Choosing the right keywords is an important part of SEO. The goal is not to find the keywords with the highest search volume and use them everywhere.
The better approach is to find search terms that are relevant to your website, match what people are looking for, and give you a realistic opportunity to provide useful information or attract the right visitors.
This guide explains a practical way to choose keywords for your website, whether you are starting a new site or improving an existing one.
A useful keyword should connect three things:
For example, if you provide SEO services for small businesses, a keyword such as "SEO services for small business" may be more relevant to your goals than a broad term such as "SEO."
The broader keyword may have more searches, but it does not necessarily tell you what the searcher wants or whether they are a suitable visitor for your website.
Before researching keywords, start with your own website.
Ask yourself:
Write down the main topics that describe your business or website.
These topics become the starting point for finding more specific keywords.
Seed keywords are simple terms that describe the main topics of your website.
For an SEO website, seed keywords might include:
For a landscaping business, the list might include:
Don't worry about finding the perfect keywords at this stage. The purpose is to create a starting point for further research.
Once you have your seed keywords, look for related searches and more specific phrases.
For example, starting with "keyword research" could lead to related searches such as:
These searches may represent different needs and should not automatically be targeted with the same page.
Our What Is Keyword Research? guide explains how the broader keyword research process works.
Before choosing a keyword, ask what the searcher is actually trying to accomplish.
For example:
| Keyword | Likely Intent | Potential Page |
|---|---|---|
| what is SEO | Informational | Beginner guide |
| how to do keyword research | Informational | How-to guide |
| best SEO tools | Commercial investigation | Comparison/resource |
| SEO audit service | Transactional | Service page |
| free backlink checker | Tool-focused | Tool page |
A keyword may look attractive but still be a poor choice if the search intent does not match the page you want to create.
Read our guide to What Is Search Intent? for a deeper explanation.
Search volume estimates how frequently people search for a particular term.
It can be useful when comparing keywords, but don't treat it as the deciding factor.
A keyword with high search volume may be:
A more specific keyword with lower search volume may attract fewer people but be much more valuable to your website.
Competition is another important factor when evaluating keywords.
Many SEO tools provide a keyword difficulty score to estimate how difficult it may be to compete for a particular search term.
These scores can be useful for comparison, but they are not universal measurements. Different tools use different methods to calculate them.
It's also important to look at the actual search results rather than relying entirely on a numerical difficulty score.
One of the most useful things you can do is search for the keyword yourself.
Look at the pages currently appearing in the results.
Ask:
This gives you practical information that a keyword metric alone cannot provide.
A keyword should be closely related to what your website actually offers.
This sounds obvious, but it is easy to get distracted by keywords with large search volumes.
For example, an SEO website might technically be able to write about a very broad marketing topic, but that does not mean the topic belongs on the website.
Choose keywords that make sense for your audience and your site's purpose.
Not every keyword has the same value to your business.
Ask what would happen if someone found your website through that search.
Would they:
A keyword that attracts a smaller but highly relevant audience can be more valuable than a high-volume keyword that attracts people who have no reason to use your website.
Your most important pages should have clear topics and keyword themes.
For example, an SEO website might have:
This gives each page a clear purpose rather than making every page compete for exactly the same keywords.
One common SEO mistake is creating a separate page for every slightly different keyword.
For example, these searches may be closely related:
If the search intent is essentially the same, one strong page may be able to address all of them naturally.
Creating multiple nearly identical pages can make a website harder to manage and can provide little additional value to visitors.
Instead of treating every keyword as a separate target, group closely related searches into broader topics.
For example, a page about website speed might naturally cover:
The important question is whether these searches represent the same underlying need.
If they do, they can often be addressed together on one useful page.
Keyword mapping is the process of assigning keyword themes to specific pages on your website.
A simple keyword map might look like this:
| Page | Main Topic | Keyword Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | SEO tools and services | free SEO tools |
| Backlink Checker | Backlink checking | backlink checker |
| Keyword Research Guide | Keyword research education | what is keyword research |
| Technical SEO Service | Technical SEO help | technical SEO services |
Keyword mapping helps prevent important pages from targeting exactly the same topic and gives your website a clearer structure.
Long-tail keywords are generally more specific search phrases.
For example:
Long-tail searches can be useful because they often provide more information about what the searcher wants.
They may also present opportunities that are more realistic for smaller or newer websites.
Looking for realistic opportunities can make sense, particularly when a website is new or competing against well-established websites.
However, low competition should never be the only requirement.
A keyword should still be relevant and useful for your audience.
The best opportunity is often a combination of:
Keyword research tools can make the process easier by providing keyword suggestions, search data and other useful information.
However, tools should support your judgement rather than replace it.
Use keyword data alongside:
You can also explore our free Keyword Research Tool to investigate keyword opportunities.
When choosing keywords, avoid these common mistakes:
There is no universal number of keywords that every page should target.
A page should have a clear primary topic and can naturally cover related terms and questions.
Instead of asking how many keywords you can fit onto a page, ask:
Does this page provide the best useful answer for the topic?
If the answer is yes, relevant keywords will often occur naturally throughout the content.
Keyword research should not be treated as something you do once and never revisit.
Review your keyword strategy when:
You can also use your website's search performance data to identify new opportunities and questions your existing content may not fully address.
Once you have selected your keywords, turn them into an actionable content plan.
Keyword research is valuable because it helps you make better decisions about what your website should contain. The research itself is not the final goal.
Look for keywords that are relevant to your audience, match search intent, have meaningful value for your website and represent opportunities where you can provide genuinely useful content.
Not necessarily. Search volume is useful information, but relevance, intent, competition and business value are also important.
There is no universal difficulty score that is considered good. Different tools calculate difficulty differently, and the actual competition in the search results should also be considered.
There is no fixed number. Focus on one clear topic and naturally cover relevant related terms rather than trying to reach a particular keyword count.
They can be useful because they are often more specific and can make it easier to identify searches that closely match a website's content and audience. However, relevance and intent still matter most.
No. Closely related keywords with the same search intent can often be covered effectively by one strong page.
Yes. You can start with your audience, your existing content and the actual search results. SEO tools can then provide additional data and ideas.
Ask whether the search relates directly to what your website provides and whether someone searching for that term would reasonably benefit from your page.
Keyword mapping is the process of assigning keyword themes to specific pages on a website so each page has a clear topic and purpose.
Choosing keywords becomes much easier when you understand the reason behind each search.
Read What Is Search Intent? to understand how search intent affects the type of content you should create.
You can also return to What Is Keyword Research? to review the fundamentals, or explore our SEO Guides & Resources.
Use our free SEO tools to explore keyword ideas and investigate opportunities for your website.
Explore the Keyword Research Tool →