10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools for 2019

Free keyword research tools are nothing to be looked down at.

Google Keyword Planner is undoubtedly the king of keyword research tools. But recent updates have reduced its overall use and usability.

Exact monthly search volumes have become a thing of the past… unless you invest a small fortune on an AdWords campaign to get access to them. (or get them for FREE as shown below)

Luckily for you, there are plenty of free keyword research tools out there ripe for the picking ready to give up a treasure trove of keyword suggestions!

Free keyword research tools are vital for startups and those new to the world of online marketing.

Not everyone has access to a never-ending pot of gold to pay out for premium keyword research.

And here’s the thing:

You don't need to spend a cent when it comes to keyword research and keyword planning. Fact! Click To Tweet

Today we are going to bypass all of those paid keyword planners. And we are going to skip on by all the freemium software.

We know that your time is important to you. Which is why we are only listing the top 10 free keyword research tools available in 2019 to help you rank for organic search.

The Best 100% Free Keyword Research Tools

Already use some of these free keyword tools? Jump to the new ones you want to try:

1. Keywords Everywhere
2. Answer the Public
3. Keyword Shitter
4. Wordtracker Scout
5. Suggestion Keyword Finder
6. AdWords & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator
7. Google Search
8. Keyword In
9. Soovle
10. Wordstream Free Keyword Tool

Keywords Everywhere

Keywords Everywhere is possibly the best free keyword research tool out there. Search trends change, and so will the keywords you use.

This free add-on can be added to Chrome and Firefox. Once installed, it shows you monthly search volumes, competition data and CPC for every Google search you make.

 

 

Not only does it give you detailed search volumes. It also throws up a handy list of related searches that people perform.

Find information for specific websites, such as YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Google, Keyword Shitter, Answer the Public and many, many more.

 

 

Every time you perform a search, you are presented with a wealth of useful data.

And if you’re wondering if it’s as good as the Google Keyword Planner, here’s a little treat for you:

Keywords Everywhere data comes directly from the Google Keyword Planner tool.

So basically you get the detailed search volumes you’re looking for right on your screen.

 

 

And it gets even better! If you use the add-on when using Google Keyword Planner, you can see those restricted search volumes right on the screen!

Answer the Public

 

Okay. So you are restricted to just a couple of free searches a day:

But if you’re looking for alphabeticals, comparisons, prepositions and questions for long tail keywords, Answer the Public is a winner! It finds keywords and common phrases ready to go.

To start, enter a keyword:

Let’s go with ‘organic gardening’

 

 

The first thing you are shown are keyword questions. These cover all of the who, what, where, when, why, how, etc.

You can switch between the default visualisation or list mode.

 

 

Moving on you are presented with prepositions. This covers all of those in, on, under, near, with and without phrases.

Next up are comparisons. These use your keywords with terms such as vs, versus, etc.

And last up, the alphabeticals run through all of the suggestions from Google autocomplete… ordered alphabetically, of course.

Use Answer the Public with the Keywords Everywhere Chrome add-on for more detailed data.

While many of the suggestions may be useless. It is a fantastic way to find long tail keywords and popular search terms.

Keyword Shitter

Don’t let the name put you off of this fantastic free keyword tool!

As the name suggests, enter your target keywords, hit the ‘Sh*t Keywords’ button and sit back as it explodes into action.

 

 

Keyword Shitter mines Google Autocomplete to harvest tons all the keywords, search terms and phrases.

If you want to exclude certain keywords, you can use the negative filter.

And vice-versa, if you want to include certain keywords, you can use the positive filter.

 

 

Don’t expect tons of data from Keyword Shitter. It’s all pretty basic.

Again. This is where Keywords Everywhere becomes your best friend. Simply pick the cream of the crop using Keywords Everywhere for awesome, high-volume keywords that have a big impact on the search results.

Wordtracker Scout

 

Another free keyword research tool that comes in the form of a chrome add-on is Wordtracker Scout.

Once you have the add-on installed, it harvests all of the relevant keywords on any given page.

These keywords are then magically transformed into a word cloud with the biggest keywords being the most relevant.

You also have the option to view data covering competition, opportunity, searches, countries and territories.

Wordtracker Scout gathers their data from second-tier search engines and other third-party sources:

This makes it a useful tool for those looking to target more than just Google when it comes to ranking for keywords.

Suggestion Keyword Finder

Another free keyword research tool that mines keywords from Google Suggestions is SEOChat’s free keyword tool.

Simply plug in your seed keyword and let it show you the 10 most popular searches related to it.

 

 

Want to see 100 or even 1,000 keywords? Just up the level to two or three.

Like most of the free keyword research tools on this list, there is no need to register to use it. No surveys. No logins. Just data.

 

 

While basic in its workings. This free Keyword Planner tool provides popular and relevant results for your SEO efforts and helps you choose the best search query or question for your content planning and SEO needs.

AdWords & SEO Keyword Permutation Generator

If you are finding it hard to come up with new keyword ideas. This free keyword research tool throws up a wealth of long tail keywords.

 

 

With three different keyword boxes to use. You can get creative.

Obviously, the more key words you type in, the more results you can expect to get back.

One issue that many people encounter with AdWords and SEO Keyword Permutation Generator is that results don’t always translate well.

 

 

This means that you may have to spend some time sifting through the results to find ones that align with your website.

But if you are stuck for ideas, this free keyword generator can give you lots of great new ideas.

Google Search

It would be foolish to leave out Google search from your keyword research efforts.

After all, why not get relevant keyword ideas from the king of keywords itself?!

whenever you perform a search on Google, you will most likely notice a ‘people also ask’ section.

 

 

This section throws up questions people are looking for answers to… not only great keyword opportunities, but content idea opportunities too.

Also, pay attention to featured snippets, guide posts and Google shopping products.

 

 

Typing in the keyword ‘organic gardening’ throws up content mainly covering tips and beginner’s guides.

This shows us that the keyword is popular for newbies and those looking for actionable content.

 

 

Change the keywords to ‘organic gardening tools’ and more image focused content pops up.

Basically, you can use Google search to work out what types of people are searching for what types of content for any given keyword.

Keyword In

Another issue people face with keyword planning is combining keywords.

Well, Keyword In lets you add your keywords before it combines them all together. The end result? A useful list of high-potential keywords.

 

 

Much like the AdWords and SEO Keyword Permutation Generator, Keyword In presents you with four keyword boxes to use.

The more boxes you use, the more results will be generated. Switch between exact match, phrase match and broad match for more targeted results.

And once again, the results may not always make complete sense. therefore, you may need to spend a little bit of time running through them to find ones you like.

Soovle

Google Autocomplete Suggestions is literally the best free keyword research tool for search terms, questions and phrases.

But what if you could get autocomplete suggestions from several different sources to use with your SEO efforts?

Guess what? You can!

Soovle pulls together suggestions from Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, YouTube, Bing and Yahoo.

 

 

When performing your search, click on the search provider you want to target for lots of new suggestions.

The best way to use Soovle is to perform a search with your given key words using each provider individually.

 

 

Make a note of similar results from each search provider to create a list of keywords powerful on Google and beyond.

Wordstream Free Keyword Tool

With similarities to Google Keyword Planner, the Wordstream Free Keyword Tool gives you access to 30 free searches.

Simply drop in your seed keyword to receive a list of related keywords.

 

 

Perfect for those who have websites in niche areas, Wordstream Free Keyword Tool comes with a niche keyword finder.

 

 

If you haven’t yet chosen your niche, it can help guide you in the right direction. If you have, if can show you the most profitable keywords for it.

The simple and intuitive user interface makes it one of the best free keyword research tools of 2019.

Bottom Line

In a perfect world we could just pluck words from thin air and have them perform perfectly.

Unfortunately, keyword research requires more than this.

Spend a bit of time trialling each of the free keyword research tools on this list.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. And don’t be afraid to use them together.

Each can help you choose the right keywords as part of your content strategy efforts.

And choosing the right keywords can help increase your search engine rankings.

Why use paid keyword research tools when everything you need can be found for free?

With these free keyword research tools, finding the perfect keywords for your website has never been easier.

Check out our past post on the Top 5 Keyword Tools.

 

Article first published here: 10 Best Free Keyword Research Tools for 2019

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TOP TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT BLOG POST

Every great website needs a great blog. That’s just the way it is. But blogs can be tough work, especially if you don’t often write yourself.

Don’t stress. You’re not in school anymore. You won’t get graded by haughty teachers but by everyday people like you and me.

To write a winning blog, you don’t need much. You don’t need to put on a show or try to come up with fancy words and complex syntax structure. You don’t need to sound clever. You just need to be you. That’s what people relate to the most.

Today we want to show you the art of writing awesome blogs that cover all those readability and SEO check boxes. Once you know how, you will change the way you blog forever.

A Great Start for Your Blog

 

You’ve heard this before, but let us repeat it one more time: Headlines are crucial! A headline can make or break a good post. A good headline intrigues and captivates readers. If a headline is interesting enough, then the Internet God will reward it with many, many clicks.

Some writers prefer coming up with a headline and sticking to it throughout, shaping the whole article around it. Others try to capture the essence of the post by writing the headline last. There’s not really one technique that works best.

The same is true for introductions. If you find yourself struggling with introductions, consider jumping straight to the point and returning to finish the introductory parts later. Jump straight into the action and write all the important bits first. You won’t forget anything and once you’re done, you’ll have a clear idea of what your introduction should look like.

Headlines are to readers what cereal and sweet boxes are to children. Of course, content is important too, but you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The packaging should be interesting and enticing.

Keep it short and simple. You can experiment by forming the headline into a question. Find something that will make your headline stand out. Your introduction shouldn’t just be a list. Let your imagination run wild. Offer your readers a taste of what’s to come. They’ll have to see what it’s all about. They’ll want to know.  

Stay Focused… It’s Important

 

Storytelling time! English studies, first year. Kate had just finished reading Jane Eyre and had to write a 3,000-word review of the most overrated novel ever. She’d half-read it… and found it extremely boring.  It was so slow and lengthy and seemed to go nowhere.

With unrelenting will and a desire to make it to second year, she managed to hand in her incomprehensibly boring review in the nick of time, only to find out that it was 2,700 words over the word limit.

Yep, she’d read the instructions wrong; several times. She swore it was 3,000 words, but there it was now: 300; clear as day. It made for a good laugh, but needless to say, she wasn’t very happy… especially as she loathed Jane Eyre with a passion. And what could have been an awesome review was instead slow, lengthy and seemed to go nowhere…

Moral of the story: stay focused. Never forget why you’re writing and don’t write excessively long posts just to meet an imaginary word count. Write because you know something and want to share it with the world.  To promote your brand or product. Create an outline and stick to it.

Start by figuring out how long your post should be: 500 words, 1000 words, 3000 words? Unfortunately, when it comes to blog writing, there’s no magic number. Search engines seem to favour articles around the 1000 word mark, but a longer in-depth post or guide that’s informative and authoritative could really catapult you to the top… so long as it’s relevant and well received.

Honest and Informative

The actual body of your post should include information that your reader finds valuable and interesting. No matter how good your headline is, if your content is boring or misleading, readers will press that back button and never look back.

Stick to what you do know and avoid writing about things you’re not too familiar with. Get your facts straight and don’t forget to give credit to your sources. Every post should feel like a new adventure.

It’s not always easy knowing what your audience wants to read, especially if you’re just starting out. But a good grasp of your target audience will make writing just so much easier: knowing what kind of information they’re after, knowing what they’d like to read.

What can you do? If you have a blog, then we assume you’re on social media too. You could simply ask. You can, for example, insert polls directly into your Facebook posts. Think of several topics that you’re working on and have people vote on the one they like best—Democracy at its finest!

Identify your demographic by taking advantage of Google analytics. Analytics can help you better understand who your readers are by giving you more information about their age, gender and location. You can also find out what devices your readers mostly view your content on, which could help with formatting. Read more about Google Analytics here!

Appearances Matter

A killer headline will grab the reader’s attention. An equally good picture will ensure countless clicks. It’s all about making a good first impression.

80% of marketers use visual assets in their social media marketing, while tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images.

Vision is our most valued sense. We’re great at memorising images; text, not so much. If you hear a piece of information, you’ll only remember about 10% of it three days later. If you add a picture to go along with it, you’ll remember about 65% of it.

 

 

Same goes for text. The truth is that text is highly inefficient. Even after years of reading and writing processes, text fails to stimulate the brain the same way vision does. By combining image and text, our brains create strong links between a given text and image. We’re more likely to recall text that had a picture attached to it. We actually recall the picture first, and the text follows.

If you can, you should also add images in the main body of the post. Use a free online image source, such as Pixabay. Images separate chunks of text, making your content more readable, meaning that there’s a higher chance that your readers will actually get to the end.

Keywords Don’t Come Easy

If your goal is to rank high, you’ll need to make sure you nail them keywords. Your title should include the main keyword and so should your introduction and conclusion.

This is not to say that you should stuff your blog post with irrelevant keywords. Now, that’s a recipe for disaster. Aim for a keyword density of about 2% and weave some long-tail keywords into your content too. Long-tail keywords are just larger keywords that can help you rank with less competitive, more specific searches.

Don’t forget meta descriptions. If you don’t specify one, Google will automatically generate one for you by picking something out of the main text (usually a few sentences from your introduction).

Meta descriptions are important because they are the first piece of information a reader sees after reading a headline. They aren’t there just for show. A good meta description brings traffic. A bad one doesn’t.

Proofread

 

 

Mistakes happen. Okay, we get it. We’re all human after all. This is why we’ve focused mainly on advice that will improve the quality of your content

However, too many typos or grammar/syntax mistakes can ruin an otherwise flawless post. The best thing about typos is that they are so easily fixable. It literally takes five minutes to go through a post before hitting that submit button—so do it.

It’s always good if you can get someone else to proofread your work for you. It may be hard to catch some typos, even after going through your text several times. Try reading everything aloud. If something doesn’t sound right, it should probably go.

Don’t spend too much time looking for mistakes or trying to come up with the perfect sentence. Most readers will ignore an honest typo (or two or three), provided that they’re satisfied with your content. Focus on what’s important. Be honest. Be you.

For more writing tips, make sure you check out this post too!

Article first published here: TOP TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT BLOG POST

SEO vs SEM – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM

If you own a business and want to increase website traffic, you’ll have to invest in search engine optimisation. The goal is always the same: more people visiting your website means a higher ROI. This is where SEO VS SEM confuses many newbies.

Search marketing refers to any tactic that is used to help a business or brand receive more attention by appearing higher on search engine results pages. Search marketing consists of SEO and SEM.

They may sound similar, but SEO and SEM are not the same. They are both forms of search marketing but they’re also very different in many ways. Keep reading to find out what their differences are and how to choose between the two.

SEO vs SEM What’s What?

SEM focuses on paid strategies that help a website rank higher, while SEO focuses on organic strategies. SEM is more of a short-term solution, while SEO is all about organised and long-term tactics.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) uses paid tactics to gain visibility in search engine results pages. SEM is also referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. Platforms, such as the popular Google Ads, allow businesses to create campaigns that target the highest-ranking keywords for their respective industries.

Different keywords come at different prices. Highly competitive keywords will obviously be more expensive. Users that are searching for those keywords will have the brand displayed on top of their results. Google will then charge for every individual click.

SEO is a bit more complicated. SEO is all about the methods that will prompt search engines to show a website’s content near the top of their results. Quality content that’s informative and authoritative will always rank higher with search engines. But SEO is much more than that.

On-page SEO focuses on specific keywords that appeal to search engines. Successful pages contain the right information and the right amount of keywords. A combination of shorter (head) and longer (long-tail) keywords are used to maximise visibility and increase organic traffic.

Technical SEO is concerned with the optimisation of non-content elements that have to do with a website’s structure and foundation. Its goal is to increase site speed and security, manage structured data and indexing, improve crawlability and provide mobile users with a better experience.

Off-page SEO increases a website’s reputation by connecting it with other authoritative websites that receive a lot of organic traffic. A website that is linked to often is seen as reputable and trustworthy by Google’s engine.

Similarities

SEO and SEM focus on different strategies but are also similar in many ways. If people are clicking on a website, then search marketing has done its job!

Both SEO and SEM work best if you’re familiar with your target audience. If you know what your customers want, then it’s easier to build an effective marketing strategy around them. Creating content that is valuable to your audience should be your number one priority.

Both SEO and SEM require keyword research. To rank highly with search engines you need to identify those keywords that perform best and which will bring you the most traffic. These change constantly so you need to make sure you’re always up-to-date with the latest trends.

This is why SEO and SEM require continual optimisation. It’s not just something you do once and can then completely forget about it. If you want to increase and maximise performance, you need to test and monitor new and existing keywords.

Google’s Keyword Planner, which is now incorporated into Google Ads, is a great free tool that lets you search and find the best keywords. Keyword planner suggests keywords based on:

 

• Relevance
• Average monthly searches
• Keyword competition from high to low
• Top of page bid low and high ranges

 

A recent update has made the interface less user-friendly so if you’re looking for more detailed information, make sure you check our new Google Keyword Planner Beginner’s Guide.

Main Differences

Websites and pages that have ranked high as a result of SEM come with an “Ad” icon that is attached right next to the website’s URL. A page that’s ranking as a result of consistent SEO carries no such label.

Most users can easily identify which pages are the result of paid SEM and which rank highly due to strategic SEO. Ranking highly through SEO is therefore much more difficult (and preferable) than ranking highly through SEM.

SEM search results are easily identifiable as advertisements. They include additional links, promotions and phone numbers. Users can easily tell that they’re looking at an ad and can ignore it as easily. Google may reward high-ranking SEO websites with featured snippets. These sought-after snippets display more information from the target website in the form of a large text box.

SEM results only show to a select target audience. With SEO, there is no way to control who sees what. Also, keep in mind that users who have ad blockers installed will only see SEO results. This can be a problem if you focus too much on SEM but ignore SEO tactics that drive organic traffic.

That being said, SEM is better for testing specific keywords because results are immediate. If you’re running a special promotion or want increased traffic short-term, SEM may work just fine. SEO takes more work but has a higher click-through rate once you make it to the top; no pain, no gain.

Which One Is Better

It’s hard to say whether an SEO or an SEM approach will be better for your business. For best results, you usually have to invest in both.

The first thing you have to do is look at what your competitors are doing. Tools such as SEMRush and SpyFu can help you with competitor keyword research. Look for any gaps that you can fill and areas that you will be able to compete in.

How well do you know your customers? Do they tend to search for a product and then immediately buy it? SEM can help you reach those customers that are looking to buy products and services right away. If your customers tend to do a lot of research before committing to a purchase, then a focus on SEO may be better for your brand.

If you’ve been in the industry for a long time, you may want to invest in a long-term SEO campaign, which will provide value over time. If you’re just starting out and don’t know how customers will respond to your product or service, you can invest in a short-term SEM campaign that will give you the opportunity to test the waters.

However, the average cost-per-click varies from industry to industry. If you’re just starting out, you may be unable to compete with SEM tactics. If that’s the case, you should build strong SEO foundations first and invest in SEM later.

Finding the perfect balance between SEO and SEM is certainly not easy. Do your research and be prepared to change plans and strategies as the market shifts. If you’re ready for your next big SEM campaign, you may want to take a look at our 2019 Google Ads Guide.

Article first published here: SEO vs SEM – THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEM

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Google Ads 2019 – The Ultimate Guide

Google Ads is one of the most effective online marketing platforms. The king of advertising, however, can easily confuse beginners.

Luckily for you, we are here to give you the lowdown on Google Ads. We will break things down and run through a step-by-step setup guide, so you can get your first ad campaign up and running.

We will take a closer look at how to best perform keyword research before launching your first ad campaign. We will also run through how to write new ads and set up your first ad group. So, if you are ready, let’s get started.

Why Advertise on Google Ads?

When it comes to search networks, Google reigns supreme. From the ever-popular search engine to Gmail and Google Assistant. Google is everywhere and can be found even in dictionaries: ‘Googling’ is a verb.

While there are plenty of other search engines available (hi Bing), none of them compare to Google in terms of dominance and notoriety. Google search averages 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. It is the best platform for reaching your desired audience while producing a high ROI (return on investment).

Google Ads also provides users with extreme flexibility and a plethora of features that can fit any business model. The options available to you are many and include:

 

• Mobile app downloads
• Partner websites
• Maps
• Google search results
• YouTube
• Gmail
• And many more

 

But is Google Ads superior to social media marketing? Absolutely! When you start out on social media, you have no likes, no shares and no followers. Building an audience on social media can be brutal and time-consuming. This is where Google Ads comes into its own.

Within a few minutes, you will be able to launch a campaign on Google Ads that generates genuine conversions. No waiting around. No hard work. As soon as your campaign goes live, instant sales are possible.

For best results, you need to use the right keywords. As an example, if someone needs a boiler fixed and your ad places at the top of the SERPs (search engine results page), then you are in a prime position to convert that search into a sale.

Performing Google Ads Keyword Research

Keyword research is the backbone of any successful Ads campaign. To have your ads displayed, you will need to target specific keywords and bid on them. These should be industry-related and targeted towards your brand or business model.

As an example, if you sell shoes then you are going to want to target searches made by real people who are looking for shoes. But—and this is a big but—finding the perfect keywords for your budget can be a nightmare. All the major footwear brands have almost limitless bidding budgets and drive up the bid cost massively.

Use The Google Keyword Planner

Google has its own tool for keyword research. It offers transparent suggestions from basic phrases or topics. You even have the option to search by URL.

Navigate to the home screen of your Google Ads page and search for “keyword planner” on the “GO TO” search option located on the top-right corner of the page.

Click on “Find New Keywords”. Type in one two three words related to your brand or product.

 Let’s carry on with the shoe seller example. Let’s see what happens if we search for ‘online shoe shop.’ You can hit enter to add more keywords. Press “GET STARTED” and let the magic begin.

This list contains information about average monthly searches, competition level, ad impression share, top of page bid low and top of page bid high. The top of page bid high and low are the amounts that you would need to place as a bid if you wanted one of the keywords to feature at the top or bottom of the first page.

Competition level means how competitive a keyword is. Highly competitive keywords are searched more often, which means you’ll have to compete with many advertisers that want to take advantage of their popularity.

The key to maximising exposure is balance. Most keywords in the above example have a competition score of 1, which would make ranking with any of them extremely difficult. The keyword “shoe shops” has medium competition and a respectable search volume, making it a great alternative to the generic “shoes”.

Be Specific

Highly specific keywords such as ‘women’s red high heels for sale’ have higher conversion rates. Those who search for women’s red high heels for sale are most likely looking to make a purchase. More generic keywords such as ‘review’ or ‘which is best’ are used by those who have not yet decided or are still searching.

If you want to know which keywords work best for your competitors, good old benevolent espionage may just do the trick. One of the best 3rd party tools for performing competitor keyword research is SEMRush. Another great third-party tool is SpyFu. This tool holds information about the history of your competitors’ ads and keywords along with useful performance metrics and statistics.

As soon as you have a list of keywords that fit your objectives, you will be ready to start your first Google ad campaign. Don’t stress! We are here to guide you through the process step-by-step.

Single Keyword Ad Group Setup

Now you are ready to begin the setup process. However, make sure that you don’t misconstrue the advice that Google gives you. When setting up your single keyword ad group, Google asks you to start with between 10 and 20 keywords. This is just too many keywords for a single ad. At a push, you should use 8 to 10 keywords—and you need to be specific.

If someone is looking for size 42 heels, they don’t want to see an ad about size 42 sneakers. While the context is similar, the aforementioned items are not. Even if your product comes up in plenty of searches, people will ignore it if it’s not exactly what they’re looking for.

To set up a new campaign, create a new ad group by navigating to the left sidebar. Grab all of the keywords that you compiled earlier and add them into your new ad group plan under “keywords”. Click “SAVE” when you’re done.

Google will then provide you with a forecast table that holds some useful information. Based on the selected keywords, Google automatically calculates a hypothetical amount of clicks and outlines the required budget. Click on “CREATE CAMPAIGN” on the top-right side to kick off your new campaign.

Now you want to work out the match type that you’re going to use. Keyword match types give a bit more control on what searches can trigger your ad. You can choose from three options, ranging from reach to relevance.

 

• Broad: Matches with close variations, related searches, synonyms and misspellings—the default and basic match type.
• Phrase: Matches with close terms, including keyword phrases—any words in between.
• Exact: Matches only with close variants and search terms related to the selected keyword.

 

To change match types, navigate back to the keywords page and click on the edit-pencil icon next to a keyword.  Click on “Broad match” to bring up the drop-down list and make changes. Click “SAVE” to apply any changes.

Google recommends that you use broad match for all your keywords. However, the reality is that proper use of phrase and exact match types will bring better results.

If there are certain keywords that you don’t want to be associated with your product, you can create exclusions by navigating to the negative keywords tab. Words and phrases that you add here tell Google that you don’t want your product to be shown in searches that include said keywords or phrases.

Create Your First Google Ad

It can be tiring to write Google ads. You are faced with character limits that make it difficult to write compelling text. Google recommends creating specific ad groups that contain a minimum of three ads.

But why is that? Well, Google automatically rotates ads to show the ones that are performing best. Creating different types of ads translates into higher conversion rates. You can choose between three types of ads:

 

• Text ad: Most common type of ad that comes with many restrictions.
• Responsive search ad: With responsive search ads, you enter multiple headlines and descriptions and Google combines them into ads—currently in Beta
• Call-only ad: An ad that displays a phone number—Meh…

 

Here is what you have to do. Navigate to Ads & extensions on the left sidebar. Click on the “CREATE AD” button in the middle of the page and choose an ad type from the drop-down list.

You can experiment with responsive search ads, but for now, we’ll focus on text ads. Once you’re in the new text ad page, you’ll have to select in which ad group your ad will be saved. Keep in mind that Google text ads can be quite restrictive.

Here’s what you need to fill out:

 

• Final URL:  The URL of your product’s page.
• Headline 1: Space for your first headline—up to 30 characters.
• Headline 2: Space for your second headline.
• Headline 3: Space for your third headline.
• Display Path: Customise your URL with a maximum of 15 characters.
• Description 1: Describe your product in 90 characters or less.
• Description 2: Space for your second description.

You should use your ad group keyword twice in your ad to help with ad relevance. This can be in your title and URL. You should also use a CTA so that users know exactly what to do.

Take a look at the above example. The keyword is used twice. There is a summary of benefits and a call to action. It is concise, clear and highly effective. To create more ads, simply modify your CTA and text to fit your next product.

You are now ready to launch your new ad. The next step is to make sure that you have a working landing page that converts.

Setting Up Your Landing Page

Your landing page should be created in a way that entices users to perform the requested CTA or make a purchase. Typically, your landing page should not feature many elements found on other pages, such as navigation, sidebars etc.

Your landing page should be a stripped-down, clean and clear page dedicated to the product or service that you are offering. It should be free from any distractions or external links that might direct potential customers away from your products.

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when setting up Google Ads is setting their homepage as the landing page. This really isn’t a good idea as homepages contain way too much content and distract customers away from the focal point of your page—the product that you want them to buy.

Ultimately, you want to create a landing page that accurately captures the message of the ad. Remember, you’re actually paying for every click on one of your Google Ads. It won’t do you any good if your advertising Ladies Red Fashion Heels but the link takes customers to a landing page filled with men’s sneakers.

Google Ads Campaign Settings

Google’s display planner is no longer available, but most of its features have been incorporated into the new Google Ads platform.

To access all the necessary information and edit your campaign goals and settings, click on the “campaigns” option on the left of the navigation bar. Click on the big blue plus icon and select “Load campaign settings”.

Here is where it gets a bit crazy. The new planner is filled with campaign settings that really can make a huge difference.

First, you need to select your campaign settings.

For a more effective marketing strategy, you can edit the type and goal of your campaign.

You can choose to focus on sales, leads, website traffic or promotions. Maybe your goal is to raise awareness for your brand. Choosing a goal that reflects your brand’s actual goals and marketing strategies is necessary if you want to succeed.

Choosing the right campaign type is also important. Do you want to reach customers who may be interested in your product or service or do you want to promote your products with shopping ads? Perhaps you want to reach and engage viewers on YouTube, in which case a video campaign may work best for you.

You also have the option of including your ads on Google search partner sites, which will only display ads with relevant search results, or you can include your ads on the Google Display Network, a collection of more than 2 million web pages.

You can then select those locations that are important for your business. For example, if you’re based in Australia, you’ll want to choose Australia as your main location and English as the main language of the campaign.

It’s important to note that if you’re advertising in a language other than English, you’ll have to use keywords in the targeted language. With the audience option, you can narrow your target audience even further (according to age, gender etc.).

On the budget and bidding tab, you can edit the budget that was automatically generated when you created your campaign. Although your goal is to reach wider audiences, you shouldn’t always focus just on clicks. Google lets you choose whether you want to focus on maximising clicks for exposure or conversions for profit. This one’s up to you.

The extension tab gives you more control over the links and information that will be displayed along with your ad. Aside from links, information and a phone number, you could also add:

 

• Structured snippets
• App extensions
• Message extensions
• Promotion extensions
• Price extensions
• Location extensions

 

Double check your main settings and click “SAVE AND CONTINUE”.

Next up, ad group settings. You have a choice between standard group type and dynamic group type. Standard ads are written by you and target audiences based on your selected keywords. Dynamic ads generate headlines automatically by scanning through your website’s content.

If you still have not picked your keywords, you can let Google scan your website (or one that’s related to your business) for keyword ideas (right box). This works even if you’re using standard ads, but you’ll have to type the ads in yourself (left box). For a broad match, type your keyword and phrases normally. Adding quotation marks around the keyword will activate phrase match (“keyword”), while brackets correspond to an exact match ([keyword]).

You can now create ads that utilise your new settings. Check the previous section for more detailed information on how to create the perfect text ad for your search campaign. If you’d rather create a video or promotion add, you need to change the campaign type.

Visual campaigns

Display campaigns are all about banners.  You can choose between a standard display campaign (you pick your settings and targeting) and a Gmail campaign (targets people as they browse emails).

With display campaigns, you have access to all the standard search campaign settings but must also upload pictures (GIF, JPG and PNG files) that will be used to market your business, product or service.

The size limit for all image ads is 150 kilobytes. Double-sized images are not supported. Google supports several different sizes for your image ads, which is why it is always seen as good practice for your display banner ads to have the ability to appear on a variety of sites, regardless of the banner size. You can find more information about image size on Google’s official page.

It is essential that your images can fit into all the different sized banner ads. If not, it could limit or prevent your ads from appearing on specific sites.

Video campaigns require more resources to create but open up new possibilities as they reach huge audiences. With Google Ads, you can choose to run a custom video campaign that is tailored to your brand’s needs or choose between:

 

• A non-skippable in-stream: A 15-second non-skippable ad that will run between videos relevant to your product or service.
• Outstream: Outstream ads are mobile-only ads that appear on partner sites and apps outside of YouTube. These ads play automatically on mute when they appear on screen. You only pay if your ad is viewable.
• TrueView: TrueView campaigns are made up of CTAs and a headline. These ads are available on YouTube and give viewers the option to skip them after 5 seconds.
• Ad sequence: These are ads that tell a story. They come together to form a whole and the goal is to ensure that your potential customer progresses through the complete sequence campaign.
• Shopping: Skippable ads that seek to promote relevant products and direct people to your online shop.

Once you’ve created your video ad, you must provide Google with a valid URL from YouTube. If the video is not hosted on YouTube, Google will not be able to process it.

App campaigns are a great way to promote your newly launched app. You first choose your mobile app’s platform and then search for the app by name, package name or publisher.

Your campaign’s objectives depend on the type of bidding that you choose: Cost per instal; (CPI) will charge you every time someone installs your app on their phone, while cost per action (CPA) charges you every time someone takes a revenue-generating in-app action.

You can add up to 20 image and video files (HTML5 is also supported)  to promote your app. Google recommends that you use landscape images for native ad and portrait images for interstitial content. Valuable formats include 320  x 50 px, 320 x 480 px and 300 x 250 px.

More Features

Once you’ve set up your campaign, Google gives access to multiple stats and metrics that you can use to keep track of everything.

The Landing Page tab offers useful information about page clicks, views, interactions and engagements. It’ll tell you how well your page is performing and whether and how many people are actually using the page to purchase the advertised product or service.

The Audiences and Demographics tabs offer valuable information about the people that your ad has managed to reach. With that information in mind, you can design new suitable products or change your marketing strategy to ensure you reach your desired audience.

The Devices tab can tell you where most users view and engage with your app. Again, this tool can be used to determine whether your marketing strategies are effective. For example, if you’re targeting the mobile market but are still receiving more traffic on PC, you may want to switch focus to target PC users or come up with new strategies that will engage more mobile customers.

The Locations tab holds information about your targeted and excluded locations. Google can also generate Geographic and User location reports.

With the schedule option, you can design your ads beforehand and decide when exactly (day and hour) they’ll go live. It sometimes takes more than 48 hours for changes and new ads to get registered, which is why it’s always a good idea to plan ahead.

The new Google Ads interface aims to keep everything that you need to market your product in one place. Navigating through its tabs and finding exactly what you need may be a challenge at first, especially if you’re used to using the separate Keyword and Display Planners. We hope that this guide will help you navigate through Google Ads with more ease. If you still have questions, you should take a look at Google’s self-help page.

If you’re using Google Ads to promote your new online business, you should definitely check out our Entrepreneur guide!

Article first published here: Google Ads 2019 – The Ultimate Guide

New Google Keyword Planner – Beginners Guide

Looking to increase site traffic from Google? To achieve this, you need to know what people are searching for. And this is where keyword research comes into play.

 

Google Keyword planner is a free tool that lets you research to your heart’s content. Previously known as the Google Keyword tool, recent updates have made it slightly less user-friendly. However, newer updates have added more flexibility.

Up until recently, users could see monthly search volume numbers that were exact and precise. And unless you run an AdWords campaign, you will only be shown an average monthly search that is pretty useless. (We show you how to fix this for free!)

With that said, Google Keyword planner is still the best keyword research tool out there. If you want keyword suggestions perfectly optimised for Google, then straight from the horse’s mouth is a surefire way to success.

If you have never used the Google Keyword planner tool before or are new to SEO, you probably don’t quite know where to start. Today, we are going to show you how to make the most out of this tool for maximum SEO benefits.

Sign Up to the Free Google Keyword Planner

Unlike most keyword research tools out there, the Google Keyword Planner tool is completely free to use. All you need to gain access is a Google account.

When you first sign up to Google Keyword Planner, don’t be tricked into thinking that you need to set up an AdWords ad to gain access. On the sign up screen, simply click on the ‘skip the guided setup’ link instead of entering your email address and website.

On the next screen, fill in your email address and country (Use a personal Google email account for this.) The currency and time zone should auto fill. Then click on continue. This will take you to the campaign overview for Google ads/AdWords.

Navigate to the menu bar and then click on tools. From here, select planning and then click on New Keyword Planner. Et voila! Free access is granted.

 

Now that you have successfully signed up for Google Keyword Planner, it’s time to work out the best way to use it. While it may look complicated to begin with. We promise you that it is much easier than it first appears.

Using Google Keyword Planner

When you first use Google Keyword Planner, you will be presented with two options. These are ‘find keywords’ and ‘get search volumes and forecasts.’

 

The Find Keywords option helps you work out the best keywords for reaching those who are interested in your service, product or niche.

This is the option you should select if you are looking for keyword ideas. It’s as easy as entering a URL, phrases or words that relate to your brand or business.

These URLs, phrases and words are not only limited to one per search. In fact, you can use up to 10 seed phrases or words at once. However, this doesn’t mean you will get double or triple the results. Google limits the keyword suggestion results per search.

 

 

While this number may seem small when compared to other Keyword Planners available on the internet. They will be highly relevant and more than enough to kick-start your SEO efforts.

 

 

Once you have entered this information, Google Keyword Planner will present you with some targeted keyword suggestions. These suggestions will provide the following information:

 

• Keyword by relevance
• Average monthly searches
• Keyword competition from high to low
• Top of page bid low and high ranges

Google Keyword Planner Search Vols & Forecasts

The Search Volumes & Forecasts throws up lots of keyword metrics, along with predictions of what their future performance might be. And this is the option to choose if you already have a set of keywords that you want to learn more about.

 

 

Simply paste them into the search bar, click on get started and get ready to see what their forecasted performance is likely to be.

Don’t expect to find further keyword suggestions. This option is all about learning more about your already chosen keywords. It gives you a good idea of how the keywords would perform on Google AdWords over the next month. Some of the information you will discover includes:

 

• Maximum CPC (cost per click)
• Expected number of clicks
• Expected number of impressions
• Approximate cost
• CTR percentages
• Average cost per click (CPC)

 

This data only shows the forecasted keyword metrics for the next 30 days. If you head on over to the historical metrics tab, you can view the average search volumes for your chosen keywords over a 12-month period.

 

But here’s the catch. Those 12-month averages don’t give you the exact keyword volumes. Instead, you are presented with a rough estimate anywhere between 10% to 90% accuracy.

Clearly not ideal for your keyword research purposes!

 

How to See Google Keyword Planner Exact Volumes?

There is nothing more infuriating than trying to find the best keywords only to be cut off at the last minute! This is a hated change implemented by Google. And one that so many SEO specialists refuse to use it anymore.

What use are broad average monthly search volumes? If you want to know how well your keyword performs, seeing an estimation between 20K to 100k is as useless as a waterproof tea bag. You know what it is, but you don’t quite know how to use it!

So. How can you get around this? The quickest and easiest way is to install the Keywords Everywhere Chrome extension.

 

Once installed, every search you perform on Google throws up monthly CPC and search volumes. And you can geo-target these to your preferred country or on a global level.

But how does this help you work out your Google Keyword Planner monthly search volumes? Well, Keywords Everywhere and Google Keyword Planner work hand-in-hand.

 

 

Of course, keyword volumes or never exact. Sometimes they are overestimated, other times, underestimated. Even on Google Keyword Planner! Nonetheless, they are going to give you better foundations to build your keyword planning strategy on then simply plucking random key words out of thin air.

 

Use Your Competitors to Your Advantage

One of the best ways to generate highly relevant and target in keywords is to use your competition. Spend a bit of time looking at the biggest players in your niche. Grab their URL. Enter it into the search bar and then hit ‘entire site’ from the drop down menu.

Of course, by scanning your competitors site you are going to be generating a lot of keyboards that are brand-specific. But not to worry, these can be filtered out in 4 simple steps.

Click on add filter > keyword text > does not contain > brand keywords

 

Hey presto! You now have a huge list of keyword ideas that do not contain your competitors name. And best of all, if you have chosen a competitor who is a giant or a leader in your business market, you can be pretty sure that the keywords will be high-hitters.

Finding the Right Questions to Answer

When you know what types of questions people want answered, you can create content that stops the search. But how do you go about finding these all-important questions?

Again, a few clicks of the mouse and Google Keyword Planner will reveal all. To do this, perform a search of the keywords you are interested in, and then:

Add Filter > contains > (enter question supposition.)

 

 

Start off by checking keyword text that contains who. Then add in how, what, why, when, and where. And before you know it, Google Keyword Planner will be showing you some of the best questions for your content marketing plan.

Another great way to find keyword questions is to use Answer the Public. This hugely popular tool allows you to perform up to five free searches a day. While not a huge amount top searches can be performed, it’s normally more than enough to get yourself on the right track.

These are just a few great tips and tricks for beginners to Google Keyword Planner. We will be following up this post with more advanced strategies over the coming months. If you are an online business, brand or company looking to leverage keywords to your advantage, don’t give up on Google just yet!

Article first published here: New Google Keyword Planner – Beginners Guide