Free Guide

How to Use Google Keyword Planner for SEO and PPC

A step-by-step walkthrough of Google Keyword Planner covering keyword discovery, search volume analysis, competition filtering, and forecast exports. Built from 200+ keyword research projects across BFSI, D2C, healthcare, and SaaS.

Last updated: March 2026 · 12 min read

Quick Answer

What is Google Keyword Planner and how do you use it?

Open Google Ads, switch to Expert Mode, click Tools > Keyword Planner, and choose between “Discover new keywords” or “Get search volume and forecasts.”

Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool inside Google Ads that shows search volume estimates, competition levels, and cost-per-click data for any keyword. You don’t need to run ads to use it. You just need a Google Ads account set to Expert Mode. The tool has two core functions: finding new keyword ideas from seed terms or competitor URLs, and pulling volume and forecast data for keywords you already have. Both are useful, and most SEO professionals use them in combination. We run Keyword Planner on every client engagement at ScaleGrowth.Digital before touching any third-party tool, because it’s the only source of first-party Google data available for free.

“Third-party tools estimate search volume. Keyword Planner gives you Google’s own data. It’s directional, not exact, but it’s the closest you’ll get to ground truth without running ads. We start every keyword research project here, then layer in Semrush or Ahrefs for competitive gaps.”
Hardik Shah, Founder of ScaleGrowth.Digital

This guide walks you through every feature of Keyword Planner in 2026, from account setup through advanced filtering and data export. Whether you’re building your first keyword list or refining a campaign with 10,000 terms, the workflow below applies.

Contents

What this guide covers

How to access Google Keyword Planner (account setup)
How to discover new keywords
How to get search volume and forecasts
How to filter and refine keyword lists
How to spy on competitor keywords
How to export and organize your data
How to use Keyword Planner for SEO vs. PPC
Pro tips from 200+ keyword research projects
Common mistakes to avoid
Frequently asked questions

Step 1

How do you access Google Keyword Planner?

You need a Google Ads account, but you don’t need to spend money on ads. Create an account at ads.google.com, skip the campaign setup wizard (click “Switch to Expert Mode” at the bottom), and you’ll land in the full Google Ads dashboard.

Expert Mode check: If you see a settings gear icon in the top-right navigation, you’re in Smart Mode. Switch to Expert Mode first. Keyword Planner isn’t available in Smart Mode.

Once you’re in Expert Mode, click Tools in the top menu bar, then select Keyword Planner under the Planning section. You’ll see two options:

Discover new keywords — Enter seed terms or a URL to generate keyword ideas
Get search volume and forecasts — Paste an existing keyword list to see volume and CPC data

The entire setup takes under 3 minutes. No billing information is required just to use Keyword Planner, though Google may prompt you to enter payment details during account creation. You can skip the campaign and still access the tool.

Step 2

How do you discover new keywords in Keyword Planner?

Click “Discover new keywords” and choose between two starting points: Start with Keywords (enter up to 10 seed phrases) or Start with a Website (enter a URL and let Google extract keyword themes from the page content). Starting with keywords is the default approach for most campaigns. Enter 3-5 seed terms that describe your product, service, or topic. Google returns hundreds to thousands of related keyword ideas with monthly search volume ranges, competition level, and suggested bid ranges. Starting with a website is the faster route when you already have a well-structured page or want to reverse-engineer a competitor’s keyword footprint. Enter the competitor’s URL, select “Use only this page” (not the entire site), and Keyword Planner pulls keywords from that specific page’s content.

Method	Best For	Typical Output
Start with Keywords	New campaigns, topic exploration	500-2,000 keyword ideas
Start with a Website	Competitor analysis, content gap discovery	100-800 keyword ideas
Combined approach	Comprehensive keyword research	1,000-5,000+ unique ideas

We typically run both methods on the same project. The keyword-based approach catches broad intent, while the URL-based approach finds terms you might not have thought to seed. On a recent BFSI client engagement, the URL method surfaced 340 keyword ideas that none of our 15 seed terms would have generated.

Step 3

How do you get search volume and forecasts?

The “Get search volume and forecasts” option is for when you already have a keyword list. Paste up to 10,000 keywords (one per line or comma-separated), and Keyword Planner returns volume data, CPC estimates, and click/impression forecasts for each term. This is the faster workflow when you’ve collected keywords from Search Console, Screaming Frog, or a third-party tool and want to validate them against Google’s own data.

Volume range caveat: In 2026, Keyword Planner shows volume as ranges (e.g., 1K-10K) for accounts without active ad spend. Accounts with consistent spend see exact monthly numbers. For SEO purposes, treat ranges as directional. Cross-reference with Google Search Console impression data for your existing pages to get tighter estimates.

Understanding the Forecast tab. The Forecast tab shows projected clicks, impressions, cost, CTR, and average CPC for your keyword list over the next 30 days, based on your selected bid and budget. Even if you’re not running ads, this tab reveals which keywords have the highest commercial value. A keyword with a $15 CPC forecast tells you there’s serious buyer intent behind those searches. We use the Forecast tab to prioritize content pages. If a keyword has high CPC forecasts, we know it’s commercially valuable and worth building a dedicated resource page around. That signal doesn’t show up in any free third-party tool with the same reliability.

Step 4

How do you filter and refine your keyword list?

Raw keyword lists from Keyword Planner contain noise. A 2,000-keyword export for “content marketing” will include irrelevant terms like “content marketing job salary” or “content marketing course free.” Filtering is where the real work happens. Keyword Planner’s built-in filters let you narrow results by:

Average monthly searches: Set a minimum (e.g., 100/month) to remove ultra-low-volume terms
Competition: Low, Medium, or High (this reflects advertiser competition, not organic difficulty)
Top of page bid: Set a range to find high-commercial-intent keywords
Keyword text: Include or exclude specific words (e.g., exclude “free” or “job”)
Location: Filter by country, state, or city for local SEO campaigns
Language: Filter by target language

The location filter is especially powerful for local SEO. As of 2026, Keyword Planner shows location-specific volume data broken down by region, making local keyword research far more precise than in previous years (Source: Google Ads, 2025). If you’re running SEO for a multi-location business, filter by each city separately and compare relative demand.

Filter	When to Use	Example Setting
Min. monthly searches	Remove low-volume noise	100+ for national, 10+ for local
Keyword text: exclude	Remove irrelevant intent	Exclude “job”, “salary”, “free”
Top of page bid: low range	Find commercial keywords	$2.00+ minimum
Location	Local or regional campaigns	Mumbai, Maharashtra
Competition: Low	Find quick-win PPC terms	Low competition + 500+ volume

A filtering workflow we use at ScaleGrowth.Digital: first remove branded terms (competitor names you don’t want), then set a minimum volume threshold, then exclude job/career/salary terms, and finally sort by top-of-page bid descending to see the most commercially valuable terms first. This sequence typically cuts a 2,000-term list down to 200-400 actionable keywords in under 10 minutes.

Step 5

How do you use Keyword Planner to spy on competitor keywords?

Enter a competitor’s page URL in the “Start with a Website” option under “Discover new keywords.” Select “Use only this page” to see keywords Google associates with that specific page, or “Use the entire site” for a broader view of their keyword footprint. This won’t show you exactly which keywords your competitor ranks for (that requires a tool like Semrush or Ahrefs), but it shows what Google’s algorithm considers topically relevant to their content. That’s a different and sometimes more useful signal. We typically run 5-8 competitor URLs through this process per project. The overlap between competitors tells you which keywords are table stakes for your industry. The gaps between them tell you where the opportunity is. A practical example: for a D2C skincare brand, we entered the top 5 ranking pages for “best face serum” and found that 4 out of 5 pages had Google associating them with “vitamin C serum for hyperpigmentation” even though only 2 of them used that exact phrase. That was a content gap worth targeting. You can also use this method on your own pages to see how Google perceives your existing content. If the keywords Google associates with your page don’t match your target keywords, your content may need restructuring.

Step 6

How do you export and organize keyword data?

Click the download icon in the top-right corner of the results table. Keyword Planner exports to CSV or Google Sheets. The export includes keyword text, average monthly searches, competition, competition index (0-100), top-of-page bid (low range), and top-of-page bid (high range). The CSV export is your raw material. Here’s how we organize it for SEO projects:

Import into Google Sheets. Create a master keyword sheet with columns for: keyword, volume range, competition index, low bid, high bid, intent category, priority tier, and assigned URL.
Add intent labels. Manually tag each keyword as informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional. This takes 15-20 minutes for a 300-keyword list, but it shapes your entire content strategy.
Cluster by topic. Group related keywords under parent topics. “How to use keyword planner,” “keyword planner tutorial,” and “Google keyword tool” all belong to the same cluster.
Assign to pages. Map each cluster to an existing page or flag it as needing a new page. One page per primary topic cluster.

We maintain a master keyword spreadsheet for every client at ScaleGrowth.Digital, updated quarterly. The Keyword Planner export is the foundation, layered with Search Console impression data, Semrush position data, and manual intent tagging. The spreadsheet becomes the single source of truth for all content and PPC decisions.

Step 7

How should you use Keyword Planner differently for SEO vs. PPC?

Keyword Planner was built for Google Ads campaigns, so its default view prioritizes PPC metrics. SEO professionals need to read the same data through a different lens.

Metric	PPC Interpretation	SEO Interpretation
Competition	How many advertisers bid on this keyword	Not organic difficulty (ignore for SEO rankings)
Top-of-page bid	Expected CPC for ad placement	Commercial value proxy; high bids = high buyer intent
Search volume	Traffic potential for ad impressions	Demand signal; pair with Search Console data
Forecast clicks	Expected paid clicks at your bid	Relative demand indicator across keyword sets

For SEO: Focus on search volume trends (not absolute numbers), use CPC as a commercial intent signal, and ignore the “Competition” column entirely. The competition metric measures advertiser density, not organic ranking difficulty. A keyword with “Low” competition in Keyword Planner might have a DR 80+ site in every organic position. For PPC: Use the Forecast tab to model campaign performance before spending. Set your target bid, review projected clicks and impressions, and adjust your keyword list to stay within budget. The forecast data is updated daily based on real auction data. As of 2026, Broad Match keywords in Google Ads use AI and intent modeling, making them less keyword-dependent and more context-based (Source: Google Ads, 2025). This means your PPC keyword list from Keyword Planner serves as a targeting guide rather than an exact match requirement.

Pro Tips

What do experienced practitioners do differently?

1. Use competitor URLs, not just keywords

Seed terms give you what you expect. Competitor URLs give you what you’re missing. Run the top 3-5 ranking pages for your target keyword through the URL discovery tool. The overlap is your minimum viable keyword list. The unique terms are your opportunity.

2. Cross-reference with Search Console

Keyword Planner shows volume ranges. Search Console shows actual impressions for keywords you already rank for. Match the two datasets: if Search Console shows 5,000 impressions for a keyword that Keyword Planner buckets at “1K-10K,” you’ve calibrated the range.

3. Sort by CPC to find money keywords

High CPC keywords have proven commercial intent. Advertisers wouldn’t pay $15 per click for a keyword that doesn’t convert. Sort your list by top-of-page bid descending to find the keywords worth building dedicated landing pages around.

4. Use negative keywords proactively

Before building your final list, add irrelevant terms to the keyword text exclusion filter: “free,” “job,” “salary,” “course,” “PDF.” This saves 30+ minutes of manual cleanup on every research session.

5. Run seasonal comparisons

Change the date range to compare volume across months. Some keywords spike 300-400% during specific seasons. Knowing this timing lets you publish content 6-8 weeks before peak demand, giving Google enough time to index and rank your pages.

Avoid These

What are the most common Keyword Planner mistakes?

Mistake 1: Treating volume ranges as exact numbers. Keyword Planner shows “1K-10K” for accounts without ad spend. That’s a 10x range. Don’t build a business case on the assumption that a keyword gets 10,000 searches when it might get 1,200. Use volume ranges to compare keywords against each other (relative demand), not as absolute traffic projections. Mistake 2: Using “Competition” as organic difficulty. The Competition column reflects advertiser density, not how hard it is to rank organically. A keyword with “Low” competition might have 10 domain-authority-90 sites on page one. For organic difficulty, use a dedicated SEO tool like Ahrefs Keyword Difficulty or Semrush’s KD% metric. Mistake 3: Researching in the wrong location. Keyword Planner defaults to your country. If you’re doing research for a client in India while sitting in the US, your volume data will be wrong. Always set the location filter to match your target market before running any research. Mistake 4: Ignoring the Forecast tab. Most people only use the keyword ideas view. The Forecast tab shows projected performance at different bid levels and is the best free source of commercial intent data. Even for SEO-only projects, forecast CPC data tells you which keywords are worth the most to businesses in your space. Mistake 5: Not combining with other data sources. Keyword Planner is one input, not the only input. Combine it with Google Search Console (real impression data), Google Trends (directional demand shifts), and at least one third-party SEO tool (competitive positioning data) to build a complete picture. Relying on a single data source leads to blind spots.

Related Resources

What should you use alongside Keyword Planner?

SEO Checklist

After building your keyword list, use our 47-point on-page checklist to make sure every page is optimized for the keywords you’ve chosen. Get Checklist →

How to Submit a Sitemap

Found your keywords and built the pages? Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console so your new content gets crawled and indexed. Read Guide →

Content Calendar Template

Turn your keyword clusters into a publishing schedule. Our calendar template maps keywords to content briefs with deadlines and owner assignments. Get Template →

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google Keyword Planner free to use?

Yes. Google Keyword Planner is free for anyone with a Google Ads account. You don’t need to run ads or spend money. However, accounts without active ad spend see search volume as ranges (e.g., 1K-10K) rather than exact numbers. Accounts with consistent monthly spend see precise monthly volume figures.

How accurate is Google Keyword Planner search volume data?

Keyword Planner’s volume data is directional, not exact. The ranges can span 10x (1K-10K), so use them to compare relative demand between keywords rather than to project exact traffic. For more precise estimates, cross-reference with Google Search Console impression data for keywords you already rank for.

Can I use Keyword Planner for SEO, not just Google Ads?

Absolutely. While Keyword Planner was built for advertisers, SEO professionals use it daily for keyword discovery, volume estimation, and commercial intent analysis. The key difference: ignore the “Competition” column (it measures ad competition, not organic difficulty) and use the CPC bid data as a proxy for keyword commercial value.

What’s the difference between Keyword Planner and Google Trends?

Keyword Planner shows absolute search volume estimates and CPC data for specific keywords. Google Trends shows relative search interest over time on a 0-100 scale without absolute numbers. Use Keyword Planner to size demand and find new keywords. Use Google Trends to spot seasonality patterns and rising topics.

How many keywords can I research at once in Keyword Planner?

You can enter up to 10 seed keywords in the “Discover new keywords” tool, and up to 10,000 keywords in the “Get search volume and forecasts” tool. For large-scale research, use the bulk upload option in the forecasts tool and paste your full keyword list.