How to Do Keyword Research (Step-by-Step)

Why Keyword Research Matters

Every piece of content you publish is a bet. You're betting that people will search for that topic, find your page, and take action. Keyword research removes the guesswork from that bet.

Without keyword research, you might spend weeks writing a guide that nobody searches for — or target a keyword so competitive that you'll never rank. With keyword research, you know exactly what your audience is searching for, how many people search for it each month, and how hard it will be to rank.

The result: you create content that targets real demand, ranks in search engines, and drives qualified traffic to your site. It's the highest-leverage activity in content marketing.

Step 1: Generate Seed Keywords

Seed keywords are the broad starting points you'll expand into a full keyword list. They represent the core topics your business covers.

How to brainstorm seeds

• List your products/services. What do you sell? What problems do you solve? Each product or service category is a seed. A CRM company might start with: "CRM software," "sales pipeline," "contact management," "lead tracking."
• Think like your customer. What would someone type into Google right before they'd need your product? Not industry jargon — the words regular people use.
• Check your competitors. Visit 3-5 competitor websites and look at their navigation, blog categories, and page titles. What topics do they cover?
• Mine your existing data. If you have Google Search Console set up, check which queries already bring people to your site. If you have a sales team, ask what questions prospects ask most often.

Aim for 5-15 seed keywords. You don't need a perfect list — you'll expand and refine it in the next steps.

Step 2: Expand Your List

Now turn your seeds into hundreds of specific keyword ideas. Here are the most effective methods:

Use a keyword research tool

Enter each seed keyword into a tool like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Google Keyword Planner. These tools will show you:

• Related keywords — variations and related terms people also search for
• Questions — queries phrased as questions ("how to," "what is," "why does")
• Long-tail variations — more specific, lower-competition phrases

For the seed "CRM software," a tool might generate: "best CRM software for small business," "free CRM software," "CRM software for real estate," "what is CRM software," "CRM software pricing comparison," and hundreds more.

Google's free suggestions

You don't need paid tools to start. Google itself gives you keyword ideas:

• Autocomplete: Start typing your seed in Google's search bar and note the suggestions that appear. These are real queries people search for.
• People Also Ask: Search for your seed keyword and look at the "People Also Ask" box. Each question is a potential content topic.
• Related Searches: Scroll to the bottom of Google's search results for additional keyword ideas.

Analyze competitor keywords

In Semrush or Ahrefs, enter a competitor's domain to see every keyword they rank for. Filter for keywords where they rank in positions 1-10 — these are proven topics with real search demand. Look for keywords where your competitor's content is thin or outdated. That's your opportunity.

Step 3: Analyze Key Metrics

For each keyword on your list, you need to evaluate three metrics:

Search volume

How many times per month people search for this keyword. Higher volume means more potential traffic. But volume alone is misleading — a keyword with 100,000 monthly searches is worthless to you if you can't rank for it.

Generally useful ranges for small-to-medium sites:

• Under 100: Low volume, but can be valuable if it's highly targeted ("CRM for veterinary clinics")
• 100-1,000: Sweet spot for new sites. Enough traffic to matter, often less competitive
• 1,000-10,000: Solid volume. Expect moderate-to-high competition
• 10,000+: High volume, usually high competition. Target these after you've built authority

Keyword difficulty

Most SEO tools assign a difficulty score from 0-100. This estimates how hard it will be to rank on page one. The score is primarily based on the backlink profiles of the pages currently ranking.

For a new or small site, target keywords with difficulty under 30. As your site builds authority, you can move up to 30-50. Anything above 60 typically requires a well-established site with many backlinks.

Traffic potential

A page that ranks for one keyword usually ranks for dozens or hundreds of related keywords. Look at the top-ranking page for your target keyword and check how many total keywords it ranks for and how much total organic traffic it gets. This gives you a more realistic picture of the traffic opportunity than the primary keyword's volume alone.

Step 4: Assess Search Intent

Search intent is why someone is searching. It's arguably more important than volume or difficulty, because if your content doesn't match what the searcher wants, it won't rank — no matter how well-optimized it is.

The four types of search intent

• Informational: The searcher wants to learn something. Keywords often start with "what is," "how to," "why does." Example: "what is a CRM." Best content type: guides, tutorials, explainers.
• Navigational: The searcher is looking for a specific website or page. Example: "HubSpot login." You generally can't rank for these unless it's your brand.
• Commercial investigation: The searcher is researching before a purchase. Keywords include "best," "vs," "review," "comparison." Example: "best CRM for small business." Best content type: comparison posts, reviews, ranked lists.
• Transactional: The searcher is ready to buy. Keywords include "buy," "pricing," "discount," "free trial." Example: "Salesforce pricing plans." Best content type: product pages, pricing pages, landing pages.

How to check intent

The simplest method: Google the keyword and look at what ranks. If the top 10 results are all beginner guides, Google has determined the intent is informational — so you need to write a beginner guide, not a product comparison. If the top results are all comparison posts, write a comparison post. Match the format Google is already rewarding.

Step 5: Prioritize and Group

You now have a list of keywords with volume, difficulty, and intent data. Time to prioritize.

The prioritization framework

Score each keyword on three factors:

1. Business value (1-3): How directly does this keyword connect to your product or service? "Best CRM software" = 3 (directly about your product). "What is digital transformation" = 1 (loosely related).
2. Ranking potential (1-3): Can you realistically rank for this? Base it on difficulty score and how strong the current results are. Low difficulty + weak competition = 3.
3. Search volume (1-3): Higher volume = higher score. But weight this less than the other two factors.

Multiply the three scores. Keywords scoring 18-27 are your top priorities. Work through them in descending order.

Group keywords into topics

Don't create a separate page for every keyword. Group related keywords that share the same intent into a single piece of content. "How to do keyword research," "keyword research tutorial," and "keyword research process" all belong on one page. Your primary keyword goes in the title tag; secondary keywords appear naturally throughout the content.

Best Keyword Research Tools

Here are the tools worth considering, from free to premium:

Free tools

• Google Keyword Planner — Built into Google Ads. Shows search volume ranges and competition levels. The volume data is grouped into ranges (not exact numbers) unless you're running ads, but it's a solid starting point.
• Google Search Console — Shows which keywords your site already ranks for. Great for finding "low-hanging fruit" — queries where you rank on page 2 and could push to page 1 with optimization.
• Google Autocomplete + People Also Ask — Free and always available. Great for finding question-based keywords and long-tail variations.

Paid tools

• Semrush — The most comprehensive keyword database. Excellent for competitive analysis, keyword gap analysis, and tracking rankings over time. Starts at $130/month.
• Ahrefs — Best-in-class backlink data combined with strong keyword research features. Their "Keywords Explorer" is particularly good at estimating traffic potential. Starts at $99/month.
• Mangools (KWFinder) — A budget-friendly option with clean UI and accurate difficulty scores. Great for beginners who want paid-tool quality at a lower price point. Starts at $30/month.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

After guiding hundreds of content teams through keyword research, these are the mistakes I see most often:

• Targeting only high-volume keywords. New sites can't compete with established giants for head terms. Start with long-tail keywords, build authority, then move upmarket.
• Ignoring search intent. If every result for your keyword is a listicle and you write a tutorial, you won't rank. Always check the SERPs before creating content.
• One keyword per page thinking. A well-written page can rank for hundreds of related keywords. Focus on topics, not individual keywords.
• Keyword stuffing. Repeating your keyword 50 times doesn't help — it hurts. Write naturally for humans. Include your keyword in the title, one H2, and a few times in the body. That's enough.
• Doing keyword research once. Markets change, new competitors appear, search trends shift. Revisit your keyword strategy quarterly. Check Search Console monthly for new ranking opportunities.
• Not tracking results. If you don't track which keywords you're targeting and how they're performing, you can't improve. Use a spreadsheet or your SEO tool's rank tracker to monitor progress.

Keyword research isn't a one-time project — it's an ongoing practice that gets easier and more intuitive with experience. Start with the steps above, publish your first few pieces of optimized content, and iterate based on what the data tells you. The sites that win at SEO are the ones that do this work consistently.