Keyword research and search intent
Seed keywords and expansion sources, how to read volume and difficulty, the four intents, and mapping each intent to the page type that satisfies it.
From seeds to a real list
Keyword research is not a list of words, it is a list of questions your site can answer better than the current results. Start from seeds - the five or six phrases that describe what you actually do - then expand from sources that reveal how people phrase the problem.
| Source | Reveals | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console queries | Terms you already rank for | Only your current visibility; nothing new |
| Autocomplete and People also ask | Real phrasing and follow-up questions | Skews to informational intent |
| Competitor headings and sitemaps | Topics they cover that you do not | Do not copy structure blindly |
| Support tickets and sales calls | The words customers actually use | Internal jargon does not match search terms |
| Community forums and reviews | Complaints and unmet needs | Small samples; verify volume separately |
| Paid search reports | Terms that already convert | Branded terms inflate the picture |
- Volume is an estimate, not a measurement. Two tools will disagree by an order of magnitude for the same phrase, so use it for ranking, never for a forecast.
- Difficulty is a proxy built mostly from backlinks. A high-difficulty term on a topic nobody has written well can still be winnable with better content.
- Long-tail phrases have low volume individually but convert far better and are far easier to rank for; fifty of them beat one head term you cannot win.
- Write down the intent you infer for each phrase. Ten minutes here prevents a page that answers the wrong question.
The four intents
| Intent | Example query | Page type that satisfies it | What must be above the fold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | how does dns caching work | Guide or explainer | The direct answer, then the detail |
| Navigational | acme support portal | Homepage or a landing page | A clear route to the destination |
| Commercial | best static site hosts 2026 | Comparison or review | A comparison table and honest trade-offs |
| Transactional | buy ssl certificate wildcard | Product or pricing page | Price, availability and the buy action |
The fastest way to check intent is to read the current top results. If ten of ten are listicles and you are writing a product page, you are not competing on quality - you are answering a different question and the engine will not reward it.
Term: "postgres index not used"
Inferred intent: informational, diagnostic, likely from a developer mid-job
Page shape: single page, symptom first, then how to check, then fixes
Must be on the page:
- the classic causes (type mismatch, function on the column, low selectivity)
- EXPLAIN output showing a seq scan
- the exact query to verify an index is eligible
Term: "managed postgres pricing"
Inferred intent: commercial investigation, comparing options
Page shape: comparison page with a table and the outlier costs called out
Must be on the page:
- storage, compute and egress separated, because that is how the bills differ
- what is included at each tier
- who should not pick each option💡
One page per intent, not one page per keyword. If two phrases mean the same thing to the same user, they are one page with a clear title - splitting them creates two thin pages that compete with each other.
FAQ
How many keywords should one page target?
One primary phrase and a handful of close variants that share the intent. A page that tries to cover three different intents satisfies none of them and ranks for none of them.
Do I need a paid keyword tool?
Not to start. Search Console, autocomplete, People also ask and your own support inbox will produce a better-informed list than a spreadsheet of volumes from a tool you do not yet know how to read.
Related
Content strategy: topic clusters and briefs On-page essentials
Last refreshed 2026-09-18.