About Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner is a free tool inside Google Ads that suggests keywords and estimates how often people search for them. It was built for advertisers, but knowing how to use Google Keyword Planner for SEO is still worth it: you get keyword ideas straight from Google, rounded monthly search estimates, and a commercial-value signal from bid ranges. The catch is that you need a Google Ads account with billing details to open it.
Who makes it and who is it for?
Keyword Planner is part of Google Ads. Google calls it a free resource to help advertisers build keyword lists for search campaigns, and that is its main job: planning ads and budgets.
SEOs, bloggers and small-business owners use it as a free starting point for keyword research. It will not replace a paid SEO keyword tool, but for a new blog or a local business site it answers the two questions that matter most at the start: what do people search for, and roughly how often?
Features that matter for SEO and content
- Discover new keywords. Enter words or phrases related to your business, or a website URL, and get a list of related keyword ideas.
- Get search volume and forecasts. Paste or upload a list of keywords you already have to see their historical metrics and projected clicks and impressions for ads.
- Average monthly searches. Google's help says this is the average number of searches for a keyword and its close variants, averaged over 12 months by default, for your chosen locations and network, and the numbers are rounded.
- Competition. Low, medium or high, based on how many advertisers showed ads on that keyword relative to all keywords. This is ad competition, not SEO difficulty.
- Top of page bid ranges. A low range (about the 20th percentile) and high range (about the 80th percentile) of what advertisers paid. High bids usually mean the searcher is close to buying.
- Location and language filters. Useful for local businesses and non-English sites.
Pricing as of October 2026
The tool itself is free; Google's own product page says so. What you need is a Google Ads account, and Google's help center states you must complete account setup by entering billing information to access features like getting new keyword ideas. Costs come from running ads, not from using the planner. Google's setup flow changes from time to time, so check the current steps when you sign up.
Limits and honest downsides
- Built for ads, not rankings. Competition is advertiser competition. A keyword marked low can still be hard to rank for organically.
- Rounded, grouped volumes. Figures are rounded and include close variants, so two similar phrases can show the same number.
- Some bid data is missing. Google notes you may not see bid ranges for keywords with limited historical bid information.
- No SERP view. It does not show who ranks, how strong those pages are, or which result types (videos, local pack) appear.
- Account hurdle. The billing step puts some beginners off, even though using the planner does not charge you.
| Need | Keyword Planner | Paid SEO keyword tool |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword ideas from Google | Yes | Yes, from its own database |
| Monthly search estimate | Rounded | Estimated |
| Organic ranking difficulty | No | Yes |
| Who currently ranks | No | Yes |
| Commercial value (bids) | Yes | Usually, as CPC estimate |
| Cost | Free (Ads account needed) | Monthly subscription |
How to use Google Keyword Planner for SEO
- Sign in to Google Ads and finish the account setup, including billing details. Google's product page says you may be asked to create a campaign first.
- Open Tools, then Planning, then Keyword Planner.
- Choose Discover new keywords. Enter two or three seed phrases, or a competitor's URL, and set your target country and language.
- Sort by average monthly searches and export the list. Look for longer phrases with modest volume; these are often easier to rank for.
- Use the bid columns to flag commercial terms for money pages, and use lower-bid, question-style phrases for blog posts.
- Search each shortlisted phrase on Google yourself to check who ranks and what type of content wins.
How it fits bloghints readers
Keyword research comes before link building. Pick the page and the phrase first, then point links from directories and guest posts at it. Our blog covers link building tactics, and when you need more tools for the research side, the SEO tools directory lists free and paid options.
For local businesses, the location filter is the most useful part: it shows whether people search for your service plus your city, which tells you how to word the title on your directory and citation listings.
Alternatives
- Google Trends
- Bing Webmaster Tools keyword research
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer
Once you know how to use Google Keyword Planner for SEO, treat it as a free first pass: gather ideas and rough volumes from Google's own data, use bids to judge commercial intent, and then check the real search results before you commit a page or a link building budget to any phrase.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
Yes. Google describes Keyword Planner as a free resource. You need a Google Ads account with billing information to access it, but using the planner itself does not cost anything.
Why do similar keywords show the same search volume?
Google's historical metrics include close variants of a keyword and the numbers are rounded. That means closely related phrases can be grouped and show identical averages, even if their real volumes differ slightly.
Does low competition in Keyword Planner mean easy to rank?
No. Competition in Keyword Planner measures how many advertisers bid on a keyword, not how hard it is to rank organically. Check the actual search results to judge SEO difficulty.
