Search Term Report — What It Is and Why It Matters

Search Term Report is a simple but powerful listing of the real words and phrases people used when they found your ads, listings, or internal site search results. Unlike keyword lists or campaign targets, a Search Term Report shows what users actually typed — the raw expressions of intent that reveal demand, language patterns, and opportunities to improve targeting, content, and inventory decisions.

Beginner-friendly platforms that provide Search Term Report functionality include Google Ads (for paid search), Amazon Seller/Campaign Manager (for product listings and Sponsored Ads), Bing Ads, and many e-commerce site search tools. Each report typically includes the search query itself plus related metrics such as impressions, clicks, cost, click-through rate, conversions, and conversion value.

Key elements you can expect in a Search Term Report:

• Search query — the exact words typed by the user.
• Match type (where applicable) — whether that query matched via broad, phrase, exact, or other match settings.
• Performance metrics — impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, cost, conversions, conversion rate, and conversion value.
• Time period — when the queries occurred, which matters for seasonality analysis.
• Device and location (when available) — to understand context and intent shifts by device or geography.

Why a Search Term Report matters:

• Unfiltered user language: It reveals how customers describe products or problems in their own words — often different from your internal product names.
• Keyword discovery: It uncovers high-performing queries you may not be targeting, which can be added as keywords or used for SEO content.
• Negative keyword identification: It helps find irrelevant queries that waste ad spend so you can exclude them.
• Content and landing page optimization: You can align phrasing and offers to match real queries, improving relevance and conversion rates.
• Product and inventory signals: Repeated searches for items you don’t stock indicate gaps to prioritize with purchasing or merchandising teams.

Example: an online shoe retailer sees repeated search queries like "wide running shoes women" and "best waterproof trail runners" in their Search Term Report. Those exact phrases tell the retailer to optimize product titles and landing pages for "wide" and "waterproof trail" features, create targeted ad copy, and verify inventory of items that match those intents.

Where to find a Search Term Report (basic steps):

1. Open your advertising platform (e.g., Google Ads).
2. Navigate to the Keywords or Search Terms section (wording varies by platform).
3. Select the time range and filters you need (device, campaign, etc.).
4. Download or export the report for deeper analysis if desired.

Practical considerations for beginners:

• Start broad, then refine: Review a month of data to collect meaningful examples, then zoom into recent weeks for tactical actions.
• Look beyond top-performing queries: Low-volume or long-tail queries often reveal untapped demand and cheaper conversions.
• Protect privacy: Platforms mask or exclude queries with extremely low volume; don’t expect full coverage for very specific or rare phrases.
• Match type awareness: Remember that a query appearing in the report might have matched your campaign via broad match — not because you targeted the exact phrase.

Limitations and cautions:

• Search term data can be incomplete due to privacy filters or sample reporting.
• Single-day or single-query spikes can be misleading — use consistent time windows and cross-check conversion data.
• The report tells you what users searched but not necessarily why — combine it with landing page analytics and user behavior data for deeper insights.

In short, a Search Term Report transforms anonymous impressions into understandable customer language. For beginners, it’s the most direct way to listen to customers, reduce wasted spend, and align product and marketing messages with real-world demand.

Next steps for a beginner: pull your first Search Term Report, highlight three unexpected but relevant queries, and test one change — add a new keyword, create a negative keyword, or tailor a product title — then measure the result over the next 30 days.