If you’re looking to improve your website’s SEO and drive more traffic, keyword research is a must. One of the best free tools out there for this is Google Keyword Planner. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to use it to find relevant keywords and analyze search volumes.
Step 1: Sign Up or Log In to Google Ads
To start, you’ll need to have a Google Ads account. Don’t worry—you don’t actually need to run ads to use Keyword Planner. If you don’t have an account yet, simply go to Google Ads and sign up.
Step 2: Access Keyword Planner
Once you’re logged in to Google Ads, click on the Tools & Settings icon (the wrench) at the top of the page. Under the Planning section, select Keyword Planner.
Step 3: Choose Your Option
Google Keyword Planner will give you two main options:
- Discover New Keywords – Use this to find new keyword ideas related to your business.
- Get Search Volume and Forecasts – This one lets you check the search volume and other stats for a list of keywords you already have in mind.
Let’s start with Discover New Keywords. Click on it.
Step 4: Enter Your Keywords
Now, you’ll see a field where you can type in words or phrases related to your business. For example, if you’re running a bakery, you might enter “chocolate cake” or “fresh bread.” You can also enter your website’s URL to let Google suggest relevant keywords.
Step 5: Analyze the Results
After clicking Get Results, Google will show you a list of keywords along with important data like:
- Average monthly searches – How often people search for that keyword.
- Competition level – This tells you if it’s a highly competitive keyword (with lots of advertisers bidding on it) or low competition.
- Top of page bid range – The suggested cost-per-click (CPC) for that keyword if you were running ads.
Step 6: Choose the Best Keywords
Look for keywords that:
- Have a decent search volume (not too low, not too high)
- Have manageable competition, unless you’re targeting very competitive niches (then, go for long-tail keywords)
- Align with your website’s content
You can filter the results based on these metrics, or even export them to an Excel sheet for better organization.
Step 7: Monitor and Adjust
Once you’ve selected your keywords, keep an eye on how they perform over time. Keyword Planner is regularly updated with new data, so you can adjust your strategy as needed.
If you want to take your content to the next level and improve your rankings, consider optimizing it for SEO. I offer SEO-optimized content writing services that can help you create high-quality articles, blog posts, and more. Let me help you craft content that ranks well and attracts traffic! Reach out if you’re interested! Let me know if you’d like to add anything else to this tutorial.