How to Choose the Right Keywords for SEO

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April of 2024 and was updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Keyword research is a core component of any SEO strategy.

But the process of identifying the best keywords to target isn’t exactly straightforward.

In this post, we’ll explain the importance of thorough keyword research and walk you through seven essential steps to choose keywords that will boost your rankings and organic traffic.

What Is SEO Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of identifying the terms and phrases people use when searching for information, products, or services related to your business.

By incorporating these relevant keywords into your content, you increase the likelihood that your pages will appear in the search results for these terms. This is because search engines rely on keywords to understand the content of web pages

As a fundamental pillar of search engine optimization (SEO), keyword research helps you understand the needs and interests of your target audience. Once you know what your ideal customers are looking for, you can develop content that solves their problems, attracting more and more visitors to your site.

Why SEO Keyword Research Is Crucial

Keyword research touches on every aspect of SEO, from content strategy and creation to on-page optimization and link building. Utilizing keyword research tools can help you identify the best terms to target, making your SEO efforts more effective.

Here are five reasons why it’s so important to get keyword research right:

1. Directs Content Creation

Keyword research gives you a roadmap for content development. Starting with seed keywords can help you generate a list of related terms that will guide your content development. It tells you what topics interest your audience, allowing you to draw users to your site with content that answers their questions and addresses their needs.

2. Improves Rankings

Aligning your content with the terms your audience searches for enhances your content’s relevance for those terms in the eyes of search engines. Understanding the monthly search volume of your target keywords can help you focus on terms that have significant search interest.

When you optimize content to match not only the keywords your target customers use but also the intent behind those keywords, you stand a better chance of ranking highly in search results. This gives your website more visibility and, in turn, more traffic.

3. Increases Conversion Rates

Understanding the intent behind the keywords your audience uses means you can tailor your content to directly meet their needs.

Keep in mind that search users have different intentions depending on where they are in the buyer’s journey.

For example, imagine you run an ecommerce store that sells running shoes. A customer in the awareness stage might begin their research using informational keywords like “benefits of running shoes.” As they move to the consideration stage, they might start evaluating different options using comparison keywords like “cushioned vs. minimalist running shoes.” Once they’re prepared to make a purchase, they might use transactional keywords like “running shoes free shipping.”

Aligning your content with user intent will mean your traffic is more likely to convert. This is because each piece of content is designed to meet visitors exactly where they are in the decision-making process.

4. Informs Website Structure

Keyword research can reveal important insights that influence your site’s architecture.

Organizing your site’s content around clusters of related keywords allows you to create a logical site structure that’s more intuitive for users to navigate and easier for search engines to crawl and index accurately.

5. Provides Competitive Insights

Researching your competitors’ keyword strategies can highlight untapped opportunities for you to capitalize on with your own content. Tools like Google Search Console can provide valuable insights into the keywords your competitors are ranking for and highlight areas for improvement.

Likewise, studying the other sites in your niche will help you pinpoint which keywords are the most competitive and understand the caliber of content required to rank for those terms.

How to Choose the Right SEO Keywords (10 Steps)

Now that you’re clear on the benefits of keyword research, let’s look at which steps you should take to target the right phrases for your SEO campaigns.

1. Create a List of Topic Buckets Related to Your Brand

Start by brainstorming the broad themes related to your products, services, and customer interests, and place them into different categories.

For example, if you’re an outdoor gear retailer, your topic buckets might include things like hiking gear, camping equipment, and outdoor survival tools.

Each topic bucket should start with a seed keyword that represents the core idea of that category.

Then, for each bucket, write down keywords that you think you should target. You don’t need to go into too much detail here; the goal is just to build a general foundation for more in-depth keyword research later on.

For instance, within the hiking gear bucket, you might list keywords like “best hiking backpacks,” “lightweight hiking gear,” and “waterproof hiking boots.”

2. Identify the Business Value of a Keyword

Identifying the business value of a keyword is crucial in determining its relevance to your business and target audience. Start by asking yourself a few key questions: Is the keyword relevant to my business and products or services? Does it align with my business goals and objectives? Will targeting this keyword attract the right audience and increase conversions?

To get a clearer picture, use tools like Google Keyword Planner to analyze the keyword’s search volume and competition. This will help you understand how often people are searching for the term and how tough it will be to rank for it. Additionally, consider the potential return on investment (ROI) for each keyword. Prioritizing keywords that are most likely to drive business results will ensure that your SEO efforts are both effective and efficient.

3. Use a Keyword Research Tool to Find Relevant Terms

Once you’ve created your list of initial keywords, it’s time to pull some concrete data.

SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz are essential for finding related terms and metrics. Enter your seed terms into a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to find related terms and metrics.

For example, suppose you use “outdoor survival tools” as a seed term. In that case, the keyword research tool might suggest keyword variations like “best outdoor survival gear,” “survival tool kit checklist,” “compact survival tools,” and “wilderness survival equipment.”

Repeat this process across your topic buckets, placing all keyword variations and related metrics into an organized spreadsheet. As you do this, you may also notice new sub-topics that you haven’t yet considered.

4. Pay Attention to Search Volume, Keyword Difficulty, and Search Intent

Now that you’ve created a comprehensive list of real-world keywords that are relevant to your business, you’ll need to evaluate each term based on the search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent metrics you pulled from your research tool.

Search volume will tell you how many people are searching for a particular term each month, giving you an idea of its popularity. Keyword difficulty indicates how hard it will be to rank for that keyword, with higher scores representing greater competition. And search intent tells you whether people using a given keyword are looking to buy something, gather information, or reach a specific website.

Here are some things to consider when analyzing keyword metrics and deciding which terms to prioritize:

• Balancing search volume and keyword difficulty: While high-volume terms offer the most traffic potential, they also tend to be the most competitive terms to rank for. For this reason, it’s a good idea to prioritize terms with a good balance of high search volume and manageable difficulty. Consider these terms your “low-hanging fruit”—keywords where you have a realistic chance of ranking well sooner rather than later.
• Aligning keywords with your business goals: Consider how the search intent behind each keyword aligns with your business objectives. If your primary goal is to increase your sales conversion rate, prioritize transactional keywords that indicate a readiness to purchase. If building awareness is your main objective, prioritize informational keywords where you can provide value to early-stage prospects and establish topical authority in your niche.
• Don’t overlook long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords tend to be more specific and less competitive than generic keywords. They are used by searchers who have a clearer idea of what they are looking for, whether that’s detailed information on a topic, a specific product, or a particular service. Even though long-tail keywords often have lower search volumes, targeting them is a great way to attract highly motivated visitors and increase your conversion rates.

Once you’ve thoroughly evaluated your keyword list (and removed any irrelevant terms that may have slipped through the net), it’s a good idea to categorize each term as high-, mid-, or low-priority. Those in the high-priority category will be the ones you’ll focus on first. 

5. Analyze Competition

Analyzing competition is a critical step in the keyword research process. It helps you understand the landscape of your target keywords and identify opportunities to outrank your competitors. Start by using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify the top-ranking pages for your target keywords. Take a close look at the content and structure of these pages to understand what makes them successful.

Next, determine the keyword difficulty and competition level for each term. This will give you an idea of how challenging it will be to rank for those keywords. Look for gaps in the market that your content can fill—areas where your competitors may be lacking or where you can offer a unique perspective. By analyzing competition, you can refine your keyword strategy and create content that is more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

6. Consider SERP Features

Before optimizing content for your new target keywords, it’s worth checking for any SERP (search engine results page) features associated with them.

Things like featured snippets, knowledge panels, image packs, and FAQs significantly affect how your search engines display your content on the results page. These often capture a large share of user attention, driving more traffic to your site if your content is featured. 

So, record whether each keyword triggers any specific SERP features. This will determine how you structure your content for those terms in the following steps.

7. Map Target Keywords to Existing Pages

With your finalized keyword list in place, the next step is to assign these terms to specific pages on your site.

This is where your SEO strategy starts to take shape.

Start by identifying the most relevant page for each primary keyword. These are the terms that encapsulate the core of your business and should be aligned with the pages that best represent your main products, services, or content areas. So, to take our example of an outdoor gear retailer from earlier, a primary keyword might be “hiking backpacks.” This term could be matched with a category page for hiking gear.

For other high-priority keywords, find relevant pages that can be optimized or updated to focus on them. For example, a high-priority keyword like “lightweight hiking backpacks” may find its home on a specific product page that highlights backpacks for minimalist trekkers.

Once you’ve identified a suitable page for each keyword, it’s important to integrate them naturally within your content. This means including them in strategic locations such as page titles, header tags, product descriptions, and within body text where relevant. Doing so will help search engines grasp the primary focus of each page and increase the likelihood that visitors landing on these pages find exactly what they are searching for.

8. Prioritize Low-Hanging Fruit

Prioritizing low-hanging fruit involves identifying keywords that have a high potential for ranking and conversion but are less competitive. These keywords are often long-tail keywords that are more specific and less searched for, but still highly relevant to your business.

To find these valuable keywords, use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush. Look for keywords with low competition and high search volume. Analyze the keyword difficulty and potential ROI to ensure that these terms are worth targeting. By focusing on low-hanging fruit, you can quickly and easily rank for keywords that drive traffic and conversions, while also building momentum for more competitive keywords down the line.

9. Create a Content Calendar for Unused Keywords

It’s likely that some of the keywords in your list won’t fit neatly into your existing content.

These unused terms represent an opportunity to create new content that addresses topics, questions, or interests your current website doesn’t yet cover.

Plan out a content calendar to introduce new pages that incorporate these keywords. These content pieces could include blog posts, product pages, or even a new FAQ page.

When deciding how to schedule your content production and publication, consider factors such as keyword importance, seasonal shifts in search demand, and upcoming product launches or marketing campaigns. This will ensure that the content is timely and supports your business objectives.

10. Continuously Monitor and Refine Your Keyword Strategy

Given the ever-changing nature of search engine algorithms, shifts in competitor activity, and changes in people’s search behavior, it’s essential to keep a close eye on your keyword strategy.

Regularly review your site’s performance metrics, keyword rankings, and user engagement data to understand the effectiveness of your current keyword targeting.

You should be prepared to adjust your strategy based on these insights, which may include updating your content, adding new keywords, or phasing out terms that are no longer bringing in the desired levels of traffic.

Final Thoughts

Selecting the right keywords for your SEO program is essential for driving targeted traffic to your website, enhancing your visibility in search engine results, and ultimately supporting your business’s growth and objectives.

However, we’ve seen that choosing the right SEO keywords is no mean feat. It requires thorough research, keen judgment, and the continuous monitoring and review of your strategy. And given the importance of robust keyword research, it’s no surprise that many businesses prefer to outsource this task to experienced SEO specialists. So, if your business falls into this category, contact us for a free custom strategy of how we would help grow your business through SEO.