Marketers need reliable data on what people actually search for before writing content or launching ad campaigns — guess wrong, and you write for terms nobody searches for, or bid on keywords that drain your budget without converting. Google Keyword Planner is one of the most direct ways to get that data.
This guide shows how to use Google Keyword Planner to find and evaluate keywords for both your website and your ad campaigns, and where a more advanced tool becomes worth the switch.
What is Google Keyword Planner?
Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool available within the Google Ads platform that shows the search terms people enter into Google, an estimate of how often terms are searched, and how much advertisers pay for clicks on ads using those terms.
Although Keyword Planner is designed for pay-per-click (PPC) keyword research (finding keywords for Google Search ads), you can also use it for performing SEO keyword research (finding terms to use on your website).
Keyword Planner can also be used as a starting point for identifying queries to focus on for agentic search optimization. Effectively, identifying prompts your audience enters into AI tools lets you optimize your content for AI agents that reference sources and generate answers for users.
Step 1: Access Keyword Planner
Access Keyword Planner inside your Google Ads account.
You don’t need to run an ad campaign to use Keyword Planner, but you do need to enter billing details to access the tool.
After you log in or create a Google Ads account:
- Switch to Expert mode. If you’re currently in Smart Mode, click “Settings” in the top right navigation menu, and select "Switch to Expert Mode.” You’re already in Expert mode if the “Settings” icon is absent from the navigation menu.
- Link your Google Search Console and Google Ads accounts for additional keyword data
To access Keyword Planner, go to “Tools” > “Planning” > “Keyword Planner.”
Step 2: Find new search queries
Find new search queries by selecting “Discover new keywords” in Keyword Planner.
You can start with:
- A website: Enter a URL, and the tool will scan the page or domain for keyword ideas. This works with your own website or competitors’ sites.
- Keywords: Enter or upload terms and Google will suggest related keywords
Say you want to know which keywords are most relevant to your main competitor. Click “Start with a website,” enter their URL, select the circle next to “Use the entire site,” and click “Get results.”
Now you can see which keywords Google sees as most associated with your competition. And that means these terms are likely relevant to you as well.
If you want to go beyond keyword ideas and see that competitor’s actual ad copy and estimated spend on those terms, Semrush’s Advertising Research tool shows the fuller picture.
Alternatively, enter a broad term into Keyword Planner to get more specific keyword ideas. You can also enter your website’s URL to automatically filter out unrelated keywords. Then, click “Get results.”
Keyword Planner will display a list of related keywords along with metrics like average monthly searches, three-month change (to spot declining or growing terms), and competition (to understand how many advertisers are bidding on the term).
Because Keyword Planner gives you terms closely related to the term you first entered, the list of suggestions may be narrower compared to other keyword research tools.
For example, inputting “leather purses” into Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool returns 31,533 ideas. In Keyword Planner, we only got 2,760 ideas.
The search queries you find in Keyword Planner also give you a starting point for prompt research, so you can see what people ask AI search platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode.
Using Semrush’s Prompt Research, enter one of your newly discovered keywords. You’ll get different topics and prompts that people use related to your entered keywords.
Create content around the various topics and prompts to improve your visibility in AI tools.
Step 3: Filter your terms
Filtering your terms within Keyword Planner lets you focus on the keywords you’re most likely to rank for or convert with.
Click “Add filter” to open the filter panel. In Keyword Planner, you can filter by competition level, exclude specific keywords using exact or semantic matching, and more.
Let’s say you want to use Keyword Planner to find terms for content about the handbags you sell that are made of real leather. Select the “Keyword” filter, enter the term “faux,” and select the circle next to “Semantic Match” to exclude keywords with a similar meaning to the one you entered.
Click “Refine keywords” for further filtering options. Deselect any terms that aren’t relevant. For the leather purse example, you might deselect certain colors you don’t carry.
Step 4: Analyze search volumes
Analyze the search volumes in Keyword Planner — specifically the “Avg. monthly searches” column — to identify terms that might send you the most traffic via ads or organic content.
Keyword Planner search volume data is usually shown in broad ranges — like 100-1K — instead of exact numbers. This makes it harder to compare keywords or know which ones will drive more traffic. (You can get accurate search volume numbers if your account has consistent ad spend.)
If you want accurate average search volumes without ad spend, use our keyword tool.
For example, we took 100 keywords and compared the average monthly search volume between Google and Semrush’s data for the past 12 months. Here’s a snippet of our data:
Across all 100 keywords we compared:
- Keyword Planner showed a total of 1,066,100 estimated searches
- Semrush Keyword Magic Tool showed a more accurate total of 277,140
If you rely solely on Google’s search volume ranges, you might prioritize the wrong keywords and miss traffic opportunities.
Step 5: Compare competition
Compare the competition of keywords to see if they’re ones you can realistically compete with for ads or easily rank for organically.
If you’re running ads, check the “Competition” and “Top of page bid” columns in Keyword Planner. These help you choose keywords that match your budget.
Here’s what each column shows:
- Top of page bid (low range): The lower end of what advertisers typically pay for a top ad spot. It gives you a rough idea of the minimum cost per click (CPC) in this ad space.
- Top of page bid (high range): The higher end of what advertisers typically pay for a top ad spot. It gives you a rough idea of the maximum CPC for this keyword.
- Competition: The level of advertiser interest — rated as “Low,” “Medium,” “High,” or “–” if there’s not enough data. It reflects the number of advertisers bidding on this keyword relative to other keywords.
Combine this competition data with search volume data to understand cost vs. potential reach.
For example, say you want to run PPC ads for “leather purses,” which Keyword Planner estimates gets between 10,000 and 100,000 monthly searches.
If you estimate a 2% click-through rate (CTR), Google’s range of 10K to 100K searches could mean anywhere from 200 to 2,000 clicks. This large range makes it hard to forecast how much traffic your ad might get or how to budget effectively.
But Semrush shows the real volume for “leather purses” is closer to 9,900 searches, which gives you a clearer baseline for planning.
To uncover how competitive a keyword is to rank for organically, use the Keyword Magic Tool and input your website along with a keyword.
You’ll get a Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %) metric that measures how hard it is to rank highly in organic search for your specific site. A lower PKD % means you stand a better chance of securing a top organic result.
Step 6: Forecast PPC keywords
Forecast PPC keywords to estimate how your ads might perform, so you can focus on the most effective terms.
Start by clicking “Get search volume and forecasts.” Enter or upload your keywords and click “Get started.”
Go to the “Forecast” tab to get estimates for your list of entered keywords. Google uses data like historical performance (if you’ve run ads in the past), seasonality, and your budget to provide estimates for conversions, clicks, and ad costs to help you optimize your conversion rates.
Adjust criteria like your bid strategy or match type to see which adjustments lead to more sales, and ultimately, a better return on investment (ROI).
If you want to use the terms you entered for ads, click “Create campaign” and follow the instructions to launch your ads.
Additional insights to refine your query list
Using additional insights helps you refine your keyword list, so you know which keywords to prioritize for content and ads.
First, open the Keyword Overview tool and enter the list of keywords you want to analyze. Click the number in the “SF” column to see if the keyword triggers SERP features like featured snippets or AI Overviews, which may shape the way you write your content or whether you decide to run ads.
Use the “Intent” column to understand the searcher’s likely goal and what type of content they want:
- Navigational: The user wants to find a particular website or page
- Informational: The user wants to learn more about a topic
- Commercial: The user wants to conduct research prior to making a purchase decision
- Transactional: The user wants to complete an action like a purchase
And the “CPC” column shows which keywords fit your ad budget.
Google Keyword Planner FAQs
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Google Keyword Planner is free to use, but you need to enter billing details for your Google Ads account to access it. You don’t have to run an ad campaign to use the tool. However, keeping a consistent ad budget helps you get more accurate keyword volume data.
Can I use Google Keyword Planner without creating an ad?
Yes, you can use Google Keyword Planner without creating an ad. You still need to enter billing details for your Google Ads account to unlock the tool, but no ad has to go live.
Is Google Keyword Planner accurate?
Google Keyword Planner isn’t fully accurate. Its search volume estimates are broad ranges that are directionally useful, but not precise. For example, Keyword Planner puts “leather purses” at 10K-100K monthly searches, while Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool shows 9,900. Use Keyword Planner’s ranges to spot high-interest terms, then verify the actual volume with a tool built for precise estimates.
Want to find the right queries to target with accurate search volumes? Try Semrush One for free today.
