How to Use Google Keyword Planner

If you’re familiar with the basics of SEO, you understand the pivotal role that keywords play in the foundation of any SEO strategy. Keywords can make or break a business, and this comprehensive guide aims to provide insights into effective keyword research. To ensure a sequential understanding, we have divided the guide into the following sections:

Keyword Research Guide Topics:

Types of Keywords or Search Queries
Introduction to Informational, Navigational, and Transactional Search Queries
Overview of Google Keyword Planner

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Types of Search Queries or Keywords:

Broadly, keywords fall into three main categories:

Informational Search Queries Keywords
Navigational Search Queries Keywords
Transactional Search Queries Keywords

Informational Search Queries: These queries cover broad topics for which there may be thousands of relevant results. Users entering informational search queries are typically looking for specific information or answers to questions about a particular topic. Examples include “how to make pizza” or “why my laptop beeps frequently.”

Navigational Search Queries: Navigational queries are entered with the intent of finding or navigating to a particular website or webpage. For instance, a user searching for “Gmail login” is looking for the specific Gmail login page.

Transactional Search Queries: Transactional search queries indicate a direct-purchase intent where a customer plans to complete a deal, purchase, or order. These queries often involve terms like “buy,” “order,” or specific product names. For example, “digital marketing course in Hyderabad” or “buy laptops.”

Keyword Research Guide (Step by Step): Google Keyword Planner

Step 1: Setting up a Google Ads Account Before using the Google Keyword Planner tool, you need a Google account. If you don’t have one, create an account and navigate to the Google Ads homepage to get started.

Sign in to your Google account.
Click “Get Started” on the Google Ads homepage.
If you’re new, choose “Create an account without a campaign.”
Enter information for billing country, time zone, and currency.
Click “Submit” to create your Google Ads account.

Step 2: Access the Google Keyword Planner Tool Go to “Tools & Settings” in the top right corner of Google Ads, and from the drop-down menu, select “Keyword Planner” under Tools and Settings.

Step 3: Options Under the Keyword Planner: There are two main options: “Discover new keywords” and “Get search volume and forecast.” We’ll explore both.

Option 1: Discover New Keywords

Step 4: Select “Discover New Keywords” and Choose a Tab: You’ll be prompted to choose between “Start with Keywords” and “Start with a Website.”

Option 1.1: Start with Keywords
- Enter up to 10 keywords or phrases.
- Select the location and language.
- Domain filter is optional.
Option 1.2: Start with a Website
- Enter a domain URL to analyze.
- Choose to search the entire website or a specific page.
- Click “Get Results.”

Option 2: Get Search Volume and Forecast

Enter keywords or phrases separated by commas and click “Get Started.” Additional filters for location, language, search network, and time period are available.

Step 4: Get Search Volumes and Forecasts

This option forecasts:

Total number of clicks
Impressions
Overall cost
Average position
Cost-per-click (CPC) for the next 30 days

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Further breakdown includes individual clicks, impressions, cost, click-through-rate (CTR), and average CPC. The Historical Metrics tab provides average monthly searches and competition for each keyword.

This comprehensive keyword research guide for 2024 aims to help you generate effective keywords for your business. Choose keywords strategically to enhance your website’s performance and elevate its ranking on search engine results pages (SERP). The next step involves analyzing the competition for these keywords to gauge their difficulty level.