Want more visitors to your website? Imagine attracting more qualified visitors to your website, all for free! Google Keyword Planner can help! This free tool shows you what people are searching for online. Know these keywords to attract the target audience to your website and increase your success.
Google Keyword Planner is a tool provided by Google Ads that helps users perform keyword research for search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. It highlights various types of “keywords” or “search phrases and terms” related to your business.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Keyword Planner, step-by-step. By the end of this blog, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a keyword research pro, ready to attract more qualified traffic and achieve your digital marketing goals.
How to Use Google Keyword Planner
Step 1: Sign in to Google Ads:
First access the Google Keyword Planner. While it’s primarily designed for Google Ads (pay-per-click advertising), the tool offers invaluable insights for organic search engine optimization (SEO) as well. If you don’t have a Google Ads account, creating one is free and easy.
Step 2 : Access to Keyword Planner:
Once logged in, locate the “Tools” section in the top menu bar. Click on “Tools” and then select “Planning” from the dropdown menu. Finally, choose “Keyword Planner” to access the treasure trove of keyword data.
Step 3: Choose Your Tool Function:
Keyword Planner offers two primary functionalities: “Discover new keywords” and “Get search volume and forecasts.”
1. Discover New Keywords
This option is perfect for brainstorming and discovering relevant keywords related to your niche or industry.
You have two choices: Start with Keywords and Start with a Website.
For ‘Start with Keywords,’ simply enter seed keywords that describe your products or services, separated by commas. By this you can access Google’s internal database of keywords for different industries.
For ‘start with a website’, You can enter your website URL if you want Google to suggest keywords based on your site’s content. Add the URL filter to narrow down the keyword research to your website and remove keyword ideas that are not related directly to your services. This is very useful.
2. Get search volume and forecasts for your keywords
This function allows you to analyze existing keywords by providing insights into average monthly searches and competition level.
Step 4: Add keywords:
When entering seed keywords, keep them relevant to your offerings and target audience. Consider synonyms, long-tail keywords (more specific phrases), and questions people might ask related to your niche.
For Example, here you can see the seed keywords added for “best wordpress plugin” and related keywords to it.
Step 5: Analyze the Results:
Once you’ve completed your search, Keyword Planner will display a list of keywords along with valuable data points:
- Average monthly searches: This indicates the estimated number of times a particular keyword is searched for each month.
- Competition: This can be “low,” “medium,” or “high” and reflects the difficulty of ranking for that keyword in paid advertising (not directly relevant for SEO, but offers a general idea).
- Top of page bid (low range): This provides an estimate of the cost per click for advertising on that keyword (again, not directly applicable to SEO).
Step 6: Export Your Data:
Keyword planner allows you to export your data.
Why Use Google Keyword Planner?
- Find Search Intent: Keyword Planner helps you understand what people search for every day. Analyze search volumes and related keywords to identify the intent behind search queries, allowing you to create your content or ads accordingly.
- Discover New Keyword Ideas: This tool will generate a wealth of keyword suggestions based on the seed keyword. With this, you can brainstorm new content ideas and identify the best keywords which are searched by your target audience.
- Estimate Search Volume: Keyword Planner will provide insights on the average monthly searches for specific keywords. This will make you prioritize your efforts and focus on keywords with a decent search volume to attract organic traffic (SEO) or potential customers (PPC).
- Competition Level: The competition level indicator (low, medium, high) in Keyword Planner gives you a general idea of how challenging it is to rank for specific keywords organically. This will help you to make strategic decisions for keyword targeting.
Its Benefits for SEO:
- Inform Content Strategy: Keyword research to identify the topics and questions your target audience is searching for online. Know their needs and interests, to create content that directly addresses these areas, ultimately improving your website’s relevance and increasing user engagement.
- Discover Long-Tail Keywords: Keyword Planner is best at suggesting long-tail keywords, that is more specific phrases with lower competition. These can be highly valuable for targeting niche audiences and to attract qualified traffic.
Its Benefits for PPC Campaigns:
- Target the Right Audience: Understand your audience’s search terms and intent, and create targeted PPC campaigns to reach the right people at the right time. This helps maximize your ad budget and improve campaign performance.
- Estimate Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Cost-Per-Click (CPC): Keyword Planner will provide general estimates for click-through rate (CTR) and cost-per-click (CPC) for specific keywords. So you can set realistic budgets and optimize your bids for PPC campaigns.
- Identify Profitable Keywords: You can analyze search volume, competition, and estimated CPC to prioritize keywords that offer a good balance between reach and cost-efficiency. This helps you maximize the return on investment (ROI) for your PPC campaigns.
Overall, Google Keyword Planner is a valuable tool for both SEO and PPC campaigns. It empowers you to conduct thorough keyword research, identify relevant search terms, and make informed decisions that will drive traffic, engagement, and ultimately, success for your website.
Conclusion
Keyword research is the foundation of any successful digital marketing strategy. Using Google Keyword Planner, you can gain a deep understanding of your audience’s needs and improve your website content and advertising campaigns accordingly. This, in turn, will attract more qualified traffic, boost user engagement, and ultimately drive success for your website.
