How to Research Keywords for Google Ads – A Beginner’s Guide

Introduction

Choosing the right keywords for your Google Ads campaign can make or break its success, as keywords are a major component of a successful Google Ads campaign. This can be daunting if you have never run Google Ads before or even done keyword research.

 

Don’t worry, that’s why we created this beginner’s guide on how to research keywords for Google Ads. We’ll cover everything from the step-by-step process of conducting keyword research to using keyword research tools, and structuring your campaign so it’s keyword-friendly.

 

What is Keyword Research in Google Ads?

Keyword research is a simple yet effective process of identifying the keyword phrases your customers are searching for. If you know what keywords your customers are using when they’re searching for the solutions or products you provide, you can incorporate them into your Google Ads campaign so your ads show up when they’re looking for the things you offer.

 

Keyword research for Google Ads is today’s equivalent of market research. You should ALWAYS do keyword research before running any Google Ads campaign. You don’t want your ads to be triggered by a search query that isn’t even relevant to what you’re selling—that will get expensive. Rather, you want your ads to show up when people type in search terms that are exactly related to what you offer.

 

Understand the fundamentals and strategies behind effective keyword research for optimizing Google Ads campaigns with this guide on Keyword Research Explained.

 

Why is Keyword Research important for Google Ads?

Keyword research for Google Ads is the best way to improve your overall performance.

 

 

In the example above, we recently optimized our Google Ads campaign with keywords that matched the intent of what our customers were searching for on Google. The results: we achieved average click-through rates of around 15%, with conversion rates for those keywords ranging from 1.65% to upwards of 23.53%!

 

All because we researched the keywords our customers were searching for.

 

To be honest, it wasn’t just keyword research that contributed to the high CTR and conversion rates, but also the combination of proper campaign structuring, dedicated landing pages, and well-written ad copy. However, keyword research played a significant role in the success of those clicks and conversions, as it allowed us to present ourselves right in front of our customers.

 

 

How to Keyword Research for Google Ads

The keyword research process has several steps. Follow each of these steps in order, and by the end of this blog post, you will have your own list of keywords for your Google Ads campaign.

 

Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience

Before you jump into Google Ads, you first have to identify our audience. Think about it: how can you find the keywords your customers are searching for if you don’t know who your customers are?

 

Most businesses overlook this crucial step—they haven’t really thought about the people they are selling to. This is where developing audience personas comes into play, where you will identify your customers’ demographics, such as age ranges, gender, and location. Additionally, highlight their interests, motivators, and pain points.

 

By identifying your audience, you’ll gain a better understanding of what type of keywords you should be targeting later in the process for your Google Ads campaign.

 

Additionally, the information obtained as part of the audience persona can be used for other components of your Google Ads campaign, such as highlighting your customers’ motivators and pain points in the ad copy. Before any marketing effort, businesses should always aim to create a target audience persona.

 

Pro Tip: If you offer multiple product lines or services, consider creating an audience persona for each one. It’s common for businesses to have multiple audience personas, especially if you offer diverse product lines and services.

 

Craft a detailed audience persona to refine your marketing approach with this step-by-step guide on How to Create an Audience Persona.

 

 

Step 2: Structure your Google Ads Campaign Around A Specific Key Offering

 

Something to keep in mind: depending on your business and current objectives, at times you might only have a single Google Ads campaign running, while at other times you might have multiple campaigns running at once.

 

Whenever you do create a Google Ads campaign, you are creating it with one product or service as the primary offering. This focused approach will enable you to create a keyword-friendly campaign structure.

 

Our approach to keyword research for Google Ads relies on creating campaigns around very specific key offerings.

 

For example, if you are a company that sells outdoor clothing and equipment, you should structure your campaigns around the specific product lines available. So it might look something like this:

• Camping Gear
• Backpacks & Bags
• Jackets
• Footwear
• Cooking Sets

 

 

As you can see, this company has five ad campaigns set up. However, a service-based company such as a massage therapist might only need to build two campaigns, such as:

• Massage Services
• Additional Services

 

 

Step 3: Create a Keyword List

Now you’re really getting into the keyword research process. Up first: create a list of keywords. At this stage, don’t be too focused on choosing EXACTLY the right keywords for Google Ads; your goal is simply to create a list with as many keywords as you can come up with. You’ll pick the final keywords later.

 

Below are effective techniques you can use to build up this keyword list:

 

 

1. Brainstorm keywords related to your product or service.

Start brainstorming keywords by listing terms related to your product or service. If you are selling outdoor footwear, what keywords would your customers search for if they wanted to buy outdoor footwear? They might search for “outdoor footwear,” “outdoor shoes,” “hiking boots,” or even “camping footwear.” Whatever comes to mind, put all the keywords you can associate with your product or service on the list.

 

Remember: think like a person. hWhat words and phrases would humans use to search for your product or service? For example, would people be more likely to search for “inexpensive airline tickets” or “cheap flights”?

 

You might wonder if you should include keywords that go beyond the product and service, such as “how to choose outdoor footwear” or “best outdoor shoes for wet conditions.” Since these search phrases contain keywords about our products or services, they seem like good choices, right?

 

In keyword research in Google Ads, there are four intents a user may have when searching on Google: Transactional, Commercial, Informational, and Navigational. When it comes to Google Ads, you only need to target one of these intents: the transactional intent.

 

i. Transactional keywords indicate a strong intent to make a purchase or complete a specific action. These keywords usually include products or services such as “outdoor shoes” and “hiking boots.” These keywords have the highest intent, meaning that users are most likely to convert into customers or leads because they are looking to take action.

 

PRO TIP: If you’re a local business, incorporate local keywords into your transactional keywords. Users wanting to find a product or service locally will use geographic keywords in their searches, such as the city name, province/state, or even neighbourhood (for larger cities). For example, if you are using “massage therapist” as one of your keywords, you could also use “Saskatoon massage therapist.” Local intent searches are common for local businesses as they have high intent.

 

ii. Commercial intent keywords are used when the customer is in the consideration mindset and comparing/researching their options for potential products and services; they aren’t quite ready to make that purchase.

 

Examples include “best hiking boots,” “top-rated outdoor footwear,” “hiking shoes vs. trail running shoes,” and “outdoor footwear reviews.” We want to avoid using these keywords for Google Ads and save them for potential blog posts.

 

iii. Informational keywords are used by users just generally seeking information or learning about a topic without a direct intent to purchase immediately. These types of keywords have the lowest intent, so we don’t want to use these keywords for our Google Ads campaign. Informational keywords usually start with “how,” “what,” “when,” or “why.”

 

Examples include “how to choose outdoor footwear,” “benefits of hiking boots,” and “how to clean hiking boots.” We can save these keywords for blog posts.

 

iv. Navigational keywords are used when a user is looking to navigate to a specific website or find a particular brand or product online. We also want to avoid using these keywords unless you have a campaign that directs users to your homepage.

 

Examples include “Nike Official Website,” “Salomon Online Store,” “Facebook Login,” or “Timberland About Us.”

 

 

 

2. Identify a seed keyword for your product or service

A seed keyword is a broad, generic term related to a particular topic. Seed keywords serve as the starting point for generating a list of more specific, long-tail keywords. We love seed keywords as they help generate keyword ideas.

 

For example, a seed keyword might be “hiking boots.” From this seed keyword, you can identify more specific keywords like “waterproof hiking boots,” “men’s hiking boots,” “women’s hiking boots,” and “affordable hiking boots.”

 

Ideally, you will want to pick keywords for your Google Ads that are longer than 2 to 3 words. These are known as mid-tail keywords (between 2 to 3 words) and long-tail keywords (more than 4 words). These keywords make the search phrase more focused and specific, making it easier for users to find exactly what they are looking for.

 

For instance, a keyword like “hiking boots” is quite generic and broad, with multiple intents behind that search. However, a keyword such as “affordable men’s hiking boots,” has a stronger intent.

 

3. Use Google Search

While this may seem like a no-brainer, this technique for finding keywords is often overlooked. Once you have identified your seed keyword, enter it into Google Search. Google will display a list of recommendations for related searches, literally telling you what users are searching for.

 

This is an easy way to expand the list you already have with more detailed specific keywords.

 

 

 

4. Use ChatGPT

ChatGPT has completely changed the way we do keyword research (and all for the best reasons). If you don’t already know, ChatGPT is an AI model developed by OpenAI that can complete detailed tasks when asked. Essentially, it’s your personal virtual assistant that can do everything. Here’s a prompt we entered and the response ChatGPT provided:

 

 

How to use ChatGPT to research keywords for Google Ads

Here’s the cool thing: you can use ChatGPT to help research keywords for Google Ads. Copy these prompts below, enter them with your own information about your business, and watch ChatGPT generate lists of hundreds of keywords in mere seconds. This is by far one of the best tools to find a massive list of keywords in a short period of time.

 

Prompt #1: Suggest a list of transactional keywords for a [type of business/product/service].

 

Prompt #2: Provide a list of keywords using this seed keyword, [insert seed keyword].

 

Explore the capabilities and applications of ChatGPT, an advanced AI model, in keyword research and content creation with our explanation on What is ChatGPT?

 

Discover powerful prompts to enhance your SEO strategies using ChatGPT, from generating content ideas to improving keyword research, in our article on Best Prompts for SEO.

 

 

Step 4: How to Choose the Right Keywords for Google Ads

You should now have a substantial list of potential keywords for your Google Ads campaign. This list might range from 20 keywords to hundreds. We’ll explain later in this blog how many keywords you should use for Google Ads, but generally, it should be between 9 to 12 keywords per ad group. So how do we narrow down the list and pick the best keywords?

 

To choose the right keywords for Google Ads, follow these steps:

 

Analyze the Metrics: Look at key metrics monthly search volume, paid difficulty, cost-per-click (CPC), and search intent.

 

Use Keyword Research Tools: These tools can provide detailed information on each keyword, helping you decide which ones to use.

 

There are many keyword research tools available, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. We have used a variety of these tools, and some stand out more than others. Below, we’ve listed our three favourite keyword research tools:

 

 

Best Keyword Research Tools for Google Ads

1. Google Keyword Planner – Free Software for Beginners

Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool for Google Ads, which is included with all Google Ads accounts. You can easily access it under the “tools” menu in your Google Ads account.

 

 

Once you enter your keywords into the tool (up to 9 keywords at a time), Google Keyword Planner provides analytics on the keywords, including average monthly searches, competition, cost-per-click (CPC), and other metrics. It also suggests new keyword ideas based on the ones you entered, making it one of the best areas to find new keywords with relevant data at your fingertips.

 

The big downside is that while Google Keyword Planner is free, it is somewhat limited and barebones. It’s a good starting point if you’re just diving into keyword research, as advanced keyword research software can be pricey. However, if you’re looking to up your keyword research game, consider one of the following options.

 

2. Ubersuggest – Affordable for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses & Sole Entrepreneurs

Ubersuggest, developed by Neil Patel, is a user-friendly and cost-effective SEO and keyword research tool for Google Ads. The tool offers features that Google Keyword Planner provides, with added options to separate keywords based on suggested keywords, related keywords, or questions.

 

 

Ubersuggest also offers other SEO tools such as an SEO Audit, Content Ideas Generator, and Domain Analysis. It is one of the best keyword research tools for small businesses due to its affordability. The platform offers a lifetime plan for only $290, eliminating monthly fees. You can try the free version to see if it’s the right tool for you.

 

3. SEMrush – Comprehensive SEO Software for Enterprises, Larger Businesses, and Agencies

SEMrush is a comprehensive tool offering a suite of tools for keyword research, SEO, content marketing, PPC, and other digital marketing activities. It’s a powerful keyword research tool for Google Ads that provides everything you need to dominate your Google presence.

 

 

 

How to Choose the Right Keywords for Google Ads

Now that you have chosen a keyword research tool for Google Ads, it’s time to analyze your keywords. Understanding how to research keywords for Google Ads effectively involves examining several key metrics. Here’s how to find the best keywords for Google Ads by evaluating these metrics:

 

Metric #1: Search Volume

Search volume indicates how often a particular keyword is searched for within a month. Many beginners aim for keywords with the highest search volume, thinking it means more potential traffic. However, high search volume keywords are often short-tail keywords, which tend to be broad and generic with low intent.

 

Mid-tail and long-tail keywords, while having lower search volumes, attract more targeted traffic. The search volume can vary significantly across industries. For some, a monthly search volume of 100 is high, while others may consider 10,000 low.

 

As a guideline, aim for keywords with a monthly search volume between 10 and 1,000.

 

Metric #2: Paid Difficulty (or Competition)

Paid difficulty measures how competitive a keyword is in Google Ads. It reflects how many advertisers are bidding on the keyword and how challenging it might be to achieve a high ad position. If your competitors are already running Google Ads, keywords with high competition will require higher bids to rank well, affecting your campaign’s cost-effectiveness.

 

For a cost-effective approach, consider avoiding highly competitive keywords and focusing on less competitive ones that can still drive relevant traffic.

 

Metric #3: Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

CPC refers to the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad triggered by a specific keyword. It’s influenced by the keyword’s competitiveness, relevance, and quality score. Higher CPCs usually indicate stronger competition and higher intent from searchers.

 

A high CPC suggests that other advertisers find the keyword valuable, as it likely drives revenue and sales. However, the cost of keywords varies widely across industries. High-ticket products and services might see CPCs ranging from $10 to several hundred dollars per click, while low-ticket products and services require careful CPC management to remain profitable.

 

Metric #4: Intent

Understanding the intent behind a user’s search query is crucial when finalizing your keyword list. For Google Ads, you ideally want to target transactional intent keywords, as these indicate a strong intent to make a purchase or complete a specific action.

 

By focusing on these metrics, you can narrow down your keyword list and choose the right keywords for your Google Ads campaign, ensuring you attract high-intent traffic that is more likely to convert.

 

Using a comprehensive keyword research tool for Google Ads can simplify this process by providing detailed insights into these metrics. Some of the best keyword research tools for Google Ads include Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, and SEMrush, each offering unique advantages for analyzing and selecting keywords.

 

Choosing the Right Keywords:

To effectively choose the right keywords for Google Ads, follow this checklist:

 

• Balance of Search Volume and Competition: Aim for keywords with decent search volume and low to medium competition. This ensures you can attract sufficient traffic without overspending on bids.
• Relevance to Your Product or Service: Ensure selected keywords are highly relevant to what your Google Ad promotes. For instance, if your ad is about hiking boots, focus solely on keywords related to hiking boots.
• Match Intent: Opt for keywords that align with the intent of your product or service. Transactional intent keywords are ideal for Google Ads, as they indicate users are ready to take action.

Ideally, your chosen keywords should meet all three criteria.

 

Pro Tip: As you refine your list by eliminating keywords with zero monthly search volume, high competition, or incorrect intent, don’t be alarmed if your list shrinks from 50 keywords to just 10. Having a focused list makes it easier to select the most effective keywords for your campaign.

 

How Many Keywords Should You Use for Google Ads?

After analyzing your keyword list and selecting those suitable for your campaign, you might wonder how many keywords to use.

 

For optimal performance, aim to use between 9 to 12 keywords per ad group in Google Ads. This range allows for effective management and optimization of your ads.

 

While you can use more than 12 keywords per ad group, having too many can lead to challenges during Google’s learning phase. Google needs sufficient data to optimize ad delivery, and with too many keywords, each keyword may not receive enough impressions to accurately assess its performance.

 

Start with a manageable number of keywords to gather meaningful insights into their effectiveness. This approach ensures you can make informed decisions based on actual performance data rather than limited impressions.

 

We trust this beginner’s guide has set you on the path to mastering how to research keywords for Google Ads.

 

Both keyword research and Google Ads are extensive subjects that demand time and resources. If you’re starting out, follow our comprehensive guide on how to research keywords effectively to discover the exact search terms your customers use.

Did you like this article? We know more stuff.

Here’s the exciting part: we provide specialized training on how to research keywords for Google Ads, along with in-depth insights into Google Ads and Keyword Research. In fact, our digital marketing training program offers a complete roadmap to elevate your digital presence. Explore more about our Digital Marketing Certificate.

 

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