Keyword research: how to find the words that bring in customers

Keyword research is finding and choosing the words you want to rank for. The mistake most companies make: aiming at the most searched words. The win often sits in less searched words with buying intent. In this article you will read how to find, assess and choose keywords, so that your traffic also brings in customers.

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What is keyword research?

Keyword research is working out which words your audience really types, and which of those are worth ranking for. It is the foundation of every SEO strategy: aim at the wrong words and none of your other work pays off.

Why volume is not the most important thing

Heavily searched words look attractive, but they are often hard to win and bring in few customers. Someone typing “marketing” is not buying anything. Someone typing “B2B marketing agency price” is close to a purchase.

Volume is only one of four things that count:

• Volume. How often is it searched?
• Difficulty. How strong is the competition?
• Intent. Does the searcher want to learn, compare or buy? See search intent.
• Relevance. Does the word match what you offer?

In Belgium the volumes are often small. So do not count in visitors, but in leads. A word with 30 searches and buying intent can deliver more than a word with 3,000 without.

Google says so itself: write for people, not for search engines, and start with the questions your audience actually asks. That principle from the Google Search Central guidelines is exactly why intent weighs heavier than volume.

The six steps of keyword research

Good research is a sequence, not a checklist. The table below sums up the six steps, with the goal and the deliverable for each one. After that we work through every step.

Step 1: collect seeds

How. Start with your customers, not with a tool. Which questions do they ask in conversations, quotes and support tickets? Which words do they use, not you? Write down 10 to 30 starting words in their language.

Example. An accounting firm calls the service “general ledger management” internally, but the customer types “accountant for sole traders”. That last one is the seed.

Common mistake. Only entering your own jargon. You then miss exactly the words customers search with.

Step 2: expand with tools

How. Enter your seeds into a keyword tool. It shows volume, related terms and variants you would not think of yourself. You can start for free with the Google Keyword Planner; a more extensive approach lines up with keyword research according to Ahrefs. Look inside Google itself too: the suggestions while you type and the “people also ask” block at the bottom are free gold. See our overview of SEO tools.

Example. From the seed “marketing agency” come “B2B marketing agency”, “marketing agency cost” and “marketing agency Ghent”. Those three are more concrete than the starting word.

Common mistake. Believing the tool on autopilot. Volume figures are estimates, not exact truth, certainly in small markets.

Step 3: determine search intent

How. Label every word: does the searcher want to learn, compare or buy? Look at the results Google already shows. If it is mostly blogs, the intent is informational. If service pages appear, the intent is commercial. You can read more in search intent.

Example. “What is SEO” is learning. “SEO agency price” is buying. On the first you put an explainer article, on the second a service page.

Common mistake. Answering a buying keyword with a blog. The searcher wants to see an offer, not an explanation, and clicks away.

Step 4: weighing difficulty against opportunity

How. Put volume, difficulty, intent and relevance side by side. A word only becomes interesting once it is achievable for your domain and close to the purchase. New or small websites rarely win on the heaviest terms; there, less searched and more specific words are smarter.

Example. “SEO” (high volume, extremely difficult) you leave alone. “SEO for lawyers Antwerp” (low volume, low difficulty, high intent) you tackle first.

Common mistake. Aiming at the heaviest terms because the volume looks good. You are then competing with players who have a ten-year head start.

Step 5: clustering words

How. A long list of words is not a plan. Group words with the same intent and give every group one page. Never write two pages for exactly the same search query, because then they compete with each other (keyword cannibalisation). That is how you build your topic clusters and connect them with strong internal links.

Example. “keyword research”, “keyword research seo” and “keyword analysis” are the same question. That is one page, not three.

Common mistake. Making a separate page for every variant. You split your authority that way and confuse Google.

Step 6: prioritise on value

How. Sort on opportunity and value: start with words that are close to the purchase and achievable, so bottom of the funnel first. That way your first work delivers leads the fastest, instead of visitors who buy nothing.

Example. A word with 30 searches and buying intent goes above a word with 3,000 without. The first brings a quote request, the second a reader.

Common mistake. Starting at the top of the funnel because that is where the volume sits. You then build traffic for months before a single lead comes in.

Common mistakes

In practice we see the same misses come back every time:

• Aiming at volume instead of intent. A lot of traffic without buying intent fills your statistics, not your pipeline.
• Everything on one pile. Without clustering your own pages compete with each other.
• Counting in visitors. In Belgium and the Netherlands the volumes are small. Count in leads.
• Research as a one-off exercise. Search behaviour shifts. Review your words at least once a year.
• Ignoring competitors. Which words do they rank for that you are missing? That is often your fastest win.

From the right words to more leads

Keyword research is not a goal in itself. The goal is more leads. Aim at words with buying intent and you attract visitors who actually want something. Want us to take this on for you? Then have a look at our SEO approach.

That is how a strong, well-targeted SEO approach delivered 400% more daily visitors within 66 days for Gom Nederland.

Frequently asked questions

How many keywords do I need?

Fewer than you think. Ten words with buying intent that you can genuinely win beat a list of a hundred. Quality and feasibility weigh heavier than quantity. Use your shortlist as the basis for your page structure and your on-page SEO.

Can I do keyword research for free?

Yes, up to a point. With the Google Keyword Planner, the search suggestions and the “people also ask” block you get quite far. Paid tools give sharper difficulty scores and more related terms, which saves time on bigger projects.

How often should I repeat it?

At least once a year, and every time for a new service or market. Search behaviour shifts, competitors move and new terms appear. For a structured approach per phase, see our SEO strategy and for B2B-specific work our approach to B2B SEO.

Want to know which words you should be aiming at?

We do the research and choose the words that bring you leads, not just traffic.

We are a small team, so we move fast and do more than you expect. Book your free intake and you will hear within 24 hours where your opportunities lie.