Filters are a very basic, but incredibly useful feature available in Google. If you’ve been managing accounts for a while, there are likely certain subsets of data you want to look at on a regular basis. By creating and saving these filters, it will save you time managing your accounts.

Below are my most-used filters I recommend saving in your account. We’ll be looking at the new interface since set-up is a little different, but these filters can be used in both the new and old experience. You can also set these up in Bing Ads as well.

Filter 1: Spend, No Conversions

To set up this filter, you’ll want to add two rules: spend is greater than $0.00 and conversions are less than 1. There is no “=” option.

This is by far my most used filter. I save it across the campaign, ad group, and keyword level in all my accounts. Anything you are spending money on that isn’t generating conversions is wasting money. If I need to improve CPA or decrease overall spend, this is where I look first to pull back.

I also like to sort cost descending when I set this filter so I am looking at the largest spend, non-converting terms first.

Filter 2: Good CPA, Below Position 1

Whereas the first filter is used to determine what isn’t performing well, this filter is used to look for keywords that are cost-effective and worth spending more money on.

You’ll want to set up this filter by again setting a rule for cost per conversion is less than your target. You’ll also set up a filter for an average position greater than 1.9. Make sure not to just set it at 1, or else you’ll include keywords averaging in position 1.2 (unless that’s what you’re looking for).

If a keyword is converting and not in a top position, I’ll boost the bid to try and get more visibility and hopefully more conversions.

Filter 3: High CPA, Position 1

This is the opposite of the last filter. You’ll set a rule for cost per conversion being above goal and average position above 2.0.

Are there keywords in your account that are generating conversions, but at a higher than ideal cost? If these terms are in average position 1, it might be worth decreasing bids. I’ll sort my data table here descending by cost per conversion to focus my attention on the highest CPA keywords.

Filter 4: Low CTR, High Impressions

This is another one of my most-used filters. To determine what a low CTR is, you can use an average for your account. A good starting point though is less than 1%. I also like to use 100 as the minimum impression value.

If there is a keyword getting a lot of impressions, but not many clicks, that should send up a red flag that something needs to change. You may need to review the search term report or adjust ad copy. Or maybe the keyword itself isn’t very relevant for your account.

Filter 5: Low Quality Score, Over 100 Clicks

Quality Score should never be a KPI for your account, but it is a helpful tool to look at for potential areas of improvement.

I like to set a filter looking for keywords with a QS of 5 or lower and over 100 clicks. I set a click threshold because your keyword has to have traffic in order for optimizations to change your quality score.

I will never pause a keyword with a low Quality Score if it conversions and has a good CPA, but I will use it as a guideline to try and make improvements for the keyword, whether it’s writing new ads or making adjustments to landing pages.

These are my 5 must-have filters that I save in every account I work on.

What are some of your favorite filters? Let us know in the comments below!