Written by: Aaron Rovner, Founder, Saas Hero | Last updated: September 3, 2026
Key Takeaways for Agency Keyword Research
- Agency keyword research targets high-intent B2B buyers such as CMOs and VPs, not consumers. Commercial and transactional terms matter more than high-volume informational queries.
- Start with ICP definition and intent segmentation before using tools. Seed keywords must reflect the agency’s services and revenue model, not generic volume data.
- Expand and validate with Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and SpyFu while excluding informational intent. Competitor analysis via SpyFu provides practical bidding intelligence.
- Build and maintain a strong negative keyword list to filter out job seekers, students, and tire-kickers. Structure campaigns tightly around intent-matched ad groups and landing pages.
- Agencies that want a partner to run this process consistently can book a discovery call with SaaSHero to manage their client-acquisition campaigns.
Step 1: Define Your Ideal Client and Search Intent
Effective keyword research for agencies starts with strategy, not tools. Define your Ideal Client Profile and map the intent behind every search you want to appear for.
Two intent types matter most for agency client acquisition. Informational intent covers searches like “what is Google Ads management” or “how much does PPC cost” and signals curiosity. Commercial and transactional intent covers searches like “Google Ads agency for SaaS” or “hire PPC agency” and signals a buyer actively evaluating services. For client acquisition, commercial and transactional keywords drive pipeline.
Useful keyword categories to target include:
- “Google Ads agency for [industry]” (for example, SaaS, legal, healthcare)
- “PPC management company”
- “Best Google Ads agency for B2B”
- “Google Ads consultant for [service type]”
- “Hire [channel] agency”
ICP definition evolves as your positioning sharpens by vertical, company size, or deal type. Your keyword set should evolve with that positioning.
Step 2: Build a Seed Keyword List from Services and ICP
Seed keywords should come from the agency’s revenue model and core offers. Start from where the agency makes money, then expand outward.
An agency specializing in B2B SaaS can seed its list with terms like “SaaS PPC agency,” “B2B Google Ads management,” and “software marketing agency.” An agency serving professional services can shift to “Google Ads for law firms” or “PPC for financial advisors.” The seed list should mirror the agency’s positioning and the verticals it plans to win.
Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and SpyFu can then expand these seeds into longer-tail variations and related terms. The initial list should still come from the agency’s positioning, not from whatever the tools surface at high volume.
Step 3: Expand and Validate Keywords with Research Tools
Once the seed list exists, research tools handle expansion and validation. Each tool plays a specific role in PPC keyword research for agencies.
- Google Keyword Planner: Use it for baseline search volume, CPC estimates, and forecast data. Filter for terms containing “agency,” “services,” “management,” “consultant,” and “hire” to surface commercial-intent variations.
- Semrush: The Keyword Magic Tool surfaces long-tail variations and question-based queries. Filter by intent and exclude informational terms before adding anything to your working list.
- SpyFu: This tool is especially valuable for Google Ads agency keyword research. It shows which keywords competing agencies bid on and what they pay. That competitor intelligence feeds directly into keyword selection.
- ChatGPT: Use it to generate keyword ideas and cluster them into themes. Do not treat it as a replacement for real search volume data. AI tools can produce plausible-sounding terms that have zero search volume or attract the wrong audience, a limitation well-documented in how AI generates convincing but ungrounded outputs. As noted in a recent analysis, AI-generated keyword ideas require validation against real platform data before use.
Tool features will keep evolving, but the core principle stays stable. Tools expand and validate, and humans decide what belongs in the account.
Step 4: Analyze Competitor Agencies for Keyword Gaps
Competitor keyword analysis is essential for agencies running their own client acquisition campaigns. Other Google Ads agencies bid on similar terms, pursue the same decision-makers, and test similar landing pages.
SpyFu and Semrush both show which keywords competing agencies bid on in paid search and which terms they rank for organically. A paid search SWOT framework keeps this intelligence organized.
- Strengths: Identify keywords competitors dominate and ad copy angles they have run for months, which often signals strong performance.
- Weaknesses: Find high-intent terms competitors ignore and industry verticals where they have little presence.
- Opportunities: Look for differentiation by geography, industry specialization, or service bundling.
- Threats: Track new agencies entering the space and competitors expanding into your niche.
Competitive positions in paid media shift monthly as agencies enter and exit auctions, change landing pages, and test new creative angles. Run this analysis on a recurring basis to keep your strategy current.
Step 5: Build a Negative Keyword List to Protect Budget
Negative keywords protect agency client acquisition campaigns from wasted spend. Google Ads supports account-level negative keyword lists that apply across eligible search and shopping inventory, so one global list can standardize exclusions across campaigns.
A starter negative keyword list for a Google Ads agency can include:
- “free,” “course,” “certification,” “training”
- “jobs,” “careers,” “salary,” “internship”
- “how to,” “what is,” “guide,” “tutorial”
- “review” (unless the agency actively pursues review-site traffic)
- Competitor brand names (unless you run deliberate conquesting campaigns)
Google Ads recommends organizing negative keywords into reusable lists instead of managing exclusions only at the campaign level, especially when the same irrelevant intents appear across many campaigns. One technical detail matters here. Negative keywords do not match close variants, so ads may still appear on searches containing close variations of excluded terms. Add singular and plural forms, along with synonyms, manually.
The search terms report is the main tool for ongoing negative keyword hygiene. For most active accounts, review it weekly to find new irrelevant queries and add them to the negative keyword list. High-spend accounts may need more frequent reviews, and smaller accounts may only need monthly or biweekly reviews, as recommended by Kingly Consulting. Treat this as standing account maintenance.
Step 6: Structure Campaigns and Ad Groups for Quality Score
Keyword grouping shapes Quality Score, cost-per-click, and ad relevance. Organize keywords into tightly themed ad groups where the ad copy and landing page match the searcher’s intent.
Paid search performance follows a simple pattern. Highly relevant traffic plus a strong post-click experience produces results. Relevant traffic sent to a generic page converts poorly and gives the bidding algorithm weak signals.
Here is an example campaign structure for a Google Ads agency targeting SaaS clients:
- Campaign: “Google Ads Agency for SaaS”
- Ad Group 1: “SaaS PPC management” → Landing page: SaaS PPC services page
- Ad Group 2: “B2B Google Ads services” → Landing page: B2B services page
- Ad Group 3: “Enterprise Google Ads agency” → Landing page: Enterprise solutions page
Each ad group should have a landing page built for that specific intent. An agency that does not control its own landing pages cannot fully connect keyword research to conversion. Owning the post-click experience is a prerequisite for effective paid search.
B2B Landing Pages so effective your prospects will be tripping over their keyboards to convert Budget Benchmarks and Common Agency Questions
Is $20 a day good for Google Ads? For an agency testing client acquisition, $20 per day ($600 per month) can serve as a starting point. That level rarely produces enough data across multiple ad groups, except in moderate-competition markets with low CPCs such as $1–$4. In those markets, it can generate useful test data and a modest number of leads. In high-CPC industries like legal, insurance, or B2B software, it remains insufficient, as detailed in this budget guide. For Google Ads Smart Bidding to work reliably, agencies typically need at least $1,500–$3,000 per month in ad spend, according to Digitelia’s budget benchmarks.
How much should an agency spend on its own ads? The right budget depends on client lifetime value. If one new client is worth $24,000 annually on a $2,000 per month retainer, spending $2,000 per month on acquisition can make sense when it produces one client every two months. The decision should also factor in margins, churn, and payback period. Anchor budget decisions to deal economics rather than an arbitrary spend ceiling.
Can I use ChatGPT for keyword research? Yes, use it for brainstorming and clustering. Do not treat it as a replacement for Google Keyword Planner’s volume data, SpyFu’s competitor intelligence, or human judgment about intent. AI tools can generate plausible-sounding keyword ideas that have no real search volume or attract the wrong audience. Human validation against platform data remains a required step in any professional workflow.
Why SaaSHero Helps Agencies Win Better Clients
This playbook gives agencies a practical foundation for Google Ads keyword research. Executing it consistently requires time and specialized expertise that many agencies already spend on client work.
SaaSHero serves as the outsourced inbound growth team for B2B companies. The team has managed over $60 million in lifetime ad spend and supported more than 100 B2B clients. Around 20 full-time specialists, including in-house designers and copywriters, handle keyword research, campaign structuring, and ongoing optimization for companies that want paid acquisition owned end to end. As a Google Premier Partner, a designation held by the top 3% of agencies, and a G2 High Performer ranked #20 of roughly 6,000 agencies, SaaSHero delivers enterprise-grade execution without the overhead of an in-house hire.
SaaS Hero: Trusted by Over 100 B2B SaaS Companies to Scale The fee structure indexes to total monthly ad spend rather than channel count. Adding, consolidating, or reweighting a channel does not change the fee, so channel mix stays a strategic decision.
Book a discovery call to explore how SaaSHero can run your agency’s client acquisition campaigns while your team focuses on client delivery.
Conclusion: A Repeatable Process for Agency Growth
Systematic Google Ads agency keyword research supports predictable agency growth through paid search. The six steps in this playbook are:
- Define your ICP and segment by intent before using any tool.
- Build seed keywords from your services and revenue model.
- Expand and validate with Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and SpyFu.
- Analyze competitor agencies on a recurring basis.
- Build and continuously refine a negative keyword list.
- Structure campaigns and ad groups for Quality Score and landing page relevance.
Agencies that treat their own marketing with the same rigor they apply to client accounts win stronger clients. Generic keyword research produces generic results. A specialized, intent-driven process built around ICP definition, commercial-intent targeting, competitor intelligence, and tight campaign architecture produces qualified B2B inquiries from decision-makers who actively evaluate a paid media partner.
Agencies that want a partner to execute this process consistently can work with SaaSHero. Book a discovery call today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does keyword research for a Google Ads agency differ from client keyword research?
When an agency runs keyword research for a client, the target audience is usually a consumer or business buyer with a specific product need, often at a lower price point and with a shorter decision cycle. When an agency runs keyword research for its own client acquisition, the target is a senior decision-maker such as a CMO, VP of Marketing, or founder evaluating a high-ticket, long-term service relationship. The intent signals differ, the search volume is lower, the cost-per-click is higher, and the consequences of attracting the wrong traffic become more severe. A single wasted month of spend on job seekers and students at $3,000 per month can represent a significant budget loss relative to the agency’s overall acquisition costs. The methodology should reflect these differences from the first step, starting with ICP definition and intent segmentation rather than volume-first keyword discovery.
How often should a Google Ads agency update its keyword list for its own campaigns?
Keyword lists for agency client acquisition campaigns need ongoing maintenance rather than occasional refreshes. For most active accounts, review the search terms report weekly to identify new irrelevant queries and add them to the negative keyword list. High-spend accounts may require more frequent reviews, and smaller accounts may only need monthly or biweekly reviews, as recommended by Kingly Consulting. Monitor and refresh the core keyword set of commercial and transactional terms monthly, using competitor analysis to guide adjustments. A comprehensive review of the full keyword strategy every three to six months works well, according to Wellows’ keyword research checklist. A term that was uncontested three months ago may now carry a much higher cost-per-click as a competitor enters the auction. Quarterly, revisit the keyword strategy against your positioning and ICP to confirm that targeted terms still reflect where the agency makes money and which clients it wants to win.
What is the most common mistake agencies make in their own Google Ads campaigns?
The most common and damaging mistake involves incorrect conversion tracking. Many accounts train Smart Bidding on low-value micro-events such as email clicks or page views instead of real business outcomes, as found in an audit of over 1,500 Google Ads accounts. An agency that optimizes for raw form fills, without filtering for lead quality, teaches the bidding algorithm to find people most likely to fill out forms. That group often includes students, job seekers, competitors, and consultants. The platform reports a falling cost per conversion while the sales-ready pipeline stays flat. The fix is to separate primary and secondary conversions. Only high-quality conversion events such as qualified inquiries, discovery call bookings, or CRM-defined sales-qualified leads should drive account-wide optimization. Track other events but exclude them from the bidding signal.
How should a Google Ads agency structure campaigns to attract decision-makers?
Campaign structure for decision-maker targeting starts with intent segmentation. Map each campaign to a specific buyer intent such as industry vertical, company size, service type, or buying stage. Build ad groups tightly around that intent and send traffic to landing pages that match it. A campaign targeting “Google Ads agency for SaaS” should not share a landing page with a campaign targeting “PPC management for professional services.” The messaging, social proof, and call to action on each page should speak directly to the buyer that campaign aims to reach. Decision-makers often respond to specificity. An ad and landing page that name their industry, their role, and their specific problem can convert at a higher rate than generic agency positioning, though the exact uplift varies by market and offer. Negative keywords support this structure by filtering out informational and job-seeking queries so budget reaches buyers rather than researchers.
Is Google Keyword Planner enough for agency keyword research?
Google Keyword Planner is the essential starting point for volume data and CPC estimates, but it does not cover everything an agency needs for client acquisition keyword research. It shows what people search for, not what competing agencies bid on or which ad copy converts. SpyFu fills that gap by surfacing the exact keywords other agencies bid on and the ad copy they have run over time, which informs competitive positioning. Semrush adds long-tail discovery and intent filtering that Keyword Planner’s interface does not handle as cleanly. A complete workflow uses all three tools. Keyword Planner provides baseline data, Semrush handles expansion and intent classification, and SpyFu delivers competitor intelligence. AI tools like ChatGPT can support brainstorming but should feed into this stack and then undergo validation against real platform data, as noted in a recent analysis.
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