How do you choose and expand your target keywords?

When choosing target keywords, first confirm their relevance to your business, then prioritize them based on search volume, ranking difficulty, and search intent. To expand your list, explore related terms, question-based keywords, and long-tail keywords to find topics that address the same need. You can also strengthen content that already ranks. The goal is not to make the list as long as possible, but to match each keyword to suitable content without cramming unrelated needs onto the same page.

Start with keywords that have business potential and offer a chance to compete

Semrush’s materials describe ideal keywords as having high search volume, low keyword difficulty, and the potential to bring business value to the website. Pay attention to geography when reviewing search volume: monthly search volume in your target market differs from global search volume, so the two should not be treated as interchangeable. Keyword difficulty estimates how competitive it is to rank for a term; it does not promise that a website will achieve a particular position. (S2)

• Business relevance: Start by screening for terms related to your products, services, or content topics.
• Search demand: Check search volume for your selected region, not just the global total.
• Competition: Consider the quality of competing pages and the authority of their websites when deciding whether a keyword is worth pursuing.

Competitors can also provide a starting point. Neil Patel’s 2021 article recommends researching the keywords that major competitors rank for and examining their high-traffic pages and the keywords driving that traffic. This can help identify potential topics and content types, but following the same approach does not guarantee the same traffic. (S3)

Use search intent to decide what content to create

After selecting relevant keywords, determine what searchers want to accomplish. Semrush divides search intent into four categories: navigational means looking for a specific website or page; informational means seeking to understand a topic; commercial means researching before a purchase; and transactional means being ready to buy or take action. (S2)

For example, looking for a login page and searching for ways to learn reflect different needs, even when they involve the same service. Similar wording alone does not mean one introductory article can meet all those needs. Some keywords may also reflect multiple intents, so review the actual search results to see what types of pages appear rather than relying solely on tool classifications.

At Procrustes, we turn the questions our clients genuinely care about into articles, continually planning, writing, and updating that content.

Expand around the same need rather than piling on keywords

Starting with your initial keywords, explore related terms, questions, comparisons, and long-tail keywords to build out your list. Neil Patel’s 2021 article uses pet-related topics to illustrate this: dog beds and what birds eat should not be forced into the same article because they address different reader needs. (S3)

In its Ubersuggest demonstration, the article initially selects keywords with an SEO difficulty of no more than 40 and a monthly search volume of at least 500. When expanding the list, it keeps the difficulty threshold at no more than 40 but changes the monthly search volume threshold to above 200. The author also recommends compiling at least 100 similar terms for each target keyword. These were the author’s selection thresholds and suggested keyword counts at the time, not official search engine rules or standards that every website must follow.

Expanding your keyword coverage does not always require a new article. Neil Patel’s 2020 article recommends updating older content and adding related long-tail keywords to content that already ranks well. It also emphasizes that these additions must be natural and meaningful to readers. If a keyword does not fit naturally, do not force it into the article just to cover it. (S1)