Keyword Tool

About the Keyword Tool

Need more keywords? This is what you can do with the Keyword Tool:

• Find and add new keyword ideas to your ad groups
• Refine your keyword list
• Find negative keyword ideas
• See additional keywords that can also trigger your ads (expanded matches)
• Estimate keyword traffic

Below you'll find specific directions for accessing and using the tool in different ways.

Using the tool

You can access the Keyword Tool from the Keywords tab of any ad group, the Reporting and Tools drop-down menu, or the Opportunities tab.

 You can use the search boxes and search button at the top to begin searching by entering a keyword or a URL. Or you can go straight to filtering keyword categories next to the statistics table. You can use one or the other or both together; the tool is completely flexible depending on how you'd like to use it.

To reach the Keyword Tool, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your AdWords account at http://adwords.google.com.
2. From an ad group, click the Add keywords button above the keyword statistics table.
3. Click the Keyword Tool link above the list of keyword ideas.

You can also access the tool by clicking the Reporting and Tools drop-down menu and selecting the Keyword Tool option.

Once the keyword tool launches:

1. You can enter either a word or phrase in the text box, or a website in the website box to the right. You can also use both to further refine your keyword results.
2. Click Search. Results will appear in the main browser pane.
3. Select the keywords you'd like to add.
4. Click Add keywords.
5. In the new browser window, select the campaign and ad group where you'd like to add your keywords.
6. Click Save and continue.
7. Refine your search using the options listed below.

Refine your search further:

• Click Advanced options to further refine your search, for example, by country, language, or mobile search.
• Relevant categories will appear to the left. However, you can click Show all categories to view all the categories available. The relevant categories remain highlighted.
• Select or deselect the keyword match type checkboxes beneath the available categories to further refine your search in the main browser pane.
• Click the Columns button above the results table to customize the columns you see within your results data.

Reviewing your keyword results

The Keyword Tool provides several statistics along with your keyword results. This information can help you pick the keywords most likely to return quality leads within your budget. Below you'll learn how to customize the statistics shown, what each statistic means, and tips on interpreting the statistics.

Show or hide columns in your Keyword Tool results with the Columns drop-down menu. Each column shows historical performance statistics about the keyword results to help you pick the best ones to add to your ad group.

About the Statistics

Each column in the table shows a different statistic about the keyword results. If you access the Keyword Tool from within an ad group, certain statistics will factor in your performance history, as well as your campaign's country and language targetting (if you target a region or city, only the country will be reflected). If you use the external Keyword Tool, will influence these statistics.

In addition, the Keyword Tool's search statistics will vary depending on your selection of keyword match type. If you select Broad or Phrase, the tool will factor in certain variations of your keywords that could potentially trigger your ads. Learn about keyword matches types.

Default Columns

For any keywords you select, you'll see the following information by default within the results table:

• Competition: This column shows the number of advertisers worldwide bidding on each keyword relative to all keywords across Google. The shaded bar represents a general low-to-high quantitative guide to help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword.
• Global Monthly Searches: This column shows the approximate 12-month average number of search queries matching each keyword. It includes traffic in all countries and languages but is specific to your keyword match type selection. If we don't have enough data for a particular keyword, you'll see this noted within the column. Learn more about the Keyword Tool's search traffic statistics.
• Local Monthly Searches: This column shows the approximate 12-month average number of user queries for the keyword for your targeted countries and languages. It's specific to your selection from the Match Type drop-down menu. If we don't have enough data for a particular keyword, you'll see not enough data. Learn more about the Keyword Tool's search traffic statistics .
• Local Search Trends: This column, available to signed-in advertisers only, shows a keyword's fluctuation in traffic over the past 12 months. Each bar represents a different month. This statistic is specific to your targeted country and language as well as your Keyword Match Type selection. Search traffic data is approximate. "Local" refers to searches from the selected countries and languages for your current campaign settings or those you selected in "advanced options."

Additional columns

You can also click Views > Customize columns above the data table to see these additional columns:

• Approximate CPC: The approximate cost-per-click (CPC) you might pay if you were to bid on the keyword. The CPC is averaged over all the ad positions.

• Ad Share: This statistic describes the percentage of time that your ad is triggered for a query. This statistic is specific to your targeted country or territory.
• Search Share: This statistic describes the percentage of time that your website appeared on the first page of organic results. This statistic is specific to your targeted countryor territory.
• Extracted from Webpage: This statistic appears for a successful keyword match to a relevant landing page.