How to Do Google Ads Keyword Research: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

From Google Keyword Planner basics to SERP intent analysis, competitor gap research, and keyword clustering — the complete practitioner’s process for building a keyword list that actually converts.

Most Google Ads failures are keyword failures. Bidding on terms with the wrong intent, missing the queries your customers actually use, or building ad groups so broad that no ad can be relevant to every keyword in them — these aren’t strategy problems. They’re keyword research problems that compound every day you run the account.

This guide walks through the complete keyword research process Advertza uses for every new Google Ads account — from the first seed term in Keyword Planner to the final validated, clustered keyword list ready to launch.

Before You Open Any Tool: Define Intent First

The biggest mistake in Google Ads keyword research is starting with a tool before defining your campaign’s job. Every keyword research session should begin with two questions:

What funnel stage am I targeting?

Bottom-funnel (purchase/contact intent), mid-funnel (comparison intent), or top-funnel (awareness intent)?

What does success look like per keyword?

A form submission, a purchase, a phone call, or a page visit?

These answers define which keywords you should even be looking at. A bottom-funnel campaign for a Google Ads agency needs keywords like “hire google ads agency” and “google ads management service” — not “what is google ads” or “google ads tutorial.”

hire, buy, get, book, quote, price, cost, service, agency, consultant → Bottom funnel → Bid aggressively

Commercial Investigation:

best, top, compare, vs, review, alternative → Mid funnel → Bid moderately

what is, how to, guide, tutorial, explained → Top funnel → Usually avoid for conversion campaigns

brand names, competitor names → Brand/conquesting campaigns only

Google Keyword Planner: Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Google Keyword Planner remains the foundational tool for Google Ads keyword research — not because it’s the best at discovering keywords, but because its CPC estimates and competition data are sourced directly from Google’s auction data.

Step 1: Access Keyword Planner

In your Google Ads account: Tools & Settings → Planning → Keyword Planner → Discover New Keywords.

Step 2: Enter Seed Keywords

Enter 5–10 seed keywords that directly describe your service. For Advertza, these might be: “google ads agency”, “ppc management”, “google ads management”, “paid search agency”, “google advertising agency”. Do not enter product features or industry jargon — enter what your customer types when searching for your service.

Step 3: Set Geographic Filters

Set your target geography before reviewing results. UK accounts: set to United Kingdom. India accounts: set to India (or specific states for regional campaigns). Global CPCs and volumes from Keyword Planner default to US data — always apply your geography filter first.

Step 4: Filter and Export

Apply filters:

Average Monthly Searches:

minimum 100 (for niche B2B) or 500 (for broader consumer terms).

Top of Page Bid (Low Range):

this reveals your minimum likely CPC. Sort by relevance, review top 100–200 results, and export to a CSV for analysis.

Keyword Planner only shows you the keywords Google wants you to bid on. It systematically

underreports long-tail volume

and misses niche terms. After Keyword Planner, always supplement with: Google Search Console data from your existing site, competitor research in SEMrush/Ahrefs, and manual Google autocomplete exploration for your core terms.

SERP Intent Analysis: The Step Most Advertisers Skip

This is the step that separates disciplined keyword research from tool-generated keyword dumps. Before adding any keyword to your campaign, Google it. Manually. Look at what actually appears.

What you’re checking:

Are there paid ads at the top?

If Google shows zero ads for a keyword, Google does not classify it as commercial intent — and your ad may not show either, or will show at very low impression share.

What type of results dominate?

If the top 10 organic results are Wikipedia, Reddit, and “what is X” guides — this is an informational keyword. Even if volume is high, conversion rate will be terrible.

Competitor ad copy tells you what’s converting for your market. If every ad says “Free Trial” — users in this market expect free trials. If every ad says “Get a Quote” — transactional intent is confirmed.

What’s the featured snippet?

A featured snippet answering “what is X” confirms informational intent — avoid bidding unless you’re running awareness campaigns.

Query:

“google ads management agency london”

Strong commercial intent — add to campaign at Phrase Match.

“how does google ads work”

Informational intent — add to negative keyword list, do not bid.

Competitor Keyword Gap Analysis

After Keyword Planner and SERP analysis, competitor research reveals the keywords your direct competitors are already paying for — keywords that have been validated by their conversion data, not just by volume estimates.

Using SEMrush for Competitor Keyword Research

Using Ahrefs for Keyword Gap

Building Your Negative Keyword List from Research

Every keyword research session should produce two outputs: a keyword inclusion list and a negative keyword list. The negative list is built from everything you encounter during SERP analysis that has wrong intent.

During your research, flag and add to negatives: every informational keyword, every job/career variation, every “free” or “cheap” variation, every competitor name (unless conquesting), every geographic location you don’t serve, and every industry-adjacent term that could trigger your ad but has no conversion potential.

Keyword Clustering for Ad Groups

Once you have your validated keyword list, cluster keywords into ad groups by shared intent and theme. The test: could you write one RSA headline that is highly relevant to every keyword in this cluster?

Google Ads Agency London

Google Ads Management Service

Google Ads Consultant

The Advertza 5-Step Keyword Validation Process

Define intent and funnel stage

— Before opening any tool, classify your campaign objective. Bottom funnel (purchase/contact), mid funnel (comparison), or awareness. Different stages need entirely different keywords.

Seed keyword discovery via Keyword Planner

— Enter 5–10 seed keywords. Filter by volume (100+), CPC range, and geography. Export top 200 candidates to a spreadsheet.

SERP intent analysis on every candidate

— Manually Google each potential keyword. Confirm: are paid ads present? Is the intent commercial or informational? Mark each keyword Pass / Fail on intent.

Competitor gap analysis

— Run target domain through SEMrush Advertising Research. Add all gap keywords that passed SERP intent analysis to your inclusion list. Add their negative signals to your exclusion list.

Cluster, assign match types, and build negatives

— Group passing keywords by theme (10–20 per ad group), assign starting match types (Phrase for new campaigns), and build your initial negative keyword list from all Fail keywords encountered during analysis.

Case Study: 40% CPA Reduction After Keyword Restructure

An India-based fashion accessories brand came to Advertza with a Google Ads account running for 18 months — spending ₹80,000/month with a CPA of ₹1,240 per purchase. The account had 340 active keywords across 4 campaigns, all in one ad group per campaign, using broad match without Smart Bidding.

Our keyword research audit revealed: 62% of active keywords had informational or navigational intent — they were generating impressions and clicks, but zero purchases. The remaining 38% were carrying all conversions. We rebuilt the account from the ground up using our 5-step validation process: intent classification, Keyword Planner re-seeding, SERP analysis on all 340 keywords, competitor gap analysis (found 28 high-converting competitor keywords not in their account), and tight clustering into 14 focused ad groups.

We also built a 180-term negative keyword list from all the intent-wrong keywords we removed, and switched the account to tROAS Smart Bidding with an initial 5x target. After a 4-week learning phase, results were measured at the 90-day mark.

Expected CPC Ranges by Industry (UK & India)

Digital Marketing Agency

E-commerce (Electronics)

GET YOUR KEYWORD STRATEGY BUILT

Advertza builds complete Google Ads keyword lists with SERP validation, competitor gap analysis, and ad group clustering — included in every account setup and management engagement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Get a Free Keyword Research Audit

Advertza analyses your current keyword list for intent gaps, wasted spend, and missing high-intent terms — delivered free before any engagement.

Bansi Ganatra is the Co-Founder of Advertza, a performance marketing agency for eCommerce and D2C brands across UK and India. He specialises in Meta Ads, Google Ads, and Shopify performance marketing with hands-on experience scaling brands including Tyl Visuals, Tyl Accessories, and BTMRainwave61. Under his management, a D2C brand reached Rs.9.25L peak monthly revenue with 4x to 6x ROAS.