The filters in our keyword tools help you narrow down your results to fit your needs. Here's a look at the filtering options you have and why you might use them.
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In our Related Keywords overview, we showed how you get expanded results just off of the keyword “eye fatigue” by choosing the “Also Ranks for” option.

It tells us that domains that rank for "eye fatigue" also rank for:

You'd want to filter your results, and for good reason. These are high-volume short tail keywords, so you probably think of these two things:

The first idea is likely, but the results will come from a blend of top-ranking domains. The second thought is valid, and very likely. That’s where our built-in filters come in. You can account for any “yeah, but” ideas that you get when you first see the results.

Yeah, but these are all tough to rank for.
​Filter by keyword difficulty but set a minimum to make it worth your time.

Yeah, but these are short tail. I need long tail keywords.
​Filter by word count. 

Yeah, but some of these focus too much on glasses.
​Filter out words using the exclude feature.

You get the idea.

Here's a look at how each filter can help.
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Include/Exclude functionality 

This is an easy way to fine tune your results. Knock out topics that don’t belong, or zero in on a more precise niche that you’d like to see.

Type a word or phrase like "free" in the exclude filter to keep out the keywords that don't match your premium service. Or make sure you focus only on "friendly" in your vacation rental keyword search to focus your results on kid-friendly and pet-friendly terms.

Volume

This is the estimated number of times this past month that people have searched this keyword. The numbers reflect searches done in the US on Google.com (or in the UK on Google.co.uk if you are looking at UK data).

Volume is always a big factor in choosing keywords. You can set a range or just minimum and maximum searches to find terms that are right for your business.

Keyword Difficulty

We’ve calculated how difficult it would be to rank on this keyword. The score is based on a scale of 0-100 (with 100 being the most difficult to rank for). Mostly, this helps with prioritization. People have techniques about looking for keywords with a particular (high or low) difficulty score. This helps speed up that search.

Our keyword difficulty score takes into account the strength of the domains, on-page signals like “keyword in title,” and the number of .gov and .edu domains. You can set the range or leave it open-ended, setting a minimum or maximum point.

Word Count

This literal count of individual words in the search term is a way of finding longtail keywords. The more words you have, the more likely you are to get longtail terms.

Adult Filter
Some keywords can trigger variations with NSFW terms. Since it's not always expected, we include a default filter that hides these terms until/unless you uncheck the box to show them. 

When there are sensitive terms in the results, the "Adult Filter" will become active, and you can see how many words we've hidden. Once you uncheck it (or x out the filter), those keywords get added back into the total results, and we update the roll-up metrics at the top of the page.
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Clicks

For this figure, we use an estimation of all clicks made on the SERP. This will be a combination of paid and organic clicks.

Mobile Searches (as a %)

Desktop Searches (as a %)

These are separate filters but grouped together in the explanation. On a global scale, mobile searches edge out desktop searches by a slim margin. In some cases, like with restaurant searches, you might get a bigger swing in one direction.

That can be helpful to know when you are creating content with more urgency. Similarly, you might create content that is more research-driven, and more likely to be found while the user is on a desktop. Use the filters to help you single out those special cases.

Cost per Click

This traditional metric is a guide for ad managers who want to target a particular tier. It's not always budget-driven. High CPC terms often signal competitive terms or those with higher engagement. It's not a hard rule, but many PPC managers prefer to target a specific range when they shop for new keywords.

Searches Not Clicked (as a %)

As Google gets more sophisticated in how it answers a search, it's possible for a user to get an answer without having to click. Think of informational searches like "height of Mount Everest" or capital of Canada. Google puts easier-to-predict answers right on the results page and, in their Chrome browser, it might even appear alongside suggested searches.

If you are developing content to get clicks, it helps to know which keywords are more likely to deliver clicks vs those where the searcher finds an answer without clicking.

Paid Clicks (as a %)

Organic Clicks (as a %)

These are separate filters but grouped together in the explanation. We started to see examples in the data where some keywords had higher click rates on their ads vs other keywords. This makes sense when you think about transactional vs informational keywords. Something like "best wireless headphones" will play well with paid ads, so expect that to have a higher number in "Paid Clicks %." This is the percentage of all clicks on that SERP that go to ads instead of clicks to organic results. (And the opposite with organic clicks %)

Cost

Much like with Cost per Click, this is a traditional metric you can set as a range. Two different keywords with a similar Cost per Click might have a very different Cost depending on the clicks that they get.

Ads

The number of ads on a keyword can sometimes be a signal of how competitive the term is. We show an average number of monthly ads (instead of a cumulative count) to help you determine the playing field.

Homepages

The homepage count can play an interesting role in SEO assessment. Let's say that you're competing in the "teeth whitening" topic. Of the sites that rank for "teeth whitening kit," a dedicated site like gloscience.com's homepage ranks for the term. We count that in the "homepages" filter. It's not always difficult to rank over dedicated home pages, but it can be a notable filter to try.

If you have any questions about our filters, please click on the live chat button to ask our Support team for further explanation.