When starting your PPC keyword research, brainstorming is an essential first step. The goal here is to gather a wide range of potential keywords that relate to your products, services, and audience. You’ll start with broad ideas and then gradually refine your list to target more specific search terms.

The most obvious place to begin is with your own website and landing pages. Review your content for keywords that you’re already using, which will give you an idea of where to start. Consider the core offerings, product descriptions, and services mentioned on your site. These keywords serve as a foundation for your broader research.

For example, if you run a digital marketing agency, your landing pages might highlight keywords like "PPC services," "Google Ads management," and "SEO consulting."

To structure your brainstorming, focus on four main types of keywords:

Once you have a solid foundation of keywords, the next step is to create variations. Start with broad terms and then narrow them down to more specific ones. This approach helps you cover a wide range of potential queries while still targeting high-intent searches. Let’s say you’re targeting startups—your keywords could evolve from:

"Marketing Agency" → "Digital Marketing Agency" → "Google Ads Agency for Startups" → "PPC Agency for Small Businesses."

As you refine, don’t forget about long-tail keywords. These are highly specific, often longer phrases that may have lower search volume but tend to convert better because they capture users who are closer to making a decision. For a deeper dive, check our dedicated article: Unlock High-Intent Traffic: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Long-Tail Keywords.

Example: Instead of "PPC services," a long-tail keyword could be "affordable PPC services for e-commerce startups."

In 2025, voice search will continue to rise, and this shift is changing the way people query search engines. Voice searches are typically longer and more conversational than traditional text queries, so it’s important to include natural language keywords in your campaign.

Example: Instead of focusing solely on "PPC services," consider voice-driven queries like "What’s the best PPC agency for small businesses?"

Mobile search queries also tend to be shorter but action-oriented. People searching on the go might use phrases like "near me" or "best [service] today," which reflects a more immediate need. Be sure to account for this when brainstorming.

A recent tool you can use to uncover additional keywords is Google’s Insights feature. This AI-powered tool analyzes your campaign data and search trends to suggest new keyword ideas. By reviewing historical data and audience behaviors, Google Insights can provide valuable suggestions that you may not have considered during your manual brainstorming.
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Example: Google might suggest related search terms that you’re not bidding on but that have potential, like "best PPC strategies" or "cost-effective Google Ads solutions."

By expanding your initial keyword list with brand, generic, related, and competitor terms, while also considering variations and mobile/voice search, you'll be better prepared to create a comprehensive and flexible PPC campaign. The key is to start broad and then continually refine as you move into the next steps of keyword research.

Once you have a strong set of initial keywords, it’s time to refine and expand your list to maximize your PPC campaign’s potential. This step is crucial because it ensures you are targeting the right keywords with the right search volume, competition level, and cost-per-click (CPC). There are many tools available that can help you analyze keyword data, find new opportunities, and ensure you’re making data-driven decisions.

The first thing you need to do is evaluate each keyword for search volume, competition, and CPC.

When expanding and refining your keyword list, look for keywords in the sweet spot: high search volume but low competition. These keywords allow you to reach a broad audience without overspending on competitive bids. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest can help you analyze keyword data and spot these opportunities.

For example, if you find a keyword with high search volume but very high competition, consider refining it with long-tail variations. While a broad keyword like “PPC services” may be costly, a long-tail version like “PPC services for small businesses” may have less competition and better conversion potential.

In 2024, Google Ads has enhanced its automation features, and tools like Performance Max campaigns and Broad Match + Smart Bidding use machine learning to expand your keyword list automatically. These tools predict which keywords will perform well based on your existing data and help broaden your reach by showing your ads for keywords that aren’t an exact match but are closely related.

This automated expansion can be particularly useful if you’re running a campaign with a large, diverse target audience. However, it’s important to balance automation with manual refinement. While Google’s AI tools can suggest valuable keyword additions, manual oversight ensures you maintain control over relevance and budget.

Another invaluable tool is Google’s Insights feature, which uses AI to recommend new keywords based on historical performance data and search trends. This feature automatically analyzes your campaign’s data and suggests keywords that might bring in more traffic or improve conversions.

For instance, if your campaign is performing well for “PPC services for startups,” Google Insights might suggest related keywords like “best PPC strategies for startups” or “affordable Google Ads services.” These suggestions help you stay agile and responsive to changing search behaviors without manually sifting through data.

As mentioned earlier, understanding search intent is vital in selecting the right keywords. When refining your list, evaluate how well your keywords align with user intent. For example:

Remember: There’s an inverse relationship between search volume and conversion rate. Higher-volume keywords are usually more general, while more specific, lower-volume keywords tend to have higher conversion rates because they capture users further along in the buying journey.

By using these tools and understanding key metrics like search volume, CPC, and competition, you can refine your keyword list and ensure it aligns with both your campaign goals and budget.

Expanding and refining your keyword list is an ongoing process. Use data to make informed decisions, and don’t hesitate to lean on AI tools for suggestions while maintaining manual control over critical keywords that align with your specific goals. With the right balance of automation and strategic refinement, you’ll optimize your keyword list for both reach and relevance.

A smart PPC strategy doesn’t just involve focusing on your own keywords—it also requires analyzing your competitors. By understanding what keywords your competitors are bidding on, you can uncover opportunities to either outperform them or fill in the gaps they’ve missed. Luckily, several tools make this process easier by offering insights into your competitors’ keyword strategies.

There are several powerful tools available for analyzing competitor keywords, each with its own strengths. Below is an overview of the most effective ones for 2025.

By cross-referencing the keywords you find using these tools, you can start to build a competitive keyword strategy that captures both high-traffic and low-competition terms.

Another effective tactic for competitive analysis is reviewing competitor landing pages. These pages are often optimized for specific keywords, and by analyzing them, you can get valuable clues about the keywords and strategies driving their conversions.
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Visit your competitor's landing pages that rank well for their ads and look at elements like:

With the growing complexity of PPC campaigns, keyword clustering has become an increasingly important tactic. This involves grouping related keywords into “clusters” that can help you organize and structure your campaigns for better targeting. For example, instead of treating "PPC services" and "Google Ads management" as separate keywords, you could cluster them together as long as they serve a similar search intent.

​Tools like Cluster AI and Keyword Insights allow you to automate the process of identifying and clustering similar keywords. They analyze search engine result page (SERP) data to find keywords that share common ranking pages. For example, if a group of keywords ranks the same pages in the top 10, they are clustered together so you can target broader, related, topics while still maintaining focus. These tools are particularly useful for large datasets, often clustering thousands of keywords based on real-time SERP performance.

For example, if your competitor ranks highly for "affordable PPC services for small businesses," but you don’t, you can create a targeted strategy around this gap, bidding on variations of that keyword or optimizing your landing pages for better performance.

By using a mix of keyword tools and manual competitor research, you can gain valuable insights into your competitors' strategies and adjust your own to capitalize on their strengths and weaknesses. Whether you’re using Google Ads Transparency Center to view their ads, leveraging SEMrush for deep keyword insights, or using AI-powered tools to cluster keywords and find gaps, competitive analysis is a vital component of a successful PPC strategy.

After expanding and refining your keyword list, the next critical step is to sort and organize those keywords into structured campaigns and ad groups. A well-organized keyword list ensures that your ads are relevant, targeted, and easy to manage. This structure not only improves the efficiency of your campaign but also directly impacts performance metrics like Quality Score, cost-per-click (CPC), and overall return on investment (ROI).