Steal Our Agency's Keyword Research Process + Template
We're a process oriented agency. Everything we do follows a detailed process to ensure both speed and quality of keyword selection.
Two Types of Keywords
Our keyword research process is structured to discover two types of keywords:
- Main Keyword — The focus keyword for the page with the most relevant intent and highest search volume that drives the page's main targeting
- Secondary Keywords — The "long tail" keywords that support the Main keyword and give the page opportunity to rank for additional search queries
The Template
Our template includes columns pulling data from the Website Quality Audit for page performance context, columns for performing the keyword research, and a section that gathers data from the SERPs on the top 3 websites ranking for each keyword.
The template allows you to input information like links to web pages, page category, page authority (PA), and domain authority (DA), as well as specific data about the top three websites ranking for main keywords.
The Research Process
Google is the best keyword research tool. You can get a list of websites ranking for your main keyword and use both of these to mine secondary keywords by searching Google for your main keyword and entering the first organic URL into Ahrefs or SEMrush.
The data from top-ranking websites is critical to understand what it will take to rank — it shows you exactly what Google wants to rank for each query. The page type helps formulate content strategy and authority indicates the link building effort needed.
This process ensures you're targeting keywords with the right intent and realistic ranking potential, rather than chasing vanity metrics.