How to use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to killer effect
How much traffic has your content generated to date? If it’s not as much as you’d like, it could be down to two things. Either your content is not interesting enough, or your audience cannot find it.
If it’s the latter, then it’s likely to be down to the tools that you are using.
Keywords form the basis of how you rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). Therefore, you need a tool that can identify the strongest keywords for your niche. When writing for SEO, identifying which keywords to use for the best SEO can be a little tricky. Google’s Keyword Planner is one of the tools you can use to get you out of your rut.
Below is a guide on how to use Google Keyword Planner. It covers how to access it, descriptions of the features and their functions, and which information is relevant for SEO. It also contains tips on how you can extract extra information on some of the results.
1.Set up your account
Go to ads.google.com and register for an account. Input your details, and you are in. You will see a page with the title Create Campaign with three options. To access the keyword planner, you will need to set up an Adwords Campaign. It does not need to be active. Just fill in the details and let it stay idle.
2. Accessing the tool
After you log in to your Adwords account, on the top right corner of the page is a spanner logo with the word TOOLS under it. Click on it, and a window appears. On that window to the extreme left is PLANNING, below it, you will see Keyword Planner. Click on it, and you are ready to go. A new window will open with two options: one says Discover new keywords and the other Get search volume and forecasts. The keywords are what you are interested in, so click on that option.
Get search volume and forecasts is more of a reporting tool. You can use it to gauge the potential of keywords that you already identified but have not yet used.
3. Understanding the tool
After you click the Discover new keywords, you will see two options: start with keywords and start with website.
Start with keywords is what you need to use. It helps you find keyword suggestions relevant to the query you entered. The entries are from Google’s database. You will see a sentence ‘enter products or services closely related to your business’ – and below it should be a text box.
You have the option of entering phrases or words. The limit is 10 per search. For example, you can run a search like this ‘football’ ‘football nations Europe’ ‘football competitions’.
Start with website allows you to search for keywords that other URLs are using. You can use this to identify what are the common keywords in a specific niche.
4. Interpreting the results
Once you click on the get results button, you will see a list of suggestions. They are ranked by relevance, with the most relevant as the first entry.
There are four key metrics that the search uses. Here is an explanation of each:
- Locations – where you will be delivering content
- Language – it will be English matching your content
- Search networks – refers to the search engine.
- Date range – refers to the period that the keyword idea was viable.
5. Narrowing down the results
As you can see, you have thousands of keyword ideas. However, not all of them will be beneficial for your SEO. Here is where the ADD FILTER option becomes useful. You can choose which data you want to see as per your objective. Here are the filters to use when identifying keywords for your SEO.
- Keyword text – it will offer you keyword suggestions that include a particular phrase. For example, if you enter ‘bass guitar’, you will only receive ideas that have ‘bass guitar’ in them.
- Average Monthly searches – remove keywords that have a high search volume and those that do not have any search volumes.
- Organic impression share – the number of times your content appears on the regular search.
- Organic average position – it gives you an estimate of how each keyword would rank in a regular search.
For the last two filters, you will need to link your Google Search Console account.
6. Keyword ideas that you should choose
Keyword selection entirely depends on the objectives of your SEO content strategy.
Here are the metrics that most SEO writers use to identify keywords:
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Average Search Volume
Look out for keyword suggestions that have a high average search volume. They are the ones that will generate you the most traffic. Be creative in how you use them, as you are not the only one who has identified them. -
Commercial Intent
Keywords where the bidding price is high, are the ones that will most likely help you generate revenue. An SEO copywriting agency uses this information to select keywords. They create copy for clients to pull in traffic, which they can convert to generate revenue. -
Organic SEO competition
You need these keywords if you want to increase your search engine ranking.
7. Getting extra information
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Average monthly searches
The average monthly searches value of a keyword appears as a range. To get the exact numbers, select the keywords from the results page. Check the box next to the keyword in question. Click the Add to plan button at the top of the page. On the left is a menu bar with several options. Click the option that says Plan overview. The value that appears under impressions is the exact average monthly search.
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Hidden keyword suggestions
Use the Start with a website tool to find other keywords that your peers are using. Just enter their URL and hit search.
You now have all the information you need to add another keyword planning tool to your arsenal, and once you have this in place, you should see a significant boost in your SEO efforts. If you need more help with your SEO copywriting, please get in touch with us today. We’d be delighted to help you.