The success of your Google Ads campaign starts with choosing the right keywords.
You need to identify terms that drive clicks, conversions, and maximize your ROI.
In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to do keyword research for Google Ads to achieve results that matter.
How to Use the Free Template + Checklist
To keep everything organized, I’ve prepared a Google Ads Keyword Research Template and a step-by-step Checklist for you to follow.
A. Keyword Research Template
Copy this Google Sheet and as you find keywords, add them to these columns:
- Campaign
- Ad Group
- Keyword
- Avg. Monthly Searches
- Competition
- Top of the Page Bid Range (High/Low)
- Notes
Tip: Color-code your keywords for easy grouping. For instance, highlight “walk-in closet” group in yellow, “small closet organizer” group in green, etc.
B. Checklist
- Clarify your campaign goal (sales, leads, brand awareness).
- Brainstorm seed keywords (broad product/service terms).
- Use Google Keyword Planner
- Discover new keywords
- Get search volume & forecasts
- Expand beyond GKP (competitors, Google Autocomplete, social, etc.)
- Evaluate search intent (transactional vs. informational).
- Build a negative keyword list
- Group keywords by theme (ad groups)
- Assign match types
- Consider brand & competitor keywords
- Export & track in your final spreadsheet.
- Monitor performance after launch – add more negatives as needed.
Step-By-Step Guide to Do Keyword Research for Google Ads
Step 1: Clarify Your Goals & Brainstorm Seed Keywords
a. Define Your Campaign Goal
Before you start finding keywords or plug anything into Google Keyword Planner, think about what you want from your Google Ads. Is your goal to:
↳ Drive eCommerce sales (for an online store).
↳ Generate leads or phone calls (e.g., for a local service business).
↳ Promote brand awareness (if you want your name out there more).
Clearly define your ad goal to make sure that you target the right types of keywords.
For instance, if you want direct sales, you’ll look for high-intent “buy now” style keywords.
But if you just want to build awareness, you might also include some broader terms.
b. Brainstorm Seed Keywords
Once you know what you want to achieve with your Google Ads, it’s time to start brainstorming seed keywords.
Seed keywords are the basic, broad terms that describe your core offering– the product or service you provide.
Let’s say you sell custom closet systems. Your initial seed keywords could be:
→ closet systems
→ custom closets
→ closet organizer
→ walk-in closet designs
Next, look at the terms your competitors’ use to describe similar products/services to expand your list.
To do that, Google your product/service and open the top results that are most relevant to your product/service.
Analyze your competitor’s website for keywords by looking at its product categories and note down any relevant terms that resonate with your offerings.
Repeat this step with different broad terms/seed keywords that define your products/services. If any Google Ads pop up (results marked Sponsored), take a note of them as well.
Thereafter, find keywords ideas in Google SERP.
There are two main areas of the SERP where you can find valuable keyword ideas related to the term you have searched.
The People also ask section:
Depending on your ad campaign goals, you can find some really valuable question-type keyword ideas. These are the questions your target audience is asking and if your goal is brand awareness, it can be really helpful.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the SERP, you’ll find more keyword ideas in the People also search for section.
It shows a list of related queries that people have made after a similar initial search. Take a note of relevant phrases that resonate with your product/services.
I also recommend using forums like Reddit and Quora to find keyword ideas. This is where your target customers are asking real questions.
For example, if you wanted to find keyword ideas on Reddit, simply type [your niche] site:reddit.com into Google and search.
Open relevant results.
I was able to find a few relevant keyword ideas right of the bat.
To find more keyword ideas, open the subreddit and see what people are posting.
You can also ask ChatGPT for additional suggestions to expand your initial keywords list.
You can command it something like:
Help me brainstorm seed keywords for my [Business Type] + [Any relevant information or additional context]
Just remember that ChatGPT’s suggestions are guesses—it’s your job to verify them with real data (which we’ll do in Step 2).
Step 2: Use Google Keyword Planner (Detailed Tutorial)
Google Keyword Planner is Google Ads’ own free tool that helps you find and analyze potential keywords. You’ll need a Google Ads account (you don’t need to have an active campaign, but you must set the account up).
a. Start by finding new keywords
Once you’re on Google Ads dashboard, click Tools > Planning > Keyword Planner.
This will take you to the Google Keyword Planner Dashboard.
Select Discover new keywords to get more keyword ideas.
Enter the keywords you brainstormed and found using SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
Select your target location by clicking the location pin icon. If you cater to a specific city, you can even select that particular city and Keyword Planner will show you a search volume estimate for that particular city.
Next, enter your domain. This is optional, but if you do, it helps Keyword Planner filter out related terms that are not relevant to your actual business.
Lastly, click Get results.
This will show you the list of keywords you entered along with related keywords.
Let me explain the different elements here.
First, there’s Avg. monthly searches column, which shows the average search volume of a keyword over the past few months.
Next is the Three month change that shows how search volume for a keyword has shifted over three months by comparing the most recent month’s data with data from two months earlier. For example, if the latest month is October, it compares October’s search volume to August’s.
Whereas, the YoY change compares the current monthly search volume with that of the same month previous year.
These metrics help you understand how a keyword has performed over time.
Then, there is the Competition metric, which gives an idea of how many advertisers are bidding on a keyword.
Top of page bid (low range) shows the lower end of what advertisers typically pay to appear at the top of the search results page. Whereas, Top of page bid (high range) shows the higher end of what advertisers typically pay for the same.
Depending on your entered keywords, GKP suggests different ways to refine your keywords.
For example, if you would rather not see brand keywords, you can deselect them.
Or if you don’t provide a certain product/service or don’t want to target it with your ad campaign, you can deselect them too. This helps make your Google Ads keyword research more focused on your goals.
GKW also suggests some broad keywords you can use to find more related keyword ideas. Usually, I’m not a fan of these recommendations, but occasionally, you find some good ideas here or some initial keywords you may have otherwise missed.
If any of them make sense, select them to discover more keyword ideas.
Now, it’s time to start selecting keywords based on:
→ Their relevance to your core offerings (that you want to run ad campaigns for)
→ The Competition level (you generally want to target Low or Medium)
→ Your budget (compare it with Top of page bid sections)
Apart from that, you want to select board match keywords that have multiple words in them (I’d suggest more than 3).
Why? Because Google now targets the meaning of the keyword phrase and not just the keywords you mention.
The more words, the better Google will understand the context of the keyword phrase and what you’re wanting to target.
b. Get an idea of how your keywords may perform
If you already have a list of keywords (like from a competitor or you’re brainstorming), go to the Google Keyword Planner dashboard and choose Get search volume and forecasts.
Paste or upload the keywords you want to analyze.
Hit Get Started.
GKP will show you how many clicks, impressions, or costs you might expect, plus the average monthly search volumes for each keyword.
Google Keyword Planner displays broad ranges (like “1k-10k” monthly searches) instead of an exact number, especially if you don’t run an active ads campaign.
But I still find these ranges useful to get a broad idea of the keyword’s potential.
Once you’re done, click the Download icon (upper right) to save your keyword data as a .CSV.
This will be handy for sorting and grouping keywords later.
Step 3: Expand Your Keyword List Beyond GKP
While GKP is great, it sometimes only gives you fairly obvious keywords. Let’s broaden the net:
c. Find Keyword Ideas with SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool
The best way to find reliable keyword ideas validated by search volumes and keyword difficulty scores is to use SEMrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
Just enter your seed keyword, select your target country, and hit Search.
You can find thousands of keyword ideas related to the term you have entered.
Filter keywords based on your budget with the CPC filter. Set a low to high range that you’re comfortable with.
I also add the Competitive Density column to my report to get an idea of how many advertisers bid on each keyword.
Just click the gear icon in the top right and select Competitive Density.
Pick the ones that have good to decent volume and lower keyword difficulty– while making sure they are relevant to your business.
b. Do Competitor Analysis with SEMrush’s Advertising Research
To get more valuable Google ad keyword ideas, I use SEMrush’s Advertising Research Tool to find keywords that my competitors bid on.
Just enter the domain of a competitor and hit Search.
This will show you an overall report.
Scroll down to see the list of keywords your competitor targets in ad campaigns that helps them reach the target customers.
To narrow down the results to keywords most relevant to your business and campaign goals, scroll back up and use Advanced filters.
Enter terms and use filters to define whether you want to include or exclude those terms.
Select relevant keywords that you can provide a better solution for.
Step 4: Understand & Evaluate Search Intent
Now that you have potential keywords, you need to figure out which ones are worth targeting in your Google Ads.
Some keywords look good in theory– low competition, high volume– but might not convert at all.
This is why understanding the search Intent is important. It’s basically why someone typed that keyword– what they are trying to achieve with the search. The four main types are:
1. Transactional: These are “buy now” keywords that searchers use when they are ready to purchase a product or service.
2. Commercial: These keywords show the searcher is researching and comparing options before deciding to buy.
3. Informational: Searchers use these queries to seek knowledge or find how-to information, often at an earlier stage in the buying process.
4. Navigational: These searches show the user wants to go to a specific website or brand page directly.
How to narrow down keywords by intent:
Look at the Top of page bid in GKP. Higher suggests other advertisers are seeing conversions. Lower might indicate it’s less likely to convert (or less competitive).
SEMrush makes it better by providing the search intent right next to each keyword.
You can also filter results by intent.
Step 5: Create a Negative Keyword List
Negative keywords tell Google Ads: “Do not show my ad if the user’s search includes these words.”
Defining negative keywords helps you save money on irrelevant clicks.
To find out negative keywords:
→ Scan your GKP or 3rd-party list: Are there search terms that definitely don’t match your offer? For instance, “free closet design templates” if you only sell premium.
→ Look for informational queries you would rather not pay for, e.g., “DIY closet tutorial.”
→ Keep an eye on synonyms or competitor brand names you don’t want to appear next to. Example: “Ikea closet organizer” if you don’t want to compete on that brand’s searches.
Step 6: Organize & Group Keywords for Ads
Once you have your final “positive” keyword list and negative keywords set aside, you’ll want to:
a. Group Keywords by Theme
In Google Ads, you create Ad Groups to keep relevant keywords together. This matters because each ad group can have its own ads and landing pages.
If your keywords are all over the place, it’s hard to write a single ad text that fits everything.
Example for a custom closet business:
→ Ad Group #1: “Walk-in closet” related terms
→ Ad Group #2: “Small closet organizer” or “space-saving” keywords
→ Ad Group #3: Possibly brand-specific or competitor terms
b. Assign Keyword Match Types
Google Ads has three main match types for search campaigns:
→ Exact Match: Your ad shows only when the user’s query is exactly (or very close to) your keyword (e.g., [custom closet system]). Good for controlling spend but may limit volume.
→ Phrase Match: Your ad shows if the user’s query contains the meaning of your phrase. For example, “affordable custom closet system” would trigger ads for phrase match “custom closet system.”
→ Broad Match: Ads can show for synonyms and related searches. This casts the widest net but can lead to irrelevant clicks if not carefully managed.
Pro Tip: If you’re a beginner or have a smaller budget, I suggest starting with phrase and exact match on your best keywords. Then expand to broad match once you have some performance data and a negative keyword list.
Step 7: Don’t Overlook Competitor & Branded Keywords
a. Bidding on Your Own Brand Name
If you have any brand awareness at all, some people might specifically search your brand (e.g., “John’s Custom Closets”). Bidding on your brand name:
→ Usually costs very little (high Quality Score).
→ Protects you if a competitor tries to bid on your brand.
So, you might want to bid on your brand keywords but don’t target them alone. You should have other ad campaigns targeting non-branded keywords as well to help your brand reach more potential customers.
b. Bidding on Competitor Brand Terms
You can also bid on competitor brand names (like “Closets by Design reviews”), but:
- It might be more expensive because your landing page typically won’t be as relevant.
- Conversion rates may be lower (people searching for a competitor might be loyal to them).
- Double-check trademark rules in your region so you don’t violate any guidelines.
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
✘ Ignoring Negative Keywords: This is number one. If you don’t weed out irrelevant searches, expect to pay for worthless clicks.
✘ Not Checking Real Search Terms: After your ads run, always check the Search Terms Report in Google Ads to see the actual queries. That’s how you refine or discover more negative keywords.
✘ Bidding on Extremely Broad Keywords: Terms like “closets” or “clothes storage” can be too broad. You might blow your budget on people who only want free info or general browsing.
✘ Using the Same Ad Copy for All Keywords: If you group all your keywords into one ad group, your ad text can’t speak to specific user needs. Separate them logically for better results.
✘ Overlooking Branded Terms: Even if it seems obvious, brand bidding ensures you’re not losing brand traffic to a competitor.
Convert More By Targeting The Right Google Ads Keywords
To find the right keywords that bring qualified leads for your business through Google Ads, check out these guides:
↳ How to Do Keyword Research for SaaS
↳ How to Do Keyword Research for eCommerce
↳ How to Do Keyword Research for B2B
Frequently Asked Questions
No. You can still see approximate search volumes without running ads, but Google may only provide broad ranges. If you want more precise data, an actively running campaign often unlocks narrower estimates. Even then, exact figures can fluctuate over time, so use the Keyword Planner’s data as a helpful guide rather than a definitive count.
It’s generally best to include a small group of closely related keywords in each ad group, such as 10-20 terms. This allows you to craft ad copy that directly addresses those queries, which can boost your Quality Score. Overstuffing an ad group makes it harder to write relevant ads and track performance effectively.
If your cost per click is too high, consider targeting more specific, long-tail keywords. These often face less competition and can be cheaper. Also review your ad relevance and landing page experience, since improving Quality Score can reduce costs. Testing different bids, keywords, and ad copy can help you find more affordable options.
You could, but phrase match alone might limit potential reach. Broad match can uncover new variations and synonyms you hadn’t considered, though it may bring less-targeted traffic. If you’re tight on a budget or still learning, starting with phrase and exact matches helps maintain control. Later, you can experiment with broad to expand coverage.
You could bit on competitors’ brand names unless trademarks are involved. It can be expensive because competitor terms often have strong brand loyalty. Also, conversions might be lower if people specifically want that brand. If you do test it, monitor performance closely to ensure it’s profitable and not just burning budget.
Google search ads are paid placements shown above or alongside organic results. They rely on bidding and relevance to gain visibility. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is about optimizing your website to rank higher in organic results for free. Ads can deliver quick traffic, but cost per click, while SEO can bring long-term, sustainable visits.
Google keyword search, through Google Ads, doesn’t have a standard, fixed price. You set a budget and bids for each click. Competitive keywords demand higher bids, while less competitive terms may cost less. Essentially, you control how much you pay per click, with final amounts varying by ad relevance, competition, and quality.
Google Ads keywords themselves are free to add to your campaigns, but you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. The Keyword Planner tool is also free to use for research. However, once your ads are live, you’ll pay per click based on your bid, competition, and Quality Score.
No, there isn’t a direct fee to use Google’s Keyword Planner. Anyone with a Google Ads account can access it. However, Google often shows broader search volume ranges unless you have an active campaign. You only pay if you run ads, but simply researching keywords with the tool itself is free.