Doing keyword research is indispensable for every marketer running a pay-per-click campaign or SEO strategy. This process involves identifying the words and phrases people use when searching for products or services online. Keyword planners are the ultimate tools that help uncover these valuable insights and make data-driven decisions. 

Keyword planners, such as the Google Keyword Planner, share details about search volume, competitiveness, and potential keyword suggestions, crucial information for creating targeted ad campaigns, and crafting content that resonates with target audiences. 

Understanding and getting the most of these tools can significantly improve your marketing efforts, making your campaigns more efficient and cost-effective.

What is a Keyword Planner?

A keywords planner is a tool designed to help marketers and businesses identify relevant keywords for their online content and ad campaigns. It provides data on search volume, competition, and related search terms. Essentially, it’s your roadmap to understanding what people are searching for online and which keywords to target.

Keyword planners work by analyzing search data from various sources, such as search engines and user behavior, to offer a 360º view of keyword performance. For example, the Google Keyword Planner tool, a component of Google Ads, allows users to discover new keywords, get search volume forecasts, and see how certain keywords might perform in their campaigns.

By using a keyword planner tool, marketers can:

  • Identify high-performing keywords that are relevant to their business.
  • Understand the competitiveness of specific keywords.
  • Discover long-tail keywords that can drive more targeted traffic.
  • Optimize their PPC and SEO strategies based on real data.

Why Use a Keyword Planner Tool?

Keyword planners offer a range of benefits that can significantly improve online visibility. The first is the ability to optimize keyword targeting, ensuring your ads and content are targeting the right keywords to attract potential customers. This improved targeting leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and better overall campaign performance. Let’s see some other advantages of using a keywords planner: 

Enhanced Understanding of Search Volume and Competition

With keyword planners, you gain access to essential data on search volume and keyword competition, which helps understand how often specific keywords are searched for and how competitive they are. With these metrics, you can decide which keywords to focus on, balancing high search volume with manageable competition levels. This strategic approach maximizes your chances of ranking well in search results.

Ability to Discover New Keyword Opportunities

Keyword planners not only provide data on existing keywords but also help you discover new keyword opportunities. By exploring related keywords and search terms, you can identify additional phrases your target audience is using, allowing you to reach a broader audience. Discovering new keywords can also uncover niche markets and untapped opportunities, giving you a competitive edge in your industry.

Popular Keyword Planners: Free vs. Paid

Free Keyword Planner Tools

  • Google Keyword Planner is a tool within Google Ads designed to help you discover keywords and plan your ad campaigns. It’s one of the most used keyword planners and offers several features, such as keyword suggestions, historical statistics, forecast metrics, and bid estimates. You can access it via Google Ads, and then enter seed keywords or website URLs to generate keyword ideas, review search volume and competition metrics, and refine your keyword list.
  • Google Trends is another free keyword planner. It provides insights into the popularity of search terms over time, helping identify trends and seasonal variations in search behavior. It offers data for trend analysis, geographic breakdown, and related queries. You can enter a search term to see its popularity over time, compare different terms, and explore regional interests to tailor your content strategy.
  • Keyword Finder offers keyword suggestions and analytics to improve SEO and PPC campaigns for Google, Amazon, and YouTube. It focuses on search volume and competition, also offering keyword suggestions and difficulty scores. Input keywords or competitor URLs to generate keyword ideas, assess their potential, and incorporate high-value keywords into your strategy.

Freemium Keyword Planners

  • Answer the Public provides keyword ideas based on questions and phrases people are searching for, which helps in content creation and SEO. Enter a topic to generate a list of questions, prepositions, and comparisons related to that topic, and use these insights to create relevant content. You also have access to visual keyword maps, question-based queries, and related searches.
  • Ubersuggest offers keyword suggestions, search volume, competitive analysis, backlink data, and other SEO insights. It helps identify profitable keywords and track their performance. 
  • Ahrefs keyword planner provides detailed keyword data, including search volume, suggestions, keyword difficulty, traffic potential, and CTRs. It’s known for its robust keyword database. Use this keyword planner tool to input keywords or URLs, explore keyword data, and incorporate findings into your SEO and PPC campaigns.

Paid Keyword Planners

  • Semrush keyword planner is an all-in-one marketing tool providing in-depth keyword research, SEO audits, and competitive analysis. Use Semrush to find keyword opportunities, analyze competition, track keyword rankings, conduct site audits, and traffic analysis, and improve your overall digital marketing strategy. You can also use Semrush’s free version, but it is very limited. 

Making the Most of Your Keyword Planner

To help you make the most of the data provided by keywords planners, we’ve gathered some valuable tips to guide you on your journey:

Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Campaigns

Ensure the keywords you select align with your business goals and target audience by choosing those that reflect your products or services and are likely to attract users who are interested in what you offer. Don’t forget to consider search intent: For instance, use transactional keywords (e.g., “buy sneakers online”) for e-commerce sites and informational keywords (e.g., “how to choose running shoes”) for blogs and content sites.

Look at search volume, competition, and keyword difficulty to pick keywords that fit your marketing strategy. Balance high-volume keywords with those that have a lower competition to optimize results and expand your list by including synonyms and related terms. This can help capture a wider audience and improve your chances of ranking for various search queries.

For PPC campaigns, review the suggested bid prices. Higher cost-per-click (CPC) values indicate competitive keywords. Align your bidding strategy with your budget and campaign goals.

Balancing Short-Tail and Long-Tail Keywords

Short-tail keywords are broad, high-volume keywords (e.g., “shoes”) that usually have a wide reach but are also highly competitive. Use them to capture a large audience and drive significant traffic. On the other side, long-tail keywords are more specific, lower-volume keywords (e.g., “best running shoes for flat feet”). They are less competitive and often lead to higher conversion rates. Incorporate them to target niche markets and attract users with specific needs.

Regularly Updating and Refining Your Keyword List

Regularly check your selected keywords’ metrics like CTRs, conversion rates, and engagement to identify which keywords are performing well and which are underperforming. Remove keywords that consistently underperform or generate low-quality traffic and replace them with new, more relevant keywords based on recent data.

Stay updated with keyword trends and seasonal changes. Adjust your keyword list to reflect new trends and emerging terms relevant to your industry.

Using Keyword Planners to Steal Competitor Keywords

Evaluate the level of competition for each keyword, categorizing them as low, medium, or high. Low-competition keywords are easier to rank for, but may have lower search volume. High-competition keywords are more challenging but can drive significant traffic.

Use keywords planners to discover which keywords your specific competitors are targeting. Identify high-value keywords they are ranking for and consider incorporating them into your own strategy. Look for keywords your competitors might be missing or not optimizing well and use these opportunities to gain a competitive edge and attract traffic they are not capturing.

Using Keyword Planners for Content Creation and Optimization

Use keyword planners to brainstorm content ideas that align with popular search queries. Create blog posts, articles, and other content that addresses the topics and questions your audience is searching for. Analyze which keywords are driving traffic to your site and use this information to optimize existing content. 

Update your content with relevant keywords to improve its search engine visibility and relevance, incorporating them into meta titles, descriptions, and headers. Ensure your website is optimized to rank well for your chosen keywords.

Keyword Cannibalization and How to Avoid It

Ensure that multiple pages or ads are not targeting the same keyword. Keyword cannibalization can dilute your efforts and harm your rankings. If you find multiple pieces of content targeting the same keyword, consider consolidating them into a single, high-quality page to improve focus and ranking. Target keyword variations and related terms to avoid overlap and ensure different pages or ads are optimized for distinct, complementary keywords.