Free Google Keyword Tool – 3 easy steps to Keyword Planner

It is sad that the Google Keyword Tool has been replaced by Google Planner.  But after a bit of research, the new Google Planner is still very handy. And easier to use than I thought.  And it is still a FREE Google Keyword Tool.

Instead of sadly lingering over the demise of the old Keyword Tool or spending hours searching for, reading up, and trying out various alternatives (which I have already done), let’s find out how to use this new free Google Keyword Tool as easily as possible.

Easy Steps to Use the New Free Google Keyword Tool

I have included 2 videos at the bottom that you can watch.  Here I will give you the summary steps so that you can get a quick overview or use as an easy refresher.

How to Use Google Keyword Planner

1) Get Google AdWords Account

To use the Google Keyword Planner, you need an AdWords account. Just go to Google AdWords to sign up for an account free.

Search for Keyword with Keyword Planner

2) Login and Use Keyword Planner
The Keyword Planner is to be found under “Tools and Analysis”

Next Screen: Just click “Search for keyword and ad group ideas”. A box will appear.

3) Shortcuts to Using Keyword Planner
Image below is the shortcut to do things quickly.

1. Enter the keyword(s) you want to research
2. (opt) Limit total volume searches to something reasonable.  (Too high volume searches almost always means keyword(s) will be too hard to rank well for.)
3. Under “Keyword Options”, turn “On” the “Only show items closely related to my search terms” will give you much relevant results
4. “Get ideas” to see results of your keyword search
   

   Shortcut to using the Free Google Keyword Tool

Keyword Ideas tab in Keyword Planner

In the next (results) screen, click the “Keyword Ideas” tab. That is the only tab that is really useful.

Then from there, the results will be more like the old Google Keywords Tool.  It should be pretty straight forward from therein.

Benefits of Keyword Research

The purpose  of keyword research is multi-faceted. Keyword Research is highly recommended if you want your page to rank well in search engines (and get traffic). However it can be a time-consuming process.  So you want to be able to do it with as much ease and as in as little time as possible, while still getting its benefits.

A summary from Keyword Research are:

• Demand and Search Volume – determine if there is any demand for the keyword(s) you are contemplating.  It is virtually pointless to have keywords that almost no one is searching for.
• Keyword Ideas – are there other related keywords you can use instead (with reasonable demand)
• Quantity of Competition – how high is the supply of the same keywords (i.e. how many pages covering the same keywords)?
• Quality of Competition – who are the top competitors?  If the pages appearing on the first page of search results are mainly top ranking sites and/or authority sites, then you know it will be very hard if not impossible to rank well for the keyword you are considering.

The new Google Planner is a free Google Keyword Tool that can aid tremendously in researching keywords.  In this article, I don’t go into how to analyse nor evaluate keywords results, search volume, or competition.  The purpose of this article assumes you already know the how and why of keyword research.  So this article is focused primarily in providing a quick and easy guide to quickly learning the new Google Keyword Planner.

Videos on How To Use Google Keyword Planner

These 2 YouTube videos below each teach how to use the Google Keyword Planner. However they cover slightly different aspects so I recommend watching them. The written article above is a condensed summary of the same to provide a brief overview and quick refresher.

I would recommend watching the videos in order as per below.  I found that was a clearer approach.  However the order is not crucial.

How to Use the Google Keyword Planner

by JM Internet Group

Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Larry James from Durham Web Designer for alerting me to the video above.  I had just about dismissed the new Google Keyword Planner as a useful free google keyword tool.  I thought it was just lousy.  Now after this video and some more research, I find that Larry was correct in recommending it.  The Google Keyword Planner is perhaps the best free alternative to the retired Google Keyword Tool.

Google Keyword Planner Tool

by ultimatedadlife.com

I hope this post has proved useful and will help you to easily dive into the usefulness of the new free Google keyword tool.  Have you tried the Keyword Planner already?  Do you have an even better suggestion for a keyword research tool?  Please feel free to comment below …