What Exactly is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of discovering, analysing, and selecting the search terms that people actually type into Google when they’re looking for something. 

Could be information, could be a product, could be a service. 

It’s essentially the art (and yeah, a bit of science too) of figuring out what your audience wants & how they phrase their questions when nobody’s watching.

Without proper keyword research, you’re basically creating content in the dark, hoping someone stumbles across it. 

With it, you’ve got a roadmap showing exactly where people are searching and what they expect to find when they get there.

Why Keyword Research Actually Matters

Here’s the thing about SEO. You can write brilliant content, have a gorgeous website, and offer amazing services. But if you’re not using the words and phrases your potential customers are searching for, you might as well be invisible.

Keyword research is the foundation of any sensible SEO strategy because it reveals what your target audience is ACTUALLY searching for. Not what you think they’re searching for. Not what sounds clever or sophisticated. What they genuinely type into that little box when they need help.

The core objectives are pretty straightforward when you think about it. Understanding search demand tells you if anyone even cares about your topic. 

Identifying content opportunities shows you gaps you can fill. Prioritising SEO efforts means you’re not wasting time on keywords nobody searches for. It informs your entire content strategy, helps with competitive analysis, and basically stops you from shooting arrows blindfolded.

I’ve seen businesses spend thousands on content that gets zero traffic because they never bothered checking if anyone was searching for those topics. 

It’s painful to watch, honestly.

How Keyword Research Has Changed

Early SEO was weird. Really weird. People would stuff exact match keywords everywhere, and Google would just… rank them. “Best shoes London” repeated 47 times on a page? Sure, have the top spot.

Those days are long gone, thank goodness. Modern keyword research is far more sophisticated. It’s about topics, intent, and context now. Google’s gotten smarter (sometimes annoyingly so) and understands synonyms, related concepts, and what people actually mean when they search.

The shift from exact match to topic focused approaches means we’re not just chasing individual keywords anymore. We’re building content around entire subject areas and understanding the user’s journey.

Key Concepts You Need to Grasp

Let’s break down the essential terminology, because you’ll encounter these concepts constantly when doing keyword research.

Search volume tells you how many times per month people search for a particular term. A keyword with 10,000 monthly searches sounds fantastic until you realise it’s impossibly competitive and you’ve got zero chance of ranking.

Keyword difficulty measures how hard it’ll be to rank for that term. Usually shown as a score out of 100. Anything above 60 is typically quite challenging unless you’ve got serious domain authority. Perhaps the most important metric that beginners ignore.

Search intent is where things get interesting. There are four main types. Informational (people want to learn something), navigational (they’re looking for a specific site), commercial (they’re researching before buying), and transactional (they’re ready to purchase right now). 

Getting intent wrong is like serving someone dessert when they asked for directions.

Short Tail vs Long Tail

Short tail keywords are brief and broad. “Shoes.” “Marketing.” “Recipes.” They get massive search volume but are crazy competitive and often too vague to convert well.

Long tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases. “Waterproof hiking boots for women size 7” or “vegan chocolate cake recipe without coconut oil.” Lower search volume, but WAY more targeted. These are often where the magic happens, especially for smaller businesses.

Don’t forget about keyword variations & synonyms either. Google understands that “trainers,” “sneakers,” and “running shoes” are related. You don’t need to obsess over exact phrasing like we did back in 2010.

The Actual Research Process Step by Step

Right, so how do you actually DO keyword research? It’s not as daunting as it seems once you’ve done it a few times.

First, define your goals and audience. Who are you trying to reach? What do they need? This sounds obvious but so many people skip this step and end up targeting completely irrelevant terms.

Next, brainstorm seed keywords. These are the basic terms related to your business or content. If you run a bakery in Manchester, your seed keywords might include “bakery Manchester,” “fresh bread,” “wedding cakes,” that sort of thing. Just get them down on paper (or a spreadsheet, more likely).

Then use keyword research tools to expand your list. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even Google’s Keyword Planner will show you related terms, questions people ask, and variations you hadn’t considered. This is where your list explodes from 10 keywords to 300.

Analysing What Matters

Now you need to analyse search intent and SERP features for each keyword. Type it into Google and see what actually ranks. Are the results blog posts? Product pages? Videos? Local listings? This tells you what Google thinks people want when they search that term.

SERP features are crucial here. Featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, image packs, video results, local packs… these all influence your strategy. If a keyword triggers a featured snippet, you know there’s an opportunity to structure your content to capture that. If it shows a local pack, you’ll need strong local SEO signals.

Assess your keyword metrics carefully. Search volume, difficulty, and opportunity need to balance. A keyword with 50,000 monthly searches but 95 difficulty isn’t necessarily better than one with 500 searches and 20 difficulty. Especially when you’re starting out.

Cost per click (CPC) data from Google Ads is a sneaky good indicator of commercial intent. If advertisers are paying £8 per click, you know that keyword has serious business value.

Competitive Analysis & Organisation

Analyse competitor keywords next. What are they ranking for that you’re not? Where are the gaps in their content? Sometimes you’ll find they’re completely missing obvious opportunities.

Once you’ve got your massive list, organise keywords into topic clusters. Group related terms together. All your wedding cake keywords in one cluster. All your sourdough bread keywords in another. This helps you plan content that covers topics comprehensively rather than creating dozens of thin, repetitive pages.

Map keywords to specific pages too. Which existing page should target which keywords? Where do you need to create new content? This prevents keyword cannibalisation, where multiple pages compete for the same term and end up weakening each other.

Different Types of Keywords

Not all keywords are created equal, and understanding the different types helps you build a more robust strategy.

Branded keywords include your company name. “Breakline Agency” would be a branded keyword for, well, Breakline. Non branded keywords don’t mention specific brands and are typically more competitive but also more valuable for reaching new audiences.

Product or service keywords are pretty self explanatory. “SEO audit,” “link building services,” that kind of thing. Informational keywords are about learning rather than buying. “How does SEO work” or “what is keyword research” (hey, that’s this article!).

Comparison keywords signal strong buying intent. “Ahrefs vs SEMrush” or “best keyword research tools 2024.” Local keywords include geographic modifiers. “SEO agency London” or “bakery near me.” Question based keywords often start with who, what, where, when, why, or how.

Each type serves a different purpose in your overall strategy and targets users at different stages of their journey.

Understanding Metrics That Actually Matter

Let’s talk numbers, because keyword metrics can be confusing and occasionally misleading.

What makes a “good” search volume? It depends entirely on your accomodate capacity, competition level, and business model. For a local plumber, 200 monthly searches for “emergency plumber [city name]” might be fantastic. For a national e-commerce site, that’s probably too small to bother with.

Keyword difficulty scores vary between tools, which is annoying. Ahrefs uses one algorithm, Moz uses another. They’re useful as rough guides but shouldn’t be taken as gospel. Always check the actual SERP to see who’s ranking. Sometimes a high difficulty score is misleading because the ranking pages are weak or outdated.

Click through rate potential is something people overlook. A keyword might have 5,000 monthly searches, but if the SERP is dominated by featured snippets, ads, and other features, the actual clicks to organic results might be tiny. Google keeps more and more traffic for itself these days, unfortunately.

Common Mistakes People Keep Making

I’ve watched countless businesses make the same errors with keyword research, so let’s address them head on.

Targeting overly competitive keywords is probably the biggest mistake. New websites going after terms that Amazon and Wikipedia rank for. It’s not going to happen. Be realistic about what you can actually rank for.

Ignoring search intent is another classic blunder. You find a keyword with great volume and low difficulty, create content, and… nothing. Because you wrote an informational blog post when people searching that term wanted to buy something. Check the SERP first, always.

Focusing ONLY on high volume keywords means missing all those lovely long tail opportunities that actually convert. Sometimes 20 keywords with 100 searches each are worth more than one keyword with 2,000 searches.

Not considering the user journey is surprisingly common too. Someone searching “what is SEO” is at a completely different stage than someone searching “SEO agency near me.” Your content and conversion strategy should reflect that.

Ongoing Research & Adaptation

Keyword research isn’t a one and done task, much as we might wish it was.

Search trends change. New competitors emerge. Your own business evolves. You need to monitor keyword performance regularly, track ranking changes, and adapt to seasonal shifts. Perhaps you’re a garden centre. Your keyword priorities in March are completely different from November.

Set up regular check ins, maybe monthly or quarterly depending on your resources. Look at what’s working, what isn’t, and where new opportunities might be appearing.

The relationship between keyword research and content strategy should be continuous. Your editorial calendar should be informed by keyword opportunities. Content gaps you identify through research should become new pieces. Existing content should be optimised when you discover better keyword targets.

The Bottom Line

Keyword research is one of those things that seems complicated until you actually start doing it. Then it becomes weirdly addictive. There’s something satisfying about uncovering search terms your competitors haven’t noticed or finding that perfect balance of volume, difficulty, and intent.

Start simple. Pick a few seed keywords related to your business. Throw them into a keyword tool. Look at what comes back. Check the SERPs for the promising ones. Assess your realistic chances of ranking. Build content around the winners.

You’ll make mistakes. Everyone does. You’ll target keywords that don’t convert or create content that never ranks. That’s fine. It’s all learning. The important thing is to actually start rather than getting paralysed trying to do everything perfectly from day one.

And remember, keyword research connects everything else in SEO. Your technical optimisation, your content creation, your link building… it all starts with understanding what people are searching for and why. Get this bit right, and everything else becomes considerably easier.