Find SEO Keywords and Develop a Keyword Strategy

Keywords have been a vital foundation of search engine optimization right from the start. However, their role has changed, as has the way we use them—not least due to the growing dominance of artificial intelligence (AI). We are convinced that keywords are still very important, which is why this guide shows you how to find keywords, what really matters when choosing them, which tools you can use, and how to make the best use of keywords in SEO.

What Are Keywords?

In search engine optimization, keywords are terms or phrases that users enter into search engines to find answers, information, content, or products. We use these terms on websites within specific elements to increase the likelihood of securing good positions in search results. In SEA (e.g., Google Paid, as opposed to SEO = Google Organic), we bid on keywords to display ads in search results for these terms.

To make the topic clearer, we'll explain all the points in this blog post using a specific example: a fictional online bike shop or local bike store with a website, centering around the theme "bicycles" or "buy a bicycle." The graphic shows a small selection of different relevant keywords related to this topic:

Types of Keywords

We distinguish between different types of keywords. This distinction plays a major role in the strategic direction of our content and the priority we give to these keywords.

By Length: Short Head & Long Tail Keywords

Broadly speaking, there are two different types of keywords defined by their length:

• Short Head Keywords are short, very general terms that typically have a very high search volume, but also correspondingly high competition. The intent behind these keywords isn't always clear. For example: "bicycle" is a short head keyword that could mean someone is looking for information (e.g., what types of bicycles are there?), but it could also signal buying intent or even a search for images.

• Long Tail Keywords, on the other hand, are longer, more specific phrases or questions. Depending on the topic, both search volume and competition are usually significantly lower, while the intent is much clearer. For example: "best e-bikes 2025" or "buy used kids bike cheap" or "how to fix a flat bike tire?"

In addition, you can define "Mid Tail Keywords," which fall right between these two types.

By Intent: Informational, Navigational, or Transactional?

Another key way to categorize keywords is by the intent behind the search query:

• Informational Keywords indicate a search for information. These can mark the start of the user journey—the first step on the path to making a purchase. For example: "trekking bike vs. city bike" or "what to look for when buying a bike?"

• Navigational Keywords indicate a search for a specific brand, website, or product. For example: "Decathlon bicycles" or "Cube e-bikes."

• Transactional Keywords indicate an intention to buy. Users are looking for an online shop or an opportunity to purchase locally. For example: "buy trekking bike" or "order gravel bikes."

Beyond these categories, keywords have other attributes, such as search volume (how often is the term searched for per month?) or the "Keyword Difficulty" calculated by many SEO tools (how hard it is to rank in top positions for this keyword in search results).

Why Are Keywords Important in Search Engine Optimization?

Keywords tell us which terms (and topics) are frequently searched for. To improve visibility in search results for relevant queries, we incorporate these terms into the corresponding pages. This shows search engines that a page (URL) is relevant to a specific topic and its related terms. In other words, we research and analyze keywords as the foundation of content optimization—to know how and for what we should optimize.

What Is the Significance of Keywords in the Age of AI?

Are keywords even still relevant in the age of AI? To answer that, let's take a quick step back and look at the history of SEO. The role and importance of keywords has steadily evolved over the past decades: While about 20 years ago keywords had to be used in their exact form to rank well, Google's language comprehension advanced significantly in the years that followed. Different grammatical forms, singular and plural, were recognized as identical terms. The same went for the relationship between synonyms and related terms—it became about semantics rather than exact keyword matching.

In search engine optimization, we stopped thinking purely in terms of standalone keywords many years ago. Instead, we optimize for topic clusters, which naturally still have keywords behind them. Keywords are still used as a foundation, but the broader context has become far more important. A clear sign of this is that Google often shows websites optimized for a synonym—Google understands that the terms mean the same thing.

Alongside clusters, another concept has become essential: the entity. An entity is a uniquely identifiable object or concept, such as a person, a place, or a process. One indicator of what Google identifies as an entity is the Knowledge Graph in search results, or suggestions for related topics and concepts. You can see this here using the example of "pedelec":

These connections between topics and terms also play a key role in AI SEO. Keywords are far from dead; they still serve an essential purpose in the age of AI:

• Keyword analysis helps you understand which terms your (potential) customers use—allowing you to speak the same language as your target audience.

• Keywords, especially "long tail keywords" such as questions, help you better understand the intentions and pain points of your audience so you can offer the right content.

• Entities and topic clusters are also built around keywords—they're just no longer used as rigidly as they were years ago. What matters more is covering the topic comprehensively and helpfully for users, matching their intent, and establishing yourself as an authority in the eyes of both users and search engines.

Keyword Analysis – How to Find Keywords in 3 Steps

How do we find keywords for our keyword and content strategy? Depending on your resources, time, and topic, a keyword analysis can be quite an extensive task. The broader the topic, the more detailed the analysis and the more subtopics and keyword clusters you'll discover. It's naturally much easier to research keywords for a single page and a very specific topic.

1. Brainstorming

Ideally, you already know your topic well. The first step is always a broad brainstorming session where you jot down all subtopics, terms, and questions related to your subject. This gives you a solid initial foundation to build your analysis on.

If you want to research keywords for an entire website, consider terms like these:

• Your brand name (depending on brand awareness, brand terms can drive significant search volume)

• Your industry (e.g., online bike shop)

• Categories (e.g., e-bikes, city bikes, mountain bikes, road bikes, kids' bikes, bikes for seniors, accessories, etc.)

• Brands (e.g., Cube e-bike, Bergamont bike)

• Products or services (specific product names of bestsellers, e.g., cube kathmandu hybrid pro 750)

• Common questions asked about products or categories (e.g., which bike is best for commuting)

2. Analyzing Existing Website Keywords

If you already have a website or online shop, you should establish a baseline: Which terms do you already rank well for? Which terms are driving clicks and impressions?

To find out, analyze the queries found in your Google Search Console Performance Report that generate a lot of impressions or clicks, and add them to your brainstorming list.

If you have access to a professional SEO tool, you can see all the keywords for which your domain holds a top 100 ranking. You can filter these keywords by search volume or ranking position and export the list. This helps you identify untapped potential that you can build on with targeted optimization. "Striking distance keywords" are especially interesting here—terms that are right on the edge of a major visibility boost. Depending on your definition, these usually mean keywords ranking between positions 11 and 20 (just outside the top 10), or positions 4 to 6 (just outside the top 3 or top 5).

3. Keyword Research

Now that you likely have a solid list of keywords together, it's time to research additional terms. There are plenty of sources and tools available for this. If you want a comprehensive deep dive, you can use multiple tools—or you can stick to just a few if they give you enough high-quality keywords to work with.

Tools for Keyword Research

The hard truth upfront: Good keyword tools that allow you to work efficiently are almost always paid. Free versions typically limit the number of results or daily queries. You often have to enter keywords one by one instead of analyzing a whole list, and filtering or export options are usually limited or non-existent.

Professional SEO tools generally include a keyword research tool that provides vital data on your terms—such as monthly search volume, along with related keywords you can cluster and analyze further.

Some of the most popular tools include: Semrush, Ahrefs, Sistrix, Surfer SEO, and KWFinder by Mangools.

You can find free, limited options through tools like Ubersuggest or AnswerThePublic. Both offer paid plans as well as free research tiers. A great feature of AnswerThePublic is its strong focus on long tail keywords.

If you run Google Ads campaigns, you can also use Google Keyword Planner, which provides search volume, estimated CPC, and competition levels for each keyword.

Additional Sources to Find Keywords

Beyond traditional keyword tools, there are plenty of other sources you can tap into to find great keywords. These include:

• Google Autocomplete: Terms suggested by Google as you type into the search bar

• Google Related Searches: Suggested terms at the bottom of search results pages

• Google Trends: Search interest trends over time (mainly useful for high-volume terms)

• People Also Ask: Questions featured directly in Google search results

• Social Media Hashtags: Trending tags on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, etc.

• YouTube Autosuggest: Suggested terms when typing in YouTube's search box

• Discussions on user-generated content platforms like Reddit

• Thesauruses and synonym dictionaries like Woxikon

These screenshots are all part of this section—take a look to see if you want to use all of them or just a few, and how you'd like to display them:

Google Suggest:

Google Trends:

YouTube Suggest:

Woxikon:

Google Questions:

People also search for on Google:

Keyword Gaps

A highly valuable exercise is a "Keyword Gap Analysis," where you compare your website or online store against one or more key competitors. This doesn't just apply to direct business competitors (like other online bike shops in our example), but any website ranking prominently for your topics (such as an online cycling magazine).

Using a professional keyword tool, you can compare domains side-by-side to get a list of keywords your competitors already rank for, but your domain doesn't yet. This reveals fantastic opportunities to expand your website or store, such as creating new subcategories or publishing fresh blog posts.

Building a Keyword Strategy

So, what do you do with all the keywords you've gathered from these different sources? The first step is always to cluster them thematically to get a clear overview. These clusters can align, for instance, with your online shop's architecture and page types:

• Homepage Keywords (broadest terms and brand keywords, e.g., online bike shop)

• Categories (e.g., mountain bikes, road bikes, kids' bikes, etc.)

• Subcategories (e.g., 16-inch bikes, dirt jump bikes, folding bikes, etc.)

• Product Keywords (e.g., Cube Agree c62, Bergamont Sponsor Tour S, etc.)

• Guide & Editorial Keywords (e.g., what to look for when buying a bike, what is a trekking bike, how to adjust internal hub gears, etc.)

• FAQ Keywords (e.g., what frame size bike do I need, how long does an e-bike battery last, etc.)

What Makes a Good Keyword?

You won't be able to target every single keyword you've researched and clustered. That's why it's crucial to evaluate and prioritize them. Several criteria come into play here, and your prioritization will also depend on your strategic business goals and industry:

Relevance: All keywords must be relevant to your business (for example, if you don't sell road bikes, the keyword "buy road bike" isn't useful for you).

Search Volume: Higher search volume generally means more potential traffic. However, in niche industries, volume isn't the only deciding factor. A highly targeted keyword with lower search volume can be much more valuable than a broad term with high volume. Finding the sweet spot is key.

Search Intent: The intent behind the search query must always match what users actually find on the page. Keywords with clear purchase intent (e.g., "buy mountain bike") are less relevant for a pure editorial blog than informational keywords.

Conversion Likelihood: For an online shop, keywords signaling buying intent are especially valuable because they're far more likely to convert than purely informational terms. The more specific the term (like an exact product name), the higher the chance of a purchase. For blog content, this factor usually plays a secondary role.

Competitive Landscape: Keywords with high competition (where established, authoritative domains have dominated for years) can be an uphill battle for new or smaller websites. Ranking for highly competitive terms can take months or years. Targeting keywords with lower competition can deliver faster, meaningful wins.

Existing Rankings: It's generally much easier to improve rankings for keywords you already rank for than to start from scratch with brand-new terms. This is especially true for striking distance keywords.

In summary, a great keyword:

• Has high relevance to your business

• Has meaningful search volume

• Matches the right user intent

• Has strong conversion potential

• Features low to moderate competition

• May already have existing rankings you can improve on.

There is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for evaluating keywords and crafting a keyword strategy across every industry. It takes hands-on experience and alignment with your overarching business and marketing goals. While this guide gives you plenty of food for thought, we'd also love to help you design a tailored, professional keyword strategy!

Keyword Mapping

The core step of any keyword strategy is creating a keyword map. This involves assigning keywords to specific landing pages (either existing pages or planned new ones). Keep these two rules in mind:

• Assign exactly one target page to rank for each primary keyword

• Assign each important page a keyword set consisting of 1–2 primary keywords and several supporting secondary keywords

This structure prevents multiple pages from competing against each other for the same query (which can cause keyword cannibalization, leaving Google unsure which page to rank and hurting both). It also quickly highlights which important keywords are still missing dedicated landing pages.

Once your keyword mapping is in place, you can plan and optimize your content with confidence.

Content Strategy

Once we've mapped our keywords to appropriate existing or new pages, we can turn this into an editorial calendar that outlines all the pages that need optimization or new content creation.

Using our bicycle example, this could include pages like:

• Kids' Bikes: Expanding the kids' category page with a buyer's guide, product comparisons, and helpful tips.

• Bikes Under $500: Creating either a curated category/filter page or a blog post with product comparisons.

• Best Bike for Beginners: A comprehensive blog post featuring product comparisons and a beginner's guide.

• Buy Bike with Hub Gears: Adding helpful content to the relevant category page (hub gears vs. derailleur gears, advantages of internal hub gearing, top-rated hub gear bikes, etc.).

• What to Look for When Buying a Bike: An in-depth blog guide detailing different bike styles, buying criteria (intended use, sizing, features), online vs. local shopping tips, and more.

• Buy a Bike in #City: A local landing page for your physical bike shop featuring inventory overviews, address, interactive map, opening hours, and store perks.

Using Keywords Effectively

How to use keywords effectively could easily fill another entire guide, so here is a quick overview of the most critical places on your website or online store where keywords belong:

• In metadata (page title / title tag and meta description)

• In headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

• Naturally throughout the body copy

• In image file names and alt attributes

• In internal links

Watch Out: Avoid Keyword Stuffing!

One of the biggest mistakes when applying researched keywords is repeating them too often. If your content sounds unnatural because you crammed in too many identical or repetitive phrases, nobody will enjoy reading it—and search engines may penalize it as "keyword stuffing."

Always write content with real people in mind. Use natural synonyms and related terms, and avoid keyword lists or grammatically awkward phrasing just to match an exact term. The primary goal is to provide helpful, engaging content for your audience—weaving in your target keywords in a smooth, natural way!

SEO vs. SEA Keywords

An effective SEO keyword strategy also delivers major benefits for your paid channels. SEO and SEA (especially Google Ads) can create strong synergies—for instance, by targeting the same keywords for organic optimization and paid ads, your brand can secure two spots on the search results page: one paid and one organic.

A well-researched keyword and content strategy for SEO can be seamlessly applied to your SEA campaigns as well.

SEA is also great for A/B testing ad copy and calls-to-action (CTAs) that can then inspire high-converting metadata (page titles and meta descriptions).

Similarly, optimizing page content around top-searched keywords benefits SEA by improving Quality Scores and lowering cost-per-click (CPC).

To get the greatest impact, combine insights from both channels—which is why businesses benefit tremendously from handling SEO and SEA under one roof. At internetwarriors, our team brings many years of expertise in both SEO and SEA!

A Tailored Keyword & Content Strategy for Your Brand

Finding the right keywords and turning them into an effective strategy aligned with your business goals can feel overwhelming. The SEO experts at internetwarriors are here to help. We'll analyze your website, your industry, and your growth opportunities, research the right keywords, and build a tailored content strategy for you. We're also happy to assist with optimizing existing pages, creating fresh content, or training you and your team on how to use keywords effectively—even in the era of AI.