In short: a keyword is the switch that tells Google when you want to appear; the search term is what the person actually typed. They are not the same thing, and confusing them is the most expensive early mistake. The four intents — informational, comparative, transactional and brand — are not worth the same, and the business is usually in the long tail.
In a Search campaign, keywords are the switch: they tell Google when you want to appear. It looks like the simplest thing in Google Ads and it is where most of the confusion lives, starting with the very first point: a keyword and a search are not the same thing.
What is the difference between a keyword and a search term?
- The keyword is what you type into your account: «running shoes».
- The search term is what the person typed into Google and that triggered your ad: «best marathon running shoes 2026».
One keyword can trigger hundreds of different search terms, and how closely they resemble each other depends on the match type (we cover it in lesson 3). We will repeat the practical consequence throughout this module: you pay for search terms, not for keywords. Your keyword list is the hypothesis; the search terms report is reality.
What search intent sits behind each keyword?
Behind every search there is an intent, and intent is worth more than the words. The classic classification:
| Intent | What the person wants | Example | Bid on it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | To learn, to settle a question | «how to remove limescale from a tap» | Almost never (they are not buying today) |
| Navigational | To reach a specific site | «leroy merlin» | Only if it is your brand |
| Commercial | To compare before deciding | «best value kitchen tap» | Yes, with a comparison message |
| Transactional | To buy / hire now | «buy pull-out kitchen tap» · «emergency plumber» | Yes: this is the gold |
Most of the accounts that lose money lose it on the first row: they bid on informational searches («what is», «how to», «difference between») that bring plenty of traffic and no sales. Signals of transactional intent worth learning to spot: buy, price, quote, hire, urgent, near me, deal, online, at home, 24 hour, cheap (that last one with caveats).
What is the long tail and why is it worth it?
One- or two-word searches («tap», «trainers») have plenty of volume, ambiguous intent and fierce competition. Four-, five- or six-word ones («cheap matt black pull-out kitchen tap») have little volume each... but there are a huge number of them, their intent is crystal clear and their CPC is lower. This is the long tail: individually small, collectively they usually account for most of the profitable conversions.
In 2026 you do not need to add hundreds of long-tail keywords: intent-based match types reach them from shorter keywords. What you do need is to read the tail in the search terms report to see what is coming in and add negatives for what you do not want.
What is a keyword NOT?
- It is not a topic: «plumbing» as a broad match keyword will trigger plumbing courses, plumber salaries, the plumbing in a video game.
- It is not your product as seen from the inside: nobody searches for «an integrated thermal comfort solution»; they search for «air conditioning installation price».
- It is not a synonym to be added to the pile: adding «trainers», «trainer», «sports trainers» and «sneakers» as four keywords in the same group adds nothing any more (Google treats them as variants). Better to have one or two and keep an eye on the search terms.
💡 Ninja trick: the cheapest source of good keywords is already in your account: the search terms that have already converted. Before you go researching anything new, filter the search terms report by "conversions > 0" and look at what the people who bought actually typed. Our Search Query Optimizer does exactly that every night: it suggests the converting terms as keywords and adds negatives for the ones that only spend.
What you should remember
- Keyword = your hypothesis. Search term = the reality you pay for.
- Four intents: bid on transactional and commercial; run away from informational.
- The long tail concentrates the profitability; in 2026 you reach it with match types and police it with the search terms report.
- A keyword is not a topic and not your internal jargon: it is how the person about to buy says it.