Streamline SEO with This Keyword Research Template

Streamlining your SEO with a solid keyword research template can make all the difference in driving traffic to your website. A well-crafted template helps you identify relevant keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for.

By using a keyword research template, you can save time and effort in the long run. According to a study, businesses that use a keyword research template see an average increase of 25% in search engine rankings.

Effective keyword research is crucial for any SEO strategy. It helps you understand what your audience is looking for and tailor your content accordingly.

You can use a keyword research template to streamline your keyword research process. Notion is a powerful tool that offers free and paid templates for keyword research and SEO initiatives.

You can create your own keyword research template in less than five minutes using any tool you're comfortable with. You'll need to include columns for different types of data, such as keyword, monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, secondary keywords, average CPC, and competition level.

Here's a list of columns you might want to include in your keyword research template:

To build out your keyword list, start by using your seed list to brainstorm a list of relevant topics. This can be done using the first tab in the keyword research template, where you'll list your seed keywords and answer questions like what your main products or services are, how you'd describe your business, and what keywords you think you want to rank for.

List your seed keywords and populate each section with your initial keywords. For example, if you're doing keyword research for an online business coaching website, your seed keywords might include "online business coaching", "coaching conferences", and "money mentor."

Once you have your seed list, use Google Ads Keyword Planner to expand on it. Select the option to search for new keywords using a phrase, website, or category, and copy your seed keywords into the "Your product or service" field.

Google will return average monthly search data for keywords within your seed list, plus all of the terms it considers related. You can download your keyword list into a spreadsheet by clicking the blue arrow in the upper right-hand corner within the Google Keyword Planner.

To get the most out of this process, make sure to group your seed keywords into themes, such as "online business coaching" and "coaching retreats." This will help you identify patterns and relationships between your keywords, and give you a better understanding of how to prioritize your content creation efforts.

Here are some key metrics to consider when evaluating your keyword opportunities:

By using these metrics and the Google Keyword Planner tool, you can build out your keyword list and identify opportunities to drive more traffic to your website.

Analyzing and refining your keyword list is a crucial step in creating a solid keyword research template. You should focus on three columns: 'Keyword', 'Avg. Monthly Searches', and 'Competition'.

Delete all other columns to unclutter the sheet. Explore the keywords and identify those that seem irrelevant, off-topic, or provide too little search volume to warrant inclusion.

Keywords with high search volumes are generally better, but they also come with greater competition. On the other hand, keywords with low search volumes receive very little traffic and may not be relevant to your target audience.

Aim for keywords with high-medium search volumes in your initial research. Low difficulty keywords can benefit your ranking, but prioritize them for later refinement.

To refine your list, delete keywords identified as irrelevant or with low search volume. This will give you a final, clean list of keywords to work with.

Here's a rough estimate of what to expect from different search volume ranges:

By following these steps, you'll be able to refine your keyword list and create a solid foundation for your keyword research template.

Notion is a powerful tool for tracking and managing keyword research and other SEO initiatives. Its free plan is a great place to start and more than enough if all you’re doing is tracking keywords.

There are dozens of free and paid Notion templates built by its thousands of users, but the Notion rank — keyword research template is a must-consider. This template allows you to separate your personal keyword research from client keyword research.

The Notion rank — keyword research template has several features that make it stand out, including fields for US search volume and global search volume, a visual indicator next to keyword difficulty rating, and easy-to-manage boards for multiple clients.

Here are some of the key features of the Notion rank — keyword research template:

This template also allows you to track volume, global volume, difficulty, CPC, backlinks, intent, and where you got that data, making it a comprehensive tool for keyword research.

Intent analysis is a crucial step in keyword research, and it helps you understand whether keywords should be targeted on landing pages, supporting pages, or informational pages. To do this, you need to organize your keywords by commercial intent, which is the likelihood of a user converting into a customer.

Create a new column in your spreadsheet and mark the key phrases that directly match your core products or services with 'high' conversion intent. This means the user is likely to convert into a customer. Mark phrases that are of medium conversion intent as 'medium', and those that are unlikely to convert as 'low'.

Here's a simple way to categorize your keywords by commercial intent: IntentDescriptionHighDirectly matches core products or servicesMediumRelated to your audience but not directly related to your product or serviceLowUnrelated to your product or service

Intent analysis is a crucial step in SEO that helps you understand what your target audience is looking for when they search for specific keywords. By organizing your keywords by commercial intent, you can determine whether they match your core products or services.

To start, create a new column in your spreadsheet and mark the key phrases that directly match your core products or services with 'high' conversion intent. This means that users are likely to convert into customers.

If a user is interested in your product or service but isn't likely to convert, mark these as 'medium'. This could be because they're still researching or comparing options.

If the query relates to your audience but they're probably not interested in your offering, mark these as 'low'. This could be because they're looking for information or entertainment.

Here's a simple way to categorize your keywords by commercial intent:

By understanding the commercial intent behind your keywords, you can create content that meets the needs of your target audience and increases the chances of conversion.

Now that you have a solid understanding of your target audience's intent, it's time to finalize your keyword selection.

A "clean list" of keywords will include all phrases you should consider targeting, but some will be more valuable than others. Vanity keywords, for example, are broad phrases representing an entire industry or topic that are hard to rank for but have higher search volume.

To refine your selection, group your keywords into primary, secondary, and tertiary opportunities. Primary opportunities are keywords that provide the most desirable opportunities for conversion intent and search volume.

Secondary opportunities are alternative keywords that provide variation to the primary opportunities, generating less search volume but still offering relevance. These are valid for inclusion within your SEO campaign.

Tertiary opportunities are further keyword alternatives that provide the least lucrative opportunities in terms of search volume, and of medium-low conversion intent. These phrases are often targeted with supporting content or blog posts.

Here's a breakdown of the three groups:

By understanding the differences between these groups, you can create a targeted SEO campaign that drives meaningful results.

Having a solid keyword research template can help you stay organized and focused on your SEO strategy. You can use a proprietary tool like Myposeo, or other SEO tools such as Accuranker, SEMRush, SERPWatcher, SE Ranking, or Serpstat to track keyword rankings.

To identify gaps in content, you'll want to ask questions like: Are there priority keywords you've identified that you are not ranking for? Are some page/keyword combinations performing poorly compared to the site average? Are the pages that are ranking for your chosen keywords the ones you would expect?

You can also use an Airtable template, such as the keyword research planning template created by Katrina Gallagher, to help you track and research competitor keywords, turn keywords into content ideas, and map keywords to landing pages.

Content planning is a crucial step in creating effective content. You need to identify gaps in your existing content and prioritize new content creation based on your keyword research.

To do this, you should track your keyword rankings using tools like Myposeo, Accuranker, SEMRush, SERPWatcher, SE Ranking, or Serpstat. These tools will help you spot opportunities for new content.

You'll want to ask questions like: Are there priority keywords you've identified that you are not ranking for? If so, these will help you identify opportunities for new content.

A template like Airtable's next-gen SEO content planning and keyword matrix can be a great tool for organizing your content and keyword research. This template comes pre-built with a products table that lets you tie keywords back to your products.

You can track keywords, personas, funnel stages, content, and content optimization activities using this template. It also includes advanced filtering capabilities and the ability to download your Airtable bases as CSV files for bulk exports.

Here are some of the default columns you'll find on the keyword tab in Airtable's template:

To start using a keyword research template, you'll want to begin with seed keywords. These are foundational terms that will help you generate a comprehensive list of long-tail keywords.

You can use a tool like Seed Keywords to help with that. Now that you have your seed keywords grouped into themes, let's move onto the next step.

The main tabs included in a keyword research template are: Seeds & Themes, Google Search Console Keyword Data, Competitive Keyword Research, Grow Your Keyword Lists, and Choose Your Target Keywords.

To analyze search volume and competition, use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs. This will give you the data you need to make informed decisions about your target keywords.

Here are the steps to analyze search volume and competition:

To create your own keyword research template, start by creating columns for different types of data. You'll likely want to include columns for keyword, monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, secondary keywords, average CPC, and competition level (low, medium, high).

A basic template can be created in under five minutes using any of the tools on the list. The best template is one you'll actually use, so focus on what you need rather than all the possibilities.

Airtable Content Production is a game-changer for businesses that need to scale their content creation. It's a flexible relational database solution that can handle complex workflows with automations and a lot of data.

You can run keyword research and content creation aspects of your business with it, just like the author of the article. Airtable has a generous free plan if you're just starting out or want to try it out.

Airtable's price tag may seem steep, but it's worth it for businesses that need a solution that can grow with them.

Airtable is a powerful tool for content planning, and it's especially useful for complex workflows with automations and a lot of data. It has a generous free plan if you're just starting out or want to try it out.

Airtable offers a range of templates for content planning, including a keyword research planning template created by Katrina Gallagher. This template has everything you need to start researching keywords, creating content, and analyzing your competitors.

The keyword research planning template is a great option if you know your way around Airtable, as it has a lot of the elements and relations you'll need, but may require some customization on your part. It includes features like custom filtering with advanced conditions, tracking and researching competitor keywords, and mapping keywords to landing pages.

Here are some key features of the keyword research planning template:

Another template available is the next-gen SEO content planning and keyword matrix, which comes pre-built with a products table that lets you tie keywords back to your products. This template has 18 default columns on the keyword tab, as well as features like creating buyer personas and using those tags with keyword data.

Creating a keyword research template can be a straightforward process. You can use any tool you're comfortable with, and it can be done in under five minutes.

One option is to use Airtable, which has a pre-made keyword research planning template. This template, created by Katrina Gallagher, has all the necessary elements and relations for keyword research, including custom filtering and tracking competitor keywords.

If you prefer to create your own template, you can start by setting up columns for different types of data, such as keyword, monthly search volume, keyword difficulty, and secondary keywords.

Here are the basic columns you'll need to get started:

You can add or remove columns as needed, depending on your specific requirements. For example, if you're planning to create new blog posts, you may also want to include columns for tracking production, attaching outlines, and brainstorming title ideas.

Ultimately, the best template is one that you'll actually use, so focus on including only the features that are essential to your workflow.