Google Keyword Planner Update: How to Refine Your Keywords Even More?

If you are a pay-per-click (PPC) marketer, then keyword research should be top of your priority list. The keywords your target market uses tell you about their thoughts, desires, and language they use to express it. Therefore, if there is a way to get more relevant keywords, you should take advantage of it.

The Google Ads Keyword Planner is an excellent tool for this keyword research. However, in the past, you needed to take the raw data of this tool and organize it yourself by different categories. Google now makes it easier to refine your keywords so that they are more relevant to your campaigns while saving time.

In this post, we’ll cover the benefits of Google Ads’ new keyword refinement features.  We’ll also show you where to access this feature and how to use it to get better PPC campaign results:

What is the “Refine Keywords” Feature?

In the Google Keyword Planner update, they released the beta version of “Refine Keywords,” which promises to save your PPC management team a lot of time. This new feature can automatically categorize your keywords by brand, non-brand, growth stage, product and other categories.

For instance, if you run campaigns for keywords related to “men’s jeans,” you used to need hours to sort through thousands of keyword ideas. Now, you can filter through different attributes, add keywords, or remove keywords. You can sort by size, color, and more to bid only on your brand’s most relevant terms.

Where to Find “Refine Keywords” in Keyword Planner

There are a few steps you need to take before you can locate and use Refine Keywords:

Your account should be in expert mode instead of a smart mode. Ensure that your account setup is complete by adding your billing information and creating your first campaign. You can choose to pause your campaigns if you’re not ready to start spending yet.

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.4. Click on the search icon located at the Top Navigation Panel (as pictured below).

2. Type “Keyword Planner” in the search bar.

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3. Click on the “Keyword Planner” from the search results.

4. Click on the “Discover New Keywords” tab.

5. Type the keyword in the search bar which you want to discover. To begin refining keywords, you have to enter at least one keyword.

6. Click on the “Get Results” button to get the results about that keyword.

7. Now, in the right navigation section, you will see the Refine Keywords section.

8. Use the checkboxes to select or unselect keywords that you want to be included.

Now you know where to find the Refine Keywords option, and how to use it to narrow down your campaigns. But that’s only half of the picture. Let’s look at more specific ways to refine your results

Ways to Refine Keywords after the Google Keyword Planner Update

Every business is unique. Luckily. Google has provided several ways to refine your keywords so you can choose the most effective methods for your product:

1. Filter and Refine by Category

You can achieve a better understanding of which keywords have the potential for success by filtering. To edit filters, simply click the filter icon above the table of results. From here, you can edit individual filters.

You have a lot of options when it comes to filters:

You can also filter by categories such as like in case of Jeans example for others it can be changed.

• Color
• Size
• Information

And more. By default, all the categories will be selected. You’ll need to unselect the categories you wish to exclude in your filtering.

2. Narrow by Location

Narrowing by location is very useful if you want to target a specific language or area.

Here are some important settings to adjust:

• Location settings – Select a country, territory, region, or city. Click “nearby” to see ideas for other locations you might want to target.
• Language settings – Cater to your target market’s language and avoid wasting money on ads for other languages.
• Network settings – Click “Google” to see ideas for Google Search or “Google and search partners” to advertise on other sites.

3. Customize by Date Range

Seasonal campaigns can be optimized by selecting a date range within which to run your ads. You can even see anticipated search volumes to get a better idea of the ideal time of the year to spend your budget.

Let’s say that you specialize in winter clothing. Spending money in the summer would be a waste. Google will let you see different seasonal forecasts to decide how to best spend your advertising budget at different times of the year.

4. Break Down into Segments

You can see what kind of impact your keyword ideas have on different segments.  You can check according to search volume, different platforms and different locations.

Techniques for Faster Keyword Discovery

The faster you can identify profitable keywords, the better chance you will have to capture traffic from those searchers.

Therefore, keyword discovery is an essential part of optimizing your PPC campaigns after the most recent Google Keyword Planner update.

Here are two powerful techniques to consider:

1. Competitor Keyword Analysis

If you’ve done good research on your market, you have a good idea of who your ideal customers are. But your competitors can offer alternative angles from which to approach your market.

Perform competitive analysis by asking the following questions and digging into your competitors’ messaging:

• How they’re reaching audiences similar to yours?
• What type of content they’re using?
• What type of messaging they’re focused on?

In this process, you’ll learn some new keywords that you hadn’t thought of before. You can use this knowledge to brainstorm new campaigns to increase your market share and piggyback off the money and time that your competitors have already spent.

If you notice a whole new set of keywords, landing page elements, or other aspects of the competition’s campaigns, it could signal a change in your marketplace. If you didn’t do this research, you might have been left behind, while others in your industry received additional traffic and conversions.

2. Long-tail Keyword Research

If you had an unlimited budget, then bidding on the keywords with the most competition would make sense. After all, that means many people are using that phrasing to find their desired product or service.

However, most companies need to be smarter about how they spend their advertising dollars. Besides, the most competitive keywords only represent a relatively small portion of the search volume. And these terms are often broader, so they don’t capture intent as much as more refined keywords.

A robust keyword strategy can certainly involve bidding on expensive keywords. But long-tail keywords have several advantages in addition to saving your budget.

By targeting long-tail keywords, you can provide niche ads and landing pages with very specific offers. You might uncover a hidden need that no one else in the marketplace has solved yet.

Being the first or only brand to capture long-tail search terms puts you at a decisive advantage. You can capture more specific buying intent, have less competition, and ultimately spend less money to achieve conversions at the bottom of your funnel.

Wrap Up

The world of PPC advertising is always evolving. Understanding the keywords and phrases that your customers are using is crucial. Google Keyword Planner has always provided a great starting point for your keyword research. However, in the past, it was much more manual and time-consuming.

Thanks to the Google Keyword Planner update, you can generate more relevant campaigns while also saving time. At the end of the day, this frees up you and your team to focus on higher-level campaign strategies. That way, you can enhance current campaigns and build new ones while producing more profitable results.