test the next hypothesis.

Important: Responsive search ads automatically combine multiple headlines and descriptions. Asset-level performance labels are useful diagnostics, but they don't necessarily prove that one headline caused better results. For cleaner causal comparisons, use a campaign experiment or another supported controlled test where appropriate.

2. Search term hygiene: keep spend focused on valuable intent

Search term hygiene is the ongoing process of reviewing actual user queries, removing irrelevant traffic, and finding valuable demand you aren't targeting well yet.

Google's Search terms report shows actual queries that triggered ads when they meet reporting eligibility criteria. Use it to make both negative-keyword decisions and positive keyword discoveries.support.google.com+1

A four-way triage system

A. Irrelevant queries → Exclude

Examples: “free,” “jobs,” “DIY,” or “used” when those don't fit your offer. Add negatives at the narrowest appropriate scope to avoid blocking useful traffic elsewhere.

(Reduce waste)

B. Relevant, converting queries → Expand

Identify profitable terms and themes. Consider dedicated keywords, a more relevant ad group, tailored ad copy, or a landing page aligned to that intent.

(Capture demand)

C. Relevant, no conversions → Diagnose

Check conversion tracking, search intent, landing-page relevance, cost, conversion lag, and sample size before excluding a term. No conversions alone doesn't prove a query is bad.

D. Ambiguous or low-volume queries → Monitor

Keep potentially valuable terms under review until you have enough evidence to make a decision.

Negative keyword best practices

• Build a shared baseline list. Include consistently irrelevant themes such as careers, employment, and support queries if they aren't relevant to your business.
• Add campaign-specific negatives. Separate product lines, audiences, and search intent without accidentally blocking valid cross-category searches.
• Understand match types. Negative keywords don't behave exactly like positive keywords, and close variants aren't automatically covered in the same way. Review the platform's matching rules before bulk uploads.support.google.com+1
• Audit conflicts. Check whether negatives are blocking high-value keywords, brand terms, or important product categories. Microsoft Advertising provides a negative keyword conflicts report.help.ads.microsoft.com
• Avoid overblocking. A word such as “cheap,” “review,” or “alternative” might indicate poor intent in one business and high purchase intent in another.

How often should you review search terms?

Use these as starting points, not rigid rules. Review frequency should reflect spend velocity, campaign volatility, and business risk.

3. Connect ad copy testing with search term insights

The strongest optimization loop uses search term data to inform creative decisions, not just negative keywords.

For example, suppose you're advertising project management software:

These are illustrative examples. Validate actual query intent and business value before changing targeting.

Google recommends relevant, benefit-focused ad messaging, diverse headlines, and landing pages that match the promise made in the ad. It also recommends evaluating broader campaign results rather than relying only on individual asset CTR or conversion rate.support.google.com+1

4. Your weekly optimization checklist

Weekly account review

of complete

[Reset checklist] [Copy checklist]

5. Track the metrics that actually matter

Set targets according to your margins, sales cycle, and business model. A low CPA isn't necessarily good if lead quality is poor, and a high ROAS isn't necessarily incremental if you're mostly capturing existing brand demand.

6. Recommended implementation order

1. Fix measurement first. Validate conversion actions, attribution, lead quality, and revenue values.
2. Clean the highest-cost search traffic. Start with expensive irrelevant queries and obvious negative keyword conflicts.
3. Test the biggest messaging opportunity. Choose a high-volume, commercially important campaign and test one clear hypothesis.
4. Expand what's working. Apply proven messaging to relevant segments, and promote valuable query themes into more targeted campaigns or landing pages when justified.
5. Repeat and document. Maintain a decision log so the account doesn't cycle through the same tests and mistakes.

For platform-specific instructions, consult the official Google Ads responsive search ad best practices and Google Ads search term and negative keyword guide.

To tailor this to your account: Which platform are you optimizing, and what's your primary goal?

Ad platform

Google Ads

Microsoft Advertising (Bing)

Both

Primary business goal

Lead generation

Ecommerce revenue / ROAS

SaaS sign-ups / subscriptions

Phone calls / local conversions

Biggest current challenge

Wasted spend / irrelevant queries

Low conversion rate

High CPA / low ROAS

Unclear ad test results

Scaling profitable campaigns

Approximate monthly search ad spend

Under $5,000

$5,000–$50,000

Over $50,000

[Build my optimization plan]

Industry standards for better paid search performance

The strongest paid search programs treat ad copy testing and search term hygiene as one continuous optimization loop: test messaging to improve qualified conversion rates, then analyze actual queries to eliminate wasted spend and uncover new demand.

For Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising, I recommend a framework built around five principles:

• Test systematically: Run controlled experiments rather than making several changes at once.
• Optimize for business outcomes: Prioritize qualified leads, sales, customer acquisition cost (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS), not click-through rate (CTR) alone.
• Review actual search intent: Use search term reports to identify irrelevant traffic and high-value queries.
• Maintain deliberate keyword exclusions: Build and govern negative keyword lists without accidentally blocking valuable demand.
• Document and repeat: Turn each test and search term review into a measurable, ongoing process.

These recommendations align with Google Ads' experiment guidance, ad variation tools, and search term reporting, alongside Microsoft's keyword and search query reporting guidance.developers.google.com+3

1. Ad copy testing: recommended operating standards

A. Start with one clear hypothesis

Each test should answer a specific question, such as whether a benefit-led headline beats a feature-led headline, or whether a price message outperforms a free-trial offer.

Example hypothesis: “Emphasizing time saved will increase qualified lead conversion rate among high-intent searches.”

B. Use a controlled comparison

Keep targeting, landing page, bidding, budget, and measurement consistent wherever possible. Change one major messaging variable at a time so you can interpret the result.

Use Google Ads experiments or ad variations when appropriate. Responsive search ads can test combinations of headlines and descriptions, but their asset-level performance indicators are not the same as a clean randomized A/B test.support.google.com+1

C. Define the success metric before launch

Choose a primary metric based on the campaign objective. Use CTR and conversion rate as diagnostic metrics, and CPA, qualified pipeline, revenue, or ROAS as business outcomes.

A higher CTR is not a win if the additional clicks fail to convert or bring in lower-quality leads.

D. Allow sufficient time and volume

Google Ads' experiment reporting guidance recommends running experiments for at least four weeks, using a 50/50 split when appropriate, and allowing roughly one to two weeks for ramp-up in automated-bidding or new-feature tests. Its guidance identifies 95% confidence as a common statistical standard. These are useful starting points, not guarantees that every test will be conclusive.developers.google.com+1

E. Record the outcome and next action

Document the hypothesis, audience, variants, dates, primary KPI, conversion volume, result, and decision. Roll out a winner, retain the control if results are inconclusive, and queue the next test.

What to test first

A practical priority order for most search accounts

Use messaging that reflects the user's search intent and the actual landing page. Test the variables most likely to influence the buying decision before spending time on small wording changes.

2. Search term hygiene: recommended operating standards

Search term hygiene means regularly checking what people actually searched for, deciding whether each query is relevant and economically valuable, and translating those insights into keyword, negative keyword, ad copy, and landing page improvements.

Google's search term report surfaces actual search terms that meet reporting thresholds; Search terms insights also groups queries by intent, which can help identify broader themes.support.google.com+1

The four-way classification framework

Every meaningful search term should receive one of four dispositions.

1. Promote — high intent, strong performance

Queries generating profitable conversions or qualified leads. Add them as targeted keywords when doing so improves control, reporting, or ad relevance; align ad messaging with their intent.

Action: Expand and scale selectively

2. Investigate — relevant but unproven

Queries that fit the offering but lack sufficient conversion data, or show ambiguous intent. Consider search volume, spend, conversion lag, and business value before deciding.

Action: Monitor, segment, or test

3. Exclude — clearly irrelevant

Queries for products or services you do not offer, incompatible audiences, irrelevant research intent, or job seekers when recruiting is not the goal.

Action: Add carefully chosen negative keywords

4. Reorganize — relevant but poorly matched

Queries that belong in a different campaign, product category, geography, or funnel stage. Sometimes the real problem is the landing page or ad group structure, not the query itself.

Action: Improve segmentation and relevance

Negative keyword governance

This is where many accounts either waste money or overcorrect.

Important: Negative keywords do not behave exactly like positive keywords. In Google Ads, negative keywords generally do not automatically cover close variants, synonyms, or singular/plural versions in the same way positive matching can. Add relevant variants deliberately, and verify match-type behavior before deploying broad exclusions.support.google.com+2

For example, if you sell project management software, excluding free may block searches for “free project management software,” but it could also suppress relevant searches if you offer a free trial. Prefer exclusions that reflect what your business genuinely cannot serve.

3. How often should you review and optimize?

The cadence should depend on spend, query volume, campaign maturity, and the speed at which conversions are recorded. The following is a practical operating standard, rather than a universal platform requirement.

For high-spend or rapidly changing accounts, increase the frequency of monitoring. Avoid making routine changes just to create activity; every material change should have a reason and a measurable objective.

4. KPIs and thresholds to use

There is no universal industry benchmark for acceptable CTR, conversion rate, or CPA. Results vary considerably by industry, brand strength, search intent, competition, and conversion economics. Use your own baseline and business targets wherever possible.

Useful formulas

Conversion rate

\frac{\text{Conversions}}{\text{Clicks}}\times100

Cost per acquisition

\frac{\text{Ad spend}}{\text{Conversions}}

Return on ad spend

\frac{\text{Attributed conversion value}}{\text{Ad spend}}

Wasted spend rate (operational definition)

\frac{\text{Spend on classified irrelevant queries}}{\text{Total spend}}\times100

For lead generation, connect ad platform conversion tracking to CRM outcomes when possible. Otherwise, an ad copy test may appear to improve conversion rate while actually generating fewer sales-qualified leads.

5. A practical 30-day improvement plan

(Week 1)

Establish the baseline

• Validate conversion tracking, attribution, and primary goals.
• Export the last 30–90 days of search term and ad performance data, allowing for conversion lag.
• Identify top spend drivers, irrelevant queries, and underperforming messaging.
• Record current CPA, qualified conversion rate, ROAS, and wasted spend.

(Week 2)

Clean and prioritize

• Review search terms by spend, intent, and conversion quality.
• Apply justified negative keywords and check for conflicts.
• Promote proven queries where greater control is useful.
• Create one or two high-impact ad copy test hypotheses.

(Week 3)

Launch controlled tests

• Run tests with a clear control and treatment.
• Keep targeting and measurement consistent.
• Check tracking, delivery, and spend distribution.
• Avoid repeatedly changing the test before sufficient evidence accumulates.

(Week 4)

Measure and institutionalize

• Review query hygiene outcomes and early performance shifts.
• Continue underpowered tests rather than forcing a winner.
• Document decisions and assign owners for follow-up actions.
• Schedule the next test cycle and recurring account audit.

Note: Four weeks is a useful initial operating cycle, not a deadline for statistical certainty. Google recommends at least four weeks for experiments in its published guidance, and some tests need longer depending on conversion volume and delay.developers.google.com+1

6. Official resources to bookmark

Google Ads — About ad variations

Setting up and evaluating copy variations across campaigns.

Google Ads — Experiment reporting

Statistical comparisons, lift, confidence intervals, and experiment evaluation.

Google Ads — Negative keyword ideas

Finding exclusion opportunities through the search terms report.

Google Ads — Search terms insights

Discovering search intent themes and opportunities for creative and targeting improvements.

Microsoft Advertising — Report types

Search query performance, keyword performance, and negative keyword conflict reporting.

My recommendation

If your goal is to improve performance quickly, start with conversion tracking validation, high-spend irrelevant query cleanup, and one controlled test of your core value proposition. Those three activities address measurement, wasted budget, and the quality of traffic you attract.

To tailor this into a more specific industry-standard playbook, which platform are you primarily optimizing?

Your paid search setup

Choose what best describes your account.

Advertising platform

Google Ads

Microsoft Advertising

Both platforms

Primary objective

Lead generation

E-commerce / online sales

B2B pipeline / enterprise sales

App installs / subscriptions

Monthly conversion volume

Low — fewer than 30 conversions

Medium — 30–200 conversions

High — more than 200 conversions

[Build my tailored playbook]

• Ad Copy Testing involves systematically experimenting with different headlines, descriptions, and assets to discover what resonates best with your target audience and drives higher click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates.
• Search Term Hygiene involves actively monitoring, refining, and managing search queries to ensure your ads only trigger for relevant intent, reducing wasted spend and improving quality score.

Industry Best Practices for Ad Copy Testing

1. Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) : Feed Google's or Microsoft's machine learning the maximum number of unique, distinct headlines (up to 15) and descriptions (up to 4) rather than pinning too many assets, allowing the algorithm to dynamically assemble the best combination for each query.
2. Focus on Messaging Variety : Ensure your asset variations test distinct value propositions (e.g., price-focused vs. feature-focused vs. urgency-driven) rather than just minor word swaps or capitalization tweaks.
3. Statistical Significance : Let tests run until you reach a reliable sample size or confidence interval (often 2 to 4 weeks depending on volume) rather than cutting underperforming ads too early based on daily fluctuations.
4. Pin Strategically : Use asset pinning sparingly—only when compliance, legal, or specific brand positioning requires a mandatory headline/description to always appear in position 1, 2, or the descriptions.
5. Align with Landing Pages : Ensure the post-click experience matches the ad copy hook seamlessly; high-performing copy fails if the landing page message doesn't immediately validate the user's intent.

Industry Best Practices for Search Term Hygiene

1. Regular Search Term Auditing : Review search terms reports weekly or bi-weekly (depending on spend velocity) to identify irrelevant or low-intent queries triggering your broad or phrase match keywords.
2. Robust Negative Keyword Lists : Build and continuously expand account-, campaign-, and ad group-level negative keyword lists to block out irrelevant traffic, competitor variations (if unwanted), and informational queries when you have commercial/transactional intent.
3. Transition to Exact Match Scale : When a search term consistently converts and proves profitable, graduate it out of broad/phrase match structures into its own dedicated exact match keyword for better bid control and relevancy.
4. Leverage Keyword Match Types Wisely : Lean heavily on modern match types (Broad Match combined with smart bidding) while maintaining tight guardrails through rigorous negative keyword maintenance rather than over-restricting with legacy tight match-type fragmentation.
5. Monitor Zero-Conversion Spenders : Set automated alerts or regular reviews for search terms that accumulate clicks and cost without a single conversion over a rolling timeframe (e.g., last 30 or 90 days) to purge budget drains.

If you'd like, let me know:

• Your current account structure (e.g., SKAGs, broad match + smart bidding, consolidated themes)
• Your primary conversion goal (leads, e-commerce purchases, app installs)

I can give you a tailored checklist on how to prioritize these optimizations for your specific setup.

Paid search performance is increasingly a system problem rather than just an ad-copy problem: you want the account to learn which messages convert, while continuously removing irrelevant intent and feeding high-value search behavior back into campaigns.

1. Ad-copy testing: what strong programs do

A. Test messages, not cosmetic variations

The most useful tests isolate a meaningful hypothesis:

• Value proposition: “Save 20%” vs. “Cut processing time in half”
• CTA: “Get a Quote” vs. “Book a Demo”
• Proof: customer count, review/rating, certification, years in business
• Differentiator: “Same-day service” vs. “24/7 support”
• Audience/intent: messaging for “enterprise,” “small business,” “near me,” etc.
• Risk reduction: free consultation, no contract, money-back guarantee
• Price/promotion: explicit pricing vs. benefit-led messaging

Google specifically recommends using ad variations to test changes to creative messaging and prioritizing tests in campaigns that drive substantial volume or value.support.google.com

Best practice: write down the hypothesis before launching the test.
For example:

“Adding a specific turnaround-time benefit to the headline will increase qualified conversion rate because speed is a major purchase criterion.”

That makes the result actionable rather than simply “Ad B got a higher CTR.”

B. Optimize for conversions, not CTR alone

CTR is useful for diagnosing relevance, but it isn't the business outcome.

A useful hierarchy is:

Impression → Click → Qualified visit → Lead/sale → Revenue/profit

For example, an ad with a 9% CTR and poor lead quality can be worse than one with a 6% CTR that produces highly qualified customers.

For mature accounts, prioritize:

1. Conversion rate
2. Cost per qualified conversion / CPA
3. Revenue or ROAS
4. Lead quality / downstream value
5. CTR
6. Impression share and volume

Google itself cautions that RSA-level CTR and conversion-rate metrics don't tell the whole story because responsive ads participate in combinations and auctions dynamically; incremental impressions, clicks and conversions should also be considered.support.google.com

C. Give RSAs enough genuinely different assets

For Responsive Search Ads, don't create ten near-identical headlines.

Google currently recommends 8–10 headlines, with at least five meaningfully unique headlines, and recommends including important keywords in some headlines.support.google.com

A good asset portfolio might deliberately cover:

The important distinction is variation in ideas, not simply swapping words.

Google recommends at least two RSAs with Good/Excellent Ad Strength per ad group, while also emphasizing that Ad Strength is a diagnostic rather than the ultimate business KPI.support.google.com

D. Don't over-pin RSAs

Pinning can be useful when something genuinely must appear in a particular position—legal language, a required brand statement, etc.

Otherwise, excessive pinning reduces the combinations Google's system can test. Google explicitly recommends avoiding pins for general campaigns unless there's a specific reason.support.google.com

E. Replace weak assets systematically

Don't constantly rebuild entire ads.

Instead:

1. Keep strong assets.
2. Identify consistently weak assets.
3. Replace a small number of weak assets with new hypotheses.
4. Allow enough traffic/conversions to accumulate.
5. Repeat.

Google recommends retaining stronger headlines/descriptions while replacing lower-performing assets with new variants.support.google.com

This creates a continuous creative-learning loop rather than an endless “new ad vs. old ad” experiment.

2. Search-term hygiene: the operating discipline

The search-term report should be treated as a customer-intent intelligence source, not merely a negative-keyword dump.

Google describes the report as a way to identify both successful search phrases worth incorporating into your keyword strategy and irrelevant searches that should be excluded.support.google.com

A practical four-bucket framework

When reviewing search terms, classify them as:

1. Scale
Highly relevant searches producing good economics.

→ Consider adding them as intentional keywords/themes, improving corresponding ads and landing pages.

2. Keep / monitor
Relevant searches but insufficient data to make a decision.

→ Don't prematurely exclude them.

3. Improve
Relevant intent but poor performance.

→ Diagnose the problem: ad relevance, landing page, offer, bid, geography, device, or query intent.

4. Exclude
Clearly irrelevant or commercially undesirable intent.

→ Add appropriate negative keywords.

This is much safer than simply adding every expensive search term as a negative.

3. Build negative-keyword hygiene carefully

Common negative categories include:

• Jobs / careers
• Training / courses
• DIY / instructions
• Free
• Used / second-hand
• Wholesale, if you don't sell wholesale
• Competitor brands, depending on strategy
• Unrelated meanings of ambiguous terms
• Products/services you don't offer
• Geographic locations you don't serve

Google recommends account-level negative-keyword lists where appropriate, but also warns that excessive negatives can reduce reach.support.google.com

An important gotcha

Negative keywords don't behave exactly like positive keywords.

For example, negative keywords don't automatically capture close variants in the same way positive matching can. Google specifically notes that advertisers may need to add synonyms and singular/plural variations when appropriate.support.google.com

So don't assume:

negative = “training”

automatically means every possible training-related query is excluded.

Maintain negative lists intentionally and periodically audit them.

4. Don't overreact to low-volume search terms

A search term having one expensive click doesn't necessarily make it a bad term.

Look for patterns:

• repeated irrelevant intent
• meaningful spend without conversions
• poor economics after sufficient volume
• systematic mismatch between query and offering

Likewise, don't add every converting query as an exact-match keyword. Modern search systems can already match queries to relevant themes, and unnecessary keyword proliferation can make account management harder.

The better question is:

Does this search behavior reveal a distinct, valuable intent that deserves deliberate campaign/ad/landing-page treatment?

If yes, promote it. If not, simply learn from it.

5. Use search-term data to improve the ads themselves

This is one of the highest-value practices.

Suppose the report reveals that customers repeatedly search:

• “24 hour emergency plumber”
• “emergency plumber near me”
• “plumber open now”

That's not merely evidence for negative-keyword management. It's creative intelligence.

You might develop messaging around:

24/7 Emergency Plumbing
Fast Local Response
Call Now for Immediate Help

Google explicitly recommends using search-term insights to inform creative strategy, landing pages, and targeting.support.google.com

This creates a virtuous loop:

Search terms → intent themes → ad messaging → landing page → conversion data → better targeting

6. Use Search Terms Insights in addition to the traditional report

Google's newer Search Terms Insights groups searches into intent-based categories and subcategories, making it easier to identify broader demand themes instead of reviewing queries one by one.support.google.com+1

That's particularly useful for finding:

• emerging customer needs
• new product/service categories
• changing language customers use
• areas of untapped demand
• themes where ads and landing pages don't yet align

Use the traditional search-term report for specific exclusions and query-level actions, and Search Terms Insights for strategic pattern recognition.

7. Establish a recurring hygiene cadence

A sensible operating model:

Weekly

• Review highest-spend search terms
• Review new irrelevant queries
• Add obvious negatives
• Look for sudden changes in intent
• Check branded/non-branded traffic separately where relevant

Every 2–4 weeks

• Analyze converting search themes
• Identify queries worth promoting into keyword/ad/landing-page strategy
• Review asset performance
• Replace weak creative assets
• Check search-term → ad-message alignment

Monthly/quarterly

• Audit negative-keyword lists
• Remove obsolete exclusions where appropriate
• Look for keyword cannibalization
• Review campaign/ad-group thematic structure
• Identify new customer-intent themes
• Feed search insights into landing-page and merchandising strategy

8. The biggest mistake: optimizing each component independently

The best programs connect the pieces:

Search query
↓
Keyword / targeting
↓
Ad message
↓
Landing page
↓
Conversion
↓
Revenue / lead quality

If someone searches for “same day tax filing,” clicks an ad promising “Fast Tax Filing,” and lands on a generic tax-services page, the problem isn't necessarily the keyword or ad.

It's the message match across the funnel.

Google similarly recommends aligning ad copy with the keywords/search intent and using landing pages as part of the optimization process.support.google.com

A concise best-practice checklist

Ad testing

• Test one meaningful messaging hypothesis at a time.
• Favor conversion quality over CTR.
• Use genuinely differentiated RSA assets.
• Maintain multiple strong RSAs rather than endlessly duplicating ads.
• Avoid unnecessary pinning.
• Replace weak assets incrementally.
• Use search-term language to generate new creative hypotheses.

Search-term hygiene

• Review actual search behavior regularly.
• Separate irrelevant from merely underperforming.
• Add negatives based on intent patterns, not isolated anecdotes.
• Maintain shared/account-level negative lists where appropriate.
• Remember negative-match behavior differs from positive matching.
• Promote valuable recurring search themes into deliberate campaign strategy.
• Use Search Terms Insights for broader intent trends.

Measurement

• Judge tests primarily on qualified conversions, CPA/ROAS and revenue.
• Don't declare winners prematurely on tiny samples.
• Look at downstream lead quality where possible.
• Connect search-term learnings to ads, landing pages and offers.

The overarching principle: don't optimize for “more clicks”; optimize for more of the right searches and better conversion economics from those searches.

For current Google Ads guidance, the most useful starting points are Google's RSA best-practices guide, the Search Terms Report documentation, and Google's negative-keyword guidance.