Keyword research helps you discover how your audience searches, what they need to solve and which pages you should offer them. A useful outcome is a map of queries, intentions and pages that can attract relevant visitors to your business.
1. Define your market and goal before opening a tool
Write down what you sell, who you help, your target country and language, and the action you want visitors to take: request a quote, book or buy. Research each market separately; translating a phrase does not establish equivalent demand or intent in another language.
Start with seed topics covering services, products, problems and customer questions. A surveying business might explore “topographic survey”, “topographic survey cost” and “land surveyor in my city”. These are illustrative examples, not keywords with measured volume.
Prepare a spreadsheet with these columns: query, country, language, tool, date, estimated volume, intent, proposed URL, priority and next action. Record sources and dates so later comparisons have context.
2. Choose a tool based on the question you need to answer
You do not need all three tools to get started. Keyword Surfer helps explore ideas while searching Google; Keyword Planner provides advertising-oriented estimates; Semrush helps expand and filter research. Their figures use different methodologies and should not be added together as extra searches.
| Tool | Use it for | Avoid confusing |
|---|---|---|
| Semrush | Expanding and filtering keyword groups | KD and volume estimates with guarantees |
| Google Ads Keyword Planner | Ideas, estimated demand and trends | Advertiser competition with SEO difficulty |
| Keyword Surfer | Exploring ideas in Google results | Estimated search volume with visits you will receive |
3. Use Semrush to turn a seed keyword into a useful group
Open Keyword Magic Tool, enter a seed topic and select the target country database. Check the language of the suggestions and explore related keyword groups.
Use question, intent, volume and keyword difficulty (KD) filters to narrow the list. Exclude unrelated brands, locations you do not serve and terms outside your offer. Features and limits depend on your Semrush access.
Review the search results for shortlisted terms before selecting them. Intent labels and difficulty scores help with decisions; they do not guarantee rankings. Save relevant queries with their metrics, country and date, then map them to specific pages.
4. Research with Google Ads Keyword Planner
In Google Ads, open Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner → Discover new keywords. Start with terms or a website. Your account must meet Google’s setup requirements for access; do not activate a campaign just to follow this exercise.
Set location, language, date range and search network before comparing ideas. Review monthly searches and their changes to spot seasonality. Depending on access, some figures may appear as ranges; record what the tool actually shows.
The competition column describes Google Ads advertisers, not organic ranking difficulty. Estimated bids are not the cost of acquiring an SEO visit. For an existing list, use Get search volume and forecasts; distinguish historical estimates from advertising forecasts.
5. Explore keyword ideas in Google with Keyword Surfer
Install the Keyword Surfer Chrome extension and select your research country. Search Google for a seed term: the extension adds estimates and related suggestions alongside the results.
Review suggestions, save useful terms to a collection and export them as CSV for your working spreadsheet. Examine organic results to decide whether the search calls for a guide, comparison or service page.
Treat volume as guidance, not promised traffic. Keyword Surfer supports query research; to inspect a page’s heading hierarchy, open SEO META in 1 CLICK → Headers, or review H1 and H2 across URLs in Screaming Frog. These are complementary tasks.
6. Validate intent and group searches by page
Search each candidate and observe the types of pages that dominate. “What is a topographic survey” generally calls for an explanation; “topographic survey quote” suggests a commercial need. Check these assumptions in your target market.
Group variants when they address the same need and results show comparable pages. Separate topics that require different answers. Avoid creating a page for every keyword variation or forcing every term onto one page.
Ambiguous queries and searches in another language need context. An impression for a query in another language or containing an old year is not enough reason to change an article’s language or purpose: check the query, country and landing page in Search Console first.
7. Prioritize keywords and build a content plan
Start with searches related to your offer whose intent you can serve well. Consider estimated demand, visible competitors, required resources and existing pages. A specific low-volume query can be more useful than a broad high-volume term.
For each group, choose whether to improve an existing URL or create a new one. Define its title, H1, questions to answer, original examples, internal links and appropriate call to action. Do not repeat keywords to reach a fixed density.
The following map is illustrative: it contains no measured volumes, positions or business results.
| Example query | Need | Proposed page |
|---|---|---|
| what is a topographic survey | Understand the service | Educational guide |
| topographic survey quote | Consider hiring a provider | Service page with a quote request |
| land surveyor in a city you serve | Find a local provider | Local page reflecting real services and coverage |
8. Measure real queries and refine your plan
After publishing, open Search Console → Performance → Search results. Filter by page and review Queries, Countries and Devices. Impressions and clicks describe your website’s observed visibility; they are not total market search volume, and some queries are omitted.
Compare equivalent periods and record when content changed. Assess visibility alongside enquiries, bookings or sales recorded in your analytics. A CTA click indicates interest; a successfully submitted form is a separate action.
Revisit the map when your offer changes or new needs appear. Keyword research helps choose the next useful piece of content; it cannot promise a ranking or a date for results.
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