I have a process that's basically 3 stages - dump, review, tier. Dump: Run their site and competitors through SEM Rush and dump all paid and organic keywords. Use Keyword Magic tool in SEMRush to identify similar or alternate keywords Sit down and think through 'intent' keywords and make a big list. Run the above list through Keyword Magic tool and kick out even more keywords. Use keyword planner to grab some additional keywords. Dump everything together into an excel sheet with keyword, search volume, and average CPC. If it's coming from keyword planner, I average the low and high estimate to get a rough average CPC. Review: I now have a massive excel list of keywords. I sort by search volume and basically remove anything that I think won't drive qualified traffic or will be really difficult to pursue in search due to intent (i.e. even if I want to target Purple Mattresses...going after 'Purple' as a keyword is probably not productive). This usually gets me a shorter list with healthy search volumes. Tier: I now go through my list and I add filters into excel. I go through and mark the highest intent keywords as T1. Those are keywords that I HAVE to be in front of regardless of search volume. Usually a mix of long-tail and highly relevant searches. I then go through and filter by keywords that have moderate to high search volume and also low CPCs. Those are next priority and get marked T2. This is where the bulk of the volume and (if I had a high budget) spend would go. I then go back through and sort the list by search volume and carve out the keywords with the highest volume but have higher CPCs. These are going to be T3 keywords and I'll likely include these with some type of keyword cap or carved out into a separate campaign. These are ones that you can sometimes sneak into the auction at lower CPCs and steal conversions without significantly driving up spend - or keywords you can add into the mix of you aren't spending out budget with the first two tiers. Then it's just client budget dependent. Low budget? I'm probably only pursuing T1 keywords. As budget scales, I'll add in my incremental keywords. Answer from OddProjectsCo on reddit.com
🌐
Google
business.google.com › en-all › ad-tools › keyword-planner
Research Keywords for Campaigns with Keyword Planner – Google Ads
Our keyword research tool gives you insight into how often people search for certain terms – and how those searches have changed over time.
🌐
Google
trends.google.com › trends
Google Trends
Trends · Explore · Trending now · Sign in · homeHome
Discussions

How do you do keyword research?
I have a process that's basically 3 stages - dump, review, tier. Dump: Run their site and competitors through SEM Rush and dump all paid and organic keywords. Use Keyword Magic tool in SEMRush to identify similar or alternate keywords Sit down and think through 'intent' keywords and make a big list. Run the above list through Keyword Magic tool and kick out even more keywords. Use keyword planner to grab some additional keywords. Dump everything together into an excel sheet with keyword, search volume, and average CPC. If it's coming from keyword planner, I average the low and high estimate to get a rough average CPC. Review: I now have a massive excel list of keywords. I sort by search volume and basically remove anything that I think won't drive qualified traffic or will be really difficult to pursue in search due to intent (i.e. even if I want to target Purple Mattresses...going after 'Purple' as a keyword is probably not productive). This usually gets me a shorter list with healthy search volumes. Tier: I now go through my list and I add filters into excel. I go through and mark the highest intent keywords as T1. Those are keywords that I HAVE to be in front of regardless of search volume. Usually a mix of long-tail and highly relevant searches. I then go through and filter by keywords that have moderate to high search volume and also low CPCs. Those are next priority and get marked T2. This is where the bulk of the volume and (if I had a high budget) spend would go. I then go back through and sort the list by search volume and carve out the keywords with the highest volume but have higher CPCs. These are going to be T3 keywords and I'll likely include these with some type of keyword cap or carved out into a separate campaign. These are ones that you can sometimes sneak into the auction at lower CPCs and steal conversions without significantly driving up spend - or keywords you can add into the mix of you aren't spending out budget with the first two tiers. Then it's just client budget dependent. Low budget? I'm probably only pursuing T1 keywords. As budget scales, I'll add in my incremental keywords. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/PPC
18
18
June 14, 2022
Is Google Keyword Planner enough for keyword research?
I'm not a fan of keyword planner purely because of the way it groups keywords together. For example, there's no distinction in keyword planner for "wood photo frames" and "wooden photo frames" - it combines the volume at 3,600 searches a month (UK). Whereas Ahrefs breaks it down: "wooden photo frames" 900 "wood photo frames" 150 The SERP is slightly different for each term too. Just a recent example where a small title change can improve CTR, as you're matching the most searched for query. You can do the opposite with keyword mapping if something's too competitive and go for a less searched-for term. Keyword Planner doesn't give you that data at that level - it's a PPC tool at the end of the day. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/SEO
7
2
October 7, 2024
Is Google Keyword Planner enough for Keyword Research?
So much terrible advice on this sub. For basic keyword research, yes, keyword planner is absolutely enough, coupled with just googling the keywords you’re targeting to ensure the intent is correct and the SERP isn’t too competitive. All agencies I’ve ever worked for have used this tool, as well as a variety of others. Once you get more familiar with it, more advanced tools will eventually make sense. I heavily prefer SEMrush keyword magic tool - it generates much more encompassing and relevant keywords based off your seed keyword. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/SEO
75
25
October 16, 2022
How do you guys do keyword research?
In really broad strokes... I start with the Keyword Magic Tool in Semrush and start building a list from there. I look at the questions on terms in there to see which ones are worth adding as well. I'll use several different stem terms and repeat this process a few times. Then I look at popular sites in the niche and pull their highest traffic pages in Semrush and see what keywords are driving traffic to those pages. I'll add keywords from there to my list. Next I use Google autocomplete on popular search terms. I will type something like "how to bake a" and see what comes up. Then I change the 'a' to a 'b'. Then a 'c'. Relevant keywords from here get added to the list as well as PAA questions that pop up. After a couple of days of doing this, I take the whole big list and run it through Keyword Cupid to start building out silos and cluster ideas. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/SEO
42
13
November 28, 2022
People also ask

Why use Google Keyword Planner for SEO?
Google Keyword Planner is a cost-effective and accurate tool for finding short- and long-tail keyword ideas. It provides reliable data and helps identify valuable search opportunities for your SEO campaigns.
🌐
seo.com
seo.com › blog › uncategorized
How to Use Google Keyword Planner for SEO in 2025 - SEO.com
How do you use Google Keyword Planner for SEO?
To use Google Keyword Planner for SEO, first log into your Google Ads account, choose 'Discover new keywords' or 'Get search volume and forecasts,' then start with keywords or a website. You can refine and save keyword ideas for future campaigns.
🌐
seo.com
seo.com › blog › uncategorized
How to Use Google Keyword Planner for SEO in 2025 - SEO.com
Where does Keyword Tool get keywords from?
Keyword Tool gets keywords from different search engines - Google, YouTube, Bing, Amazon, eBay, App Store, Play Store, Instagram, X, Pinterest to name a few. Most keywords, hashtags, and products shown in Keyword Tool come from the autocomplete data of the search engines.
🌐
keywordtool.io
keywordtool.io
Keyword Tool ⚠️ Google Keyword Planner【Search FREE】
🌐
AnswerThePublic
answerthepublic.com
Search listening tool for market, customer & content research - AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic listens into autocomplete data from search engines like Google then quickly cranks out every useful phrase and question people are asking around your keyword.
🌐
Zapier
zapier.com › app picks › best apps
The 4 best free keyword research tools in 2025 | Zapier
June 9, 2025 - To help, I considered nearly 90 tools with a free option for keyword research. After in-depth testing, here are the four best free keyword research tools, including the all-around greats and apps built for more specific use cases. Google Keyword Planner for researching paid keywords
Find elsewhere
🌐
SEO.com
seo.com › blog › uncategorized
How to Use Google Keyword Planner for SEO in 2025 - SEO.com
October 15, 2025 - With Keyword Planner, you can research keywords, view metrics (like volume, competitiveness, and cost per click), and download keyword data. ... Price: Google Keyword Planner is free, which is perfect if you’re looking for a cost-effective tool.
🌐
Quora
quora.com › Which-Google-Play-Store-keyword-research-tool-is-the-most-accurate
Which Google Play Store keyword research tool is the most accurate? - Quora
Answer: Finding the most accurate Google Play Store keyword research tool can be tricky, as we know little about the platform's search algorithm. It's hard to come across a tool that may help you with exploring search volume numbers, specifically for the Play Store. Still, if you do a little digg...
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/ppc › how do you do keyword research?
r/PPC on Reddit: How do you do keyword research?
June 14, 2022 -

I'm starting on a fairly new google ads account and only want to use very specific relevant keywords. Google keyword planner gives very broad suggestions that I usually can't use because they would eat up my budget.

How do you approach kw research?

Is there maybe a tool that can show me my competitor's kws or something similar?

Top answer
1 of 9
34
I have a process that's basically 3 stages - dump, review, tier. Dump: Run their site and competitors through SEM Rush and dump all paid and organic keywords. Use Keyword Magic tool in SEMRush to identify similar or alternate keywords Sit down and think through 'intent' keywords and make a big list. Run the above list through Keyword Magic tool and kick out even more keywords. Use keyword planner to grab some additional keywords. Dump everything together into an excel sheet with keyword, search volume, and average CPC. If it's coming from keyword planner, I average the low and high estimate to get a rough average CPC. Review: I now have a massive excel list of keywords. I sort by search volume and basically remove anything that I think won't drive qualified traffic or will be really difficult to pursue in search due to intent (i.e. even if I want to target Purple Mattresses...going after 'Purple' as a keyword is probably not productive). This usually gets me a shorter list with healthy search volumes. Tier: I now go through my list and I add filters into excel. I go through and mark the highest intent keywords as T1. Those are keywords that I HAVE to be in front of regardless of search volume. Usually a mix of long-tail and highly relevant searches. I then go through and filter by keywords that have moderate to high search volume and also low CPCs. Those are next priority and get marked T2. This is where the bulk of the volume and (if I had a high budget) spend would go. I then go back through and sort the list by search volume and carve out the keywords with the highest volume but have higher CPCs. These are going to be T3 keywords and I'll likely include these with some type of keyword cap or carved out into a separate campaign. These are ones that you can sometimes sneak into the auction at lower CPCs and steal conversions without significantly driving up spend - or keywords you can add into the mix of you aren't spending out budget with the first two tiers. Then it's just client budget dependent. Low budget? I'm probably only pursuing T1 keywords. As budget scales, I'll add in my incremental keywords.
2 of 9
6
I use Keyword planner on Google Ads. It’s actually pretty good to build a foundation of terms. Then, once I have enough data flowing through, I build out my keywords with the search terms report.
🌐
Keyword Tool
keywordtool.io
Keyword Tool ⚠️ Google Keyword Planner【Search FREE】
The keyword suggestions will be ... you choose. ... Keyword Tool is free online keyword research instrument that uses Google Autocomplete to generate hundreds of relevant long-tail keywords for any topic....
🌐
Google
developers.google.com › search central › documentation › seo starter guide: the basics | google search central
SEO Starter Guide: The Basics | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google for Developers
Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content. Users who know a lot about the topic might use different keywords in their search queries than someone who is new to the topic.
🌐
Google
adstransparency.google.com
Ads Transparency Center - Google
Ads Transparency Center · Go to Ads Transparency Center home page · Sign in · Google apps · Main menu
🌐
Spyfu
spyfu.com
SpyFu - Competitor Keyword Research Tools for Google Ads ...
Our keyword metrics come directly from Google Keyword Planner and we created lists of the highest CPC and search volume keywords. Discover core niche keywords. Organize them into concepts. Expand the groups. ... Research keywords to focus on.
🌐
HubSpot
community.hubspot.com › t5 › Content-Strategy-SEO › Best-tools-for-keyword-research-for-SEO-newbie › m-p › 510802
Solved: HubSpot Community - Best tools for keyword research for SEO newbie - HubSpot Community
October 14, 2021 - Keyword research is the foundation of any effective SEO plan—it helps you understand what your audience is actually searching for, how competitive those terms are, and what type of content will give you the best chance to rank.
🌐
WordStream
wordstream.com › home › free tools › free keyword tool
Free Keyword Tool | WordStream
October 11, 2024 - But you can use it for SEO keyword research too! The Free Keyword Tool’s keyword and keyword search volume data is sourced through the Google and Bing keyword research API.
🌐
Grow My Ads
growmyads.com › google-search › keyword-research
Google Ads Keyword Research Guide for 2025
JavaScript is disabled in your browser · Please enable JavaScript to proceed · A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser
🌐
AdEspresso
adespresso.com › home › guides › the ultimate google ads guide › how to do keywords research to start your first campaign
How To Do Keywords Research To Start Your First Campaign
January 10, 2019 - The best place to start keyword research for your first campaign is right on Google Ads itself, utilizing Google’s own keyword tool.
🌐
Keyword Tool Dominator
keywordtooldominator.com › google-keyword-tool
Free Google Keyword Tool for Google Keyword Research
Leverage our Google keyword research tool to quickly find and generate thousands of Google keywords.
🌐
Chrome Web Store
chromewebstore.google.com › detail › keyword-surfer › bafijghppfhdpldihckdcadbcobikaca
Keyword Surfer - Chrome Web Store
Keyword search volume, CPC and insights for all keywords you search. Works with Google, YouTube and Amazon.
🌐
The HOTH
thehoth.com › google-keyword-planner
Google Keyword Planner Tool
The HOTH Google Keyword Planner Tool powered by SEMrush, helps find high-volume terms and phrases that relate to your primary keyword. Enter a keyword or keyword phrase below and get started with your keyword research!