It can be difficult to understand Google Keyword Planner at first. Keyword Planner was previously called the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. Our goal is to show you how to utilize the Google Ads Keyword Planner. We want you to be able to open up your account and use their keyword research tool without any issues whatsoever. It is the best way to do Google Ads Keyword Research as well.
Browse This Article:
- What is the Google Keyword Planner?
- Google Keyword Planner Video Tutorial
- How Do I See All The Search Volume Data?
- How to Use Keyword Planner
- 5 Keyword Planner Strategies
- How to do Keyword Research
What is Google Keyword Planner?
Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool that is available in your Google Ads account. You can do extensive keyword research for your Google Ads campaigns or for search engine optimization purposes. You can use the Keyword Planner to find the search terms that people type into Google, find search volume for your keywords, research how much advertisers are bidding on each keyword, forecast campaigns, and build Google Ads campaigns.
Google Keyword Planner Video Tutorial
If you watch the video below and read our guide, you should be able to start doing research for your PPC campaigns and keyword research for SEO. You can also watch the video on YouTube. The video below has been updated for 2023.
See All Search Volume Data in Google Keyword Planner
When you create your Google Ads account, you need an active campaign to see search volume data. You may see ranges of data when it comes to search volume. For example, a keyword may get 720 Average Monthly Searches, but you can only see that it gets 100-1,000 Average Monthly Searches. Create an active campaign to unlock all of the data in the Keyword Planner.
How to Use Google Keyword Planner
- Create a Google Ads account if you do not have one yet.
- Sign in to your Google Ads account.
- Click on the ‘Tools & Settings’ link at the top of your account. There is a wrench icon next to the link.
- Under the ‘Planning’ portion, click on the ‘Keyword Planner’ link.
- Click on ‘Discover new keywords’ to start using the Keyword Planner.
- You can choose to ‘Start With Keywords’ or ‘Start With a Website’ when you discover new keywords.
- Create a campaign to unlock all of the data available, including the keywords you are targeting and search volume.
If you already have a Google Ads account, you can click here to access the Keyword Planner directly.
- Discover New Keywords or Get Search Volume and Forecasts
- Enter Keywords to Find Related Search Terms
- Update Locations and Languages
- Grouped Keywords in Keyword Planner
- Enter a Website for Keywords Relevant to Any Website
- Create a Keyword Plan and Access Plans
You have three options when you open the Keyword Planner, you can discover new keywords, get search volume and forecasts, and organize keywords into ad groups. You can utilize the planner for keyword research, ad group organization, and for campaign forecasting.
If you click on ‘Discover new keywords,’ you can get started with the Google Keyword Planner.
First, you can enter up to 10 keywords and you will see plenty of relevant keyword ideas. You can also enter 1 keyword and find the most similar keywords, which can be helpful when building Ad Groups. By searching when entering keywords, you will find thousands of new keywords that can be relevant for expanding your content keywords.
You can rank keywords by Avg monthly searches, by Keyword Relevancy, by Competition, by Ad impression share, and by the ranges of Top of page bids.
It’s very easy to choose the locations and languages when using the Keyword Planner. Then, you will only see search volume statistics for the locations and languages you select.
You can update the locations your business serves and the languages your customers speak. For example, if you only serve the Kansas City market, you can choose that as your location for your keyword plan.
In addition, you can choose the languages your customers speak. If your customers only speak French for example, then you can set that as the language targeting.
You can see sample Ad Groups by clicking on the ‘Grouped Ideas’ tab in the Google Keyword Planner. When you search using keywords, you can see groups of relevant keywords, which can also be used when created Ad Groups in your Google Ads campaigns.
I would recommend reviewing each keyword group of keywords because you will see unrelated ideas. I use Grouped Ideas when creating content as well.
You can enter a domain or enter an entire website. If you use the entire site, then the Keyword Planner will return the most relevant keywords for your website. However, if you use only a single page, it will scrape the top keywords off an individual page.
What I have found is the Keyword Planner will return more keywords when you enter your entire website, and the relevant keywords are generally keywords that your website ranks well for organically in Google.
The keywords listed above are actually all keywords that my website ranks for. Therefore, you can even use the tool to find the keywords you are ranking for the highest search volume.
One of the best features of the Google Keyword Planner tool is that you can create a plan, which is another way to say search campaign. With a plan, you can create Ad Groups, add search keywords, choose your keyword match types, and eventually create a campaign. In addition, you can use the ‘Plan overview’ link to see forecast data for the following month.
When you add keywords and create your Ad Groups and your plan, you can save it and access it later. You will see the Plans you have created and implemented when you access Keyword Planner.
5 Google Keyword Planner Strategies
We cover five different strategies to help you use the Google Ads Keyword Tool properly. Even if the interface changes, the best practices and the tips we listed below will help you find profitable keywords.
- Enter Competitor URLs
- Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
- Suggested Bids Show Value
- Organic Average Position
- Use Forecasts and Metrics
One of my favorite strategies is to take 5-10 different competitor URLs, enter them separately into the Google Ads Keyword Planner, and pull unique keywords that I would never consider. You would be surprised at the number of keywords your competitors are ranking for, and I challenge you to rank above them.
You would be surprised at the amount of long-tail keywords that you can rank for. Don’t avoid long-tail keywords that get a small number of searches every month, you can easily rank for them and drive additional traffic to your website.
If you see certain keywords with high suggested bids, top of page bids, and minimum bids, that usually represents the value that advertisers see in those keywords. For example, if I target a keyword like “PPC Advertising Agency”, I will likely have a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) above $10.00 for my campaign. If I ranked for that keyword, it would be highly valuable because I would drive more qualified leads for my business.
You can now connect your Google Search Console to Google Ads and see more about your average organic position for a given keyword. It can help you learn more about the keywords you are ranking for and areas of opportunity.
The Google Ads Keyword Planner will give you forecasts and metrics for the keywords you want to target. It will not be exact for your campaign, but it can give you some ideas for bids, keywords to target, keywords to avoid, and more.
Common Google Keyword Planner Questions
When you get started with Google Ads and the Keyword Planner, you may have some of the questions listed and answered below.
How Do I Create a Google Keyword Planner Account?
In order to access the tool, you will need a Google account and a Google Ads account. You can start with an existing Gmail account that you already use. Then, all you need to do is open Google Ads and create an account. From there, you can access the keyword planner tool directly from the Tools & Settings menu. There are some limitations for inactive ad accounts, but you can still find all the information you need.
Is Google Keyword Planner Free?
Yes, the Google keyword planner tool is completely free, all you need is a Google Ads account. You do not have to spend any money in your account to use the planner. It is built as a tool for advertisers to research keywords, create keyword lists, and build successful campaigns. Ultimately, Google wants you to spend money with their advertising platform, so the Keyword Planner is helpful for advertisers.
How Can I Download Keywords From Keyword Planner?
When you start searching keywords and finding new ideas, you can easily download the keyword suggestions. All you need to do is click the ‘Download Keyword Ideas’ link in the top right corner of the screen. It will give you the option to download keyword ideas as a .csv file or for Google Sheets.
Is Google Keyword Planner Data Accurate?
When it comes to search volume data, suggested bids, and competition, the information is pretty accurate in my experience. The bids tend to line up with what I see as an advertiser when I bid on keywords through Google Ads. When it comes to search volume data, it includes close variants to each keyword. Therefore, the number tends to be higher in the keyword planner tool compared to the exact searches for that keyword.
How to do Keyword Research
We have several keyword research video tutorials below that will show you how to do Google Ads Keyword Research and SEO Keyword Research for your business. You can access our complete YouTube playlist here.
Keyword Research Course
If you want to see the process that I use to perform keyword research for my websites and my clients, watch the video below. At the beginning stages of your Content Marketing strategy is finding the best possible keywords for your business. The main way that I drive more organic search traffic is by finding keywords and creating content for those keywords. You can find my complete guide to keyword research here.
Google Ads Keyword Research Tutorial
The two main PPC Advertising Networks you need to use the Keyword Tool for research are Google Ads and Bing Ads AKA Microsoft Advertising. Google Keyword Planner can give you great ideas for both networks because popular search keywords tend to be very similar on both channels. Since you can import Google Ads campaigns into your Microsoft Advertising account, I generally just refer to it as Google Ads Keyword Research. In addition, you can find our PPC keyword research tutorial here.
Keyword Planner can be used for any search engine marketing campaign or PPC Advertising campaign that targets keywords. Watch our video below to see how you can use Google Keyword Planner for Google Ads keyword research.
Search Engine Optimization Keyword Research Tutorial
Search Engine Optimization keyword research is very difficult for beginners. You need to use a variety of keyword tools, search engines, shopping engines, and more to find your top keywords. In addition, tools like Google Trends can be helpful for finding keywords as they trend.
YouTube Keyword Research Tutorial
If you have a YouTube channel, then finding keywords and the problems people have can be a great opportunity. YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, so it is vital to focus on YouTube keywords as well to grow your channel. Below, it is the exact method I use for finding profitable YouTube keywords that will drive views and subscribers. You can also find my video on YouTube that shows the best YouTube keyword research tools, which includes the Google Keyword Planner.
It’s important to remember that your YouTube videos can also make the first page of Google. Therefore, the Google search volume can be useful when you are targeting keywords with YouTube videos.
Niche Keyword Research Tutorial
If you are creating your own niche website, you need to find the best keywords for your niche. When you consistently target relevant short-tail and long-tail keywords with your content, your website will rank higher and you will drive more SEO clicks. However, you need to make sure you are focused on a specific topic and you need to cover it comprehensively. Our tutorial below will show you how to use Google Keyword Planner for niche keyword research.
More Keyword Research Tools
There’s nothing wrong with using other keyword research tools as well. We listed free keyword research tools in our video below that you can use in addition to the Google Keyword Planner. They are all free to use, but some have premium versions of their tool as well.
Conclusion
The best way to truly learn Google Keyword Planner is to dive in and test it yourself. It is my favorite keyword research tool and I love it for SEO and PPC. When I get a new client, one of the first tools I use is the Keyword Planner. You should absolutely master this tool if you work in Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Marketing. People are constantly typing in keywords – You need to target them properly to drive revenue.
If you have questions about Google Ads and specifically their Keyword Planner, please leave a comment below. We want to make sure you are confident when you use the Google Keyword Tool for your keyword research. There are a lot of options and things you can do with the tool so you can find the best keywords for your business.
