SHM Studio walks you through how to run an effective keyword search on Google, showing that choosing the right terms is the foundation of any SEO strategy aimed at generating qualified traffic.
- Analysis tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner are essential for discovering monthly search volumes and gauging how competitive terms are before you plan your content.
- Search intent: Understanding whether users are looking for information, a product or a specific site (informational, transactional or navigational intent) is crucial to delivering the right answer and improving your ranking.
- Long-tail effectiveness: Targeting "long tails" (specific phrases of 3+ words) lets you reach a niche of users closer to conversion, with less competition than generic terms.
- Quality selection: Traffic volume isn't all that matters. What counts is how relevant the term is to your business; choosing the wrong words brings visits that don't convert and wastes resources.
Finding keywords with Google Search means knowing how to use the Keyword Planner correctly, one of the best tools for keyword research.
Whatever your niche, knowing this tool from the search engine will show you the best keywords for gaining more online visibility.
At SHM Studio we use a range of tools to optimize our clients' digital presence, but we believe the Keyword Planner is the first one to learn.
The searches you run with it deliver clear results with ease, which are essential for building a high-performing marketing strategy.
That strategy may also include targeted advertising campaigns.
Let's look step by step at what it does and how you can get the most out of it.
Keywords with Google Search: why the Keyword Planner helps and how to use it
The main job of the Keyword Planner is to target keywords on the Google Ads platform.
With it you can see a whole range of data, from keyword suggestions to monthly search volumes.
Although its main purpose is building targeted PPC campaigns, the information it provides can also be used to:
- Analyze competitors
- Estimate CPC
- Estimate your PPC budget
The Keyword Planner has one undeniable advantage: it's free.
And although it has changed over the years, it isn't too complicated to use.
Google Keyword Planner: the steps to follow
To access Google's keyword planning tool, you first need a Google account.
You can then log in to the Google Ads platform and click the "Discover new keywords" box, as shown in the figure below:
Let's run a simulation, imagining we want to search for keywords related to the product "leather belts":
Enter the keyword in the field provided, and you can also select the language and target location to refine your search for your market.
You'll then see results for the keyword you entered, plus all related keywords, along with other data including:
- Average monthly searches
- Estimated competition
The role of search volumes
These figures are very important because they give you an idea of search volumes and competitiveness.
It's best to choose keywords with a good search volume but not too many competitors.
In our example, almost all keywords related to "leather belts" show high competition.
What can you do in these cases?
You can use specific Keyword Planner features to find Google Search keywords that are easier to index and rank for.
For example, you can set filters and broaden your search, or refine your keywords:
For the "leather belts" example, we decided to narrow the search to "women's" and also deselect all the brands we aren't interested in:
The search is then updated. Even though the "leather belts" niche is highly competitive, we find that the keywords "high waist leather belt" and "high waisted leather belts" have enough search volume and fewer competitors:
Of course, we can go for these keywords only if they truly represent our brand. After that, we can reasonably expect them to help us generate conversions.
That's the goal, after all: to select keywords that are genuinely relevant to the brand, its services and/or products, and that bring properly targeted users to your site.
And to do that, the Keyword Planner can be a great ally.
Setting up an Ads campaign with Google's keyword planning tool
Once you've identified the keywords you care about, you can also set up a campaign in a few clicks by entering the average daily budget you want to invest.
Targeted Ads campaigns are a great way to boost traffic at key moments. They're useful, for example, when launching a new product or starting an offer.
That said, we don't recommend relying on this tool alone for your business's success.
In our view, the first thing to do is grow organic traffic by putting a solid SEO strategy in place on your website.
As a web agency in Milan, we work to improve our clients' online visibility. If you need targeted digital marketing activities, we're here for you.
Just use this form to get in touch and quickly find out everything we can do for you and your business. No empty talk, just concrete results that can help you climb the rankings on Google!
Related articles
Discover more articles exploring similar topics, selected to offer you a more complete and stimulating perspective. Each piece of content is carefully chosen to enrich your experience.
