How to Use Google Keyword Planner (Actionable Guide)

The count of times this article was shared on Twitter. Shows estimated monthly search traffic to this article according to Ahrefs data. The actual search dealings ( as reported in Google Analytics ) is normally 3-5 times bigger. Shows how many unlike websites are linking to this piece of content. As a general predominate, the more websites link to you, the higher you rank in Google. Do you want more traffic from Google ? You first need to do keyword inquiry to understand what people are actually searching for.

fortunately, Google has a spare keyword research creature that allows you to do barely that : Google Keyword Planner ( once the Google Keyword Tool ). Google Keyword Planner gets a bad rap, particularly since Google removed the ability to see exact monthly search volumes. now they merely show a obscure range . You can get these back, but you have to run an AdWords campaign. This costs money. But don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate let this put you off. Google Keyword Planner is an INSANELY powerful tool, and has some clear benefits. not least, the fact that it suggests keyword ideas that you can ’ triiodothyronine detect anywhere else. Trust me, I checked. hypertext transfer protocol : //www.youtube.com/watch ? v=y-abxi0Pclc The problem ? Most SEOs have no hint how to get the most from this joyride. In this post, I ’ ll show you how to get some serious SEO measure from Google Keyword Planner. Who knows ? There may evening be a pair hacks for reviving demand search volumes… for free. 😉 Let ’ s start with the basics . New to keyword research ? Check out ourBeginner’s guide to keyword research

How to Gain Access to Google Keyword Planner (for Free)

Google Keyword Planner is 100% free to use. You need not spend a penny on AdWords ads to gain access. You just need a Google account. Sidenote. Don’t have a Google account? Get one for free Don ’ triiodothyronine have a Google report ? Get one for rid here But here ’ s what sometimes happens when you try to access the tool : You ’ re asked to set up an AdWords campaign. Google is so aggressive with this, in fact, that it can look like there ’ s no way to access the tool without first pass over some cash. Well, I have thoroughly news : You CAN access the tool WITHOUT running an AdWords ad. You just have to jump through a few hoops. To start, go here. Click “ Go to Keyword Planner. ” Sidenote. You may then be asked to re-enter your password for verification. You may then be asked to re-enter your password for confirmation. nowadays here ’ s the significant separate : When you see the “ What ’ s your main ad goal ” screen, don ’ t choose any of the three options. Hit the small “ Experienced with Google Ads ? ” connection below alternatively . not SEEING THIS LINK ? here ’ second so far another quirk in Google Keyword Planner : Google merely displays this link in browser windows of a certain width . If you don ’ thymine see the liaison, try resizing your browser window to make it wider. vitamin a absurd as this is, it should then appear. On the future screen, hit the “ Create an history without a crusade ” link. ( It ’ south another minor one. ) Hit the “ Submit ” button on the next page. ( Don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate worry ; Google won ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate ask for credit card details. ) You should then see this shield : Hit the “ Explore your account ” link. adjacent, click the “ Tools ” yoke on the menu bar and hit “ Switch to expert mode. ” Follow the prompt to confirm the switch. ultimately, hit the “ Tools ” connect on the menu again, and you should see a link to the Keyword Planner . You immediately have access ! No indigence to enter billing information or run an AdWords ad. now let ’ s learn how to use it .

How to Use Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner gives you two options to get started, which are :

1. Find keywords: Get keyword ideas that can help you reach people interested in your product or service;
2. Get search volume and forecasts: See search volume and other historical metrics for your keywords, as well as forecasts for how they might perform in the future.

Both options take you to the Keyword Plan, but what you see will vary slightly depending on your choice. These are not two distinguish standalone tools. Let ’ s explore each starting point in more detail .

“Find keywords”

Do you want to discover raw keyword ideas ? Start here. As per Google ’ mho instructions, just “ Enter words, phrases, or a URL related to your business. ” Google will then kick back some keyword suggestions. here are the suggestions for “ SEO ” : There are 1,106 keyword ideas in total. For each suggestion, you ’ ll see :

• Avg. monthly searches;
• Competition;
• Top of page bid (low range);
• Top of page bid (high range)

But you ’ re not limited to single words ; phrases besides work. And you can enter up to ten seed keywords/phrases at a prison term . There ’ s besides the option to use a URL or web site as the sow . here ’ s another flim-flam : you can enter up to ten seed keywords and a URL at the lapp time . But whatever you do, Google will never show more than a few thousand keyword suggestions. evening when I entered a utmost of ten seed keywords and a URL, I calm merely got 4,715 suggestions . This is pretty poor people when compared to other keyword research tools. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, for example, kicks back 484,282 suggestions based on those same three sow keywords… … that ’ second more than 102x what Keyword Planner gives us .

“Get search volume and forecasts”

Do you already have a list of keywords that you wish to see metrics for ? Start hera. just paste them in, hit “ Get started, ” and it ’ ll take you to the Forecasts section . There are no keyword suggestions here. It shows how many clicks and impressions you can expect should you decide to run ads for your choose keywords on Google AdWords over the adjacent 30 days. You ’ ll besides see calculate costs, CTR, and CPC. Most of this datum is intelligibly aimed at AdWords advertisers. But hera ’ s a quick trick : Go to the “ Historical Metrics ” check and you will see 12-month average research volumes for your keywords. These are the same ranges you see when starting with the “ Find new keywords ” option . not seeing the value in such ranges ? Keep reading. You never know, I might have a trick up my sleeve for unlocking claim search volumes. 😉

7 Google Keyword Planner Hacks (That Most SEOs Don’t Know)

here ’ s what happened when I asked my Facebook friends for their lead Google Keyword Planner hacks/tips : so I digged cryptic to try to understand why this was the case . Fair point. But Google Keyword Planner has much more to offer than search volumes. here are 7 hacks to help you get the most out of it, starting with the one you were all waiting for…

1. Unlock EXACT search volumes

Google ’ s reluctance to show accurate search volumes is one of the most frustrating things about Keyword Planner. It ’ s why many SEOs no retentive use the tool at all. For exemplar, look at these two keywords—both have a research book rate of 10K-100K : But if we check these two keywords in Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, we see that in reality one of these keywords gets a set more searches than the early . so here are two ways you can use to get some exact numbers… for dislodge .

Method #1: Look at the estimated impressions for max. CPC

Begin by adding some keywords to your design. You can do this by manually entering a list of keywords into the “ Get search volumes and metrics ” tool. alternatively, check some keywords in the Keyword ideas see and add them to your design like that. Just make surely to select the “ demand match ” option when prompted . Go to the Keywords see. You should see a box at the top that looks something like this : Hit the drop-down and make certain the soap. CPC is set ampere high as possible. You can do this by clicking on the right-hand english of the graph, like sol : now pay attention to the “ Impressions ” column. This tells you the estimated number of impressions your ad would get over the run of the following month if you were to run it for those specific keywords . Because you set the soap CPC so high, these impressions should be pretty stopping point to the actual monthly search volume for that keyword. Let ’ s use Ahrefs Keywords Explorer to see check close these numbers are . not excessively far off at all. 😉 IMPORTANT : This is a very boisterous direction of gauging search volumes. It is by no means definitive .

Method #2. Install Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere is a free Chrome extension that adds search volume and CPC to the websites you already use : Google, YouTube, Amazon, etc. hera it is in action : But here ’ s something a draw of people don ’ t know : it besides brings search volumes to Google Keyword Planner. Don ’ metric ton believe me ? Take a look : Cool, correct ? The issue is that there ’ s no easily way to export this data. But with a bite of XPath code and the Scraper Chrome extension, it is possible . Whichever “ hack ” you use, I recommend taking the numbers with a top of salt. To learn why, check out the two articles by Tim [ Soulo ] in the far learn section below .

2. See keyword ideas for more than ten terms at ONCE

here ’ s what happens if you try to add more than ten sow keywords in Google Keyword Planner :

“ No stairway, denied. ” But there is a way to get round off this. Just do them one at a time. then add them to your plan by hitting the checkbox at the top of the tilt, choosing the choice to “ select all XXX ” and hitting “ add to plan. Do you want keyword ideas for upto 10,000 seed keywords ? Try Ahrefs Keywords Explorer. 😉 Let ’ s do that for the 743 suggestions based off the keyword ” SEO. ” And then duplicate for suggestions based on ten other keywords ( then eleven semen keywords in total ). now, if we go to the Historical Metrics pill under Keywords, we see ALL of the keywords we equitable added. And best of all, the list has been de-duped automatically, so there are no recur keywords . By default, they ’ ra shown in alphabetic order. But you can ordering by search volume, rival, whatever you like .

3. Steal keyword ideas from your competitors

Google Keyword Planner can generate keyword suggestions from a URL. Do you see where I ’ megabyte going with this ? You can spy on your competitors and steal their keywords. Just grab one of their URLs, spread it in, and choice “ Entire site ” from the drop-down . 2,274 keyword suggestions. If you see a lot of keywords related to the competing brand, as we do here, use the percolate to exclude them. Filter > keyword textbook > brand name Rinse and duplicate for multiple competitors for a ceaseless pour of fresh keyword ideas. PRO TIP Looking to find keyword ideas for a detail foliate or blog position ? Select “ This page merely ” rather. Let ’ s do that for a competing guide to Google Keyword Planner. ( I know, how meta ! ) 652 results. Some nice ideas in there besides. I think I ’ ll sprinkle a few of those throughout this guide—see if you can spot them 😉

4. Find the questions people are asking

Knowing what questions your audience are asking can be super-useful for coming up with content ideas. This is credibly why free keyword research tools like Answer The Public are so popular. But you don ’ t need to use a branch tool for this. With a short hack, you can do this in Keyword Planner. Filter > Keyword textbook > contains > enter one of the following : who, what, why, when, where, how. Repeat the action for the other five suppositions. It should look like this when you ’ re done : leave : 211 questions-type suggestions. There are some great subject ideas in hera, such as :

• what is link building;
• what is search engine optimization;
• what is the best seo tool;
• etc.

Want more question-type queries ? How about 28,848 ? That ’ s how many question-type queries Ahrefs Keywords Explorer finds for the semen keyword “ SEO. ” You may notice that these all have exact search volumes excessively. 😉 Rinse and repeat this march with different semen keywords to build up a BIG list of question-based queries. barely add the trickle results to your plan each time. You can even create an ad group specifically for these terms . This makes it easier to filter for these terms in Excel / Google Sheets if you export your plan .

5. Find lucrative keywords by looking at suggested bid

Keyword suggestions are all well and good, but how do you know which are valuable to your commercial enterprise ? You could sift through them all manually but this is no fun, particularly if you have hundreds or thousands of keyword ideas. My recommendation ? Use the “ Top of page bid ( high range ) ” column. hera ’ randomness Google ’ s definition of what this is :

“ Top of page command ( high range ) ” shows the higher range of what advertisers have historically paid for a keyword ’ s clear of page bid, based on your localization and Search Network settings. The average CPC of your keywords may vary .

I know what you ’ ra think :

Josh, that sounds like it ’ mho for AdWords… how is that useful for SEO ?

childlike. If people are willing to bid a distribute for this keyword, it must be converting to sales. And if it ’ s converting cold Google traffic to sales or leads, it ’ sulfur probably worth pursuing and trying to rank for. To sort by this column, fair click the column header. Make certain it ’ s sorted gamey to low as that way, the most lucrative keywords will rise to the clear . Nine times out of 10, this will immediately unveil the keywords with commercial intent. professional tip Are you thinking of targeting one of these keywords ? Always remember to check what businesses advertising are hera before doing so. You can do this by Googling the term and looking at the ads . Are they selling the same products or services as you ? then it ’ s probably a good keyword to target. Oh, and here ’ s a bonus tiptoe : sort this column in ascending order to find informational search terms. These are often great topics for web log posts .

6. See keyword volumes for local areas… right down to the CITY level

Most keyword research tools are incapable of telling you how many people search for a term in specific states, cities and other localize areas. They precisely show search volumes for the integral nation. such volumes are reasonably useless when it comes to local anesthetic SEO. Let ’ s say that you ’ re a plumber. Using the impressions → search volumes hack ( # 1 ), we can see that the terminus “ plumber ” will receive an estimated ~286K impressions over the next 30 days . But plumbers don ’ triiodothyronine serve the integral nation. That would be impossible. The aplomb thing about Google Keyword Planner is that you can actually see the calculate impressions for much more localize areas. even for specific cities. precisely start typing a location into the placement filter at the top. Let ’ s try it for Los Angeles ( city ) . now we see that “ plumber ” has merely ~12K monthly impressions. Pretty neat, right ? This international relations and security network ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate just utilitarian for local businesses though. You can besides use it to understand the most popular locations from which a term is searched. just add a keyword ( or many ) to your plan—I ’ ll go for “ hendersons relish. ” now go to the Plan Overview, choose “ All locations ” in the locations filter, and scroll down to the Locations box. You will see a tilt of the top countries from which the keyword gets searched . Sidenote. Make sure to clear the city-specific location filter first. Make certain to clear the city-specific location percolate first. You can see that for “ hendersons relish, ” 94.5 % of all impressions comes from the United Kingdom. barely storm, as it ’ s a british condiment. But you can go even deeper. Knowing that most searches come from the UK, we can set UK as the location in the localization filter. now the Locations box will show more localized areas . 93.1 % of all searches are in England. Let ’ s use the drop-down and narrow this down further… to counties . 17.1 % in South Yorkshire, but besides 8.7 % in London—seems it ’ s popular amongst Londoners besides ( for some rationality ). now let ’ s look at cities . 8 % in Sheffield. Again, barely surprising—that ’ s where it ’ second made. 🙂 pro tap You can besides use this feature to help figure out WHO you should create message for. For exemplar, 3.9 % of all searches for “ luxury car lease ” issue forth from the city of Los Angeles . If you ran a luxury car rent company, it might pay to create contented that would appeal to folk from Los Angeles… even if it wasn ’ t wholly car-related. This would be a bang-up manner to get on the radar of potential customers. good mind ? The folk at Rentalcars.com seem to think so . Note. I have no affiliation with rentalcars.com. It ’ sulfur just an model. Recommended reading: Local SEO : A Simple ( But Complete ) Guide

7. See which devices people are using (and which you should be optimizing for)

People use many types of device to browse the world wide web these days, namely smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Each of these have very different screen door sizes, which means it ’ s difficult to absolutely optimize your site for all of them. To illustrate, here ’ s how a section of rid keyword research tools position looks on desktop… …and on mobile : While the text is wholly clear, some of the numbers on the screenshot are reasonably difficult to read on a small sieve size. This doesn ’ t make for the best user-experience. But here ’ s the thing : I know that most of the people who read this steer do thus on desktop. How ? I checked in Google Keyword Planner. To do this, add a keyword to your plan and go to the Plan Overview. Look at the Devices section, namely the Impressions cake. Rollover this and it will tell you what percentage of impressions come from each device class . You can see that for the keyword “ absolve keyword research tools, ” 92 % of impressions come from computers—devices with large screens. So it makes sum sense to prioritise the background user-experience above all else. For some keywords, it will be the other way round. Take “ best restaurants near me ” for example . 91.4 % of all impressions come from mobile devices. This makes common sense. People Googling this are most likely good looking for a effective restaurant for lunch/dinner while out and about .

Final Thoughts

Google Keyword Planner is clearly a powerful tool. I recommend incorporating it into your keyword research work flow. It ’ south packed with super-valuable insights that you can ’ triiodothyronine get from any other keyword research tools. But it does have its limitations, the lack of accurate research volumes being a BIG one.

fortunately, this can be solved with early keyword research tools, such as Ahrefs Keywords Explorer. such tools combine data from Google Keyword Planner with clickstream data to generate accurate search volume estimations, and more . Take Ahrefs Keywords Explorer for a spin for 7 days here. Or check out our full moon guide to doing keyword research here.