Key Takeaways
- What it is: the free keyword research tool built into Google Ads, powered by Google's own search data.
- The key point: If there is no active campaign, volumes are displayed as ranges (1,000 to 10,000); with just a few euros in ad spend, they become exact and monthly figures.
- Here's what it looks like: average volume, 12-month trend, advertising competition, top and bottom page bids, keyword ideas by topic.
- What it doesn't provide: SEO difficulty, rankings, actual intent, grouped queries (“near me” and variations are combined).
The Keyword Planner is the most straightforward source of search data available: it comes from Google, it’s free, and all paid SEO tools are based on it or complement it. However, it has two shortcomings that can be confusing for occasional users: its volume ranges and its grouping of search queries. This article explains how to access it, how to interpret its columns, its value for SEO and SEA, and when another tool becomes necessary.
Access the Planner and get exact volumes
The tool is located in Google Ads, under the Tools menu, in the Planning section. You need a Google Ads account, which is free, but the level of detail depends on the account’s advertising activity:
| Account Status | Volumes Displayed | How to Fix It |
|---|---|---|
| Account created in expert mode, without a campaign | Wide ranges: 10 to 100, 100 to 1,000, 1,000 to 10,000 | Launch a campaign with a minimal budget (a few euros a day for a few days) |
| Account with low but regular expenses | Exact monthly volumes, 4-year history | Nothing—that's the desired state |
| Account created in simplified mode ("smart") | Limited access; tool sometimes missing | Switch to expert mode in the settings |
| Agency Account (MCC) | Depending on the selected customer account | Select an active customer account |
Spending between 20 and 50 € over the course of a week is usually enough to unlock the exact data volumes on a long-term basis. This is the most cost-effective way to obtain first-hand Google data—much cheaper than a subscription to a third-party tool.
The Two Functions and Reading the Columns
- Find new keywords: Enter one or more terms, or a website URL, and get hundreds of ideas sorted by relevance, with filters by language, geographic region, and network.
- Get search volume and forecasts: Paste a list of keywords and retrieve their search volumes, or an estimate of clicks and cost for a campaign.
| Column | Meaning | Trap |
|---|---|---|
| Average Monthly Searches | 12-month average for the selected region and language | Smooths out seasonal variations; click on the trend to view the months |
| Change over 3 months and over 1 year | Changes in Volume | Useful for identifying a subject that is in decline or on the rise |
| Competition | Low, medium, high: advertiser density, no SEO difficulty | A "low-competition" keyword can be highly competitive in organic search |
| Top-of-page bid (low and high ranges) | CPCs designed to appear at the top of the results | A good indicator of a query's commercial value, even for SEO |
| Share of impressions (account) | Percentage of visibility your ads have already achieved | Appears only with active campaigns |
A useful approach to SEO involves comparing search volume and the highest bid: a search term with 500 searches per month and a CPC of €8 is worth more than one with 5,000 searches at €0.30, because advertisers pay for the intent behind it. The connection to the cost per click is a shortcut to a keyword's economic value.
Limits You Should Know
- Grouping of variants: Google combines plurals, common misspellings, and similar phrases; “plumber lyon” and “plumbers lyon” show the same search volume, which inflates the numbers and obscures the nuances.
- Rounded data: Even when expressed in exact figures, the values are rounded (1,300, 1,600, 2,400, 5,400); these are orders of magnitude.
- No SEO issues: The "Competition" column applies to advertisers; to estimate how difficult it is to rank, you need a third-party tool or to directly observe the results page.
- No data by device in the basic view: You need to use the forecasts to break down the numbers by mobile and computer.
- Zero for rare queries: The very specific long-tail terms do not appear, even though they can drive conversions; the questions asked of AI engines completely overlook them—an issue addressed in Keyword Research for GEO.
Practical Applications for an SME
- Approve a page draft: Before writing a service page or an article, check to see if the target search query has sufficient search volume and commercial intent.
- Prioritize a list: Export the volumes and CPCs to a spreadsheet, calculate volume × CPC as a value metric, and sort the keywords in descending order.
- Learn the vocabulary used by customers: Enter a competitor's URL to retrieve the terms that Google associates with their site.
- Preparing a Google Ads campaign: Use forecasts to estimate clicks and budget before launching, then track actual results with the Google Ads vocabulary in the lead.
- Identifying Seasonality: Review the monthly trend to align the editorial calendar and budgets.
Once the keywords have been selected, rank tracking is done elsewhere: the Planner never shows where your site ranks. A SEO audit and a rank tracking tool take over, while Search Console shows the actual search queries for which the site already appears.
Alternatives and Additions in 2026
| Tool | Estimated Price | Contribution Compared to the Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Free | Actual search queries, rankings, and clicks for your website; no market volumes |
| Google Trends | Free | Relative trends, comparisons, detailed seasonality |
| Semrush, Ahrefs | Starting at $130 per month | SEO challenges, ungrouped variants, competitors' keywords, questions |
| Ubersuggest, Keyword Surfer, Mangools | 0 to 50 € per month | Estimated volumes and difficulty, on a tight budget |
| AnswerThePublic, AlsoAsked | 0 to 20 € per month | Questions and Conversational Phrases |
| SEO Management Platform | 0 to 150 € per month | Position tracking, alerts, and reconciliation with GA4 traffic |
For an SME, the most effective combination is still free: Planner for volume and value, Search Console for website performance, and Trends for seasonality. Paid tools become useful when you need to conduct an in-depth analysis of the competition or scale up research across hundreds of queries.
How GreenRed Can Help You
Instead of juggling multiple tools, GreenRed's SEO Keyword Tracking module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time, and shows you which actions to prioritize. You can try it for free—no credit card required—on the page Rates.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the Planner display ranges instead of exact numbers?
Google reserves exact monthly ad volume for accounts that spend on advertising. An account without an active campaign shows broad ranges, such as 1,000 to 10,000. A campaign with a budget of a few euros per day for one week is generally enough to unlock the detailed volumes and four-year history on a permanent basis.
Are the Planner's search volume figures reliable for SEO?
They’re a reliable order of magnitude—since they come from Google—but they group similar variations together and are rounded. For SEO, use them to prioritize topics, not to predict exact traffic figures. Then compare them to the actual impressions in Search Console, which reflect what your site is actually seeing.
Does the Planner indicate how difficult it is to position oneself?
No. The “competition” column measures the density of advertisers for a given search query, not the difficulty of organic SEO. A keyword with low advertising competition may still be dominated by websites that are very well-established in SEO. To estimate the difficulty, look at the search results page or use a third-party tool like Semrush or Ahrefs.
Can you use the Planner without spending money on Google Ads?
Yes. Creating an account is free, and the tool works without a campaign, providing search volume ranges, keyword ideas, trends, and CPCs. Create your account in expert mode, without finalizing a campaign, to avoid being directed toward Smart Campaigns, which limit access to the tools.