A Beginner’s Guide To Understanding Google Keywords

Updated February 2025

Picking Google keywords on gut feeling is an expensive guessing game.

Let's turn that guesswork into strategy. 

Without the right keywords, your ads won't display at the right time or in the right place. Instead, they’ll appear in irrelevant searches or not at all. 

In other words, the right keywords are critical to a successful ad campaign. Using tools like Google Keyword Planner to generate keyword ideas is essential to unlock opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise considered across

• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Ad campaigns

Google keywords are single words or short phrases that relate to your business or offerings. For example, say your business is a bakery based in Los Angeles. A list of keywords could include:

• Los Angeles bakeries
• Lost Angeles bakery near me
• Best cookies in LA
• Chocolate chip cookies

While this is more relevant when approaching SEO, short-tail and long-tail keywords will open up more inexpensive and very specific keyword opportunities to add into your ad campaigns.

Short-tail keywords are broad, general search terms with 1-2 words, like "bakery" or "chocolate chip cookies." These keywords typically have:

• High search volume
• High competition
• High costs

These factors make it harder to rank organically for these keywords, but also more expensive for ad campaigns. 

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases, usually 3+ words, like:

• Los Angeles bakery in Antelope Valley
• Los Angeles bakery near me

Opposite to short-tail keywords, long tail typically have: 

• Lower search volume
• Less competition
• Higher search intent (because it’s more specific)

Google keywords for adsAdding keyword lists to your ad groups allows you to target specific audiences. Essentially, keywords tell the Google algorithm when to display your ad, and they determine your ad's eligibility to bid on a placement.

If you use the keyword list above, your ad could be eligible to appear if a potential customer types a similar phrase into Google's organic search. For example, it could display on a search engine results page (SERP) for “where to buy the best cookies in LA.”

Keywords are essential for running ads on the Search Network, but you also have the option to add them to Display Network campaigns. In display ads, keywords allow for contextual targeting, which reaches users based on their search history and other factors.

Although Google keywords may sound pretty simple, they can become complicated quickly. In addition to choosing the right match type for each keyword, make sure the phrases you target align with the ad copy, landing page, and funnel stage. Otherwise, you could end up spending much more than necessary, only to get mediocre results.

When you choose keyword mat

ch types, you effectively add an extra filter to your keywords. Here's how each type determines whether your ads are eligible to appear:

• Broad match keywords are the most general, providing you with the greatest reach and the least control over who sees your ads.
• “Phrase match” keywords provide a middle ground, triggering your ad if a customer's search query contains your keyword phrase in the order you specified.
• [Exact match] keywords are the most restrictive and the most relevant, offering limited reach but much more fine-tuned control over who sees your ads.
• Negative keywords are phrases that you exclude from your ad targeting to ensure that you don't waste money on irrelevant searches

It's tempting to use keywords and search terms interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings, especially when it comes to Google ads. Here's the difference:

• Keywords are the phrases that advertisers use to target their ads
• Search terms are the phrases that potential customers type into Google

Ideally, your keywords should share some similarities with search terms that relate to your business. But that doesn't mean you should copy and paste your site's search terms into Google Ads and call it a day. To avoid inefficient ad groups and wasted ad spend, it’s important to do keyword research for pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

After inputting your keywords in Google Keyword Planner, you’ll see a lot of data in one screen. The first thing to note is that you’ll see a breakdown between keywords you provided and ideas generated by Google.

From there, you’ll see columns with a lot of numbers. Let’s walk through what each of those numbers mean and how they’ll help you pick the right keywords for your ad campaigns.

1. Average monthly searches: This shows the estimated number of searches a keyword gets on Google each month, averaged over a 12-month period. It's helpful for understanding the potential reach of a keyword.
2. Three-month change: This indicates the percentage increase or decrease in search volume for a keyword over the last three months. It's useful for spotting recent trends and identifying seasonal keywords.
3. Year-over-year (YoY) change: This shows the percentage change in search volume compared to the same period last year. It helps track long-term trends and gauge whether a keyword's popularity is growing or declining.
4. Competition: This metric reflects how competitive it is to rank or advertise for a keyword, based on the number of advertisers bidding for it. It's categorized as low, medium, or high and is primarily relevant for Google Ads campaigns.
5. Ad impression share: This represents the percentage of ad impressions your ad could get compared to the total available impressions for the keyword. It's a good indicator of how visible your ads are relative to competitors.
6. Top of page bid (low range): This is the estimated minimum cost per click (CPC) you’d need to bid to have your ad appear at the top of the search results. It gives insight into the lower end of the bidding spectrum for a keyword.

Top of page bid (high range): This is the estimated maximum CPC required to consistently appear at the top of search results. It represents the high end of competition for a keyword and gives a sense of how much aggressive advertisers are spending.

Based on the results for “chocolate chip cookies”, we see that there’s been an increase in the past three months and year in searches for “vegan chocolate chips”. If you’re a vegan bakery, this could be a great opportunity to lean into. If you’re a regular bakery, it’s a new item for you to introduce and run ads for. 

Keyword research takes time, experience, and access to advanced keyword research tools. You can get started with the free tools below—or you can hire a PPC agency to do the hard work for you.

Probably the best-known free tool, Google Keyword Planner has two main functions. 

1. It helps you discover new ppc keywords
2. It provides monthly search volume and forecasts. 

That means it can give you new or better keyword ideas, and it can also estimate how much you'd have to spend to place your ad at the top of the SERP.

If you aren't ready to use Keyword Planner yet, Google Search Console (GSC) helps you brainstorm keyword ideas. Check the Performance tab to see the top search queries that drove impressions and clicks to your website. 

Note that Google Analytics also helps you find search terms, but the available list of keywords is  shorter.

What if the list of search queries you find in GSC is too short? Type the top queries into the Google search box. Before you hit enter, review the autocomplete searches that Google suggests. Since these suggestions are similar to popular queries for your site, they may help you research keywords for your campaign.

Want to go a step further?

Type in your main keyword and then each letter of the alphabet (one at a time) to find even more autocomplete suggestions. The next tool in the list will do this for you as well.

To get even more ideas for search queries, enter a phrase into Answer the Public. You'll get more insight into what your customers are thinking and how you can reach them with your ads across 

• Search terms
• Queries
• Comparisons

This tool is ideal for finding long-tail keywords, which reflect more specific queries.

To optimize your Google ad campaigns, it's important to use keywords that relate to what people are searching for now—not what was trending months or years ago. Google Trends shows you popularity for related keywords over time. That way you can better understand seasonality and compare phrases to identify the best ones to target.

For example, if you’re in the business of selling chocolate chip cookies, December’s a great month for you to sell!

To target keywords, open your Google Ads account and start a search campaign. Decide on a daily budget and choose a Smart Bidding strategy. At the ad group level, type or paste your keyword list.

If you still need some keyword suggestions, Google Ads can help. Enter your company's URL or some of the products and services you sell to get more ideas. In general, these suggestions can help you find keywords you missed but can't replace thorough research.

Next, write ad copy, including up to 15 headlines and four descriptions. To improve ad performance and increase relevance, incorporate your keywords into the ad descriptions and headlines.

To call more attention to a top keyword, choose one to place in the URL display field for your ad. Ensure that the landing page linked to your ad mentions similar keywords so Google Ads can confirm that it's relevant to search queries and meets searchers' expectations.

Once you launch a campaign, start tracking the performance of all your keywords. Sort by different metrics to find your best performing keywords:

• Quality score 
• Conversion rate
• Click-through rate (CTR)

To optimize your Google Ads, pause poorly performing keywords and add new ones via ideas from the Search Terms tab or your own research. To gain more control over your spending, you can also set a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid for specific keywords or ad groups.

Mastering Google keywords may seem like an uphill climb. From keyword research to match types to bidding, there's a lot to learn. But once you understand how keywords work, you can start creating more effective search ads and drive the leads and sales you need.

Ready to start brainstorming keywords? Here's some ideas to get you started.