What to look at for each keyword
- Search intent: what the searcher wants: information, a comparison, a specific site or a purchase.
- Search volume: roughly how many searches it gets per month.
- Difficulty: how strong the pages that already rank are.
- Business value: how likely the searcher is to become a customer.
How to do keyword research
- List the products, services and problems your customers care about.
- Expand the list with tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Google Search Console, Semrush or Ahrefs, and with Google’s autocomplete and “People also ask”.
- Search the most promising keywords yourself to see what type of page ranks.
- Group keywords with the same intent, so one page targets one group.
- Prioritize the groups by value and by how realistic it is to rank.
Long-tail keywords, longer and more specific phrases, get fewer searches each but are often easier to rank for and closer to a purchase.
Types of keywords
- By length: short, broad terms (“running shoes”) get many searches but are hard to win. Long-tail keywords (“lightweight running shoes for flat feet”) get fewer searches and are easier, and often closer to a purchase. See long-tail keywords.
- By intent: informational (how to), commercial (best, vs, review), transactional (buy, price, near me) and navigational (a brand or site name).
- Branded and non-branded: branded keywords include your name. Non-branded ones are how new customers find you.
- Local keywords: include a place, such as “dentist Malmö”. See local SEO.
Keyword research tools
- Free: Google Search Console (the searches your site already shows for), Google Keyword Planner (inside Google Ads), Google autocomplete and “People also ask”.
- Paid: Semrush, Ahrefs and similar platforms, which add volume estimates, difficulty scores and competitor data. Their numbers are estimates, so use them to compare keywords, not as exact counts.
A keyword research example
This example is illustrative. A bakery in Malmö wants wedding orders. Its list starts with “wedding cakes”, expands to “wedding cakes Malmö”, “vegan wedding cake” and “how much does a wedding cake cost”. Searching each shows that the first two are answered by service pages and the last by guides. The bakery builds one page for each group and checks Search Console after a few weeks to see which searches the pages now show for.
Common keyword research mistakes
- Choosing only high-volume keywords that cannot be won.
- Ignoring intent: a page that does not match what the searcher wants will not rank.
- Targeting the same keyword with several pages.
- Stuffing the keyword into text instead of writing naturally.
- Doing research once and never revisiting it.
Keyword research FAQs
How many keywords should a page target?
One main topic, with the close variations a person would use. Do not force a list of keywords on one page.
Is keyword density important?
No. Write naturally and cover the topic. Google’s guidance lists keyword stuffing as a problem.
How often should I do keyword research?
Before you create a page, and again every few months using Search Console to find searches your pages already show for.