How to Use Google Ads Keyword Planner

Keyword Planner is free inside Google Ads. Go to Tools (wrench icon) > Planning > Keyword Planner. You need an active Google Ads account to access it, but you do not need to be running campaigns.

Note: If you are not spending money on ads, Keyword Planner shows volume ranges (e.g., 1K-10K) instead of exact numbers. Active advertisers with meaningful spend see more precise data.

Click "Discover new keywords." You have two input options.

Start with keywords: Enter up to 10 seed keywords related to your business. Keyword Planner returns hundreds of related keyword ideas. For example, entering "running shoes" might return related ideas like best running shoes, running shoes for men, trail running shoes, cheap running shoes online, and running shoe brands.

Start with a website: Enter a URL (your own or a competitor's), and Keyword Planner suggests keywords based on the page content. This is useful for finding keywords you might have missed and for competitive research.

For each keyword idea, Keyword Planner shows several data points.

Avg. monthly searches: The average number of times this keyword is searched per month in your target location and date range. Higher is not always better — very high-volume keywords are often broader and more competitive.

Competition: Rated Low, Medium, or High. This reflects how many advertisers bid on this keyword relative to other keywords. High competition usually means higher CPCs.

Top of page bid (low range): The estimated CPC for appearing at the bottom of the top results.

Top of page bid (high range): The estimated CPC for appearing at the top of the first page. Use this as your CPC planning baseline.

Use the filter options to narrow results. Filter by avg. monthly searches (e.g., minimum 100) to remove very low-volume terms. Filter by top of page bid to find keywords within your CPC budget. Filter by competition to focus on lower competition opportunities. Exclude keywords containing irrelevant words using the keyword text filter.

Click "Get search volume and forecasts." Paste a list of keywords you have already identified. Keyword Planner shows the estimated clicks, impressions, cost, CTR, average CPC, and conversions you can expect based on your budget and bid settings.

Adjust the daily budget slider and the CPC bid to see how different spend levels affect your expected results. This is invaluable for budget planning and presenting forecasts to stakeholders.

Be specific with locations. Set your target location to match your campaign targeting. National volume numbers are misleading if you only serve one city.

Use date ranges. Check "Last 12 months" for stable averages, but also look at monthly trends to spot seasonality.

Combine with other data. Keyword Planner is a starting point. Cross-reference with Google Trends for seasonality, Search Console for your current organic performance, and the Search Terms Report for real query data.

Group as you go. As you find relevant keywords, start sorting them into theme groups immediately. This saves time when building ad groups later.

Download everything. Export the full keyword list to a spreadsheet for offline analysis, sorting, and grouping.

Volume data is approximate, especially for accounts with low spend. The tool does not show long-tail keyword data well (many long-tail terms show 0 volume even if they get some searches). Competition refers to ad competition, not SEO difficulty. Historical data can lag — very new trends may not appear.