If you’re on this page, I believe you’re a blogger/ Marketer. Because these two are the professions that you can’t flourish in, without being proficient with your Keyword Research strategies.
That’s the reason I’m compiling in this piece a step by step guide to explain to you all there is on How to use Google AdWords keyword tool. By the end of this article, you’ll know:-
- What is Keyword Research?
- Why it’s important.
- How to research keywords using google keyword planner.
So okay enough with the sweet talks, let’s get down to business.
What is Keyword Research:-
If I was to define it simply, I would say keyword research is the process of finding keywords that are searched by people on the search engines, which you can target in order to get people land on your websites.
Now, there are billions of keywords in the world, a good keyword researcher would know how to find the “best” keywords related to whatever he is going to write, so that it’s on target, and it has enough search volume, in addition to low competition.
You will find enough keywords on the Google Adwords keyword planner, but your expertise lies in being able to find the “profitable” ones.
What does “profitable” mean?
Profitable means, a better way to target keywords. For eg. I can be targeting “Red Apples”, but there are hundreds of different variations to this keyword, are there not? Like, “Apples that are red” “Red-colored apples” etc. Now, each of these keywords has totally different search volumes and competition level.
Your success would depend on being able to choose the keyword that can be ranked easily and has enough search volume to actually make a difference to your traffic on the blog.
Some Important Terms Related to Keyword Research Using Adwords Keyword Planner:-
Search Volume:-
This is the number of searches a certain keyword gets. For eg., you need to make sure the keyword you are targeting, is in demand. And is searched by people, only then people would be searching for the keyword and then landing on your site, right?
A live example is, for eg. you write a great piece on your own life, now how many people search about your life? None, right? So it has 0 search volume, and thus even if you’re ranked in the Top for “Life Story of [Your Name]”, you won’t be getting any traffic.
While on the other end, if you write a piece about something that people are searching for, in that case, people would be interested in reading what’s on your blog, right?
Competition Level:-
So okay a keyword has a million searches/month! But it doesn’t mean it’s your traffic churning factory. In fact, most keywords with high search volume, are also high competition keywords.
For eg. just “targeting” a keyword isn’t enough to get you ranked. There are over 200 metrics that come under consideration when it comes to ranking. So if the competition is high, you won’t rank for the keyword, and thus no benefit for you even if it has high search volume.
So how would you find profitable keywords? Right? Those who are “traffic-rich and competition deficient”? Well, that’s exactly what I’m sharing over here.
CPC:- This is the “cost per click” for that keyword. It’s useless for you unless you have a niche website and are aiming to earn money “via Adsense”. It’s the approx amount of money you would receive (it’s generally lower than the shown amount, because this amount is shown for the “advertisers”, and that included Google’s commissions too!) for each click you get on that keywords’ Adsense banners.
How to Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool:-
Google Keyword Planner Tools is the free keyword research tool from Google. It not only tells you the search volume and competition of the keyword. But also some other important metrics that you might need.
Now let me tell you what you need to be looking for when using keyword research tools.
High Search Volume > Low Competition > Good CPC (If you’re going with the Adsense thing).
So, head over to the Google Keyword Planner homepage, and Sign in.
On the next page, I’d key in the keyword I’m trying to target. Just keyword its broad form. For eg. I’m trying Dosa Recipe. So Key in the keyword, and click on Get ideas.
So see? On the next page, I get lot’s of “Keyword Sets”. Keep in mind that, these are not the keywords or the data associated with them directly, instead these are keyword sets.
Clicking on these specific keyword sets would reveal you the “actual” keywords and their search volume/competition etc.
So just click on the keyword set that has the “highest search volume’ and “low competition”. I’m clicking on the second result. That is “Recipe in Hindi”.
See? Now I’d be taken to the “actual keywords”. I mean, the keywords that we can actually target, and their data.
Now, this is the page you need to analyze. Check out the Keywords that have “Good monthly searches” in addition to being “low” in competition.
For eg. in the below screenshot, the first result has 5x more searches than the second result, but it’s “high” competition, right?
While the second keyword has fewer searches but low competition.
So here’s what would happen if you target the first keyword:- You’ll get your article done on a keyword that has lots of searches. But you won’t ever make it to the top search results, and hence no benefit of that keyword.
But with the second result, you’ll receive less traffic, but you’ll easily make it to the top page! And that’s the goal, right?
Final Words:-
So that was it, folks, that’s how to use Google AdWords keyword tool, you just need to find the keywords that have good search volume and low competition.
It’s okay to sacrifice search volume in exchange for a “lower” competitive keyword. I won’t say don’t go for high competition keyword, you definitely can go for them, but ranking for them is just harder, and you need a strong Domain-trust flow-backlinks etc in order to win the battle.
So my advice? Keep shuffling the keywords until you come across one that fits your bill. It’s better to have 50% of the search volume land on your site, then to be lost somewhere on the 10th page and not even exist, right?
I’d love to hear from you if you’re facing any problems or need help with anything in particular related to the Google Adwords keyword tool.
