Finding the right keywords for SEO comes down to three things: understanding what your audience actually types into search engines, measuring whether those terms are worth pursuing, and organizing them into content that matches what searchers want. The process has shifted significantly as AI-powered search results now appear for a growing share of queries, which means picking keywords based on search volume alone no longer works. Here’s how to approach keyword research from start to finish.
Start With Search Intent, Not Volume
Every search query carries an intent, and matching your content to that intent matters more than chasing high-volume terms. Google classifies searches into four types. Informational queries make up roughly 55% of all searches. These are people looking to learn something: “what is keyword density,” “how does backlinking work.” Navigational queries account for about 30%, where someone is looking for a specific site or page. Commercial queries represent around 14%, where people are comparing options or reading reviews before a purchase. Transactional queries are the rarest at under 1% of searches, but they carry the strongest buying intent because the person is ready to act.
When you evaluate a keyword, ask yourself which of these four buckets it falls into. Then make sure the content you plan to create actually serves that intent. If someone searches “best project management software,” they want a comparison, not a sales page for your product. If they search “Trello login,” they want a navigation link, and you can’t realistically compete for that. Labeling each keyword as informational, commercial, transactional, or navigational early in the process saves you from creating content that Google will never rank because it doesn’t match what searchers expect to find.
Use Tools to Build Your Initial List
You need data to move beyond guesswork. A good keyword tool shows you how many people search for a given term each month, suggests related terms you hadn’t considered, and gives you a difficulty score that estimates how hard it will be to rank. Several free options can get you started without spending anything.
Google Keyword Planner is the most reliable free option because it pulls directly from Google’s own search data. It was built for advertisers, but anyone with a Google account can use it to find keyword ideas, see monthly search volume ranges, and gauge competition levels. Type in a broad term related to your business and it will return dozens or hundreds of related keywords you can sort by volume or relevance.
Keyword Surfer is a browser extension that displays search volume and related keyword data right inside Google’s search results as you browse. There’s no sign-up required, and you can export keyword data to a spreadsheet for later analysis. It’s especially useful for quick research sessions where you want to check volume on the fly without switching between tools.
Paid tools like Semrush and Ahrefs offer deeper features, including competitor analysis, keyword difficulty scores on a 0-to-100 scale, click-through rate estimates, and trend data over time. If SEO is a significant part of your business strategy, the investment in a paid tool usually pays for itself through better targeting. But free tools are perfectly adequate for building your first keyword list.
Analyze What Competitors Rank For
One of the fastest ways to find keywords worth targeting is to look at what your competitors already rank for, especially terms where you have no presence at all. This is called a keyword gap analysis. The logic is simple: if a competitor ranks for a term related to your business and you don’t, that’s a content opportunity you’re missing.
The basic workflow looks like this. First, identify your actual competitors in search results. These aren’t always the companies you compete with for sales. They’re the sites that show up when your target audience searches for topics you cover. Most keyword tools have a competitor discovery feature that shows you which domains overlap with yours in organic search.
Next, run a gap comparison. Enter your domain alongside three or four competitor domains and filter for “missing” keywords, terms where every competitor ranks but you don’t. Narrow the results further by filtering for keywords where competitors rank in the top 10 positions and where the keyword difficulty score is moderate, generally under 50 on a 100-point scale. This gives you a list of realistic opportunities rather than terms dominated by massive authority sites you can’t outrank.
Save the most relevant keywords to a list or export them to a spreadsheet. Not every gap is worth filling. Focus on terms that connect to your products, services, or core expertise. A keyword your competitor ranks for about an unrelated topic isn’t useful just because they rank for it.
Group Keywords Into Topic Clusters
Individual keywords don’t exist in isolation. Search engines evaluate your authority on a topic partly by how thoroughly you cover it across multiple pages. This is where topic clustering comes in: grouping related keywords together under a broad “pillar” topic, then creating supporting content for each subtopic that links back to the main page.
Start by auditing your existing content. Look for pages that already rank well or drive consistent traffic, then scan for gaps around those pages. Are there related subtopics you haven’t covered? Questions your audience asks that you haven’t answered? Semantic variations of your main keyword that could support a dedicated page?
To choose your pillar topics, list three to five broad categories tied to your products, high-value use cases, or the main problems your audience faces. Evaluate each one for search demand and competition. The sweet spot is a topic your audience actively searches for where competition is manageable. If the top five results for a keyword are dominated by government sites, Wikipedia, or massive brands with high difficulty scores, either narrow your angle or deprioritize that cluster.
Once you’ve chosen a pillar, map out the supporting pages. Each one should target a specific subtopic keyword, serve a distinct search intent, and link back to the pillar page. For example, if your pillar topic is “email marketing,” your cluster pages might cover “email subject line best practices” (informational), “best email marketing platforms” (commercial), and “how to set up an email drip campaign” (instructional). This structure signals to search engines that your site has comprehensive expertise on the topic.
Check the Search Results Before Committing
Before you invest time creating content for a keyword, search for it yourself and study what’s already ranking. The results page tells you exactly what Google considers the right answer for that query, and your content needs to match or exceed that standard.
Look at the format of top-ranking pages. Are they long-form guides, listicles, product pages, or video content? If every result is a comparison table and you’re planning a narrative essay, you’ll struggle to rank. Look at the depth of coverage. If the top results are 2,000-word guides with detailed sections, a 400-word blog post won’t compete.
Also check whether the results page itself reduces the need for clicks. AI-generated summaries now appear for a growing share of searches. They went from appearing on about 6.5% of searches in January 2025 to over 13% by March 2025, and they tend to trigger for complex questions, instructional searches, and product comparisons. When these summaries appear, click-through rates drop because users get their answer without visiting any website. That doesn’t mean you should avoid these keywords entirely, but it does mean you should factor in whether organic clicks will actually reach your site or get absorbed by the results page itself.
Adapt Your Keywords for AI Search
Search behavior is shifting toward longer, more conversational queries as people interact with AI-powered search tools. Instead of typing “SEO keyword tools,” someone might ask “what’s the best free tool to find low-competition keywords for a new blog.” This shift means targeting exact-match short phrases is less effective than covering the full context around a topic.
To position your content for AI-generated results, structure it so AI systems can easily parse and cite it. Use clear headings that signal the topic of each section. Answer specific questions directly at the beginning of each section rather than burying the answer in the middle of a paragraph. Structured, scannable formats perform best: step-by-step lists, Q&A blocks, and comparison tables are all formats that AI systems pull from frequently.
Multimodal content also helps. Pairing images and videos with descriptive alt text, captions, and transcripts makes your content accessible to AI systems that interpret visual and audio content alongside text. Being cited as a source in an AI overview is becoming a meaningful visibility metric alongside traditional rankings and traffic numbers.
Prioritize and Track Over Time
Once you have a keyword list, you need to prioritize. Not every keyword deserves a page right now. Rank your keywords by combining three factors: business relevance (does this keyword connect to something you sell or a problem you solve?), search demand (are enough people searching for it to justify the effort?), and achievability (can you realistically rank given your site’s current authority?).
A keyword with modest search volume but strong commercial intent and low competition is often more valuable than a high-volume informational term where you’d be competing against established authority sites. Focus on winnable terms first, build authority in your topic clusters, and then expand to more competitive keywords as your site grows.
After you publish content targeting your chosen keywords, track performance beyond just rankings. Monitor which pages drive conversions, which appear in AI summaries, and which attract the kind of visitors who actually engage with your site. Use those insights to refine your keyword strategy over time, doubling down on clusters that perform and reworking or retiring content that doesn’t connect with your audience.