From guesses to evidence
Keyword research discovers the words and questions people type into search engines, how often, and with what intent. It tells you what to create, what to call it, and which existing pages to improve. Good research is about topics and problems, not just exact phrases: modern search engines understand synonyms and meaning, so one strong page can rank for hundreds of related queries.
Key terms
- Seed keyword: a broad starting term (“email marketing”).
- Head terms: short, high-volume, very competitive, often vague (“marketing”).
- Long-tail keywords: longer, specific queries with lower individual volume but clearer intent (“welcome email sequence for online course”). Together they make up a large share of all searches.
- Search volume: an estimate of monthly searches. Treat tool numbers as rough, rounded estimates.
- Keyword difficulty: a tool’s estimate of how hard it is to rank, usually based on the strength of current results. Each tool calculates it differently.
The goal is not the biggest numbers; it is the queries where your business can genuinely help and win.
Key takeaways
- Keyword research reveals what to create, what to call it and what to improve.
- Think in topics: one strong page can rank for many related queries.
- Volume and difficulty figures are estimates; prioritise relevance and winnability.
Practice: Brainstorm seeds
- Write down 10 seed topics from your products, services and customer questions.
- For each, write three ways a customer might phrase it.
- Mark which ones a beginner would search and which an expert would.
Go further: Ask your sales or support team for the five questions they hear most.