Find the exact words your customers type into Google — then build your content around those words.
Keywords are the bridge between what people search for and what you offer. Most businesses guess their keywords. You're going to research them scientifically.
When someone types "best running shoes for flat feet women" into Google, they're not just searching for any shoes — they're signaling exactly what they need. If you have a shoe business and you've optimized a page for that phrase, Google rewards you with a ranking. If you haven't, you're invisible.
This lesson teaches you how to find those golden keyword phrases before you write a single word of content.
Every search query has an intent behind it. Understanding intent is crucial because it tells you what type of content Google will rank.
The 4 Types of Search Intent:
Short-tail keywords (1-2 words) like "running shoes" or "SEO tools" get massive search volume — but they're fiercely competitive. Big brands dominate these. For a new website, ranking for "running shoes" would take years.
Long-tail keywords (3+ words) like "best running shoes for flat feet women" or "affordable SEO tools for freelancers" get lower individual search volume, but they're much easier to rank for AND they convert better because the intent is more specific.
The Strategy: Start with long-tail keywords. Once you have authority, you can target shorter terms.
Google offers a free keyword research tool inside Google Ads. You don't need to run ads to use it.
Free keyword research is hiding right in front of you:
Keyword difficulty measures how hard it is to rank. Ranking for "shoes" is nearly impossible. Ranking for "best running shoes for flat feet women" is achievable in 2-3 months.
The Keyword Golden Ratio concept: Target keywords where the exact phrase appears in fewer than 250 results (when you search the phrase in quotes in Google). These are often easy wins.
Example: Search "best SEO plugin for WordPress" in Google. If only 50 results show up, this
is a low-difficulty keyword. Write a great page about it, and you'll rank within weeks.
Replace [YOUR TOPIC/NICHE] with your actual niche (e.g., "freelance copywriting" or "organic dog treats")
Paste your keywords after "HERE" to get an instant audit
This ensures every page has a clear keyword focus and prevents competition between your own pages
Using Google Keyword Planner (free) or Google Search autocomplete, conduct a 30-minute keyword research sprint:
Target: End this task with a list of 10+ keywords you're confident about targeting.
Keyword research looks simple, but these mistakes quietly kill rankings for months before most beginners realize what went wrong.
Writing a page for "coffee" when you should be writing for "best light roast coffee for beginners." The broad term has millions of competing pages. The long-tail might have a few hundred. New sites need that opening.
Targeting "best project management software" with a product page won't rank. That keyword demands a comparison article. If the top 10 results are all listicles and you publish a landing page, Google won't rank you regardless of quality.
A keyword with 50,000 monthly searches means nothing if you can't rank for it. A keyword with 500 monthly searches that you can reach page 1 for is worth infinitely more. Search volume is a vanity metric for new sites.
Publishing two blog posts that both target "how to write a resume" confuses Google. It splits your authority between two pages and often results in neither page ranking. One page, one primary keyword.
Before writing a word, Google your target keyword and study the top 10 results. What's the average length? What subtopics do they all cover? If you skip this step, you're writing blindly against competitors you haven't even looked at.
The difference between a keyword you can rank for and one you can't often comes down to specificity, competition, and intent alignment. Here's what that looks like in practice.
| Category | ❌ Bad Keyword Choice | ✅ Better Keyword Choice | Why It's Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food blog | pasta recipes
|
easy pasta recipes for college students under 30 minutes
|
Hyper-specific audience, clear intent, low competition vs millions of "pasta recipe" pages |
| Freelance writer | freelance writing
|
how to get first freelance writing client with no experience
|
Targets a specific problem (no experience), matches informational intent, dramatically less competitive |
| SaaS tool | project management
|
project management software for remote design teams
|
Niche audience segment, commercial intent, far fewer competing pages |
| Local plumber | plumber
|
emergency plumber Austin TX available weekends
|
Adds location + urgency modifier; transactional intent; realistic to rank locally |
| Finance site | how to invest
|
how to start investing with $500 as a beginner in 2026
|
Budget qualifier narrows the audience, year signals freshness, "beginner" targets the intent Google already shows for this type of query |
💡 The pattern: Every "good" keyword adds at least one qualifier - audience type, location, budget, experience level, or time frame. Qualifiers reduce competition and sharpen intent. The more specific the keyword, the less you compete and the more you convert.
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