How to Use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner

Having problems with the Google Keyword Planner? Don’t worry, what you need might be right under your nose. Since the Google Keyword Planner replaced the original Keyword tool many people have criticised the new planner, however if you understand how to use the planner, not only will you benefit from being able to use the old research tools, you will also be able to use some great new features.

Don’t Forget to Use the Options

One of the biggest mistakes people make is not using the options. By default you will be given a broad range of terms loosely related to the terms you have entered. To only list terms closely related to the terms you want click the options below the list of keywords you want to target.

Selecting the correct option will make your keyword research much easier

SEO keyword research

The keyword tool was always a great service for SEO’s. You would select your match type and input the terms you want to quickly see the results. Now you seem to get a long list of Ad Groups! Don’t worry, all you need to do is select the ‘keyword ideas’ tab. This will list only the terms that you want to target, with a further selection below.

SEOs can find the list of terms they have inserted here

Making the most of the planner.

The improvements that have been made to the planner mean that you can quickly get an idea of how much a specific budget is likely to achieve for a particular set of terms. To do this all you need to do is select a daily budget and average CPC.

Setting your budget and daily budget helps you to predict the amount of potential clicks

Set Your Match Type

One of the key options that seems to have been hidden is setting the match type. The match type option is still there, although I would suggest reading the small print!

Selecting the match type is still possible but changes have been made to the default

Ad Groups

Ad Groups are easy to create and easy to edit. To quickly edit an ad group, once you have added the ad group to the list you want to target, click on the ad group on the right, then click to remove any unwanted keywords on the list.

Keywords are easy to remove from the recommended ad groups.

Embrace the Keyword Planner

You do not have to fear the keyword planner, this is an improvement on the previous platform if you know what you are doing. If you require further tips and advice please get in touch via LinkedIn, Twitter (@essex_wiganer) or leave a comment.