Google Keyword Planner Tutorial: Find Keywords for SEO and PPC

Every successful search marketing campaign starts with the right keywords. Google Keyword Planner is the go-to tool for discovering what your potential customers are actually searching for, how much competition exists, and what you can expect to pay per click. Best of all, it is free to use with any Google Ads account.

For Singapore businesses, Keyword Planner is especially valuable because it lets you filter results by location, language, and search network. Whether you are targeting Singaporeans searching in English, Mandarin, or Malay, or expanding into neighbouring markets like Malaysia and Indonesia, this tool gives you the data to make informed keyword decisions.

This google keyword planner tutorial walks you through every feature of the tool, from discovering new keyword ideas to analysing search volume trends and extracting insights for both SEO and Google Ads campaigns. Follow along step by step and you will be building data-driven keyword lists within the hour.

Accessing Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free tool within Google Ads. You need a Google Ads account to access it, but you do not need to run any active campaigns or spend any money. Here is how to get started.

Step 1: Create a Google Ads account. If you do not already have one, go to ads.google.com and click Start now. Google will prompt you to create a campaign during the setup process. You can skip campaign creation by clicking Switch to Expert Mode at the bottom of the first screen, then selecting Create an account without a campaign.

Step 2: Navigate to Keyword Planner. Once inside your Google Ads account, click Tools in the top navigation menu, then select Keyword Planner under the Planning section. You will see two main options: Discover new keywords and Get search volume and forecasts.

Step 3: Verify your location settings. Before running any searches, confirm that your targeting is set to Singapore (or your target market). The location setting dramatically affects the search volume and competition data you receive. Click the location filter at the top of the results page and type 싱가포르 to ensure accuracy.

Step 4: Set your language. For most Singapore campaigns, set the language to English. If you are targeting Chinese-speaking audiences, you can switch to Chinese (Simplified) to discover Mandarin keyword opportunities.

Discovering New Keyword Ideas

그리고 Discover new keywords feature is where most keyword research begins. It generates hundreds or thousands of keyword suggestions based on seed keywords, URLs, or both.

Method 1: Start with seed keywords. Click Discover new keywords and select the Start with keywords tab. Enter up to ten seed keywords related to your business. For a Singapore real estate agency, you might enter “property for sale Singapore”, “condo rental”, and “HDB resale”. Click Get Results to generate keyword ideas.

Method 2: Start with a website. Select the Start with a website tab and enter a competitor’s URL or a specific landing page. Keyword Planner analyses the page content and suggests keywords relevant to that page. This is an excellent way to discover keywords your competitors are targeting that you might have overlooked.

Method 3: Combine both approaches. Enter seed keywords and a website URL together for the broadest possible set of keyword ideas. Keyword Planner will combine both inputs to generate a comprehensive list.

Once results appear, you will see a table showing each keyword along with its average monthly searches, competition level, and suggested bid range. The tool typically returns hundreds of keyword ideas, which you can sort, filter, and refine to find the most relevant opportunities for your Singapore business.

Using keyword filters: Narrow your results using the filter options above the keyword table. You can filter by keyword text (to include or exclude specific words), average monthly searches (to focus on high-volume or long-tail keywords), competition level (low, medium, high), and bid range. For a new Singapore brand with a limited budget, filtering for low-competition keywords with 100 to 1,000 monthly searches is a smart starting point.

Understanding Search Volume Data

Search volume is one of the most important metrics in Keyword Planner, but it requires careful interpretation. Understanding what the numbers mean and their limitations will help you make better keyword decisions.

Average monthly searches shows the average number of times a keyword was searched per month over the past 12 months. This is a rounded estimate displayed as a range (such as 1K–10K) for accounts without significant ad spend. Accounts with active campaigns receive more precise figures.

Seasonality and trends: Click on any keyword to view its search volume trend over time. This reveals seasonal patterns that are critical for campaign planning. In Singapore, keywords like “Christmas gift ideas” peak in November and December, while “Chinese New Year hamper” spikes in January and February. Understanding these patterns helps you time your 콘텐츠 마케팅 and paid campaigns for maximum impact.

Year-over-year changes: Compare the most recent three months against the same period a year ago to identify growing and declining keywords. In 2026, keywords related to AI-powered tools and sustainable products continue to show strong growth across Singapore searches.

Search volume ranges vs exact numbers: Free accounts or accounts with low spend see search volume as broad ranges. To access more granular data, you need an active Google Ads account with reasonable monthly spend. However, even the ranges are useful for prioritising keywords — a keyword showing 10K–100K monthly searches is clearly more popular than one showing 10–100.

그리고 Get search volume and forecasts option in Keyword Planner lets you paste a list of keywords you already have and retrieve volume data for all of them at once. This is useful when you have keywords from other research tools or brainstorming sessions and want to validate them with Google’s data.

Analysing Competition and Bid Estimates

Keyword Planner provides two forms of competition data that help you assess how difficult and expensive it will be to target specific keywords.

Competition level is displayed as Low, Medium, or High. This metric specifically measures advertiser competition in Google Ads, not organic SEO difficulty. A keyword marked as “High” competition means many advertisers are bidding on it. However, this does not necessarily mean it is difficult to rank for organically. Some commercial keywords have fierce paid competition but moderate organic difficulty.

Top of page bid (low range) and top of page bid (high range) show the estimated cost per click for your ad to appear at the top of search results. These estimates are based on historical bid data for the selected location. For Singapore, commercial keywords in competitive industries like insurance, finance, and legal services often show top-of-page bids exceeding SGD 10 per click, while niche B2B keywords might cost as little as SGD 0.50 to SGD 2.

How to use bid data for SEO: Even if you are focused on organic search, bid estimates reveal keyword commercial intent. Keywords with high CPCs indicate that advertisers find those searchers valuable, which suggests strong purchase intent. Prioritising these high-value keywords in your SEO strategy can drive meaningful business results.

Forecasting campaign costs: Use the Get search volume and forecasts feature to estimate the budget required for a Google Ads campaign. Enter your target keywords, set your desired location to Singapore, and adjust the bid and budget sliders. Keyword Planner will estimate impressions, clicks, and total cost, helping you build a realistic campaign proposal.

Using Keyword Planner for SEO

While Keyword Planner was designed for Google Ads, it remains one of the most valuable tools for SEO keyword research. Here is how to extract maximum SEO value from the tool.

Identify content opportunities. Look for keywords with decent search volume (500+ monthly searches in Singapore) and low to medium competition. These represent topics where demand exists but competition has not saturated the space. Create dedicated content targeting these keywords, following on-page SEO best practices for titles, headings, and body content.

Find long-tail variations. Seed keywords generate broad ideas, but the real SEO gold is in long-tail variations. For a Singapore fitness brand, the seed keyword “gym” might reveal long-tail opportunities like “24 hour gym near Tanjong Pagar” or “gym membership Singapore price comparison”. These longer keywords have lower volume individually but higher conversion intent and are easier to rank for.

Group keywords by search intent. As you review keyword suggestions, categorise them by intent: informational (how to, guide, tutorial), navigational (brand name + keyword), commercial investigation (best, review, comparison), and transactional (buy, price, discount). This grouping helps you map keywords to the right content types and stages of your marketing funnel.

Cross-reference with Search Console. Export your Keyword Planner data and compare it with queries you already rank for in Google Search Console. This reveals gaps where you have visibility on related terms but no optimised content for the high-volume variations. These gap keywords represent quick-win opportunities for your SEO programme.

Export and combine data. Click the Download keyword ideas button to export results as a CSV file. Combine this data with information from other tools like Google Search Console, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to build a comprehensive keyword database for your Singapore SEO campaigns.

Organising and Refining Keyword Lists

A raw keyword export can contain thousands of terms. Organising them into actionable groups is essential for both SEO content planning and Google Ads campaign structure.

Create keyword plans: Within Keyword Planner, you can add keywords to a plan by clicking the checkbox next to each keyword and selecting Add to plan. This plan becomes the basis for a new Google Ads campaign. You can organise keywords into ad groups directly within the planner interface.

Group by theme: Cluster related keywords into topic groups. For a Singapore digital marketing agency, you might create groups like “SEO services”, “social media management”, “Google Ads management”, and “web design”. Each group should target a distinct search intent and map to a specific landing page or content piece.

Refine with negative keywords: As you review keyword ideas, identify irrelevant terms that you want to exclude. For a premium Singapore fashion brand, you might add “cheap”, “free”, and “DIY” as negative keywords. While this is primarily a PPC concept, noting these exclusions also helps you focus your SEO content on terms that attract your ideal audience.

Prioritise by value: Rank your keyword groups by a combination of search volume, competition level, and business relevance. A keyword with 1,000 monthly searches that directly relates to your core service is more valuable than a keyword with 10,000 searches that only tangentially relates to your business. For agencies managing digital marketing in Singapore, aligning keyword priorities with client revenue goals is critical.

Advanced Tips and Workarounds

Getting the most from Keyword Planner requires knowing a few tricks that go beyond the basic interface.

Use location targeting creatively. Compare search volume for the same keyword across different locations. If you are a Singapore brand expanding into Malaysia, run the same keyword research for both markets to understand demand differences. You can also target specific cities within a country, which is useful for localised businesses.

Analyse competitor keywords at scale. Enter multiple competitor URLs (one at a time) using the Start with a website option and export each result set. Combine and deduplicate the exports in a spreadsheet to build a comprehensive view of the keywords your competitors are targeting across their entire websites.

Combine with Google Trends. Keyword Planner shows average monthly volume, but Google Trends reveals momentum. A keyword with 500 average monthly searches that is trending upward is more attractive than one with 1,000 searches in decline. Use Trends to validate the direction of keywords identified in Keyword Planner.

Use the forecast feature for budget planning. The forecast tool is underutilised by many marketers. Enter your keyword list, set location to Singapore, and adjust the daily budget and bid strategy. The tool will estimate clicks, impressions, cost, CTR, and average CPC for different budget levels. This forecast data is invaluable when presenting campaign proposals to clients or management.

Filter out branded keywords. When analysing competitors, their branded keywords will appear in results but are not useful for your campaigns. Add competitor brand names as excluded keywords in the filter to focus on generic, targetable terms.

Schedule regular research sessions. Search behaviour evolves constantly. Set a quarterly reminder to revisit Keyword Planner and identify new opportunities. In Singapore’s fast-moving market, new trends, products, and services create fresh keyword opportunities every few months. Staying on top of these changes ensures your content strategy remains competitive in 2026 and beyond.

자주 묻는 질문

Do I need to spend money on Google Ads to use Keyword Planner?

No, you can access Keyword Planner with a free Google Ads account and no active campaigns. However, accounts without significant ad spend will see search volume displayed as ranges rather than exact numbers. Running even a small campaign can unlock more precise data.

How accurate is the search volume data in Keyword Planner?

Keyword Planner provides estimated averages based on the past 12 months of search data. While the exact numbers should be taken as approximations rather than precise figures, they are reliable for comparing relative keyword popularity and identifying trends. For Singapore-specific data, ensure your location filter is set correctly.

Can I use Keyword Planner for YouTube keyword research?

Keyword Planner’s data primarily reflects Google Search volume, but many YouTube searches mirror Google searches. You can use it as a starting point for YouTube keyword research, though dedicated YouTube tools like TubeBuddy or vidIQ provide more YouTube-specific data such as video competition scores.

What is the difference between competition in Keyword Planner and SEO difficulty?

The competition metric in Keyword Planner measures advertiser competition for paid search, not organic ranking difficulty. A keyword with high PPC competition may have low organic competition and vice versa. For organic difficulty assessment, use dedicated SEO tools alongside Keyword Planner.

How do I find keywords in languages other than English?

Change the language filter in Keyword Planner to your target language. For Singapore’s multilingual market, you can research keywords in English, Chinese (Simplified), Malay, and Tamil. Enter seed keywords in the target language and set the location to Singapore for locally relevant results.

Can Keyword Planner show search volume for specific cities within Singapore?

Keyword Planner can target Singapore as a country but does not break down search volume by neighbourhoods or districts within Singapore. For hyper-local targeting, you would need to rely on broader Singapore data and combine it with insights from Google Trends, which offers some regional comparison capabilities.