6 Steps to Get AI to Recommend Your Brand

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AI Keyword Ideas in Seconds

Instant keyword ideas built for today’s search.

Google Keyword Planner is a keyword research tool used by advertisers based on Google-suggested phrase terms as the primary foundation. It helps one discover relevant keywords for search campaigns to ensure ads get to the right audience. Importantly, the tool provides estimates for search volumes and costs to target the respective terms.

This is the ultimate guide to using Google Keyword Planner.

In fact, I’ve used the Google Keyword Planner (formerly known as Google Keyword Tool) to help grow my site’s organic traffic to 487K visits per month:

And in this guide, I’ll show you how to get the most SEO value out of this awesome tool.

Step #1: Access Google Keyword Planner

Is Google Keyword Planner free? Yes, it is.

But there’s a catch:

In order to use the Google Keyword Planner, you NEED to have a Google Ads account.

If you don’t have a Google Ads account already, you can set one up in a few minutes.

(Just follow the prompts, enter some information about you and your business, and you’re in.)

Note: You don’t have to run an active campaign to use the Keyword Planner. But you do need to at least set up a Google Ads campaign.

Next, log in to your Google Ads account. Click on the “Tools” menu item to the left of your screen and choose “Keyword Planner”:

You’ll see two different tools within Keyword Planner: “Discover New Keywords” and “Get search volume and forecasts.”

When it comes to [SEO-focused keyword research](/content/tools/keyword "Keyword Research"/index.html), these tools are enough to generate thousands of potential keywords.

Step #2: Choose Your Tool

There are two main tools inside of the GKP.

1. Discover New Keywords

Like the name suggests, this tool is ideal for finding new keywords.

As you can see, the field above this tool says: “Enter products or services closely related to your business.”

Quick Note: The value you get from the Keyword Planner is largely based on the information that you enter here. So you want to be VERY strategic about what you enter into this field.

So to help you get the most out of this tool, I’ll break down each of the two main options.

“Start With Keywords”: These words and phrases describe your business (for example, “weight loss” or “coffee”). This allows you to access Google’s internal database of keywords for different industries.

Pro Tip: You can enter multiple keywords into this field. Just put a comma after each keyword and press enter. For example, if you run an eCommerce site that sells cookies, you’d want to enter terms like “gluten free desserts” and “low carb cookies” here.

“Start With a Website”: This is designed for Ads users. But you can sometimes find a few solid keywords here using your site’s homepage… or an article from your site.

Once you’ve entered your information, click “Get Results.”

Next, you’ll see the Keywords Results Page. I’ll show you how to use that part of the Keyword Planner later in the guide.

Step #3: Filter and Sort the Results

Now it’s time to filter the list of keywords down to a smaller list of terms that are best for you. Both the tools I just described will take you to the “Keywords Results Page,” which looks like this:

Targeting Options:

• Locations: This is the country (or countries) that you’re marketing to.
• Language: This is the language of the keywords you want to see information on.
• Search networks: This is whether or not you want to advertise only on Google… or Google and their “search partners.”
• Date range: Leaving this as the default “12 months” is usually fine.

Keyword Match Types

When working with keywords, it’s essential to understand keyword match types. Google Ads allows you to choose between Broad Match, Phrase Match, and Exact Match.

Adding Filters

This feature gives you a decent amount of filtering options. Here’s a breakdown of the options:

• Keyword Text: Show only keywords that contain a certain word or phrase.
• Exclude Keywords in My Account: Excludes keywords that you’re already bidding on in Ads.
• Exclude Adult Ideas: Self-explanatory.
• Avg. Monthly Searches: Helpful for filtering keywords based on search volume.
• Competition: Show only keywords with “Low,” “Medium,” or “High” competition in Ads.
• Top of Page Bid: Set a dollar amount to filter for commercial intent keywords.

Broaden Your Search

This new feature shows you keywords that are somewhat related to the terms you typed in.

Step #4: Analyze the Keyword Ideas Section

Let’s break down the terms in the “Keyword Ideas” section of the Keyword Planner:

• Keyword (by relevance): List of relevant keywords based on the keyword or URL you typed.
• Avg. monthly searches: A range of search volume for that keyword.
• Competition: Number of advertisers that are bidding on that keyword.
• Top of Page Bid: Evaluates a keyword’s monetization potential based on expected ad costs.

Step #5: Choose a Keyword

Now it’s time to find awesome keywords that you can optimize your site’s content around.

Consider three main criteria:

• Search Volume: Higher search volume can drive more traffic.
• Commercial Intent: Higher competition and suggested bid indicate potential buyer interest.
• Organic SEO Competition: Evaluate keyword competition in organic search results to assess ranking difficulty.

Bonus Step: The Keyword Planner Hack

This hack allows you to discover unique keywords. Instead of using your own URL, enter a competitor's URL in the “Discover New Keywords” area to uncover keywords they rank for that you may not see with standard searches.