Whether you are an SEO analyst or a website owner, it is very likely that you will come across Google Keyword Planner. A lot of digital marketing efforts revolve around the keywords you are targeting. This is the reason why SEO experts spend a lot of time and resources on keyword research.

It is a crucial step to improve conversion rates and easily increase your web traffic. People who use Google Keyword Planner thoughtfully are likely to enjoy excellent SEO results.

1. Create a Google AdWords Account

To access the Google Keyword Planner, you begin by creating a Google AdWords account. It will require you to enter information regarding your business. Once you enter the required details, and your AdWords account is set up, you can access the Google Keyword Planner through the tools menu.

Click on the wrench icon on the top right of the window. It will open the tools menu. Click on Keyword Planner. The next screen will show you two tools that you can use for your SEO campaigns.

Google focuses on providing you with keyword solutions with PPC marketing in mind. So, if you are only interested in identifying the right set of keywords for your audience, you may not find use for certain features in the tools. Let us look at each of the tools and how it can aid your SEO campaigns and content strategies.

2. Using the 'Discover New Keywords' Tool

The Discover New Keywords Tool will help you look up new keywords based on the business and target audience. You can enter up to 10 words or phrases at a time. To help Google better understand your keyword needs, you can also enter a reference URL related to your business. You can use your own website's URL as well.

When you conduct keyword research, the foundations of your research have to be very strong. Keep user intent in mind and think of the kind of topics that your audiences are most likely to search for. This will help you target your audience through keywords which reflect their search intentions with better precision.

Use these topics to find keywords in the Google Keyword Planner. The results page will bring up a lot of information regarding keywords that you can use. You will see how competitive a keyword is, how often it is searched every month, and approximately how much people pay for using these keywords for PPC marketing.

3. Using the 'Get Search Volume and Forecast' Tool

On the other hand, if you already know the keywords you are targeting, then you can use the Get Search Volume and Forecast tool. With the help of this tool, you can find out how many searches are conducted on a monthly basis using these keywords. Additionally, it will also show you a forecast of the number of clicks and impressions you can get from these keywords. You will not find any keyword suggestions when using this tool.

4. Things to look for when choosing your keywords

These two tools sum up everything you need to know on how to use the Google Adword Keyword Planner. You can choose a keyword to begin a PPC campaign through the keyword search results. But how do you decide which keywords to target? While Experienced SEO Expert may keep lots of factors in mind for choosing keywords, here are three basics that you can start with:

*Search volume - Check the search volume of the keyword you want to target. Google is a little discreet about it because you will generally show the monthly search volumes described as between 1k-10k. This does not give you a clear picture of the search volume. But, if you click on that keyword and proceed to creating a campaign, Google will show you the estimated impressions you can expect per month.

*Commercial intent - You can find out if a keyword has high commercial intent by looking at the competition and the value of bids. Anything too high involves extensive competition. But it also shows that the keyword has lots of potential. It is ideal to use keywords with great commercial intent with those that have lower commercial intent.

*Remove negative keywords - If you want to strike out anything that includes the words, free and cheap, then you can add restrictions to these words in your keyword search. By removing words, you do not want to see, you narrow down your keyword search results in a better way.

This is how you can use Google Keyword Planner to search for keywords and to begin a PPC campaign if you would like to start one. It is one of the free tools which can help you increase web traffic by using the right set of keywords.