Google Keyword Planner is a keyword tool inside Google Ads. It suggests related keywords from a seed or a website, shows average monthly searches and trends, and forecasts clicks and costs for ads. It is free to use with a Google Ads account. Because its data comes from Google, SEOs use it for volume checks and keyword ideas, keeping in mind that it was built for advertising, not organic search.
What it offers
The “Discover new keywords” option takes seed keywords or a URL and returns suggestions with average monthly searches, three-month and year-over-year change, competition level for ads and estimated bid ranges. The “Get search volume and forecasts” option checks a list you already have.
- Keyword ideas from seeds or a URL
- Average monthly searches and trends
- Location and language filters
- Ad competition and top-of-page bid estimates
Limitations for SEO
Accounts without active or sufficient ad spend often see broad volume ranges rather than specific averages. Close variants, such as plurals and misspellings, are grouped together, so you cannot always see the split. The “competition” column describes advertiser competition, not organic ranking difficulty. Keywords Google considers sensitive, or very new terms, may not appear.
Using it well
Use Keyword Planner as one source among several: for idea generation, for checking whether demand exists in a specific country, and for spotting seasonality. Combine it with Search Console for your own data and with SEO tools for difficulty and competitor rankings.
Example
A country check before translating
Imagine Ravenstitch, a fictional design asset manager, considers translating its main guides into Dutch. Keyword Planner, filtered to the Netherlands and Dutch, shows that most of its core topics have low demand there, while English searches from the Netherlands are common.
Ravenstitch postpones translation and focuses on English pages with Dutch-specific examples.
Common mistakes
Reading ad competition as SEO difficulty
The competition column is about bidding advertisers. It says nothing about how hard it is to rank organically.
Trusting precise numbers
Even exact averages are rounded estimates, and grouping of variants hides detail.
Questions
It is available at no charge inside Google Ads. You need an account, and the level of detail can depend on the account's ad activity.
