Overview
A PPC keyword planner helps paid search teams turn seed terms, landing pages, and optional keyword exports into a prioritized paid search keyword plan. Instead of rebuilding a spreadsheet from scratch, this playbook installs a keyword plan table, cluster notes, and a protected terms table before the first run.
Use it when you are preparing a new search campaign, refreshing an old keyword list, or trying to decide which terms deserve budget. Juno keeps the workflow focused on the plan: keywords, clusters, match types, landing-page fit, priority, protected terms, and review notes.
Why you should make the keyword plan reviewable
Paid search keyword research gets expensive when the plan is a loose export with no decision layer. A good keyword plan explains which terms are worth building, which should be parked, and which might block or confuse the campaign if handled carelessly.
Google's Keyword Planner guidance notes that advertisers can discover keyword ideas from words, phrases, or a website in Keyword Planner. That is useful raw material, but a paid search manager still needs the operating judgment around commercial intent, match type, landing page fit, protected terms, and campaign structure.
Google also describes negative keywords as a way to keep ads focused on relevant searches. This playbook does not replace a full negative keyword mining workflow, but it does make protected and risky terms visible while the positive keyword plan is being built.
The result is a cleaner handoff. Your team can see the next-cut keywords, the clusters they belong to, the page they should send traffic to, and the assumptions that need approval before campaign buildout.
Step-by-step
- 1Confirm the brand or product, campaign goal, target market, seed terms, landing pages, optional export context, and whether the monthly refresh should be enabled.
- 2Install the PPC keyword planning workspace with a primary keyword plan table, a cluster notes document, and a protected terms table.
- 3Expand seed terms from the supplied language, landing pages, optional keyword exports, and current paid-search intent patterns.
- 4Filter out weak, protected, support-led, recruiting, informational-only, or off-offer terms unless the user asks to review them.
- 5Cluster the surviving keywords into practical paid search themes that could become campaigns, ad groups, or tightly scoped tests.
- 6Prioritize the next-cut list by commercial relevance, landing-page match, demand evidence, cost pressure, conversion intent, and ease of launch.
- 7Update the cluster notes so the final plan includes assumptions, rejected patterns, review questions, and the decisions needed before buildout.
Frequently asked questions
What does this replace?
It replaces the minimum useful version of a keyword planning spreadsheet: candidate keywords, clusters, landing-page fit, match-type recommendations, priority, status, rationale, and protected-term notes.
Does it require a Google Ads connector?
No. The minimum workflow runs from seed terms, landing pages, workspace context, and optional uploaded exports. A connected ads account can enrich later work, but it is not required to install or run this planner.
What inputs should I prepare?
Bring seed terms, landing pages, campaign goals, target market, and any keyword or search-term exports you already trust. If you have brand, competitor, regulated, support, or off-limits terms, add those too.
How often should the plan be refreshed?
Run it once for a launch or choose monthly when the keyword plan supports a recurring paid search planning meeting. The monthly run should reuse the same tables and notes so decisions do not disappear into a new spreadsheet.
