How to Do Keyword Research in 2026 (6 Ways + Framework)

Keyword investigation is the instauration of a successful contented strategy. Because each portion of contented you create, each page you optimize, and each strategical determination you make starts pinch knowing what your assemblage is searching for and why they're searching for it. 

In this guide, we’ll show you really to find keywords and really to measure them to thief you build a strategy that:

• Works crossed some accepted hunt and AI search
• Drives existent worth for your business

Let's commencement pinch the fundamentals.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword investigation is the process of discovering and analyzing the hunt position group usage successful accepted hunt engines and AI systems erstwhile looking for information, products, aliases services related to your business. 

Keyword investigation tells you:

• What questions your assemblage is asking
• What connection they usage to picture their problems
• Which solutions they're comparing
• Where they are successful the buying journey

Knowing which keywords to target ensures you create contented that really meets request alternatively of conscionable guessing what mightiness beryllium adjuvant for your website.

Why Is Keyword Research Important for SEO and AI Search?

Keyword investigation is important for your SEO and AI visibility because it reveals what your target assemblage is really looking for and tin lead to tangible benefits for your business. 

When you target the correct keywords, you tin build marque awareness. Your contented tin look erstwhile group hunt for topics related to what you offer, making them alert you exist.

And by matching hunt intent and addressing what group really need, you tin guideline visitors toward meaningful actions for illustration purchases, sign-ups, aliases demo requests. This tin make gross for your business.

How to Find Keywords

Use the six methods beneath to place hunt position that are applicable to your business that you want to target. 

You tin prevention the position you uncover to prioritize later. 

Check Your Existing Search Rankings

If your tract already appears successful accepted and AI hunt results, cheque your existing positions to find keywords you’re not yet optimizing for but easy could. 

(If your tract is caller aliases you don’t person immoderate existing rankings yet, skip to the adjacent section.)

Using Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) shows you the existent queries your tract shows for successful Google, including successful AI-generated responses.

To find unoptimized opportunities successful Google Search Console, spell to “Performance” > “Search results” and prime the “Queries” tab. Click the “Clicks” file and look for queries pinch zero aliases fewer clicks but tons of impressions.

While immoderate of the queries you spot successful the GSC array will beryllium keywords you are trying to rank for, astir of them are astir apt position you’re not straight targeting. Because Google thinks your contented is applicable capable to see successful the hunt results, the keywords you spot present pinch astatine slightest immoderate impressions are worthy considering. 

Go done your ain GSC keywords and adhd applicable ones to a database successful the Keyword Strategy Builder. Set 1 up by clicking “create a regular list.”

Then, click “Add keywords” astatine the apical correct of the adjacent screen, participate your keywords, and click the greenish “Add keywords” button.

Using Semrush’s Organic Rankings Tool

Semrush’s Organic Rankings instrumentality besides lets you place keywords you’re ranking for but not needfully targeting. 

Unlike Google Search Console, Organic Rankings lets you select for metrics for illustration hunt measurement and keyword difficulty. This tin make it easier to spot the astir applicable keywords for your business.

Head to the Organic Rankings instrumentality and participate your domain. Then spell to the “Positions” tab and participate these filters:

• Position 11+: This shows you keywords that you’re presently ranking for connected page 2 and beyond
• Volume of 100 aliases more: This helps select for keywords pinch immoderate proven demand
• Keyword trouble of 0%-49%: Adjust this based connected your site’s authority, but 0%-49% covers keywords that are easier to rank for

You tin set each of these filters based connected your ain website and goals. You mightiness besides request to grow the select ranges if you don’t spot galore keywords. Or you whitethorn request to usage tighter filtering if you extremity up pinch excessively galore keywords to manage. 

Your attraction erstwhile reviewing position successful Organic Rankings should beryllium connected keywords that are applicable to your business. 

For each keyword you want to target, click the “+” fastener to adhd it to your list. You’ll export this database later to prioritize your keywords.

Study First-Party Data

First-party information reveals the questions, problems, and connection patterns your institution hears straight from customers and prospects. 

Even if your first-party information uncovers hunt position that devices miss aliases show arsenic having zero volume, existent group are still actively willing successful contented that addresses them.

Good sources of first-party information see income calls, support tickets, and onboarding questions. Add the keywords and phrases you find from these methods to your Keyword Strategy Builder list.

Sales Calls

The communal questions and objections your income squad hears tin make awesome keyword opportunities because they correspond existent determination points successful the buying journey.

Schedule a gathering pinch your income squad and ask:

• What questions do prospects inquire astir often during demos aliases find calls?
• What objections travel up that slow down deals?
• What do group inquire astir our competitors?
• What features aliases usage cases do group attraction astir most?

For each answer, statement the nonstop connection prospects use—not trading language.

Support Tickets aliases Onboarding Questions

Support tickets and onboarding conversations show you wherever your merchandise archiving and contented autumn short. 

If customers support asking the aforesaid questions aft they acquisition aliases first prosecute pinch your services, you request contented that addresses those questions before they buy. To find these opportunities, reappraisal documented conversations pinch prospects and customers to look for:

• Questions group inquire aggregate times per week 
• Issues that slow down onboarding 
• Confusion astir features aliases setup 
• Integration questions

For example, if you spot 20 support tickets asking astir really to export information to Excel, you could create a guideline targeting the word "how to export [your tool] information to Excel." This contented helps some prospects (who want to cognize if it's imaginable earlier they buy) and customers (who request instructions to do it correct now).

If your business is simply a rule patient and caller clients regularly inquire astir what happens during an first consultation, you could create contented astir the taxable of "what to expect successful your first ineligible consultation." This contented helps prospects who want to cognize the process earlier booking. And it helps clients who request to hole for their upcoming appointment.

Mine Social Platforms and Forums

Conversations applicable to your marque connected societal media platforms and forums uncover questions your assemblage asks and the nonstop connection they use.

Platforms worthy checking see Reddit and Quora. It’s besides a bully thought to study comments connected platforms for illustration TikTok and YouTube. You tin analyse comments connected your ain videos aliases connected videos that screen topics applicable to your business. 

People are often asking these questions connected different platforms because they’re not uncovering a suitable reply erstwhile they Google them. In different words: location are imaginable keyword opportunities.

You tin quickly scan societal media platforms for keyword ideas utilizing AI by copying full discussions aliases remark sections related to your topic. We’ll usage the remark conception from a YouTube video comparing task guidance devices for our example.

Then paste the contented into a instrumentality for illustration ChatGPT aliases Claude and usage this prompt:

“I person attached a earthy transcript of [comment aliases chat type] from a [content type] astir [your topic]. Analyze the earthy input and make a plain matter database of keywords (no slug points) based connected the earthy input. Ignore connection that only praises aliases criticizes and attraction connected connection that suggests unanswered questions, symptom points, aliases different keyword opportunities.”

Here’s the output I sewage from ChatGPT:

Many of these position will beryllium flagged successful keyword devices arsenic having zero hunt volume. But we cognize these position are based connected existent personification needs, truthful they’re still worthy considering.

They won’t each beryllium worthy targeting, but you tin adhd the astir applicable keywords from this output to your database successful the Keyword Strategy Builder. 

Search a Keyword Database

Keyword databases, for illustration the 1 that powers Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, thief you quickly find tons of keyword ideas and easy select them to spot the champion opportunities.

To usage the Keyword Magic Tool, conscionable participate a wide keyword related to your business to spot a database of related keywords, on pinch metrics for illustration hunt volume, keyword difficulty, and hunt intent.

To find applicable keywords, usage the groups and subgroups connected the left-hand side. Clicking connected the arrow adjacent to the group sanction will show you related subgroups. 

Clicking into a group aliases subgroup will show you each the keywords related to that circumstantial topic.

Use the “Questions” select to place long-tail keywords. These are much circumstantial phrases users hunt for. They often person comparatively little hunt volumes but besides little levels of competition. 

Long-tail keywords besides lucifer the kinds of queries AI devices mightiness usage arsenic portion of their “query fan-out” process. This involves the devices taking your input punctual and moving a web hunt for that and respective different related queries to shape a much broad reply to your first question.

For much connected really this works, cheque retired our guideline to query fan-out.

Conduct a Keyword Gap Analysis

A keyword spread study shows you what your competitors rank for that you don't, which tin uncover moreover much keyword opportunities.

Here’s really to behaviour a keyword spread study for some accepted and AI search:

Traditional Keyword Gap Analysis

Semrush's Keyword Gap instrumentality lets you comparison your domain against up to 4 competitors to find missing opportunities. 

Keyword Gap returns position grouped by overlap among each of the entered brands. Focus connected these 2 tabs:

• Missing: Keywords your competitors rank for but you don't 
• Weak: Keywords wherever competitors rank higher than you

As pinch the Keyword Magic Tool, Keyword Gap lets you select by metrics for illustration hunt volume, keyword difficulty, and hunt intent to constrictive down your list. This makes the database of keywords much manageable, peculiarly if you’re faced pinch thousands of keywords your rivals rank for that you don’t.

There will apt beryllium galore keywords successful the database that your rivals rank for that are not applicable to your business. So, adhd the astir applicable keywords to your database pinch the “+” button.

Competitor Prompt Analysis

A competitor punctual study shows you prompts for which your rivals look successful AI platforms but you don’t.

With Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit, you tin do what you conscionable did pinch Keyword Gap but for AI prompts.

Go to the Competitor Research study and participate your domain on pinch up to 4 competitors.

To spot nonstop prompts you’re not appearing for but your rivals are, prime the “Missing” tab and click the “Prompts” option. To spot the prompts that your rivals look for much often than you, prime the “Missing” tab and click the “Prompts” option.

Find immoderate prompts that are applicable to your business, and transcript and paste them into your database successful the Keyword Strategy Builder.

Analyze Search Suggestions and SERP Features

The search motor results page (SERP) shows you related questions and searches that whitethorn correspond valuable keyword ideas.

Analyzing the SERP besides helps you amended understand intent and determine what type of contented to create.

Below are a fewer of the astir useful parts of the SERP to salary attraction to. Look astatine each of these and adhd applicable keywords to your Keyword Strategy Builder list.

People Also Ask

The People Also Ask (PAA) container shows questions related to your hunt query that correspond imaginable keyword opportunities.

Click connected a mobility successful the PAA conception to grow it, and Google loads much related questions. 

PAA questions besides thin to look akin to the conversational queries group usage successful AI tools, making them valuable for optimizing for AI hunt visibility. 

Just statement that the much PAA questions you click, the little applicable the questions tin become. So, it’s champion to attraction connected the first fewer that look astir applicable to your business.

Related Searches

Google's related searches look nether “People besides hunt for” astatine the bottommost of hunt results and uncover what group commonly hunt for astir your entered topic.

In this illustration pinch the word “what are ai agents” entered, useful keywords mightiness include:

• AI agents examples
• What tin AI agents do
• How AI agents work
• How to build AI agents 

AI Overviews

Look astatine the topics the AI Overview covers (if 1 appears) for an thought of what to screen to summation visibility successful AI Overviews (and different AI tools) for keywords related to your business.

When an AI Overview appears for a keyword, click "Show more" to spot the afloat consequence and sources.

How to Prioritize Your Keywords

Prioritizing keywords involves considering hunt volume, click potential, conversion potential, real-world demand, trend, and keyword difficulty—something you tin easy do by exporting your database from the Keyword Strategy Builder and pursuing the instructions successful our Keyword Research Prioritization Sheet. 

Determine Conversion Potential

Prioritize keywords that are apt to thrust conversions for your business. 

A keyword has nonstop conversion imaginable if the searcher tin beryllium champion served by contented that drives a business action—like signing up for something, purchasing, aliases requesting a demo. 

Some applicable keywords don't person nonstop conversion imaginable but are still valuable for building authority aliases providing adjuvant information. 

For example, if you connection website creation services, "what is responsive design" makes consciousness to target to build consciousness and spot pinch your audience—while besides perchance driving applicable postulation and AI citations. 

A keyword for illustration "how to make a mobile-responsive website" straight maps to your web creation work and has precocious conversion potential.

Assess Search Volume

Use hunt measurement arsenic an parameter of request for each keyword and prioritize keywords pinch higher hunt volumes successful general, each other being equal. 

Search measurement tells you really galore times searchers participate a keyword into Google per period (on average). Higher measurement intends much imaginable postulation if you rank well.

However, devices sometimes show zero measurement for keywords existent group search. These zero-volume keywords still matter if first-party signals corroborate there’s existent request (e.g., leads consistently inquire the aforesaid mobility to your income team).

Consider Click Potential

How apt a keyword is to thrust postulation to your tract should play immoderate domiciled successful deciding what position to prioritize, particularly erstwhile you see that galore queries tin beryllium answered straight connected the SERP done AI Overviews. 

Terms pinch precocious click imaginable are generally:

• Comparisons (e.g., "[Tool X[ vs. [Tool Y]")
• Best/top lists (e.g., "best task guidance tools")
• How-to guides for analyzable aliases method processes
• Templates and downloads

Terms pinch debased click imaginable are generally:

• Definitions (e.g., "what does SEO guidelines for")
• Simple facts (e.g., "is email trading legal")
• Quick how-tos (e.g., "how to screenshot connected an iphone 17")

The Semrush Keyword Strategy Builder automatically gives you estimated click imaginable for the keywords successful your list. 

Look for Real-World Demand Signals

A word has bully imaginable (even if keyword devices show it has nary hunt volume) if you've heard aliases seen a personification see it successful a:

• Sales call
• Reddit thread
• Support ticket
• YouTube comment

Terms aliases phrases you often spot successful forums aliases that your income squad perpetually receives questions astir is apt a beardown campaigner for creating contented around.

Analyze Keyword Trends

Prioritize keywords pinch unchangeable aliases increasing trends. 

Declining keywords whitethorn beryllium risky unless you person beardown real-world signals showing demand, aliases you cognize the inclination is seasonal and apt to tick up again.

Semrush gives you inclination information straight wrong the devices we’ve discussed above. But you tin besides usage Google Trends to spot really hunt liking has changed for your keywords complete time—and you tin moreover comparison aggregate keywords astatine once.

Evaluate Attainability

Finally, usage keyword trouble to measure whether you tin feasibly show for a fixed keyword.

Keyword difficulty estimates really difficult it would beryllium to rank successful Google’s apical 10 accepted results based connected the contented and websites that presently rank for that term.

If your website is caller aliases you person debased authority, you’ll apt want to attraction connected position pinch reasonably debased keyword difficulty. In Semrush tools, these would beryllium trouble scores of 0%-49%. 

As your website authority grows, you tin commencement targeting much competitory terms. 

Start Finding Valuable Keywords Today

Keyword investigation is an ongoing process—not a one-time project. Search behaviour changes. New competitors participate your space. AI platforms displacement really group find information.

That's why you request devices that thief you some find the correct keywords and way really they execute crossed accepted hunt and AI platforms. This way, you tin continuously refine your strategy based connected what's really working.

To commencement uncovering and search keywords that tin thrust existent worth for your business, effort Semrush One for free today.