How Can Paid Search Data Inform SEO Keyword and Content Planning?

Paid search data can help you identify keywords to evaluate first for SEO and turn users’ actual search questions into content topics. Start by selecting candidate terms based on search volume, conversions, and costs. Then assess organic search competition to decide whether to optimize existing pages or fill content gaps. Ad performance offers clues for choosing topics, not a guarantee of organic rankings or conversions. Low-converting terms should not be automatically discarded; consider whether they suit informational content.

Use search terms to decide which pages to improve or create

In a 2022 article, Screaming Frog recommended using the Google Ads search terms report to find high-volume, high-converting terms and identify missing content through question-based searches. This approach can guide your analysis, but the report fields and available data may have changed since then. When organizing the data you can access today, start by grouping search terms into three categories:

• Strong performers with an existing relevant page: Consider optimizing that page, checking whether the content meets the searcher’s needs.
• Questions beginning with “how,” “why,” and similar words: Check whether the site lacks answers, and use these as clues for new explanatory content.
• High-cost terms that perform well: Assess whether investing in SEO or content marketing could help ease pressure on the advertising budget, rather than immediately stopping the ads.

Assess advertising competition and SEO difficulty separately

Semrush’s 2024 explanation distinguishes between two metrics: paid competitive density reflects competition in search advertising, while keyword difficulty measures SEO competition. Consider both, but do not assume that intense ad competition means organic search will be equally difficult.

For example, a high-cost term with strong conversion performance could make the SEO shortlist, but its organic search difficulty still needs to be checked. CPC should not be the sole criterion for choosing topics, either. The article notes that a tool’s CPC figure is a snapshot at a particular point in time and changes with competition. Informational queries offer fewer opportunities for direct conversions and may also have lower CPCs.

Search demand also varies over time. In 2022, Screaming Frog recommended using Keyword Planner’s geographic, language, and seasonal trend data to support analysis. Checking for changes in demand is especially important when investigating traffic declines.

Keep informational terms and explore the intent behind searches

Low conversion rates do not necessarily mean a term has no content value. According to Screaming Frog’s recommendations, poorly performing terms may be worth avoiding. However, terms with lower commercial intent can still work for content aimed at readers in the early stages of learning about a topic, or for informational content. When planning, distinguish between “driving transactions” and “helping people understand a problem,” rather than keeping only topics that can lead to an immediate sale.

To better understand how audiences discover a service, Seer Interactive recommended in 2026 starting with patterns in chat logs, reviews, analytics, and paid search data. Interviews and feedback can then help explain the motivations behind those patterns. Search terms reveal clues about readers’ questions, while qualitative data helps clarify why they ask them, allowing content outlines to better address those questions.

At Procrustes, our content services also turn questions customers genuinely care about into articles, with ongoing content planning, writing, and updates.