Creating a site and posting content without traffic defeats the point of posting content online. A good Search Engine Result Page ranking would provide better visibility for content you post online. To achieve this, you need keywords with low competition but high search rates in both your ads and site content. Therefore, engaging in research to gain relevant keywords is one step up the ladder to achieving better ranks for your website. Through keyword research, you get niche-specific and relevant terms that increase your site traffic inflow.
Rather than taking wild guesses at what terms will attract more traffic, an efficient research tool would get the work done. This article will discuss one of several keyword research software; the Keyword Planner by Google.
What is Google's Keyword Planning Algorithm?
This Google-developed keyword research tool is free. Like other tools that serve this purpose, it analyses data from searches made on Google over time. Through this data analysis, Google's Keyword Suggestion software provides suggested key phrases alongside detailed reports. In other words, the results are accompanied by information regarding the average searches a phrase has, and what search engine these suggestions are from. It also gives you bid estimates for each suggestion. This way, you have an idea of your budget if you were to include that search term in a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.
How Does Google's Keyword Research Tool Work
Before you can access the keyword research algorithm by Google,
It is necessary to create an account on Google Ads. Creating an account cannot be done through the mobile app as that is only meant for checking your ad campaign progress. In setting up your account, you must ensure that your account is that of the Expert mode and not the Smart mode.
You must input a valid means of payment and create an ad campaign to completely set up your account. However, you can hold off this part if you are not ready to spend money creating a campaign.
To proceed without this step, select the option to create the account without an ad campaign. Next, fill the required details on your business and tap the submit option. Once this is done, select the “explore account” option and follow the steps outlined below from step 2.
When your account is all set up, here are the steps you should take to get results from Google's Keyword Research algorithm
Launch Google’s keyword suggestion tool and sign in.
Once you are logged in, select the tool icon.
Select the option labeled Planning and select the title “Keyword Planner”.
Obtain new suggestions using the option to discover keywords. Alternatively, you can upload suggestions through the option to Get forecasts & Search volume.
When discovering a new keyword;
You can start your research using keywords or a website.
Using the option to search by keyword, you can input over 3 phrases (formerly 10), and add a domain for filtering. To complete this step, select the “get results” option.
Using a website for the search, paste a copied URL into the space available. You can either tick the option to use the entire site or a certain page. Once you tick one of these two options, select the “Get results” option. Depending on your preference, Google gathers information from the site to give you unique keyword ideas.
When getting Forecasts & Search volume;
The heading “Get forecasts & Search volume” appears once you are in the keyword planner.
Clicking on that heading leads you to a page where you can insert or paste keyword lists. Alternatively, you can upload a CSV file containing the keyword list.
Lastly, select the get started option to receive a series of related keyword ideas.
Using this option, results do not come with more keyword ideas as it only functions to show the value of the keyword that you provide. Following this, the search result contains details on costs, click-through rate (CTR), impressions, average CPC, and clicks. The tab labeled historical metrics contains details on average searches each month and the keyword competition.
Features
Filter Icon; When you select the option to discover new keywords, a filter icon is placed over the results table. You can select various criteria that the suggested keywords will have to meet. You can filter by the average number of searches monthly, keyword text, competition, ads & organic impression shares, and the keyword’s top of SERP bid (low and high ranges). As all categories of the proposed keywords are marked by default, you can narrow the suggested phrases list by unticking some marked categories.
Geo-targeted keywords; Using the Google keyword research software, you can obtain location-specific keywords. The panel labeled “Targeting” placed above the graph is what you have to edit to tailor suggested keywords to a certain location. By default, suggested keywords are targeted to all locations. Entering your choice location and clicking the option “Nearby” would give you locally sourced keywords for that location.
Keyword Forecast; Under the title “Forecasts”, this feature contains keywords you have uploaded. These keywords are gotten either from your searches using the page “Keyword ideas” or the option to “Get Forecasts & search volumes”.
Customizable outsourcing; You can decide on what site(s) you want your suggested phrases to come from. For ideas from the Google search engine, select Google. However, if you also want ideas from the Google search network, select the “Google & Search partners” option. One such search partner is Google Maps.
Date customization; This feature is handy when it comes to running a season-themed campaign. It also helps when you need a keyword that is currently trending on the search engine. With the date range option, you can get keyword suggestions that have relevance during certain periods of a year. This option also allows you to change your forecast’s timeframe.
Benefits of Keyword Planner by Google
Get search result in details; You get an estimate of the monthly searches each suggested term has alongside how the keyword in question relates to the different categories relevant to your niche. In addition, every keyword suggested by this research tool has four accompanying metrics. These metrics are the high& low range top of SERP bids, keyword competition, and average search queries per month.
Stay relevant with seasonal trends; Using Google's keyword suggestion tool, you do not have to be caught up struggling with how to manage your existing keywords each season. You can tune your settings to get season-specific topics using this research tool. This way, you do not promote irrelevant ads that will not attract traffic
With the option to get keyword ideas from a website, you can generate keywords from what your competitors have adopted.
You can choose from a variety of languages using the keyword planner's language settings.
By combining various keyword lists, one can generate new keywords. One can also generate unique keyword variations from a primary keyword.
Limitations of Google's Keyword Planner
Google's Keyword suggestion software is tailored more for ad campaigns than written content. Due to this, there are no long-tail search phrase suggestions.
Its ad-driven keyword ideas may be of lower quality than those required for Search engine optimization.
Over time, the keyword planner has undergone some changes. One of these is how one can no longer get feedback suggestions that exactly match one's input keyword.
Pricing
The keyword research software by Google is free for all. Although creating a subsequent campaign using Google ads comes with a fee, getting keyword ideas from this tool is free. You still get to use the tool when you are not creating an ad campaign.
Alternatives to Google's Keyword Planner
Like the Google keyword research algorithm, this tool can sort keyword ideas based on location. The easy-to-use interface is beginner-friendly. Almost similar to Google's keyword suggestion tool, ahrefs gathers keyword suggestions from search engines & sites other than Google. Other sources of keyword ideas include Bing, Amazon, and YouTube. Users can decide which of these search sites they would like suggestions from. You get to save suggested keywords, analyze the performance of competition and generate long-tail search phrases among others. However, ahrefs is not entirely free like the Google keyword planning software.
This keyword tool contains several features that enhance site traffic when properly implemented. SEMrush aids your business through paid traffic and improving your business's presence on social media. Like Google's keyword planner, it also gives details on keywords like the phrase’s regional and global search volume & CPC. Using this tool equally makes you aware of the intent behind each keyword when used in making searches. However, some reviews rule that this tool is of questionable accuracy.
The Moz keyword planner is highly intuitive and easy to navigate. To get started, creating a Moz account is needed. After that, the keyword research process is easy. You can save resulting keyword suggestions, export data in CSV format, and get keywords in various forms, including questions. You can also check the relative difficulty or ease of ranking using the keyword. Unlike the keyword suggestion algorithm by Google, Moz is not free to use. In addition to this, Moz works only in English therefore it is limited to the US, UK, and English-Speaking Countries.
Final Thoughts
If you need your site to be seen by a potential audience, Google's keyword suggestion tool is a good way to go. You could decide to take it further by starting an ad campaign, or you could stick with the suggested keywords that suit you. As this is a tool tailored for ads, you would not get long-tail search phrases from it. Therefore, if a content-driven boost is what you need, you might want to try out alternatives to this keyword research tool. Considering how the service of this keyword planning tool is without cost, it has several benefits. Being able to generate keywords at different seasons of a year without having to do much work is of advantage. With relevant keywords obtained, you can focus on other aspects of your campaign to drive traffic to your site.