Start with the workflow
Interview sales, support and onboarding teams. Capture the words users use when they are trying to complete a job, compare options or recover from a problem. Those phrases are usually more actionable than a generic category keyword.
Score an opportunity
Here are the key things to get right. None of them are complicated on their own, but skipping one tends to undermine the rest.
- Specificity: does the query reveal a real task or use case?
- Intent: is the visitor learning, evaluating or ready to act?
- Fit: can the product or service genuinely help?
- Competition: can the page be more complete or more useful?
- Expansion: can the page link naturally to features, integrations or support?
Once an opportunity scores well, turn it into a page using the steps below.
- Group close keyword variations under one primary intent.
- Check the existing search result format and page quality.
- Choose a page type: feature, use case, integration, comparison or guide.
- Write the answer and conversion path before publishing.
- Review impressions and qualified actions, not traffic alone.
Low difficulty is not a strategy by itself. A low-volume query with strong problem fit can outperform a larger query that attracts the wrong visitor.
Sources worth mining before a keyword tool
The list below breaks this down into the parts that matter most. Read through each one and note anything that applies to your own setup.
- Support ticket subject lines and search terms inside the help centre.
- Sales call transcripts where a prospect describes their problem in their own words.
- Community forums, review sites and Reddit threads mentioning the category.
- Competitor comparison pages and the questions their reviews keep repeating.
- Onboarding survey answers about why a user signed up.
A quick prioritisation checklist
Before making changes, work through the points below. Each one covers a different part of the picture, so treat them as a set rather than picking favourites.
- The query maps to a page type that already exists or is easy to create.
- The searcher's next step is something the product supports.
- No existing page on the site already targets the same intent.
- The topic will not need a full rewrite within a few months.