The Keyword Planner – How to Find the Best Keywords for Your Campaigns

When creating an AdWords campaign, keyword research is one of the most fundamental tasks. By focusing heavily on this from the start, you save a lot of time later during optimization. With the help of Google's AdWords Keyword Planner, you can freely search for ideas for your campaigns and suitable keywords and ad groups.

To use the Keyword Planner, you need a regular Google account. With this, you must next create an AdWords account or sign in to your existing AdWords account. After successful sign-in, you will find the Keyword Planner under the "Tools" tab.

The Functions of the Tool

The Keyword Planner offers various possibilities for research. Finding new keywords is the most basic function. Under the sub-item “Search for new keywords using a phrase, website, or category,” you can execute this. Additionally, it's possible to determine sensible bids and budgets for campaigns, create new keyword lists, or combine existing lists. You can also estimate the search volume and traffic for a keyword list.

Fig.1: Screenshot of Keyword Planner options

In the following, we want to focus on the first option and explain it in a little more detail.

Finding Ideas for New Keywords and Ad Groups

Once you have chosen the first option, a search mask opens (Fig.2).

Fig.2 Screenshot Keyword Planner - Search Mask

First, enter your keyword idea, a landing page, or the relevant product category. Then, you can refine the settings using various filters.

Targeting: With the "Targeting" option, you can restrict the search to specific locations, languages, and networks. It's also possible to directly exclude inappropriate keywords so that they are not considered in further searches. Time Frame: Under the "Time Frame" setting, you can determine over what period the search volume should be displayed. Customize My Search: With the "Customize My Search" filter, you can set restrictions regarding bid, impressions, search query, or competition. For example, you can set it so that all keywords with an average search volume of less than 500 are excluded and not considered later on.

Once you've set everything according to your preferences, click the "Get Ideas" button and the suggested keywords will appear.

Fig. 3: Screenshot – Ad Groups Ideas Search Results

The Keyword Planner presents you with ideas for different ad groups. Each of these ad groups contains keywords that are relevant to the topic. Here you can get excellent suggestions for setting up your campaigns/ad groups. Under the "Keyword Ideas" tab, you find individual keyword suggestions with which you can also create an ad group yourself.

Fig. 4: Screenshot – Keyword Ideas Search Results

For all ad groups and keywords, the average monthly search queries, the competition, and a suggested bid are displayed. If you find a keyword interesting, you can add it to your plan via the button in the right column and then directly insert it into the campaign.

Fig. 5: Screenshot – Plan Overview

The created plan overview is found on the right side of the tool. In our example, three ad groups with a total of 53 keywords have been added to the plan. By clicking on "Review Plan" you can analyze the keywords very precisely. You receive an overview of the expected clicks, impressions, daily costs, click-through rate, average CPC, and average ad position based on the bid. In the upper field, you can enter a specific bid to access a detailed forecast.

Fig. 6: Screenshot – Daily Forecast

In our example, we set a CPC of €1. In the forecast, you can see how the selected keywords would develop. For example, the keyword "garden swing" would generate the most clicks and impressions.

Based on this, you can now edit the keyword list and directly transfer suitable keywords into your AdWords account by clicking "save to account.”

With the help of the Keyword Planner, you can get inspiration for new keywords and receive an assessment of individual keywords and the appropriate budget.

If you need support in the field of AdWords, whether it is with keyword research, campaign settings, or account analysis, contact the internetwarriors GmbH. Our certified AdWords specialists are happy to help you further.