What is Keyword Research?

Keyword research tells you three things: which words and phrases people actually type into search engines, how many people search for each term, and how hard each term will be to rank for. It’s usually the first step in any search marketing campaign, because before you can rank for a keyword, you need to know that people search for it and that you can realistically compete.

The goal isn’t more traffic for its own sake. It’s attracting visitors who are already searching for what you offer.

How keyword research works

The process follows the same 5 steps whether you run a store, a blog, or a portfolio site:

1. List seed keywords: the plain words and phrases that describe what you sell or write about.
2. Expand the list with a tool such as Google Keyword Planner, and note which terms your competitors already rank for.
3. Check the search volume of every candidate and gauge its competition, either with a paid tool’s difficulty score or by searching the term and sizing up the pages that already rank.
4. Group the keywords by search intent, so terms asking for the same thing sit together.
5. Map each keyword group to one page on your site, so your own pages never compete for the same term.

For the full walkthrough, follow our step-by-step guide, Keyword Research for SEO: 5 Steps To Reach More Customers.

Search volume vs. keyword difficulty

Search volume is the average number of times a term is searched each month. Keyword difficulty is a tool’s estimate of how hard it will be to reach page 1 for that term, based on the strength of the pages already ranking there.

The decision rule: a new or low-authority site should target lower-volume, lower-difficulty long-tail keywords it can actually win, and chase high-volume head terms only after it has built authority. Rankings only send visitors when searchers actually see them, so a winnable position on a modest term beats an invisible one on a big term.

Short-tail vs. long-tail keywords

Keywords fall into two broad types, separated by search volume rather than word count:

• Short-tail (head) terms are broad, high-volume queries, often just 1 or 2 words, like “shoes”: heavy demand, strong competition, and vague intent, since that searcher could want to buy sneakers, repair heels, or settle a bet.
• Long-tail keywords have comparatively low search volume, like “waterproof trail running shoes women”. They tend to be longer, more specific, and clearer in intent, and they usually face less competition. None of that is guaranteed by length, though: a long query can still be contested, so check each term’s difficulty and demand.

Most sites, and almost all new ones, win with long-tail keywords first. Each term brings fewer visitors, but the competition is usually thinner and the visitors arrive knowing what they want.

The 4 types of search intent

Search intent is the goal behind a query, and it comes in 4 types:

• Informational: the searcher wants an answer or explanation (“how to waterproof running shoes”).
• Navigational: they want a specific site (“gmail login”).
• Commercial: they’re researching a purchase (“best trail running shoes 2026”).
• Transactional: they’re ready to buy or sign up (“buy waterproof trail running shoes size 9”).

Intent overrides the numbers. A page that mismatches the intent behind a keyword is unlikely to rank, however good its volume and difficulty look, because the pages already ranking show which formats and purposes the search engine associates with that query. Before you target a term, search it yourself and look at what fills page 1: if it’s all product pages, don’t answer with a blog post.

Common keyword research mistakes

Three failure modes cause most wasted effort:

• Chasing head terms too early. A new site targeting “shoes” will sit on page 5 indefinitely. Start with lower-difficulty terms, usually long-tail, and work up.
• Targeting one keyword with several pages. The pages compete with each other and split rankings, a problem called keyword cannibalization. Give each keyword group one page.
• Over-repeating the keyword on the page. Keyword stuffing makes a page read badly without making it rank better. Write for the reader and use the term where it fits naturally.

Keyword research tools

Basic keyword research is free. Google Keyword Planner, inside Google Ads, generates keyword ideas and monthly search-volume estimates; it’s free to use, though Google requires completed account setup, including billing information, even for basic access. Google Trends compares relative interest in terms over time, and Yoast’s free Google Suggest Expander turns a seed keyword into Google-style autocomplete suggestions.

The free tools above don’t estimate organic keyword difficulty, so judge competition manually: search each shortlisted term and look at who fills page 1. If it’s all established brands with deep content, the term will be hard to win. Paid tools such as Moz Keyword Explorer replace that manual check with difficulty scores and add bulk competitor keyword data; they save time, but they aren’t required. Start free with one tool and the 5 steps above. You’ve outgrown the free tier when you need difficulty scores across hundreds of terms at once.