Sales Loves MarketingA search term is the exact word or phrase someone enters into a search engine, such as "crm for small sales teams". Google Ads Help puts the difference simply: people create search terms, and advertisers choose keywords. Knowing the real search terms behind your traffic shows you what buyers want, in their own words.
What is the difference between a search term and a keyword?
- Search term: what a person actually types. It can be long, misspelt or phrased as a question.
- Keyword: what you target. In Google Ads, it is the word or phrase you add to an ad group. In SEO, it is the phrase you build a page around.
One keyword can trigger many search terms. Google says 15% of the searches it processes every day are ones it has never seen before, so no keyword list can predict every search.
How do search terms work in paid search?
In pay-per-click advertising, your keyword's match type decides which search terms can show your ad:
| Match type | How it is written | Which search terms it can match |
|---|---|---|
| Broad match | crm software | Related searches, even without the exact words |
| Phrase match | "crm software" | Searches that include the meaning of the keyword |
| Exact match | [crm software] | Searches with the same meaning or intent |
The search terms report in Google Ads lists the searches that actually triggered your ads. Use it to:
- add good search terms as new keywords;
- add irrelevant ones as negative keywords, so you stop paying for them;
- borrow buyers' wording for ad copy and landing pages.
Some low-volume search terms are left out of the report to protect user privacy.
How do search terms work in SEO?
For organic search, the Performance report in Google Search Console shows the queries that made your site appear in Google results, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position. Look for:
- queries where you appear but get few clicks, which may need a better title or meta description;
- long-tail questions you could answer on an existing page;
- wording that differs from what your team uses internally.
How do you find new search terms?
- Google itself: autocomplete suggestions, "People also ask" and related searches show common phrasing.
- Google Trends: compares interest in search terms over time and by region.
- Keyword Planner: suggests related keywords with monthly search estimates. It sits inside Google Ads and needs an account with billing set up.
- Sales and support: the questions customers ask on calls are often the same ones they type into Google.
See how to do keyword research for SEO for a full process.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a search term and a keyword?
A search term is what a person actually types into Google. A keyword is what an advertiser adds to an ad group, or what an SEO targets on a page. One keyword can match many different search terms, depending on the match type.
How do I see which search terms trigger my Google Ads?
Open the search terms report in Google Ads. It lists the actual searches that showed your ads and how each one performed. Searches with too little volume are left out of the list for privacy reasons.
How do I see the search terms that bring organic traffic?
Use the Performance report in Google Search Console. Its Queries view lists the searches that showed your site in Google results, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position for each.