So you’ve got the Google Ad Grant (great!), and you’re setting up your campaign strategy. Once you’ve organized your Google Ads campaign settings and outlined your ad groups, you’ll need to add target keywords, an important factor in your ads’ ability to capture user interest and create meaningful impact for your nonprofit mission.
When we talk about keywords for Google Ads, we’re discussing the words and phrases that you link to each of your ad groups based on their topic groupings. These keywords correspond to the words and phrases that users are searching on Google for, which will trigger your ads if matched appropriately.
What makes a Good Google Ads keyword?
Before we explore keyword research tools and techniques, let’s examine what characteristics constitute a valuable keyword on Google Ads.
1. Strategic Search Volume
We want to choose keywords with high enough monthly search volume to increase the chances of our ads reaching more users. However, it’s important to recognize that pursuing only high-volume keywords can be extremely competitive, making it difficult for Ad Grant accounts to achieve high ad rankings. In these cases, opting for long-tail keywords with lower search volume can be advantageous, as fewer advertisers are likely to be competing for these terms. This means your organization may have a much better chance of ranking on the first page for long-tail keywords, especially if your website is just starting out or targeting a specific niche audience.
2. Landing Page Alignment
It’s important that the keywords used in your Google Ads campaigns closely match the content on the landing pages your ads are directing users to. This helps create a cohesive user experience, as the keywords they searched for are reflected in the actual content they’re presented with. Ensuring that your content aligns with the true meaning and intent behind a user’s search query (not just the exact keywords used), signals to Google that your ad is highly relevant to the user’s search term. This relevance leads to higher keyword Quality Scores, improved ad performance, and creates a more cohesive user journey from search term to landing page.
Best practices for landing pages:
- Ensure mobile-optimized, fast-loading pages (under 3 seconds)
- Include primary keywords in headlines and first paragraph
- Use semantic variations of target keywords throughout the content
Online Course
Google Ad Grant for Nonprofits
Learn how to apply for and effectively manage the Google Ad Grant
3. Policy Compliant
Per Google Ad Grant policy, you do not want to choose keywords for your account that are single words, include brand names that you do not own, or are overly generic (‘free videos’ or ‘today’s news’). Additionally, keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 should be paused or removed.
Google Ad Grant Keyword Policies to keep in mind:
- Each keyword must have a quality score minimum of 3 (can be enforced through automated rules)
- No single-word keywords are allowed (except branded terms and specific medical exceptions)
- Mission-focused relevance connecting directly to your organization’s programs
4. Semantic Keyword Additions
Once you have your initial target keywords, you can expand your keyword list by adding semantic keywords. Semantic keywords are words that are conceptually related to your target keyword. Unlike traditional keywords that focus on exact matches, semantic keywords help create a web of related topics that provide context and depth to your content and increase your presence in search. Because every keyword comes with its own search volume, breaking down your ad campaigns into as many logical ad groups (topics) as possible, and adding specific keywords for each ad group (topic) increases the number of chances your ads can show.
It’s important to ensure that the keywords within each ad group are distinct and do not overlap or become too similar to keywords in other ad groups, as that would cause you to compete against yourself. Instead of creating one isolated keyword, you want to create clusters of keywords around topics.
For example:
- Core: “mental health support”
- Semantic variants: “counseling services,” “therapy programs,” “behavioral health”
- Long-tail connectors: “affordable mental health counseling near me”
Where do I find Google Ads keywords?
Now that you understand what makes keywords effective, you can use the following tools and strategies to brainstorm topics and find the best Google Ads keywords for each of your campaigns and ad groups.
1. Google Trends: Understanding Your Audience’s Language
You’re an expert on the topics covered in your website content, but the way your organization speaks about those topics is likely different than the way your audience speaks about it (or searches for it). You can learn more about how your audience searches for your topic through Google Trends.
Use Google Trends to break out of your professionalized vocabulary and get in touch with how your target audience talks about these topics. You can also use Google Trends to help identify seasonal and geo-specific trends and patterns.
For example: This is how “GivingTuesday” trends throughout the year
Google Alerts is a free service that sends email notifications when Google finds new content matching your search terms. To use it for trending topics, you can create alerts for keywords related to those trends. This allows you to stay informed about new developments in areas that interest you. Set up Google Alerts for trending topics in your sector to identify emerging keyword opportunities.
2. Existing Queries
You can use Google Search Console or the acquisition report in Google Analytics to see which search terms are already bringing users to your site. This data is invaluable because it shows you the exact language your audience already uses to find you, providing a proven list of relevant keywords to target in your ad campaigns.
How to Find Queries in Google Analytics 4:
Note: This requires you to have already linked your Google Search Console and Google Analytics accounts.
- Log in to your Google Analytics 4 account.
- Navigate to the “Reports” section (the bar chart icon in the left-hand menu).
- Go to the “Acquisition” section and click on “Acquisition overview.”
- Scroll down to find the card titled “Google Organic Search Traffic” and click the “View Google organic search queries” link at the bottom of the card. This will take you to a report showing the search queries driving organic traffic.
Take Power Poetry, for example. By looking at their organic search queries, they noticed that users coming to their site were crafting searches for specific types of poetry, such as slam poetry and spoken word, rather than general poetry how-tos. Using these insights, Power Poetry has been able to add specific Google Ads keywords tailored to their visitors’ questions.
3. Your Website
Scan your own site content for keywords and phrases that you can include in your Google Ads account. Ideally, the landing pages you’re driving users to with your Google ads include rich copy and clear CTAs, and feature or spark ideas for ideal keywords.
Once you’ve identified the central keywords for your site content, you can create keyword clusters around your existing content themes. If you have a page about “volunteer opportunities,” develop related keywords like “community service,” “volunteer work,” and “help local organizations.”
4. Google’s Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you find new keyword ideas for your campaigns. Start by entering words or phrases related to your business, and the tool will suggest a list of keywords that people are actually searching for on Google. It also shows you how often those keywords are searched and how competitive they are, so you can pick the ones that fit your goals and budget.
For instance, if your website teaches people how to write poetry, you can enter “how to write poetry” into Keyword Planner. The tool might suggest related keywords like “poetry writing tips,” “how to write poems,” or “poetry prompts for beginners.” By selecting these specific keywords, you can reach people who are interested in learning about poetry and make your content more visible to your target audience.
5. Your Competition’s Keywords
Use tools like iSpionage or SimilarWeb to see which keywords competitors or similar organizations are bidding on. This research helps you discover keyword opportunities and understand which search terms drive traffic in your cause space. Focus on identifying cause-related keywords and service terms that similar organizations are successfully targeting, and use those insights to generate ideas for your own keyword strategy while promoting your organization’s unique value proposition.
6. Real-Time Trends and Cultural Moments
Tap into new audiences by staying attuned to the world outside of your organization. A few years ago, our client the National Aphasia Association began bidding on keywords related to Game of Thrones after fans of one of the most widely discussed shows on television were speculating that a character had aphasia. Because NAA was paying attention to pop culture, they were able to reach and educate a new audience on their topic.
Pro Tips:
- Monitor Social Media for Trending Topics: Monitor Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn for emerging conversations.
- Bid on News Cycle Keywords: Temporarily bid on relevant current events (with mission alignment).
- Identify Seasonal Cultural Moments: Identify holidays, awareness months, and community events.
- Target Local Events: Find city-specific festivals, disasters, or news that create search spikes.
7. Other Keyword Discovery Methods
Voice Search Integration: Around 20.5% of people globally use voice search. Optimize your keywords for conversational queries:
- “Where can I volunteer to help animals near me”
- “How do I donate clothes to homeless people”
- “What organizations help veterans with PTSD”
Other tools for identifying user search queries:
- Answer The Public: Question-based keyword discovery
- Reddit and Quora: Real user language and problems
- ChatGPT/Claude: Natural language variations and semantic clustering
- Google: Auto-complete variations while typing, “People also ask” section expansion, Related searches at the bottom of SERPs, and “Searches related to” suggestions