Google Keyword Planner is a tool that provides search volume, cost per click, as well as level of competition for the keywords you provide. It leverages Google’s vast database of all the searches that are conducted on its platform.
Who uses Google Keyword Planner and Why?
This tool is used aggressively by agencies when planning paid search campaigns for their clients. It helps them plan their spend on search campaigns based on the estimates of monthly search volume, average CPC that is provided by Google Keyword Planner. Below is an example of how they use it:
Lets say the agency is planning a seasonal search campaign for a credit card company. They can use it a few ways:
- Forecasting search Volume – Enter your seed list of keywords and Google will forecast search volume for you
- Getting data on historical search metrics for the keywords – This information is really powerful in calculating the expected spend as:
- Low Range of Spend = Search Volume * Expected Search Impression Share (0-100%) * Top of Page Bid (Low Range)
- High Range of Spend = Search Volume * Expected Search Impression Share (0-100%) * Top of Page Bid (High Range)
- The projected spend in Step 2 might be a lot higher than the client’s budget. In this case, constraint the spend by narrowing:
- Keyword List – Narrow down the seed keywords to reduce the search volume
- Geographies you are targeting – If you want to retain the keyword list, then look at the search volume breakdown by geographies to select a few states, counties etc that you wish to target
- Device types you are targeting – Analyze search query volume by device type. You might want to restrict showing up on mobile searched by reducing your bids in case your site is not mobile friendly
Google Keyword planner provides the above features to enable effective paid search campaign planning. However, once the campaigns are launched, most of the optimization, research and analysis are provided by Google Ads platform.
How do you get access to Google Keyword Planner? Anyone can open a Google Ads account and get access to Google Keyword Planner. Unlike a lot of other tools in digital advertising world, Google Ads does not require you to be set up as an agency to get access to Google Ads