Free Google Ads keyword plan for local SMEs
A keyword plan for local SMEs always has the same structure: three ad groups, a match type per keyword, and a set of negative keywords that protects your budget. This page doesn't have a form field that builds that for you. What it does have is the full set-up plus the prompt to have it written for you in five minutes.
Five fill-in lines in, three ad groups out
Put your own details on the five lines in brackets, paste the whole thing into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, and you have your plan. This is the same brief we use ourselves as the starting point for a local campaign.
You are a Google Ads specialist for local SMEs in the United Kingdom. Build a keyword plan for the following business. Business name: (your business name) City or region: (where your customers come from) What you offer: (your services, separated by commas) Objective: (leads, phone enquiries, website traffic or brand awareness) Audience: (consumers, small businesses and sole traders, both, or large companies) Give me back: 1. Three ad groups, each with a name and a short explanation of why those keywords belong together. 2. Per ad group, 6 to 10 keywords, with the match type for each keyword: exact, phrase or broad, and why that type fits here. 3. At least ten negative keywords, with half a line per one on why that search delivers nothing. 4. For each ad group, which page of the website is the logical landing destination. Stick to searches that people in the United Kingdom actually type. Don't make up search volumes or costs per click: I'll check those myself in the Keyword Planner.
Afterwards, check the result in the Google Ads Keyword Planner for search volume before you launch it. A language model knows what people might search for, not how often they actually do it.
Five details shape your local keyword plan
Five details shape what a local keyword plan looks like: your business name, your city or region, what you offer, your objective and your audience. Those five sit as fill-in lines in the prompt above, and what you get back is a plan with three ad groups, the matching match types and a set of negative keywords.
There's no generator running on this page that does that for you
In practice, the difference is one copy and paste. You put the plan that comes out into Google Ads under Campaigns, Ad groups, Keywords.
How to build the plan in five steps
You go through five steps:
- You fill in the five lines in the prompt: business name, city or region, offering, objective and audience.
- You paste the whole thing into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
- You get back three ad groups, with a match type per keyword and the reason for it.
- You check the keywords for volume in the Google Ads Keyword Planner.
- You put the plan into your Google Ads account.
No account with us needed, no registration
If you get stuck, email sales@theseo.nl; your message reaches a person, not a ticketing system.
What you actually get back
Every keyword plan consists of three logically structured ad groups, matched to your service, location and audience. Per group you get 6 to 10 carefully selected keywords, more than 20 keywords per plan in total. In the trade, 5 to 20 keywords per ad group counts as a broad rule of thumb, so this number sits comfortably within that. Google itself only mentions that number in its help page on ad groups in the Display Network, not as advice for search campaigns; for search campaigns, Google only writes that you should group your keywords by theme.
Every keyword gets a match type
Exact match shows your advert for that search and for close variants of it, such as a different word order or a synonym with the same meaning. Phrase match shows it for searches that contain the keyword. Broad match gives Google more freedom to also show similar searches.
You also get negative keywords
These make sure your advert doesn't show up for irrelevant searches, such as plumbing course for a plumber offering their services. That stops you wasting budget on clicks that never turn into a customer.
Who this is useful for
The set-up is made for local SMEs that want more customers through Google Ads. It works for any sector, from plumbers and roofers to web designers and beauty salons. You choose your own goal: leads, website traffic, phone enquiries or brand awareness. Put that on the objective line and the plan adjusts its approach accordingly.
On the audience line, you note whether your customers are consumers, small businesses and sole traders, both, or large companies
That choice helps determine which keywords and wording end up in the plan.
Looking for more free tools to check your online marketing
Then also take a look at the free DSA check and the free SEO scan, or head to the overview of all our tools and plugins in one place.
Frequently asked questions about the free keyword plan
What exactly do I get back?
Three logically structured ad groups, matched to your service, location and audience, with six to ten keywords per group. You fill in five lines in the prompt, paste the whole thing into a language model of your choice, and get the plan back. There's no sign-up and no account in between.
What are negative keywords and why are they included?
Those are the words you specifically don't want to show up for. Searches with free, DIY, vacancy or salary click at the same cost as a customer and never lead to a job. They're in the plan because for local SMEs, excluding traffic usually pays off more than adding another keyword: you don't need to bid smarter on traffic you don't want anyway.
Can I just copy this straight into Google Ads?
Almost. First check the keywords in Google's Keyword Planner: a language model comes up with words that sound logical, but only Google knows whether people in your region actually type them. Then take the keywords, the match types and the negative list across. That way you use the plan as a starting point, not as a finished answer.
Does this work for every type of local business?
The set-up is made for local SMEs that want more customers through Google Ads and works for any sector, from plumbers and roofers to web designers and beauty salons. What you need to bring yourself is the nuance of your trade: which services you do and don't offer, and how far you're prepared to travel. Those two matter more than the plan itself.
Set it up yourself, or outsource it
With the prompt above, you can get going yourself: have the plan written, check the keywords in the Keyword Planner and move the match types and negative keywords across to Google Ads. If you'd rather someone else takes it on, we also offer Google Ads management: full campaign set-up, monthly optimisation, reporting and conversion tracking. You keep the overview yourself: every month it's on paper what was done and what came out of it.
Not sure whether your existing campaigns are performing well? Then a Google Ads audit NL is a logical next step: an analysis of your current campaigns, a strategy review and optimisation of budget and bids. What that costs is on the pricing page.
Book a call if you'd like to talk through what suits your situation best, or ask for the audit in that same email straight away.