If you’re a small business owner and you’ve been struggling to get the right keywords for your Google Ads, you are not alone. Finding the best keywords can often feel like turning a place inside out.
With the wrong Google Ads keywords, your ads won’t reach the people who matter most — prospective customers! This can be frustrating and discouraging for novice advertisers who are trying to grow their businesses.
So put an end to your keyword woes, and let us help. In this article, we’ll show you how to create effective Google Ads campaigns by finding the best keywords for your campaigns. The right keywords help ensure that your ads are seen by exactly who you want them to be — without wasting precious budget. So if you’re ready to take charge of your ad campaigns, read on!
Different Options for Selecting Keywords
Knowing what keywords to target when planning your Google Ads campaigns is like having a crystal ball for success: it can give you the power to unlock business growth and wealth. But, finding the right keywords is only half the battle — you need to figure out how to search for them in an efficient manner.
Note: There are several types of keywords that you can use to promote your ads. Visit our guide on the Types of Keywords in Google Ads and How to Use Them for more information.
Thankfully, there are plenty of strategies and techniques out there that can help you find keywords quickly and effectively. Whether your preference is manual research or automated tools, understanding all of these methods will put you in the driver’s seat when choosing which keyword research option works best for your organization.
Selecting Keywords by Traffic Volume
When it comes to selecting keywords for Google Ads campaigns, the most important thing is to understand traffic volume. Search volume measures how many people are searching for a particular keyword on a given day.
Knowing the estimated search volume of each keyword is essential to ensure that your campaign has enough search traffic to generate any real results.
Low-Volume vs High-Volume Search Keywords
Low-volume search keywords refer to search terms that have relatively low traffic volumes or are not frequently searched for on search engines like Google. These keywords typically have fewer than 1000, or even less than 100 searches per month, and can be more specific or niche in nature compared to high-volume keywords.
While low-volume keywords may not generate a lot of traffic, they can be useful for targeting a specific audience and improving the relevance of your content for those who are searching for them.
For those wanting to maximize their PPC potential, there are certain keywords that should be at the forefront of any campaign: high-volume search keywords. These highly sought-after terms and phrases have hundreds, even thousands of searches per month and can drastically increase the number of views an ad receives.
High-volume keywords are usually short-tailed ones or those that use anywhere between one to two words in a phrase. However, this is not a rule, since there are also some keywords in various industries that are still of high volume even if it is composed of three to four words.
How to Research Keywords Based on Search Volume
Researching keywords based on volume doesn’t have to be a pain. With various keyword research tools available in the market (like those we will discuss further down), finding relevant keywords by volume is faster and easier.
Simply enter one of your seed words and watch as the tool gives you a list of related keywords with their matching volume data.
For example, we placed “television repair” in Google Ads Keyword Planner and were shown a list of similar keywords plus their average monthly traffic volume.
Those with less than 100 searches per month are low-volume, while those with 10 thousand to one million searches per month are high-volume. Those in between (1k to 10k) are considered mid-level.
Other tools that are great for researching keyword volume are some PPC tools like Braxy, Wordstream, SEMrush, and more.
Google Ads Management Tools can also provide such data, like here in Braxy.
Selecting Keywords by Intent
Researching Google Ads keywords based on intent is an indispensable step in any savvy digital marketing campaign. By delving into what users are actually looking for and why, you’ll be able to develop ads and use keywords that meet their needs, prompt action, and drives conversions.
Knowing the “who”, “what”, and especially the “why” behind user searches can really help you get ahead of your competition and make sure your time (and money) spent on marketing is worth its weight in gold! Crafting a digital marketing strategy with intent-driven keywords in mind helps you get ahead and stay there.
There are actually two kinds of intent, and these are:
Information Intent
Information intent occurs when people search with the aim of getting more data on something. It is especially beneficial for companies that primarily want to increase brand awareness, visibility, and recognition within their sector.
By recognizing these searches, companies can provide exactly what consumers are seeking — valuable facts, figures, or general information about a product or service.
Examples of such keywords for Google Ads are:
- DIY television repair
- best surround sound speaker brands
- how to unclog kitchen sink
This has far more search volume than the next type.
Buying Intent
If you are looking to give your business a boost, understanding what buying intent keywords are should be at the top of your list! The truth is these sorts of search terms indicate when someone is actively searching for something to buy, rather than simply browsing or researching an item.
Consequently, this type of traffic typically has a much higher chance of turning into customers or resulting in a purchase. And while the search volume for such keywords is naturally lower, that doesn’t make them any less integral to the success of your company’s marketing efforts since they have better chances of converting users to paying customers.
Examples of keywords with buying intent are as follows:
- surround sound speaker sale
- television repair near me
- shop large blue shirt
- cheap television in Los Angeles
- free shipping sofa deals
While the second example is not for something “on sale”, it shows that the user is a customer looking for a specific service, so it is still counted as “buying” intent.
Keywords with buying intent are very competitive keywords, so you need to be smart when using them. You can be assured, though, that these deliver the best results.
How to Research Keywords Based on Intent
The main components of intent-based keyword research include:
- understanding user motivations,
- getting clear about who your audience is and what their search habits look like,
- identifying target audiences’ problems, and
- understanding the cultural context behind relevant topics.
Some of the best tools to research keywords based on intent are SEMRush, Braxy, Answer the Public, and AlsoAsked.
Selecting Keywords by Relevance
Keyword relevance is a measure of how closely related a keyword is to the content, product, or service being promoted. For example, if you’re selling hiking gear, “hiking boots” is a highly relevant keyword for your business, while “combat boots” is not.
Keyword relevance is important because it helps you create ads that resonate with your target audience and drive more qualified traffic to your website or phone calls to your number.
The relevance of a keyword will determine how well it can capture the attention of its intended audience; if the keyword isn’t relevant enough to the user’s search, it won’t be seen by them as quickly and will lower your ad’s quality score.
How to Research Keywords Based on Relevance
Researching keywords by relevance is pretty easy because most tools nowadays provide search results closely related to your seed keyword. Let’s use the search we performed in Google Ads Keyword Planner as an example.
As you may notice, the first column indicates Keywords (by relevance). The first word is our base keyword, labeled as Keywords you provided. Underneath it is Keyword ideas, which are related terms.
You can click on the checkbox next to the keyword that you think is highly relevant to your ad and add them up to your campaign.
Here at Braxy, our AI automatically searches for relevant keywords for your campaign so that you won’t have to do so manually. All that’s needed to ensure that the words Braxy found will work for your campaign is for you to confirm which among the results you’d like to try.
A simple click on the thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons are all you need to tell Braxy that it’s moving in the right direction.
Selecting Keywords by Trends
It’s no surprise that staying abreast of current trends is paramount for successful PPC campaigns. Knowing which keywords to target based on what’s new and trending at the moment can lead to higher conversions, increased exposure, and ROI potential.
Trend-based keyword research provides insight into the changing public interest in a product or service, often indicating potential changes in consumer behavior.
By paying attention to what’s popular at any given time and surfacing keyword ideas based on up-to-date analysis, marketers can stay ahead of their competitors and make informed decisions when creating or making changes to their campaigns.
How to Research Keywords Based on Trends
Trending searches are best used by companies that offer a wide variety of services or products. For example, in retail, you can find which products are all the buzz lately. If you have such products, you can grab the chance by joining the hype and focusing your campaigns on them.
Popular sites like Google Trends and Twitter can help identify new topics that are gaining traction with consumers. With Twitter, you can have a look at the trending hashtags section. While it is on social media, rest assured that users searching for such products will turn to Google for information.
You can of course try Google Trends, too. For example, when you type in “shop” in Google Trends, it will show you all keywords for shopping products that are increasing in searches at the moment (and where).
Google Trends also shows how big the increase in searches is. In our example above, you can see the keyword “shop white sneakers near me” has increased by 2,450% over the past 12 months. You can also change the duration if you want to see trends in the past month, week, or days.
It’s up to you to select keywords that are relevant to your business and is trending in your area.
Selecting Keywords by Price (CPC)
One of the main ways to choose the right keywords is by researching the cost-per-click (CPC) or price associated with each potential keyword phrase. A small business advertising in Google Ads would likely have a modest budget. As such, it will want to focus on cheaper phrases that can deliver traffic affordably.
However, more expensive keywords may bring in higher-quality leads since they often indicate commercial intent and absolute relevancy to specific niche services and products. But the more competitive your niche and your keyword, the higher the average bid price.
How to Research Keywords Based on Price
Some keywords are more expensive than others, and you’ll need to research keywords based on price before you start your campaign. Here are some tips on how to do this research:
First, take a look at your budget and determine how much you’re willing to spend on keywords. This will help you narrow down your options and focus your research.
Next, use keyword research tools to find keywords that are relevant to your business and within your budget. These tools will help you see how much each keyword costs (on average) and how many people are searching for it.
Take a look at our television repair example again, this time, check the price indicated on the last two columns on the right. These are Top of page bid (low range), and Top of page bid (high range).
The low range one provides you the information on the lowest possible CPC bid you can place on your Google Ads campaign for your ad to be seen on the search results. However, it doesn’t guarantee placement on the first page. It is possible that your ad will be shown on the next pages of results, or you may even lose the bid and your ad will not be shown at all.
The high range one provides you the information on the highest possible CPC bid you can place on your Google Ads campaign for your ad to be seen on the very first page of the search results. While there is a good chance your ad will show up, think about whether this price is cost-effective for you and your business.
Your ad showed up and you paid a sizable amount for the click — but did you get a decent Return on Ad Spend? This is an important question you need to ask yourself when optimizing your ads. Even without data, you can still evaluate the price by thinking about whether or not a successful lead or phone call is worth the price of the click.
Your best bet when bidding for a specific keyword is to bid somewhere in the middle. If you are not getting enough traffic, bid higher. If your ads are showing up but it’s too expensive for your budget, bid lower.
5 Best Tools to Use for Keyword Research
Researching and selecting the right keywords for your Google Ads campaigns is essential to understanding and optimizing ad performance. Here are some of the best tools for keyword research to help you succeed with your PPC Google Adwords campaigns:
Google Ads Keyword Planner
We’ve used this tool as an example multiple times above!
This free and comprehensive tool comes straight from Google itself, so you can trust it to deliver useful keyword suggestions and useful insights into traffic trends. Plus, the custom segmentation reports let you see which search terms are fit for different markets — making sure your content reaches its intended audience.
Braxy. io
This innovative Google Ads management tool utilizes AI to automatically search for relevant keywords in your industry and location. What’s more, it continually does so by analyzing your active campaign’s performance and even your competitors so that it can regularly provide keyword recommendations.
Another unique feature of Braxy is that it automatically provides negative keywords, which are keywords that don’t perform well for your campaign. Rather than spending money on these keywords that are black holes for your budget, you can easily have them paused without analyzing tons of marketing data.
You heard it: you don’t have to do a thing! If navigating the Google Ads landscape is too confusing for you, Braxy is your best bet. If you are curious about how it works, book a free demo and see how automation can make your Google Search Ads so much easier.
SEMrush
SEMrush is like the OG of digital marketing.
It provides a wealth of information about organic search results, paid ads, keyword analysis, and competitive analysis. In terms of PPC campaigns, SEMrush has all the bells and whistles you need to optimize your copy, track performance metrics and set budgets accordingly — ensuring every campaign dollar is well-spent.
SEMrush also offers detailed insights into competitors’ strategies that can be used as a benchmark. But more than that, SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool lets you access tons of related keywords in the blink of an eye. So you can get loads of fresh ideas with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Moz Keyword Explorer
What makes Moz Keyword Explorer is that it provides detailed information about search volume, difficulty level, and organic click-through rates for each keyword. That means you can make informed decisions about which keywords to target and which ones to avoid like the plague.
Moz Keyword Explorer also offers advanced filtering options that allow you to sort your keyword results based on relevance, search volume, and difficulty level. It’s like having your own personal filter barista who knows exactly what you want in your cup of joe.
Of course, no tool is perfect. One downside of Moz Keyword Explorer is its pricing — it can be a bit steep compared to other tools on the market. And while it does offer localized data for specific countries or regions, some users may find its integration with other platforms lacking.
Overall though, if you’re serious about optimizing your website or advertising campaigns with killer keywords (and who isn’t?), Moz Keyword Explorer is definitely worth checking out.
Keywords Everywhere
Keyword Everywhere is a browser extension that provides users with search volume data, cost per click (CPC), and competition data for keywords on popular search engines like Google, YouTube, Amazon, Bing, and more. The tool is designed to help users quickly and easily identify valuable keywords for SEO or PPC campaigns.
Once installed in your web browser, Keyword Everywhere will display keyword metrics directly within the search engine results page (SERP). This makes it easy to analyze potential keywords without having to switch between different tools or platforms.
Keyword Everywhere offers both free and paid versions of its tool. The free version includes basic features such as monthly search volume and competition data. The paid version offers additional features including historical trends data, CPC, related keywords suggestions, multi-location support, and more.
All in all, to find best keywords for Google Ads…
…you must understand how you want to select keywords first — by volume, intent, relevance, price, and trends. Analyzing how your keyword performs based on your benchmark is the next step.
If you’re still as clueless as before about searching for keywords, then try Braxy. Our tool takes away all the hassles of research by doing everything the AI way — which means it’s quick, accurate, and best of all, hassle-free! Schedule a free demo and see how it works.