# Keyword Research: How to Do It in Six Steps, With an Example > Keyword research in six steps: collect real phrasing, size demand, read intent, judge keyword difficulty and map one phrase per page, with a worked example. _Source: https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/how-to-do-keyword-research — The Professional's Toolkit · updated October 2026_ --- Keyword research is the work of finding the exact phrases your customers type into a search engine, then choosing the ones your site can realistically rank for. The method fits in one line: collect the real phrasing, size the demand, read the intent behind each phrase, judge the difficulty, and give each chosen phrase its own page. Done well, it tells you what to write before you write it. Done badly, it produces a long spreadsheet and no traffic. **45%** — Keywords where Keyword Planner's volume was roughly accurate against Search Console, per an Ahrefs study - **6 steps** — Seed, expand, size, intent, difficulty, map - **Top 10** — Results Ahrefs' difficulty score looks at - **8 to 20** — Search Console positions worth improving first ## How to do keyword research in six steps SEO keyword research is not a hunt for the biggest number. It is a matching exercise between what people search and what your business can answer better than the pages already ranking. Google's own starter guide frames it from the reader's side: experts and newcomers use different words for the same thing, and anticipating those differences helps your pages perform [1]. The six steps below work for a five-page site and for a large blog alike. Only the volume of data changes. 1. **List seed topics.** Write five to ten plain phrases a customer would say out loud, not your internal jargon. 2. **Expand them.** Collect variations from Google's search box, the People also ask questions and the related searches at the bottom of the results page. 3. **Size the demand.** Attach a monthly search estimate to each phrase so you can compare them. 4. **Read the intent.** Search each phrase and look at what ranks: guides, product pages, local listings or videos. 5. **Judge the difficulty.** Ask whether your site can compete with the pages on page one today. 6. **Map phrases to pages.** Give each page one main phrase and the close variants it can answer in the same piece. Autocomplete is a fair place to start step 2, because Google says its predictions reflect real searches, adjusted for language, location and your past searches [2]. Run those checks in a private window. > 💡 **Let the results page decide:** Before you pick a format, search the phrase and look at the top ten. If they are all product pages, a blog post will struggle to rank there. The order matters more than the tool. Most wasted effort comes from sizing before reading intent, or from writing before mapping. Skip step 6 and two of your own pages end up competing for the same phrase. Our [free keyword research method](/articles/free-keyword-research) walks through steps 2 and 3 with Google's free tools. ## Search volume, intent and keyword difficulty, read correctly Three numbers drive every keyword decision, and each one is easy to misread. Treat them as signals that point in a direction, not as measurements. ### Search volume is an estimate Every volume figure you see is modeled. Ahrefs, for example, says its volumes blend Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends and other third-party data, refined by its own models. Its own study found those volumes roughly accurate for 60% of keywords against Search Console, and Keyword Planner's for 45%. Use volume to rank phrases against each other, never as a traffic promise. ### Intent decides the format Search intent is the job the searcher wants done. A phrase like *best running shoes* wants a comparison; *running shoes size 10* wants a product page; *how to lace running shoes* wants a short guide or a video. The results page shows you the answer. If the top ten are all product pages, a blog post will struggle, however well written. **Match the format that already ranks**, then beat it on depth or clarity. ### Keyword difficulty is a score, not a law Keyword difficulty estimates how hard it is to reach page one. Each tool calculates it differently. Ahrefs bases its score only on the referring domains of the top ten results and ignores on-page factors. Mangools uses its own score built on SERP data. Semrush offers a Personal Keyword Difficulty fitted to your own domain. So the same phrase can look easy in one tool and hard in another. > ⚠ **Difficulty scores differ by tool:** Each tool builds its keyword difficulty score from different data, so the same phrase can look easy in one and hard in another. Compare scores inside one tool, not across tools. ## A worked example: a local bakery Picture a bakery in Austin that wants more custom cake orders from search. The owner starts with three seeds: *custom cakes*, *birthday cakes* and *wedding cakes*. Autocomplete and People also ask turn those into a list of about forty phrases, from *custom birthday cakes near me* to *how far in advance to order a wedding cake*. Next comes intent. *Custom cakes Austin* shows a map pack and bakery websites, so it belongs on the bakery's main order page. *How far in advance to order a wedding cake* shows guides and forum threads, so it becomes a short article. *Wedding cake ideas* shows image-heavy galleries from national sites. That phrase is popular but hard, and it fits the bakery poorly. | Phrase | Intent | Page it goes to | |---|---|---| | custom cakes austin | Local, ready to buy | Main order page | | custom birthday cakes near me | Local, ready to buy | Birthday cakes page | | how far in advance to order a wedding cake | Informational | New short guide | | wedding cake ideas | Inspiration | Skip for now | Then difficulty. The local phrases face other Austin bakeries, not national publishers. That is a fair fight. The wedding guide competes with forums and planning sites, but the question is specific, and a baker answers it with real lead times. That is an edge. The finished plan has three pages, not forty, and *wedding cake ideas* waits until the site can compete. Each one targets a main phrase plus the variants it can answer naturally. Six months later, Search Console shows which of them actually earn impressions. ## YouTube keyword research: same method, different results page YouTube keyword research follows the same six steps, but the evidence comes from a different place. Phrasing comes from the YouTube search box, intent comes from the videos that rank, and difficulty comes from how established those channels are. A phrase can be busy on Google and quiet on YouTube, or the reverse. A quick check helps before you film. Search the phrase on Google first. If Google already shows a video block near the top, the topic has proven video demand, and a good video can earn traffic from both places. If Google shows only text results, a written page may serve the same searcher better. Tutorials, reviews, comparisons and *how to fix* problems tend to suit video, because people want to watch the steps. Definitions and quick facts rarely do. Some keyword tools also pull YouTube data directly; Ahrefs' free Keyword Generator, for one, covers Google, Bing, YouTube and Amazon. ## Common keyword research mistakes, and when it gets hard Most keyword research fails for the same handful of reasons. None of them is about the tool. - **Chasing the biggest volume.** A broad head term with a heavy page one is out of reach for most new sites. Longer, specific phrases face weaker pages and usually match what the searcher wants. - **Ignoring intent.** Writing a guide where Google ranks product pages, or the reverse. - **One page per variation.** Separate pages for *keyword research tool* and *keyword research tools* split your own strength. - **Stuffing the phrase.** Google says keyword stuffing is against its spam policies, and its language systems understand pages that never repeat the exact words [1]. - **Never checking results.** Research is a hypothesis until Search Console shows impressions. > 💡 **Start with phrases you almost rank for:** If your site already gets search traffic, queries with an average position around 8 to 20 in Search Console are a good first target, because the page that ranks already exists. The method stays simple. The data gets hard. Free tools cover a small site well, but three jobs push you past them. The first is competitor keywords: Google's tools never show what another site ranks for. The second is difficulty at scale, because scoring hundreds of phrases by hand takes days. The third is grouping large lists into topics and pages. That is the point where a keyword tool earns its place. ## Tools that do keyword research for you Paid keyword tools do not change the method. They compress steps 2 to 5 into one screen and add the competitor view that free tools lack. Semrush, for instance, can [run the whole workflow from seed to grouped list](/articles/semrush-keyword-research), and Ahrefs adds [Traffic Potential and its own difficulty score](/articles/ahrefs-keyword-research) so you can filter the ideas by both. If you already have a site, start with your own data: the Search Console [Performance report shows the queries you almost rank for](/articles/google-search-console-performance-report). ### Semrush — solves this Keyword Magic Tool expands a seed into related terms, Keyword Gap lists the keywords up to five competitors rank for that you do not, and Keyword Strategy Builder groups the result into pillar pages and subpages. - Where it stops: Free plan: 10 Keyword Magic Tool reports a day, 10 results each, no export. - Plan: SEO or Starter for keyword research; Personal Keyword Difficulty and exports are paid - How Semrush does it: [Semrush keyword research workflow](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/semrush-keyword-research) - More: [Semrush](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/semrush) ### Ahrefs — solves this Keywords Explorer turns seeds into matching terms, related terms and questions, filters them by Keyword Difficulty, volume and Traffic Potential, and groups them by Parent Topic. - Where it stops: Ahrefs Free has no Keywords Explorer; Starter caps reports at 250 rows with no exports. - Plan: Standard for keyword clusters and grouping by Parent Topic - How Ahrefs does it: [Keywords Explorer, KD and Traffic Potential](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/ahrefs-keyword-research) - More: [Ahrefs](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/ahrefs) ### Google Search Console — partly solves this The Performance report lists the queries your verified site already appears for, with impressions and average position, so you can improve the page that almost ranks. - Where it stops: Your own queries only: no search volume, no competitor data, no new keyword ideas; tables stop at 1,000 rows. - Plan: Free - How Google Search Console does it: [Performance report for keyword research](https://professionalstoolkit.com/articles/google-search-console-performance-report) - More: [Google Search Console](https://professionalstoolkit.com/tools/google-search-console) For a side-by-side look at every option, from free tiers to full suites, see our guide to [keyword research tools](/articles/keyword-research-tools), sorted by the kind of site each one fits. ## FAQ **How many keywords should one page target?** One main phrase, plus the close variants and questions the same page can answer. If two phrases need different content to satisfy the searcher, they need different pages. **What is a good keyword difficulty for a new website?** Prefer the lowest band your tool shows and longer, specific phrases. A new site with few links rarely breaks into results dominated by large, well-linked domains. **How often should I redo keyword research?** Revisit it when you plan new content and check Search Console every few months. Its Performance report shows the queries your pages actually appear for, which often differ from the plan. **Can I do SEO keyword research without paid tools?** Yes, for a small site. Google autocomplete, Keyword Planner, Google Trends and Search Console cover phrasing, rough volume and your own results. Competitor keywords are what the free route lacks. ## The bottom line Keyword research is less about finding hidden phrases and more about honest matching. Collect what people actually type, read what Google already rewards for each phrase, and pick the ones where your page can be the best answer. One main phrase per page keeps your site focused. Check Search Console after a few months and adjust. The tools speed up the collecting and scoring; the judgment about intent and fit stays with you. ## Sources [1] Google for Developers — https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide (Oct 2026) [2] Google Help — https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/7368877?hl=en (Oct 2026)