Hey there, I'm Benjamin from Loves Data.
In this video, you're going to learn how to use the Keyword Planner in Google Ads.
The Keyword Planner lets you research keywords for your paid campaigns in Google Ads, but
it's also super useful for organic keyword research too.
The Keyword Planner lets you view statistics and trends for the keywords people are using
to search on Google.
It's the perfect tool for beginning your initial keyword research, and for expanding any existing
keywords you're already targeting.
This is my updated 2020 video, so we will cover the latest version of the Keyword Planner.
Okay, let's get started!
I’ve already logged into my Google Ads demo account, so to open the Keyword Planner, I’m
going to select ‘Tools and Settings’...
And then ‘Keyword Planner’ (under ‘Planning’) on the left...
Now before we begin using the Keyword Planner I do want to highlight that to use the full
version of the tool you will need to be using an active Google Ads account.
If you don’t have an active account, for example, if you haven’t been running any
ads for a while, or haven’t entered payment details for the account, then you will see
a limited amount of information in the tool.
Before we look at the keyword planner in detail, I want to show you a quick comparison.
In this account, I’m currently running ads, so we will see all of the available information
in the tool.
So I’ll select ‘Discover New Keywords’...
And enter a keyword.
I’m going to enter ‘fruit and vegetable delivery’...
And then we can click ‘Get Results’...
You will notice at the top of the Keyword Planner we can see the trend for the keywords
we’re researching...
And we can see that the ‘Average Monthly Searches’ provides a whole number.
For example, ‘fruit and vegetable delivery’ has an average monthly search volume of 880,
and ‘online vegetables’ has 210, and so on...
Now let’s head to another account...
This account does not have any active ads and I haven’t entered any billing information,
so this will let us see the limited version of the Keyword Planner.
Let’s select ‘Discover New Keywords’...
And enter the same keyword again...
I’m going to enter ‘fruit and vegetable delivery’...
And again, I’m going to click ‘Get Results’...
We can now see that there is no trend at the top of the Keyword Planner...
And that the ‘Average Monthly Searches’ is now reported as a very generic range.
We can see that ‘fruit and vegetable delivery’ now says ‘one thousand to ten thousand’,
and ‘online vegetables’ says ‘one hundred to one thousand’.
So in order to use the full version of the Keyword Planner, you will need to enter your
billing details and have an active campaign.
If you don’t have access to an account that meets these criteria, then you might want
to consider creating an account where you spend one dollar a day.
This is what I’m using for my demo account.
Okay, now let’s head back to my Google Ads demo account...
And let’s reload the Keyword Planner...
We can see the ‘Discover New Keywords’ option on the left, but we can also use an
existing list of keywords to view historical search volume and forecasts.
Let’s select the ‘Discover New Keywords’ option again...
We can enter up to ten initial keywords to begin our search, we can enter the URL for
a page on our website, or both.
Now we can click ‘Get Results’.
At the top of the Keyword Planner, we can now adjust the targeting.
For example, if we want to research keywords for a particular geographic location we can
change the targeting...
We can add additional locations...
And remove locations...
When you’re happy, just click ‘Save’ and the Keyword Planner will update...
Moving down we can then see the overall trend for the suggested keywords.
You can change the date range for the trend at the top of the Keyword Planner...
There are also options to change the chart from a timeline to view a breakdown of the
different devices and locations.
We just need to click ‘Charts’...
We can select ‘Breakdown by platforms’ to understand the different devices people
are using...
And we can select ‘Breakdown by locations’ to see top-level details about the locations
of people as they’re searching...
We can then see the suggested keywords, along with their average monthly search volume.
The competition column will give you an indication of how competitive each keyword is.
The more advertisers competing for visibility, the higher the competition.
You’ll see this shown as ‘High’, ‘Medium’ or ‘Low’.
Then there is the ‘Competition Indexed Value’ column which tells you how competitive each
keyword is based on the location targeting and search network selections you’ve made
at the top of the Keyword Planner.
Each keyword is given a score between zero and one hundred.
The higher the number, the higher the competition.
This metric is calculated by dividing the number of ad spaces (or slots) that have been
filled by advertisers, by the number of available spaces.
We can then see suggested bid amounts to display in the top positions for each keywords.
We’re given two metrics for this...
We have a low range and a high range estimate.
This gives us an idea of the types of bids we’d need in order for our ads to be above
the organic results.
Next, we can see the ‘Ad Impression Share’ column.
This tells you the coverage you’re currently achieving for any keywords that are already
in your account.
In this example, the column is blank, which tells us we’re not currently displaying
any ads for these keywords.
The ‘Account Status’ column will tell you if the keyword is already contained in
one of your ad groups.
Keywords that you already have in an ad group will have the ‘In Account’ label.
And if you’ve linked Google Ads to Google Search Console you’ll also see metrics for
any keywords where your website is shown in the organic search results.
Now you might not see all of the different columns when using the Keyword Planner in
your own account.
If this is the case, then just ‘Columns’...
And then ‘Modify Columns’...
You will then be able to select all of the available columns and add them to the Keyword
Planner.
When you’re happy, click ‘Apply’...
On the right-hand side of the Keyword Planner you will see ‘Refine Keywords’.
It’s designed to help you narrow the focus of your keyword research.
It provides automatic groupings of keywords based on the keywords you’re researching.
To learn more about using the ‘Refine Keywords’ feature, check out the extra resources below
this video.
When researching keywords, look for keywords that are closely related to your products,
services or offering.
Then you’ll need to balance the potential search volume, competition and estimated bid
amounts to decide if the keywords is suitable for your campaigns.
When you’ve identified a keyword (or keywords) that you would like to use, you can either
add them to your ‘plan’ or you can add them to an existing campaign and ad group
in your account.
A ‘plan’ is simply a way to begin saving and sorting keywords to use later.
We can select one or more keywords...
And then choose between ‘Plan’ or ‘Existing Campaign’...
We can then choose the campaign...
The ad group...
Or create a new ad group...
And choose the keyword match type...
To learn more about keyword match types, check out the extra resources in the description
below this video.
When you’re happy just click ‘Add Keywords’ to either save the keywords to your ‘plan’
or add them to an existing ad group in your account.
That’s it!
So that's how you can use the Keyword Planner in Google Ads.
Once you have a list of keywords you would like to target, you will need to structure
your keywords into ad groups.
Each of your ad groups should contain highly related terms.
Ideally, you should aim for no more than five to ten keywords in each of your ad groups.
Once you've created your structure, it's then time to write ads for each of your ad groups.
And although we've focused on using the Keyword Planner for our paid ads, you can also use
the tool to research keywords for organic optimization.
After you've selected a keyword, you will need to write targeted content for your website.
Are you using the Keyword Planner?
Do you have any tips you'd like to share?
I'd love to know!
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you found this video helpful please subscribe, share it with your friends, and
hit the like button so I know to make more videos like this.
See you next time!