Google’s newest research tool for content producers and advertisers is the Keyword Planner, which they announced in May. Along with this new tool’s reveal Google also announced that they would be “sunsetting” their Google Keyword tool and their Traffic Estimator, and replacing it with the Google Keyword Planner tool. The Keyword Planner is actually designed to be a combination of the two older tools, and along with it comes a new set of options for doing keyword research. The Keyword Planner can be accessed here. Note that a Google Adwords account is now required to access the tool, though you do not need to create a campaign or provide payment information to use the tool.
Core Functions of the Keyword Planner
One of the most welcome changes with the new Google Keyword Planner is probably the introduction of Location Settings, which give more control over local targeting. Previously we could only target at country level which was often frustrating when you were trying to make projections to target regional searchers. Now you can drill down to towns and cities to better find search volume in the area and optimize a site accordingly. This increased control will be particularly beneficial for clients who want to target PPC on a geographical basis, as we will now be able to gain more accurate search volume information when first establishing the campaign. It will also be easier to identify ‘hot spots’ where search volume is higher or cheaper for particular search terms.
Keyword Planner now shows all keyword data and predictions based on Exact Match as opposed to the previously used ‘broad match’. This means the data you see within the tool by default is based on the exact keyword you have entered. In the past, Google’s Keyword Tool data was defaulted to ‘broad match’ meaning variants of your entered keyword would have been included in the resultant data. You will notice that the average search volume data is higher in Keyword Planner as compared to the exact match search volume data you got with Keyword Tool. This is because the Keyword Planner will show you the average number of searches tallied from all devices (desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and mobile phones).
How Keyword Planner is different from Keyword Tool
In Keyword Planner, you’ll notice several different data columns than those that you were used to seeing in Keyword Tool. Some of the changes to watch for include:
- Local monthly searches and global monthly searches: These two columns have been replaced by the “Average monthly searches” column, simplifying the search volume data you can get. The average monthly search volume is specific to your targeting settings, and you can get data for an entire country or individual cities and regions within a country. Note that you can still get global monthly search data by targeting all locations.
- Google Search Network: This column has been replaced by the network option within the targeting settings. To get data for the entire Search Network, select the “Google and search partners” targeting option.
- Search share: This column has been retired.
- Approx. CPC (Search): This column has been replaced by the “Avg. CPC” column. You’ll get more accurate data in the average cost-per-click column than you did in the approximate cost-per-click column.
- Local search trends: This column doesn’t appear in the Keyword Planner interface. However, you can still get search volume trends segmented by month when you download your historical statistics from Keyword Planner.
- Extracted from webpage: This column has been removed from the Keyword Planner interface. However, you can still get the webpage the keyword idea came from when you download your historical statistics from Keyword Planner. Note that you’ll only get this data when you search for keyword and ad group ideas based on a URL, like a webpage on your website.
The new Google Keyword Planner packages two tools’ data into one convenient to navigate interface, and with the new geo-targeted options may provide additional value to local businesses and regionally-focused websites to better target and find their audience.
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