How to collect and analyze keywords: from seed terms to a priority list

To collect keywords, start with seed terms based on your brand’s products, services, and the language customers use. Expand the list through search suggestions, competitors, on-site searches, and keyword tools. Then analyze the terms by considering business relevance, search volume, keyword difficulty, and seasonal trends together. The goal is not to collect the most terms or chase only the highest search volumes, but to choose terms that match customer needs and that your website can address with relevant content.

Start with seed terms, then expand into questions and related needs

In a 2018 article, awoo suggested that keyword selection should begin with understanding what a brand offers and how users search. This is a method for building a list, not a rule governing search rankings. For example, a business offering SEO services could expand “SEO” into “what is SEO,” “SEO tutorials,” and “SEO case studies,” then add related terms such as “online marketing.”

Treat these terms as candidates; they are not necessarily all worth pursuing. Next, use data to check search demand so you do not rely solely on language familiar to businesses but rarely used by customers.

Use three sources to find more of the terms customers use

• Search suggestions and related searches: Enter seed terms and note the additional questions and phrases that appear. Use them for inspiration, rather than treating their display order as a search-volume ranking.
• Competitors in search results: Search for seed terms first, identify higher-ranking websites relevant to your business, and analyze the keywords they target to find topics you have missed.
• On-site search logs: If your website has a search function and has collected logs, examine the words visitors use and the information they seek. These searches reflect the needs of existing visitors and should not be used directly to estimate demand across the entire market.

Use a spreadsheet to categorize and compare a long keyword list

Organize candidate keywords, search volumes, and competition data from tools in a spreadsheet, then add category columns. An article on Neil Patel’s website demonstrates how to combine IF with a search function to flag keywords containing “tools” or “local,” reducing the need to check each row manually.

This method quickly groups keywords by the words they contain, but when choosing a content format, you can also examine the actual search results. An article by yesharris suggests considering product pages for transactional queries and tutorials or articles for informational queries.

At Procrustes, our content work turns the questions customers genuinely care about into articles, with ongoing content planning, writing, and updates.

Consider demand, difficulty, and trends together—not just search volume

• Search volume: Use it to estimate search demand and compare different phrasings, but not as a guarantee of sales. Semrush’s local keyword research material notes that hyperlocal terms, such as those referring to neighborhoods, may have demand that tools do not fully capture, even when they show low or zero search volume.
• Keyword difficulty: Tools use different scales and algorithms, so scores from different tools should not be treated as equivalent. Difficulty in organic search should also be distinguished from advertising competition.
• Search trends: Check whether demand is concentrated in particular seasons. Looking only at average search volume can hide peak and off-peak periods.

For an initial screening, keep terms that match your business and customer needs. Then compare demand and assess your website’s ability to compete to build a shortlist worth evaluating further.