Keyword research is the backbone of SEO, and picking the right ones is non-negotiable. The right keywords help you reach the right audience, in the right place, with the right intent. In fact, 46% of SEO professionals consider keyword management the most effective tactic.
In this guide, I’ll break down how to find keywords for SEO, focusing on two key types: informative and business keywords.
I’ll also explain why high-volume keywords aren’t always the best option and how to find the ones that fit your needs.
After years of experience in SEO, I’ve tested nearly every keyword research method out there.
I took the best aspects of each approach and developed a system that consistently delivers results. This method has worked for me, and it will work for you too. Let’s break it down.
Types of Keyword Research
There are four main types of keywords everyone is familiar with: informative, commercial, navigational, and transactional. But when it comes to keyword research, there are two main categories to focus on: one for sales and the other for sharing knowledge.
- Informative Keyword Research
- Business Keyword Research
How to Find Keywords for SEO?
When you choose the right keyword and supporting keywords, it may seem straightforward, but their importance goes far beyond that.
The entire journey of a webpage that you create after keyword research is directly tied to those keywords. It’s important to invest time in this process until you’re fully satisfied with your choices.
You won’t get another chance to research and optimize the same page for different keywords. SEO involves building authority, not just for your website, but also for each individual page.
When a new page is created, it starts building authority around its optimized keyword. Changing that later could harm the page’s performance and authority, so it’s important to make your keyword decision count from the start.
Key Criteria for Effective Informative Keyword Research:
When selecting a keyword for a blog post, you have many options to choose from, as there are no strict limits in blog keyword research.
Your main goal is to create a post that is informative or commercial. You can pick any keyword that fits, as long as it aligns with the following criteria.
1. Low Authority sites:
If your website has a Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Rating (DR) under 30, try this: search for your target keyword on Google and check the search results.
If you notice two lower authority sites ranking, that means there’s an opportunity for your site to rank as well.
On the other hand, if your website is well-established with over 1000 pages, good traffic, and a DR above 30, you can target a medium-difficulty keyword and expect to rank for it.
2. Low-Volume Keywords:
If your website is new with a low Domain Authority (DA), targeting low-volume keywords (10–70 searches per month) can be a smart strategy.
High-authority websites usually focus on high-volume keywords because they have the strength to compete, leaving low-volume topics with little competition.
By choosing these keywords and creating high-quality content, you have a much better chance of ranking.
Since there isn’t enough relevant content in search results, Google is more likely to rank your page, giving you a valuable opportunity to gain visibility.
3. Low-Difficulty Keywords:
When your website has low authority and a DR below 25, targeting low-difficulty keywords gives you a better chance of ranking.
Focusing on keywords with a difficulty between 0 and 10 helps you compete more effectively and gain visibility without struggling against high-authority sites.
4. Longtail Keywords:
When choosing keywords for a blog post, long-tail keywords are often more effective than short-tail ones. About 50% of searches include four or more words, making long-tail keywords a better fit for informational content.
For example, consider these two keywords:
- What Does a Home Care Worker Do? – Global search volume: 140, Difficulty: 40%
- Home Care – Global search volume: 115.5K, Difficulty: 83%
Short-tail keywords are broad and lack informational intent. They work best for service, business, or landing pages, but they are highly competitive.
Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, provide valuable information but do not directly drive sales. The key is to guide readers from informational content to relevant service or product pages using internal links.
Steps for Conducting Informative Keyword Research
Finding the right informative keyword for a blog post starts with a structured approach. Let’s take an example of a website, tech-example.xyz, which focuses on tech and gadgets. Our goal is to identify an informational keyword that can drive traffic.
1. Identifying Seed Keywords
The first step is brainstorming simple, broad terms related to the niche. These should be one or two-word phrases that define the core topic.
Example:
- Smartwatch
2. Using an SEO Tool for Keyword Research
Once we have a seed keyword, we’ll use a tool like Semrush to refine our search. Here’s how to filter the results for the best informational keywords:
- Set the location to Pakistan or any desired location
- Choose the “Question” filter to find search queries
- Set the Keyword Difficulty (KD) to 10 to target low-competition terms
3. Analyzing the Results
After applying these filters, we’ll get a list of relevant keywords. If the list is limited, that’s okay. Even a single good keyword can be valuable.
Copy each keyword one by one and search for it on Google. As you go through the results, look for websites with a domain authority (DA) of less than 25. If you find at least two low-authority sites ranking for that keyword, it is a good sign that you have a solid opportunity to compete.
Since Intellemo and Audience Kitchen have low-authority websites, the keyword “how to advertise a smartwatch” is now a good fit. You can go ahead and write a blog post on this topic.
Key Criteria for Effective Business Keyword Research:
When doing keyword research for a business-focused page like a homepage, landing page, or service page, your options are often limited.
Let’s say a client sells perfumes and has categories like men’s perfume and women’s perfume. They ask you to find the best keyword for their men’s perfume page.
You open an SEO tool like Semrush or Ahrefs and start with the seed keyword “perfume.” To refine the results, you use an “including” filter and add the word “men.” The results you see are the only real options you have.
In business keyword research, relevance is everything. The keyword must align with the intent of the service page, so you choose “perfume for men.”
You might see other suggestions like “perfume for males” or “fragrance for men,” but they are not the right fit. Either they lack search volume or they don’t match how people actually search for this type of product.
In SEO, you are not optimizing for short-term gains. The goal is to pick the right keyword from the start and build around it.
1. Select Relevant Keyword
When doing keyword research for a product page like “Audionic Airbuds 550,” the main goal is to select keywords that are relevant to the product.
It doesn’t matter whether the keyword has a high search volume or not at this stage—relevance is the key. If you find a keyword with a high search volume that’s still relevant, that’s a bonus.
The important thing is to focus on keywords that match the product closely, even if their search volume is lower.
Steps for Conducting Business Keyword Research
To find the right business keywords, let’s break it down using a simple example: special-tutor-example.com. There are three steps to follow:
- Start with selecting seed keywords.
- Check out what your competitors are doing.
- Do your keyword research.
Now, let’s say you’re working on keyword research for the “Wist Test (Word Identification & Spelling test for special kids)” page targeting the USA. You’ll need to focus on both primary and secondary keywords to get it right. It’s all about picking the right terms that match your audience’s search behavior!
1. Selecting Seed Keywords
As we know, WIST is the test, and you have to brainstorm the relevant keywords manually or by using ChatGPT, Claude AI, Gemini, and Deepseek.
- Wist Assessment
- Wist test
- Word identification & spelling test
- Wist Evaluation
- Wist Screening
- Wist Diagnosis
- Wist Analysis
2. Competitor Reference
Start by entering your seed keyword into Google, then analyze the top competitors to identify any additional relevant keywords, making sure you don’t miss any opportunities.
3. Keyword Research
Perform thorough, in-depth keyword research using an SEO tool. Start with your seed keyword to identify relevant, high-volume keywords.
| USA keyword | USA Volume | USA Kd |
| Wist assessment Primary Keyword | 140 | 7 |
| Wist reading assessment | 20 | 4 |
| Wist assessment results | 10 | 3 |
| Wist Wilson assessment | 10 | 3 |
| Wist test | 70 | 6 |
| Wist reading test | 20 | 4 |
| Wist test for dyslexia | 20 | 1 |
| Wist word identification and spelling test | 20 | 3 |
| word identification and spelling test Wist | 20 | 3 |
Important Note: The keyword research example I provided is based on real work I did for one of my USA clients. This research was used to create the content and structure for his WIST Assessment page and to design a landing page. I can cover this process in more detail in another blog post, but for now, I’ll just focus on keyword research.
How to Find LSI Keywords for Informational and Commercial Intent?
When it comes to supporting or LSI keywords, you can easily choose from both short-tail and long-tail options, such as Audionic products, Are Audionic Airbus good, Audionic headphones, Audionic earbuds, wireless earbuds, and more.
If we focus on informative LSI keywords, let’s continue with the example “How to advertise a smartwatch.” You can brainstorm or use tools to find related keywords. For instance, try combining terms like “trend,” “market,” “sell,” and others with “smartwatch” to see what works best.
How Long Does Keyword Research Take?
Many people believe that keyword research is all about quickly using tools to find high-volume keywords in just a matter of minutes.
But that’s not the case. Keyword research goes beyond numbers; it’s all about relevance. It’s the foundation of your web page, so it deserves the right amount of time and attention. Rather than rushing through the process, take your time.
You should expect to spend at least two and a half hours carefully choosing keywords that truly align with your content. Choose wisely and think long-term.
Results I’ve Achieved Using This Keyword Research Method
I personally love this method and believe there’s no better way to find the right keywords than the approach I’ve shared in this post. I use this method for my own projects, and it has proven to be highly effective.
Over the past two years of my professional journey, I’ve worked on 23+ projects, including service websites, e-commerce sites, blogs, and portfolio websites. I’ve successfully ranked them and achieved significant growth.
Final thought – Wahaj Ansari
I hope you find this keyword research method both logical and future-proof. By focusing on relevance, competition analysis, and intent-based selection, you can build a strong SEO strategy that delivers lasting results. Take your time, choose wisely, and watch your rankings grow.