What is keyword research?

Keyword research is the process of identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing the phrases that users type into search engines. The goal is to find keywords worth optimizing for — with the right search volume, user intent, and competition level.

Keyword research is the foundation of every SEO and content marketing strategy. Without it, content creation is shooting in the dark — you may write about topics nobody searches for or compete on keywords where you have no chance of ranking. Our keyword research guide walks you through the entire process step by step.

Why is keyword research important?

Keyword research allows you to create content based on data, not intuition — and direct efforts where they will deliver the greatest business impact.

Benefits of systematic keyword research:

Discovering demand — you know what your potential customers are searching for
Content prioritization — you create content with the highest potential first
Building topic clusters — you group keywords into clusters supporting topical authority
Identifying gaps — content gap analysis reveals topics covered by competitors but not by you
Optimizing existing content — you find keywords your site already appears for but does not rank highly on

Key keyword parameters

Each keyword is evaluated by several parameters:

Search Volume — how many times per month a given keyword is searched; indicates traffic potential
Keyword Difficulty (KD) — how hard it is to rank for it (0-100); depends on competition strength in the SERP
Search intent — informational, navigational, commercial, transactional; determines content format
CPC (Cost Per Click) — the cost of a click on an ad for a given keyword; high CPC = high commercial value
SERP features — which elements Google displays (featured snippets, rich snippets, AI Overviews)
Trend — whether interest in the keyword is growing, declining, or stable

How to conduct keyword research?

1. Seed keywords

Start with a list of broad topics and phrases related to your industry:

What questions do customers ask during sales conversations?
What problems do you solve?
What services and products do you offer?
What language do customers use (not you)?

2. List expansion

Expand the list using tools and techniques:

Google Autocomplete — type a phrase and see the suggestions
People Also Ask (PAA) — the "People also ask" section in Google
Related Searches — related searches at the bottom of the results page
SEO tools — Ahrefs, Semrush, Senuto generate hundreds of related phrases
Google Search Console — keywords your site already appears for

3. Analysis and filtering

Evaluate each keyword based on:

Business relevance — is the keyword related to your offering?
Volume — do enough people search for this keyword?
Difficulty — do you have a realistic chance of ranking? (compare your Domain Rating with SERP competitors)
Intent — does it align with your business goals?
Value — can traffic from this keyword lead to conversions?

4. Clustering

Group keywords into topic clusters:

Pillar page — the main topic keyword, a broad article (e.g., "SEO")
Cluster content — supporting keywords, detailed articles (e.g., "what is on-page SEO", "how to improve Core Web Vitals")
Funnel mapping — assign clusters to funnel stages (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU)

5. Prioritization

Create a content calendar, prioritizing keywords with:

High business value (transactional and commercial keywords)
Moderate competition (KD matched to your DR)
Sufficient volume
Support for existing topic clusters