Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool inside Google Ads that suggests keywords and estimates how often they are searched. It was built for advertisers planning paid campaigns, but SEOs use it widely because its data comes straight from Google.
How to access it
You need a Google Ads account, but you do not have to run ads. During sign-up, look for the option to switch to Expert Mode and create an account without a campaign. Keyword Planner then sits under Tools in the Google Ads menu.
The two main features
- Discover new keywords: enter seed words or a website URL and the tool returns related ideas. This is a quick way to expand a list of seed keywords.
- Get search volume and forecasts: paste in a list of keywords to see their historical data and predicted ad performance.
Understanding the data
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Avg. monthly searches | Average searches per month over the chosen period. Accounts with little or no ad spend usually see ranges such as 1K to 10K rather than exact figures. |
| Three month change / YoY change | How interest has moved recently and compared with last year. |
| Competition | How many advertisers bid on the keyword: Low, Medium or High. It is not a measure of organic difficulty. |
| Top of page bid | The low and high range advertisers have paid to appear at the top of the page. A higher bid often signals commercial value. |
Using it for SEO
- Set the right location and language, for example United Kingdom and English, before reading any figures.
- Start with a few broad seeds and filter the ideas list to remove irrelevant terms.
- Use bid ranges to spot commercial keywords that are likely to convert.
- Look at the monthly breakdown to understand seasonal demand.
- Download the list and group terms by topic as part of keyword clustering.
Limitations
- Grouped variants: Google often combines close variants and plurals into one figure, so similar keywords may show identical volumes.
- Ranges for low spenders: broad bands make it hard to compare keywords precisely.
- Ad focus: it hides or under-reports many informational and long-tail keywords that have little advertising value.
- No organic metrics: it does not show keyword difficulty, ranking pages or click-through estimates.
Where it fits
Keyword Planner is a solid, free starting point for keyword research. Most SEOs combine it with Google Trends for timing, Search Console for queries a site already appears for, and third-party tools for organic competition data.
Treat its volumes as a guide to relative demand rather than exact counts. A keyword shown at 1K to 10K could be searched a few hundred times or several thousand times a month, so check the monthly breakdown and compare it with other sources before making big decisions based on one figure.
Key Takeaways
- Keyword Planner is a free Google Ads tool for finding keywords and estimating volume.
- You can use it without running ads by creating an account in Expert Mode.
- Low-spend accounts usually see volume ranges rather than exact numbers.
- Its Competition column measures advertiser competition, not organic difficulty.
- Combine it with other tools for a full picture of organic opportunity.
Related Terms
Curious how this applies to your website? Request a free SEO check-up, or keep learning in the SEO Encyclopedia.