Open a keyword tool, search one topic, and you can easily end up with hundreds of keywords. Some have big search numbers. A few show low difficulty. Then there are five or six that look almost the same.
So which one do you pick? That is the part that matters in keyword research. A high-volume keyword is not automatically a good keyword. Neither is one marked “easy.” First, see who is searching, what they want, and whether your website has the right page for that search.
What Is Keyword Research?
Keyword research means finding the searches people make around your product, service, or topic and working out which ones make sense for your site. Take “running shoes” and “how to clean running shoes.” They are about the same product, but the person behind each search wants something different. One may want to shop. The other wants an answer.
That difference affects the page you should create. Google's Search Essentials also recommends thinking about the words people would use to find your content. You do not need to force every variation of a keyword into a page.
The Importance of Keyword Research
A lot of SEO time gets wasted before the writing even starts. A topic gets picked because the volume looks good, a blog gets written, and only later does someone notice that Google is showing product pages for that search. Researching the keyword first can catch that problem.
Understand Users' Search Intent
Look at these three searches:
- “how to choose running shoes”
- “best running shoes for beginners”
- “women's running shoes”
The first person wants help. The second is comparing options. The third is much closer to shopping.
Now take a real e-commerce example. Say a Shopify store sells skincare products and you find “face moisturizer” with strong search volume. It looks like an obvious keyword to target, but search it before writing anything.
If Google is mainly showing product pages, collection pages, and shopping results, a blog post may not be the right fit. The store could target “face moisturizer” with its collection page and use a more specific search such as “how to choose moisturizer for oily skin” for an educational article.
Understanding Current Marketing Trends
If a keyword suddenly jumps in volume, don't immediately build a page around it. Check whether the increase is seasonal, tied to a news event, or part of a longer-term change in how people search. You may notice more searches around a new product feature, material, problem, or comparison.
That is worth looking into, but do not call it a trend because one tool shows a spike. Check Google Trends. Look at what customers are asking. Search the topic yourself. If the same change keeps showing up, then you have something worth exploring.
Increase Traffic
More traffic looks good in a report. Relevant traffic is what matters. If 300 people arrive looking for exactly what you sell, that can be far more useful than 3,000 visits from a broad keyword that barely connects with your products.
Discover Content Opportunities with Minimal Competition
Low competition is useful, but we would not start there. Say a tool gives you two options. One has 2,000 searches and low difficulty, but the people searching it are unlikely to buy anything you sell. The other has 300 searches and closely matches a problem your product solves.
The smaller keyword may be the better piece of work. The same thinking applies alongside other SEO techniques. Getting the keyword right gives the page a direction. The page itself still has to do the work.
Provide Insights into Your Competitor's Keywords
Do not export every keyword a competitor ranks for and treat it as your content plan. Start with the overlap. If you sell similar products and several competitors rank for a question your own customers regularly ask, take a closer look.
Check their pages. See what Google is ranking. Then decide whether the topic belongs on your site too. Those are the competitor keywords worth spending time on.
Key Elements of Keyword Research
There is no single number that tells you “use this keyword.” Volume tells you one thing. Competition tells you another. The search results tell you something else. Read them together before you decide.
Keyword Relevance
Start here. Imagine you ranked first for the keyword next week. Would the people clicking actually be useful visitors for your business? If not, a large search number will not change much.
Keyword Volume
Keyword volume gives you an estimate of how often a term is searched. A product keyword with 150 searches can be more valuable than a broad keyword with 10,000 if those 150 searches come from people already looking for what you sell. A very specific product search may show only a few hundred searches and still be useful for a store that sells exactly that product. Some niche searches will show even less. What matters is what that traffic means for the site.
Authority
Now search the keyword on Google. Who is already there? If the results are packed with major retailers or established publishers, you know you are walking into a tougher SERP.
A lower third-party authority score does not automatically mean you cannot rank. Those scores are useful for comparison, but Google does not use an Ahrefs DR number as a ranking score.
Open the ranking pages. See what they actually provide. Sometimes the results are strong. Sometimes they are broad, dated, or do not answer a specific part of the search very well. That tells you more than looking at an authority score alone.
How to Conduct Keyword Research for SEO
You do not need 5,000 keywords to get started. Begin with the business itself. What do you sell? What do customers ask before buying? What problems bring them to the product? Build from there.
Make a List of Potential Keywords
Start with things you already hear and see:
- product names and categories
- questions customers ask
- problems the product solves
- features people care about
- products customers compare
If the website already gets Google traffic, open Search Console too. The Performance report can show searches where your pages already receive impressions and clicks. Google's Search Console documentation explains how to view this query data.
You may already have a useful keyword sitting on page two that deserves attention before you go looking for another hundred ideas.
Analyze Competitors' Keywords
Pick competitors that sell to the same kind of customer. Then look for topics they rank for that your site does not cover. Do not copy the list. Check each useful-looking search against your products and customers. If there is no real connection, leave it.
Make a List of Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords tend to cover more specific searches and often have lower search demand. “Running shoes for flat feet” is useful because there is a clear need behind it. Do not turn “running shoes” into a six-word phrase just to make it look easier. A longer keyword is only useful when people actually search with that need in mind.
Keyword Competition
A keyword tool can give you a difficulty score, but Google itself gives you another useful clue. Look at the pages already ranking. Search the keyword and check what you are actually competing against. Are the results mostly major retailers? Product pages? Detailed guides? Marketplaces?
Then ask whether your site can realistically put something useful there. A great difficulty score does not automatically mean “do not target it.” A low score does not mean “easy win” either. The SERP needs a look before you make the call. Here, the reader is evaluating the battlefield. Not figuring out what the searcher wants.
Search Intent
Before you start writing, search the keyword yourself. Do not rely only on the label inside Ahrefs, Semrush, or another keyword tool. Look at the actual results and ask what type of page Google seems to prefer.
For example:
- Mostly product and category pages → build or improve a shopping page
- Mostly guides and tutorials → an informational article may fit
- Mostly comparison and “best” pages → the searcher is likely comparing options
If the page you planned does not match what people are being shown, stop and rethink the target before writing.
Use Different Tools for Keyword Research
Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush are useful for finding ideas and checking things such as search demand and competition. Search Console is useful in a different way because it shows searches where your own site is already appearing. Use the tools to narrow the list. Then use the SERP and your knowledge of the business to make the call. A keyword tool can give you 500 options. It cannot tell you which 10 matter most to your customers.
Conclusion
Good keyword research does not need to end with a huge spreadsheet. You need enough information to make a sensible page decision. Does the search fit the business? What does the person want? What kind of page is Google showing? Who already ranks there? And can you put something on the page that is actually useful? Once those answers make sense, volume and difficulty become useful numbers instead of numbers you are simply chasing.
Got the keywords sorted? Don't forget the pages you're sending that traffic to. Keyword research can bring the right searches into your SEO plan, but the pages still need to load quickly and give visitors a good experience. SpeedBoostr helps Shopify stores improve site speed and SEO performance without adding unnecessary work to the process.
