@Peak Marketing
You can use Google Keyword Planner for free without ever launching a paid campaign. The trick is to create your Google Ads account in Expert Mode and choose the option to set up the account without a campaign. Google does ask you to add billing information before the tool fully opens, but nothing is charged unless an ad actually runs. You can research keywords, check search volume ranges, and plan content without spending a dollar.
At Peak Marketing, we use Keyword Planner as one of the first stops when we build SEO content plans for clients. Below is the exact setup process, how to read the data you get back, and where the free version falls short.
Setting Up a Google Ads Account With No Campaign
Keyword Planner lives inside Google Ads, so you need an Ads account to reach it. You do not need a live campaign. Google’s default signup flow pushes new users toward Smart Mode and a campaign wizard, which is where most people get stuck.
- Go to ads.google.com and sign in with the Google account you want to use. For an agency or business, use a shared work login rather than a personal Gmail.
- When Google starts asking about your business goals, look for the small link that says “Switch to Expert Mode” near the bottom of the screen.
- On the next screen, choose “Create an account without a campaign.”
- Confirm your billing country, time zone, and currency. Pick these carefully. Google will not let you change the time zone or currency later.
- Add your payment profile when prompted. Google’s own help documentation says billing information is required to access basic features like keyword ideas. No charge happens unless an ad runs.
- Open the Tools menu, go to Planning, and select Keyword Planner.
If the account still drops you into a campaign builder, it was likely created in Smart Mode. Look for the Expert Mode switch in the account settings, or start a fresh account and choose Expert Mode from the first screen.
The Two Ways to Research Keywords
Keyword Planner opens with two options. Each one answers a different question.
| Option | Use it when | What you enter |
| Discover new keywords | You need ideas for a topic or service | A few seed terms, or a competitor’s URL |
| Get search volume and forecasts | You already have a keyword list to check | Pasted or uploaded keywords |
Discover new keywords
Start with two or three seed terms that describe the service, not your brand. A personal injury firm in Boise might enter “car accident lawyer” and “truck accident attorney.” Then set the location to the Boise metro area instead of the whole United States. Location is the setting people forget most, and national numbers will mislead a local business.
You can also switch to the “Start with a website” tab and paste a competitor’s service page. Google pulls keyword ideas from that page’s content. This is a fast way to see the terms a competing firm has built its page around.
Get search volume and forecasts
Use this when a client hands you a list, or when you have pulled ideas from Search Console, Reddit threads, or your own intake calls. Paste the terms in, and Keyword Planner returns volume ranges and a forecast tab. The forecast is built for ad budgets, so most SEO work can skip it and stay on the Historical metrics tab.
Why Your Search Volume Shows Up as a Range
Accounts with little or no ad spend see bucketed volume, such as 100 to 1K or 1K to 10K, instead of a single number. Google reserves tighter estimates for active advertisers. This is the main tradeoff of using the tool for free.
Ranges are still useful. You can tell a 10 search keyword from a 10,000 search keyword, and that gap is what drives most content decisions. A few habits help you get more out of bucketed data:
- Compare terms against each other inside the same range. The top of page bid columns often separate two keywords that share a volume bucket, since higher bids usually signal stronger commercial intent.
- Check the three month change and year over year change columns. A keyword in the 100 to 1K bucket that is climbing is often a better target than a flat one in the bucket above it.
- Cross check promising terms in Google Search Console or Google Trends before you commit a page to them.
The Competition column measures advertiser competition, not organic ranking difficulty. A “Low” label does not mean the keyword is easy to rank for in organic results.
How Peak Marketing Turns Keyword Planner Data Into Content
A keyword list is not a content plan. The work starts when you group terms by what the searcher wants.
We export results to a spreadsheet and sort each keyword into one of a few buckets. Service terms like “divorce attorney near me” belong on practice area pages. Question terms like “how long does a divorce take in Idaho” become blog posts or FAQ entries. Comparison terms like “mediation vs litigation” often deserve their own guide.
Next, we look for clusters. If Keyword Planner returns 30 variations on child custody, that is a signal to build one strong custody page and several supporting posts that link back to it. Writing 30 thin pages for 30 near-duplicate terms does the opposite.
We also pay attention to the keywords a client should not chase. A rural firm does not need to compete for statewide terms dominated by large firms in the capital city. Smaller, local, question-based keywords tend to bring in leads faster, and they are often the terms that AI search tools quote when they answer a user’s question.
Mistakes That Waste Your Research Time
Leaving the location set to the entire country is the most common error. A dental office in Twin Falls gains nothing from national volume for “teeth whitening.”
Treating a volume range as an exact number is the next one. Two keywords both listed at 1K to 10K could sit at 1,200 and 9,500 searches. Use the range to rule terms in or out, not to forecast traffic.
Many people also skip the filters. The “Refine keywords” panel on the right side lets you strip out branded terms, competitor names, and irrelevant services in a few clicks.
Finally, some users accidentally launch a campaign during setup. If you clicked through the Smart Mode wizard, check the Campaigns tab and pause anything that is live before it starts billing.
Get More From Your Keyword Research
Google Keyword Planner costs nothing if you set up your account in Expert Mode and skip campaign creation. You will add billing details, but you will not pay unless you run ads. The volume ranges are broad, so the real value comes from setting the right location, filtering out noise, and grouping keywords by intent before you write anything.
If you would rather spend your time running your practice than sorting keyword spreadsheets, Peak Marketing builds custom SEO content plans for law firms and local businesses, with month to month terms and no long contracts. Reach out to our team to talk through which keywords are worth chasing in your market.
Sources
- Google Ads Help, “Use Keyword Planner”: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7337243
- Google Ads Community, thread on accessing Keyword Planner without a campaign: https://support.google.com/google-ads/thread/1449370
- Single Grain, “How to Use Google Keyword Planner for Content Creation”: https://singlegrain.com/content-marketing-3/google-keyword-planner-guide
- Web Tonic, “How to Use Google Keyword Planner: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough”: https://www.webtonic.io/blog/how-to-use-google-keyword-planner
- Nightwatch, “Google Keyword Planner”: https://nightwatch.io/wiki/google-keyword-planner/
