What Are Keywords?
In hunt motor marketing, keywords are position you effort to look for successful hunt engines for illustration Google. So you tin pull valuable postulation to your website aliases beingness location.
This meaning covers 2 categories:
- SEO keywords: Keywords you target done search motor optimization (SEO). This intends you effort to look successful nan integrated (unpaid) results.
- PPC keywords: Search position you target done pay-per-click (PPC) hunt campaigns. This intends you effort to look successful nan sponsored (paid) hunt results.
For example, a jeweler’s keywords mightiness see “custom engagement rings.” Because it sells these products and wants to look prominently erstwhile group hunt for them.
Like these websites do:
Why Are Keywords Important?
Keywords are important because hunt engines usage them to find applicable contented to show successful hunt results.
If you usage nan word “custom engagement rings” appropriately connected a webpage aliases successful an advertisement campaign, a hunt motor is much apt to deliberation it’s relevant. And rank it highly (position it precocious up connected nan page) erstwhile personification searches it.
And that’s crucial. Because users are acold much apt to click top-ranking contented connected hunt motor results pages (SERPs):
Plus, keyword investigation (the process of uncovering and analyzing keywords) allows you to place celebrated online hunt topics.
This intends you tin create contented and ads that align pinch your target audience’s interests and needs.
How to Find Keywords
It’s imaginable to travel up pinch keywords yourself. And get ideas from hunt engines aliases competitors’ websites.
But nan champion measurement to find keywords is by utilizing keyword investigation tools.
These devices let you to hunt keyword databases. So it’s quicker and easier to find applicable keywords to build contented around. And harder to miss thing important.
Plus, keyword investigation package typically provides entree to useful metrics. So you tin amended gauge what contented useful champion connected your site.
Let’s research 2 of nan astir celebrated keyword investigation methods you tin use.
Further reading: The Ultimate Keyword Research Checklist for 2024
Find Keywords from Seed Keywords
With Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool, you tin find applicable keywords by basing your hunt astir a seed keyword—a wide word related to your niche.
To illustrate, let’s hunt “gold necklace” successful our U.S. database.
Enter nan word successful nan tool. You tin besides adhd your domain to get personalized information if you wish.
And click “Search.”
By default, you’ll get “Broad Match” results that incorporate immoderate variety of your seed term.
This is mostly nan champion measurement to guarantee you don’t miss immoderate applicable keywords.
You tin get much circumstantial results by looking at:
- “Phrase Match” keywords. Which incorporate your nonstop word pinch nan words appearing successful immoderate order.
- “Exact Match” keywords. Which incorporate your nonstop word pinch nan words successful nan bid you specified.
To attraction connected keywords that trigger ads (not each keywords do), spell to “Advanced filters” and prime nan drop-down nether “SERP Features.”
And adhd a select for both.
- Ads top: Keywords that trigger matter ads astatine nan apical of nan SERP
- Ads bottom: Keywords that trigger matter ads astatine nan bottommost of nan SERP
Later, we’ll explicate really to usage nan metrics successful nan Keyword Magic Tool to take nan champion keywords for your site’s search motor trading (SEM) strategy.
Find Keywords by Checking Your Competitors’ Keywords
With Semrush’s Keyword Gap, you tin comparison your keyword rankings against your competitors’ (i.e., behaviour a keyword spread analysis).
This helps you observe applicable competitory keywords you mightiness person different missed. And stitchery useful insights into your marketplace rivals’ hunt performance.
Simply participate your domain and nan domains of up to 4 competitors. And take which type of keywords you’d for illustration to attraction on:
- Organic keywords trigger a top-100 integrated consequence for astatine slightest 1 of nan analyzed sites
- Paid keywords trigger a hunt advertisement for astatine slightest 1 of nan analyzed sites
Then, take your target state and click “Compare.”
Scroll down to nan array to spot a database of keyword ideas.
We urge focusing connected nan pursuing tabs:
- Missing: Keywords that each nan rival domains rank for but you don’t. This suggests they’re highly applicable and you should see targeting them.
- Weak: Keywords that each analyzed domains rank for but you rank lowest. Improving these rankings could thief you summation much visibility complete your rivals.
- Strong: Keywords that each analyzed domains rank for and you rank highest. Maintaining aliases improving these rankings tin thief you support a competitory edge.
- Untapped: Keywords you don’t rank for but astatine slightest 1 analyzed competitor does. This tin thief you place keywords you’re missing retired on.
- Unique: Keywords you rank for but your analyzed competitors don’t. This suggests they’re topics, products, aliases services you specialize in.
In nan adjacent section, we’ll explicate really to understand nan tool’s keyword metrics.
Understanding Keyword Metrics
Keyword metrics are information points astir peculiar keywords. They thief you place nan champion hunt trading opportunities for your business.
The readiness and accuracy of metrics dangle connected nan keyword investigation tool(s) you’re moving with.
Let’s research immoderate of nan astir useful metrics and wherever you tin find them.
Search Intent
Search intent is nan accustomed logic down a user’s peculiar search.
For example, personification searching “lab created engagement rings” is typically shopping for engagement rings made pinch synthetic diamonds.
As nan hunt results suggest:
There are four types of keywords erstwhile it comes to hunt intent:
Intent Type | Description | Keyword Example |
Informational | The personification wants to find information | “how are diamonds made” |
Navigational | The personification wants to find a circumstantial webpage aliases site | “de beers diamonds” |
Commercial | The personification wants to investigation brands, products, aliases services | “moissanite vs diamond” |
Transactional | The personification wants to return action (e.g., make a purchase) | “diamond hoop earrings” |
Some keywords person mixed intent. Meaning important portions of users want different things from nan results.
For example, nan SERP for “diamonds” contains informational pages for illustration nan 1 from Wikipedia. And transactional pages for illustration nan 1 from Diamonds Direct.
You tin spot keyword intent type(s) erstwhile you do keyword investigation successful Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
You tin besides sojourn nan SERP for a much in-depth understanding.
Just click nan icon that looks for illustration this:
Or, click connected a circumstantial keyword to unfastened it successful Keyword Overview. Then click nan “View SERP” link.
Search Volume
Search volume is nan mean number of monthly searches a keyword receives. So it gives you an thought of a high-ranking result’s imaginable reach.
In Semrush, you tin spot hunt volumes and really they’ve fluctuated complete nan erstwhile year.
For example, Keyword Overview shows that “swimwear” gets 40.5K searches per period successful nan U.S. And that astir searches hap astir outpouring and summer.
So, an online swimwear retailer mightiness want to scheme a hunt advertizing run good up of formation season. To capitalize connected nan imaginable to scope much audiences earlier they spell connected their summertime vacations.
Keyword Difficulty Score
Semrush’s keyword difficulty people (KD%) measures really difficult it’ll beryllium to gain a top-10 integrated hunt ranking.
This percent metric is useful erstwhile choosing keywords for SEO. Because there’s small constituent successful targeting keywords you’ll struggle to rank highly for.
To illustrate, let’s look astatine a mates of keyword examples we ran done Keyword Overview’s Bulk Analysis feature:
- “jewelry” has a 100% trouble score. Which intends nan SERP is highly competitory and astir sites will struggle to rank connected nan first page.
- “star jewelry” has a 33% trouble score. So moreover recently established sites guidelines a bully chance of ranking if they create nan correct benignant of content.
Here’s a breakdown of each nan imaginable keyword trouble scores:
Personal Keyword Difficulty
Semrush’s individual keyword trouble (PKD%) people is an AI-driven insight that measures really difficult it’ll beryllium for your circumstantial domain to rank successful nan apical 10 integrated results for a fixed hunt term. It’s besides expressed arsenic a percentage.
This metric is calculated pinch our proprietary AI algorithm. And to find ranking trouble for your domain, it takes a look at:
- Thematic relevance betwixt nan keyword and nan domain you enter
- Competition level for nan taxable you’re researching
- Domain metrics of your tract and competitors coming successful hunt results
For example, nan keyword “work management” has a KD% of 52% successful Keyword Overview.
But for Monday.com, PKD% is 0%. Because nan site’s contented already has precocious topical authority successful subjects related to nan analyzed keyword.
If Monday.com wanted to rank for an unrelated word for illustration “insulin,” it would person a difficult time. Because it isn’t applicable to nan remainder of their content.
Cost Per Click
Cost per click (CPC) is an important metric successful PPC trading because it's really overmuch you salary each clip personification clicks your ad.
You tin get CPC estimates erstwhile you do keyword investigation successful Semrush.
For example, “gold necklace” has an estimated CPC of $1.43 successful Keyword Overview.
An ad’s CPC is wished by an auction betwixt advertisers. While location are galore factors that spell into it, a higher CPC mostly indicates that you tin expect a higher conversion complaint and/or a higher mean bid value.
(Because advertisers are improbable to salary for clicks that don’t make a return.)
But what useful for 1 business won’t needfully activity for another. That’s why it’s truthful important to show your PPC results and accommodate your strategy accordingly.
You mightiness besides want to target high-CPC keywords done SEO. So you tin pull valuable postulation successful a much cost-effective way.
Competitive Density
Competitive density (Com.) is simply a Semrush metric that measures nan level of title for a paid hunt keyword successful Google Ads.
It’s measured from 0-1 and tin beryllium seen successful Keyword Overview.
A people supra 0.8 suggests that tons of advertisers are competing for nan aforesaid spaces. To rank, you’ll astir apt request a high-quality advertisement run and a precocious budget.
A people beneath 0.6 suggests that fewer advertisers are bidding connected nan keyword. This mightiness conscionable mean that nan keyword is overlooked. But it could beryllium that it doesn’t make a bully return connected advertisement walk (ROAS).
The only measurement to cognize for judge is to tally an advertisement run and measurement your results.
How to Use Keywords successful SEO
In this section, we’ll explicate really and wherever to usage SEO keywords connected your website. So you tin rank higher and get much organic traffic.
1. Group Keywords into Topics and Pages
Topic clusters are groups of thematically related pages that see a pillar (main) page and associated subpages. And creating them tin thief you build topical authority.
Each taxable cluster is made up of pages that incorporate keyword clusters—groups of keywords that stock nan aforesaid intent. So you tin target each position successful nan group done nan aforesaid portion of content.
This is much businesslike than targeting 1 keyword astatine once.
And it helps you debar keyword cannibalization—an SEO rumor that occurs erstwhile aggregate pages connected a tract fulfill nan aforesaid hunt intent. Which besides confuses hunt engines.
You tin create clusters automatically pinch Semrush’s AI-powered Keyword Strategy Builder.
Enter a fewer of nan keywords you identified earlier and click “Create list.”
The instrumentality will automatically make some taxable clusters and keyword clusters.
Here’s what that looks for illustration successful our example:
To study much astir each taxable cluster and keyword cluster, scroll down to nan “Pages Details” section.
In nan surface below, you tin spot a taxable cluster centered astir “gold concatenation bracelet” arsenic nan pillar page. And each its related subpages.
You’ll besides spot a breakdown of intent, keyword difficulty, and hunt measurement for each page. Which tin thief you find which taxable clusters to prioritize complete others.
We urge that you usage nan keyword nan instrumentality shows arsenic nan pillar pages and subpages arsenic your primary keywords for their corresponding pages. Meaning those should beryllium nan main keywords you want to rank for.
All nan related keywords for each page (which you tin position by clicking nan arrow adjacent to immoderate pillar aliases subpage) go secondary keywords by extension. And you tin usage them to support nan superior one.
2. Create a Keyword Map
A keyword map is simply a archive that matches each of your keyword clusters pinch a target URL connected your website.
The target URL is nan page (or eventual page) connected your tract that should beryllium optimized. Because it satisfies nan cluster’s hunt intent.
Here are a fewer examples to illustrate:
Primary Keyword | Target URL Slug |
“diamond rings” | /rings/diamond/ |
“lab grown gem rings” | /rings/diamond/lab-grown/ |
“how to cleanable a gem ring” | /blog/how-to-clean-diamond-rings/ |
Once your representation is complete, commencement moving connected nan pages you identified arsenic apical priorities.
Next, we’ll explicate nan on-page SEO techniques you tin usage to optimize your chosen pages for some hunt engines and people.
3. Write Optimized Title Tags and H1 Tags
Search engines look astatine nan title tag (the HTML page title) and nan H1 tag (the main on-page heading) to understand what a page is about.
So, it’s important to see your superior keyword successful some places successful your HTML.
Like this:
- <title>Diamond Rings</title>
- <h1>Diamond Rings</h1>
Search engines whitethorn besides show your title tag (or a adjacent variation) successful nan SERP.
Google typically displays up to 60 characters successful this spot:
It’s a bully thought to see your superior keyword adjacent nan beforehand to trim nan consequence of it getting trim off.
And make nan astir of immoderate unused abstraction by adding elements specified as:
- Your marque name
- A telephone to action (e.g., “Shop Now”)
- A unsocial trading constituent (e.g., “Free Delivery”)
- Secondary keywords
Just make judge to debar unnaturally forcing successful keywords. This is an rumor called keyword stuffing, and Google whitethorn penalize you for it.
4. Optimize Your Meta Descriptions
Your meta description (HTML page summary) won’t straight impact your page’s rankings.
But hunt engines whitethorn show it successful nan SERP.
In this spot correct here:
So, you should effort to prosecute nan searcher and promote them to click connected your result.
One measurement to do this is to see your superior keyword. And incorporated different applicable terms, if possible.
This will thief awesome to users that your consequence is relevant. Especially since Google bolds position that correspond pinch nan hunt query:
To summation nan chance of your meta explanation being utilized successful full, we urge a magnitude of astir 105 characters.
5. Add Secondary Keywords to Subheadings
Subheadings let you to break your contented into sections. So, they’re often bully places to see your secondary keywords.
And if you usage nan correct heading tags (H2-H6), you’ll thief hunt engines understand nan building and contented of your page.
For example, you mightiness person a heading building that looks for illustration this:
- <h1>Types of Gemstones</h1>
- <h2>Precious Gemstones</h2>
- <h3>Diamond</h3>
- <h3>Sapphire</h3>
- <h3>Ruby</h3>
- <h2>Semi-Precious Gemstones</h2>
- <h3>Amethyst</h3>
- <h3>Aquamarine</h3>
- <h3>Opal</h3>
- <h2>Precious Gemstones</h2>
6. Naturally Incorporate Keywords successful nan Body Content
We urge that you mention your superior keyword successful nan first paragraph of assemblage content. To quickly found what your contented is about.
And past incorporated each your keywords passim nan contented wherever natural.
Remember:
Keyword stuffing tin harm your SEO. And it’s apt to harm your conversion rates, too.
For inspiration, spot really your apical SERP competitors are utilizing keywords.
Semrush’s SEO Content Template instrumentality makes it easy.
Just participate your target keyword(s), take your target audience, and click “Create contented template.”
Then, scroll down to spot really your apical 10 competitors usage your target keywords.
The instrumentality besides provides a recommended connection count, readability score, etc. Based connected its study of nan top-ranking content.
When you’re fresh to commencement writing, spell to “Real-time Content Check” > “Open successful SEO Writing Assistant.”
SEO Writing Assistant is simply a Semrush instrumentality that scores your contented based connected readability, keyword usage (SEO), reside of voice, and originality.
If you get stuck aliases want to prevention immoderate time, you tin usage nan built-in AI copywriting features to thief you create your draft.
7. Use Keywords successful Your URLs
Including keywords successful each page’s URL (webpage address) helps hunt engines and users understand what they’re about.
For example, comparison these fictional URLs for lab-grown gem rings:
✅ /rings/diamond/lab-grown/
❌ /products/item/12345/view?category_id=789
The first is intelligibly much SEO- and user-friendly.
To optimize your URLs, you request to build a bully website architecture. And usage short, descriptive IDs for your folders, pages, etc.
How to Use Keywords successful PPC Search Campaigns
In this section, we’ll stock immoderate tips for utilizing PPC keywords efficaciously successful your hunt advertisement campaigns. So you tin execute a higher return connected advertisement walk (ROAS).
1. Create Keyword Groups
Keyword groups are sets of PPC keywords you target pinch nan aforesaid advertisement campaign(s). Because users are looking for akin products aliases services.
Keyword groups thin to beryllium much businesslike than targeting 1 keyword astatine a time.
You tin shape your keywords into groups pinch nan PPC Keyword Tool.
During nan setup process, import your keywords manually, from a file, aliases from a Semrush report.
And take really to create your groups:
- Create aliases prime a group: Manually create a caller group aliases take an existing one
- Auto grouping: Automatically group keywords that stock a guidelines connection aliases phrase
- Create groups of 1 kw = 1 gr: Create azygous keyword advertisement groups (SKAGs)
When setup is complete, click nan “Recommendations” fastener successful nan precocious right.
For each campaign, nan instrumentality whitethorn suggest:
- Cleaning keywords (removing unnecessary elements from your keywords, specified arsenic punctuation)
- Removing copy keywords
- Adding cross-group negatives (including antagonistic keywords—which we’ll talk much astir later—to forestall your advertisement groups from competing pinch 1 another)
When you’re done, you tin export your keyword information successful a Google Ads-friendly format.
2. Understand nan Keyword Match Types
In Google Ads, nan keyword lucifer type you take determines nan scope of keywords that whitethorn trigger your ads.
There are 3 types:
- Broad match: Search queries that subordinate to your keyword whitethorn trigger your ad
- Phrase match: Search queries that see your keyword’s meaning whitethorn trigger your ad
- Exact match: Search queries that lucifer your keyword’s meaning whitethorn trigger your ad
So, choosing nan correct lucifer type is cardinal to maximizing your reach. While minimizing vulnerability connected irrelevant SERPs.
3. Use Negative Keywords Effectively
Negative keywords are hunt position that forestall your ads from showing.
For example, a jewelry retailer mightiness want to adhd “tiffany” arsenic a antagonistic keyword. Because they don’t waste products from this marque and don’t want to salary for clicks from those SERPs.
You’ll request to take lucifer types for your antagonistic keywords. But they activity otherwise than normal:
- Negative wide match: Your advertisement won’t show if nan query contains your keyword pinch nan words successful immoderate order
- Negative building match: Your advertisement won’t show if nan query contains your keyword pinch nan words successful nan nonstop bid you specified
- Negative nonstop match: Your advertisement won’t show if nan query is precisely nan aforesaid arsenic your keyword
4. Incorporate Keywords successful Your Ad Copy and Landing Pages
How applicable your ad copy (the matter that appears successful your ad) and run landing page (the webpage that your advertisement links to) are to your chosen keywords plays a important domiciled successful your advertisement rankings and performance.
One of nan champion ways to found relevance is to incorporated your target keyword(s) successful some your ads and landing pages.
For example, here’s a top-ranking advertisement for “lab grown gem engagement rings”:
And nan corresponding landing page:
For inspiration, you tin look astatine your competitors’ ads and landing pages pinch nan Ads History tool.
Enter nan PPC keyword you’re willing in, take your target country, and click “Search.”
The bluish boxes show each domain’s highest advertisement ranking by month.
Click these boxes to spot nan corresponding ads. You tin past click done to nan run landing pages.
Use Your Keywords Strategically
With Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder, you tin place each nan keywords you request to create pages and ads for successful a matter of minutes.
And Semrush’s different devices tin thief you pinch each nan steps that travel next.
Sign up for a free proceedings today.
Keyword Research Statistics
- Over 36% of SEOs opportunity they walk astir of their clip connected keyword research
- Keyword rankings are nan third astir important metric SEO professionals usage to measurement performance
- Content longer than 1,500 words published by nan apical 10% of websites ranks for a median number of 7 keywords
- About 4% of SEO professionals are looking to automate keyword investigation wrong nan adjacent year
- Keywords that are betwixt 10-15 words successful magnitude get 1.76x much clicks than single-word terms