Google Keyword Planner: Choosing the Right Keywords For SEO
Google Keyword Planner can be used to plan SEO and content marketing campaigns.
This is the beginning and end of keyword research.
Keyword Planner replaced the old Keyword Tool in 2013. SEOs are known for pointing out the flaws of outdated Keyword Tools.
Although there are some valid criticisms, they hide useful functionality that is better than Keyword Tool.
Before we discuss the ways Keyword Planner can be improved, it is important to remember two principles.
1. The Keyword Planner is not intended for SEOs or Content Marketers.
2. The Keyword Planner is not an advisory tool. You have to guide the computer and get the information you need based on your goals.
These are just a few ways that the Keyword Planner can help you.
Use Keyword Planner more effectively
1. To find topics and themes, please use the suggested ad groups
Google Search is focusing beyond exact matches to search terms and instead on topics.
No matter what keyword or topic you’re looking for, it’s more art than science to identify the topics and keywords that should be covered.
Google Keyword Planner groups keywords into suggested Ad Groups. Google believes that you can use the same landing pages for all keywords within a group to advertise and will have a higher Quality Score…which closely correlates to relevancy signals in Organic Search.
Keyword Planner will also suggest Ad Groups that can help you decide which keywords should be combined into particular topics.
These suggested ad groups can be a great place for starting when you are trying to map out which topics you want to target on any page.
2. Sort By Competition to Determine Priority and Content-Type
The suggested bid and competition columns only apply to paid search ads and not organic search. You can still gain key insights by sorting by Suggested or Competition.
This tells you if a keyword or suggested ad group is making money.
Data can be used to prioritize your efforts if you are looking to directly impact your client’s bottom line or your own.
It is possible to determine the location of a keyword in your marketing funnel. People who only research keywords will get less.
A term that has low competition or suggested bids is likely to be a market term. You will need to concentrate on a research angle and not a selling angle.
The prime category or product page term might include “denim”. Both terms are low in ad competition, which means advertisers don’t get direct sales.
As you can see, the screenshots show that related search terms are the research terms you should target when creating a How To Buy page or Guide To page.
3. You can use keyword themes to discover new keywords that are related to your products/services
Two scenarios are possible. While you’ll be headed in the right direction, it is not always necessary. You will be going in the right direction.
The Google Keyword Planner works the same way.
The majority of beginner’s guides will tell you to enter a keyword in Get Ideas. What happens if you input “mittens”?
The Keyword Planner isn’t able to give me a clear idea of what I want. Choose a related topic of a near-synonym keyword such as “mittens”, hand mittens, winter gloves, or hand mittens.
4. To get better keywords from landing pages use URLs with high rankings.
Dan Shure was the first to share this method. Google Keyword Planner can help you find new keyword ideas using landing pages.
Your goal is not to find keywords that will be used on your landing page. You want to target better keywords with a revised landing page.
Create high-ranking landing pages keyword-rich, and then drop them into this field.
There are many sources that you can use to create these pages. You can also use trade journals and Amazon pages, as well as any other pages that are already doing well.
Let’s suppose, for instance, that you still sell cold-weather gear.
Multiple URLs can be taken and tested. This will enable you to find ideas you like and eliminate the ones you don’t.
5. To search for new keywords, you can use the suggested keyword feature
Google provides a large selection of keywords. These suggestions are great!
This function covers a large area. Before you start narrowing down your search, this function is a great place for starting to look for initial seed keywords.
You can search the vast list of all Google product and service categories for more information.
6. Combining keywords, landing pages, and suggested keywords to find keyword angles
You have three options when searching for keyword ideas. These three options can be combined.
Combining these will allow Keyword Planner to discover new keywords that it has missed.
It favors keywords that are relevant to advertisers and not content marketers or SEOs.
7. To locate content, use the Location Feature
This default chart shows keyword trends by the country for keywords that you search.
You can search for keywords in different geographic areas using the dropdown. This will enable you to target campaigns and tailor your content.
8. You can use the Location Filter to filter based on your Personas
The location filter was introduced with Keyword Planner. This filter can be used for general keyword research as well as local SEO research.
Use location filters to locate keywords that are not otherwise visible. Take your user personas and compare two American cities, Atlanta and Minneapolis.
*Older screenshot is available in the updated versions.
Although they are both major American cities, their demographics and cultures differ, as is evident in the keyword ideas.
Rock revival jeans are extremely popular in Minneapolis. Atlanta is home to more Palazzo pants.
You can search for more keywords by searching for national retailers.
Suppose you are marketing beauty products for African American women and don’t set the filter to “United States”. In that case, your keyword volume might be affected by the presence of large Hispanic, White, or Asian populations. This could lead to lower keyword ideas.
Search for cities close to your target audience and you will see the most relevant keywords.
9. Use keywords filters to find the correct keywords
The Keyword Planner helps you to filter through the noise when searching for keyword ideas. Use the keyword filter function to filter keywords and select the most relevant ones.
Brand keywords are the best keywords to use when searching for keyword ideas related to “jeans”.
Remove common brands by adding them to the negative keyword filter. Then push the top keyword ideas (or vice versa if you’re sorting brands) to the top.
10 To discover better seasonal & overall trends use the date range
Keyword Planner calculates monthly search volume and averages it across the entire year by default.
You have the option to change this setting. Clients in seasonal industries can help you understand your chances of creating a solid content or SEO campaign.
You can set a date range that you can compare with historical data to show how terms are changing.
11. To focus on intent, use keywords
Google Keyword Planner does not show all keywords in a specific category or keyword topic. It favors advertiser-friendly keywords.
Keyword Planner must also be notified if the content is to emphasize the consideration phase.
A wide variety of keywords can be used to target a topic, product category, or landing page. However, you should use only a few keywords to indicate intent based on your goal.
Use words like “how to” or “guide” to explain the consideration phase.
No matter which filter keywords you choose to use, you will get better results if the Keywords To Include option is used.
12. Search Volume by Match Type Using Click and Cost Performance Forecasts
Keyword Planner has been criticized for not allowing keyword research to be done by match type.
Search volume was used to measure the search volume of large terms (e.g. Jeans) compared with medium terms (e.g. Women’s jeans”) compared to medium term (e.g. “women’s boot cut blue jeans”)
The keyword tool allows you to see the search volume for broad matches, phrase matches, and exact matches. Google’s support article.
Keep in mind that historical statistics, such as monthly searches, are not used to show exact matches. You can see the same match stats no matter what keyword you used. Cost and clicks are not taken into account when calculating traffic forecasts.
Are you saying the volume is still based on match types?
Yes!! Yes!
Next, submit a bid. This could be as low as $1 or as high as $500. You can keep increasing the amount until you reach the #1 spot.
Impressions are calculated based on search volume and will increase if you’re the #1 ad spot.
SEOs don’t care about ad placements – except here where you can search for keywords by match type to see the volume of modifiers.
Some variation is based on Google’s historical search volume projections for the month. They can however be very helpful in evaluating keywords and making decisions within your keyword research process.
Bonus: This is not the round number Keyword Planner gives you. Google will give exact search volume/impression numbers based on how it projects volume and not historical match data.
13. Justify SEO + Content investment
Companies often overlook the costs of great SEO/content campaigns. Sometimes, it can be difficult for SEOs to justify the investment.
Sometimes hard numbers are needed to compare and show that you can compete.
The Keyword Planner will provide these numbers. To calculate costs, click-through rates, and conversion potential, you can use the Keyword Forecasts tool.
SEO cannot predict your exact competition, click-through rates, ranking, or total volume.
These numbers can be used to estimate or give a range of potential costs for SEO. You will then know what success looks like.
A client who has Search Console connected to Google Ads will let you see their organic reach and compare it with PPC opportunities.
You can use the PPC data for SEO support.
Next steps
Use Keyword Planner again! It will become more powerful the more you use it.
This tool is not only for getting search volume but it should also be used to help you.
You should seriously consider investing in SEO. Get a subscription to either SEMrush (if you have the budget) or Mangools.
Premium tools let you bypass Google’s restrictions for broad keyword searches to confirm narrow hypotheses.
