As soon as you log on to Google AdWords, you will encounter a large number of very useful tools. Adwords tools enable you to proof your ads for errors, choose their placement, optimize your content, and generate an incredible number of useful reports. These reports enable you to assess how your ads are performing against other sites, or in their chosen demographics, and a whole lot more. But probably the most powerful tool you will find is the Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool, an indispensable aid that uses ad data to generate a list of powerful keywords along with their recent search data and cost.

The first thing you need to do, before you do anything with the Adwords keyword suggestion tool, is to come up with your own list of some keywords. Keep your list relatively short. Your list of no more than 10 to 15 words is all the data Adwords needs to generate new search terms and phrases for you. It's always possible of course, find these keywords directly on your web pages, although Google can do that for you automatically. Sometimes the very best way to start, however, is to brainstorm you own list of terms you think your most profitable visitors would search for if they wanted the content your website provides. Brainstorming your own list will sometimes give you that one terrific keyword the data do not yet capture.

Your next step is to input your list into the keyword suggestion tool. Enter your keywords one at a time. You could input multiple keywords all at once, but if you do, there's a high probability the suggestion tool will return a list of hundreds of keywords that don't really relate to your Adwords campaign. It is far more efficient to limit yourself to only one keyword at a time, letting the the keyword suggestion tool generate related terms that you may be able to use.

Whenever you enter a word or phrase into the keyword suggestion tool, it will come back with other keywords or phrases that match websites with similar content. It will also find keywords and phrases from the Adwords campaigns of other site owners who bid on the some of the same words you chose. The suggestion tool estimates traffic per month, tells you how much competition there is for the word or term, and gives you current prices for placement at various levels of the page.

The Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool gives you several dozen more options that will give you even more useful information about your keywords. The tool allows you to generate monthly traffic charts. These inform you how the popularity of your keywords rises and falls throughout the year. You can also get an estimate of the position of your ad on the page at various bid prices, and you can retrieve an estimate of the number of clicks you can buy based on last month's search volume, average search volume, which month the search volume for that keyword is the highest, and your budget.

One thing you will learn quickly is that each of these bits of information is equally important in choosing your keywords, but it is still up to you to choose select words that you know are valuable to your service or product. Don't choose a low competition, high volume phrase just because it is cheap, if it does not help you sell your site. That would be just throwing your money away. But if you do your research and then still stay creative, you can ensure that every keyword you use in your campaign will drive traffic to your site.