Overview
Most businesses pick keywords based on search volume. It feels logical: more searches must mean more customers. But targeting the wrong keywords, even ones with thousands of monthly searches, can fill your site with visitors who never buy anything. Choosing keywords that bring customers starts with understanding why someone is searching, not just what they type. Get that right and your SEO efforts start to pay off.
Why Most Keyword Strategies Miss the Point
Keyword research tends to focus on traffic. Marketers find a term with decent volume, write content around it, and wait. The problem is that traffic without intent rarely converts. Someone searching “what is content marketing” wants an explanation. Someone searching “content marketing agency Brighton” wants to hire someone.
The difference matters. According to research on keyword research statistics, a 500-search transactional keyword that matches buyer intent will typically generate far more revenue than a 50,000-search informational term that rarely leads to a conversion. High volume is not the same as high value.
This is the core mistake: choosing keywords based on how many people search for them, rather than whether those people are likely to become customers.
Understand Search Intent Before You Choose a Keyword
Search intent is the reason behind a query. Every keyword fits into one of four categories, and knowing which category you are targeting tells you a lot about who you are attracting.
Informational intent
The searcher wants to learn something. Examples include “how does SEO work” or “what is keyword difficulty.” These searches are valuable for brand awareness but rarely lead to immediate sales. The reader is at the top of the funnel.
Commercial intent
The searcher is comparing options before deciding. Think “best SEO agency for small businesses” or “Ahrefs vs Semrush.” They know they have a problem and they are evaluating solutions. These are mid-funnel, and they are worth pursuing seriously.
Transactional intent
The searcher is ready to act. Phrases like “hire SEO agency,” “digital marketing agency pricing,” or “book a free consultation” signal someone close to a decision. These keywords have the highest conversion potential.
Navigational intent
The searcher wants to find a specific website or brand. Unless you are targeting your own brand name, these are usually not worth pursuing.
Before you commit to any keyword, check what is ranking for it. If the top results are blog posts and educational guides, the intent is informational. If the results are service pages, pricing pages, and paid ads, you are looking at commercial or transactional territory. This is the clearest signal you can get about what Google thinks searchers actually want.
The Case for Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are phrases of three or more words that are more specific than broad head terms. “SEO” is a head term. “Local SEO services for tradespeople in Brighton” is long-tail.
Long-tail keywords tend to have lower search volume, but they convert at a significantly higher rate. According to research by Whitehat SEO, long-tail keywords convert at 2.5 times the rate of short-tail terms, and they make up 91.8% of all searches. That combination of specificity and conversion rate is why they are such a rich seam for businesses looking to generate actual leads.
Long-tail keywords also tend to face less competition, which means a smaller site can realistically rank for them without years of authority-building. For a local marketing agency or a trades business, a phrase like “email marketing for construction companies Brighton” is far more attainable than “email marketing,” and far more likely to bring the right people.
If you want to go deeper on this, our guide to SEO for builders explores how smaller businesses can use specific, localised keywords to compete in their market.
How to Find Keywords Your Customers Actually Use
The best keyword research does not start with a tool. It starts with your customers.
Talk to your sales team
The questions prospects ask on calls, in emails, and at initial consultations are genuine keyword opportunities. These reflect the exact language buyers use when they are looking for a solution. Semrush recommends this approach precisely because it surfaces terms that tools often miss but that represent real decision points in the buying journey.
Use Google to your advantage
Type a seed keyword into Google and look at the autocomplete suggestions and the “People also ask” box. These surface real queries that real people are typing. The suggestions in autocomplete reflect actual search behaviour, not estimated volumes. They are particularly useful for finding long-tail variations that would otherwise be invisible.
Check your existing data
If your site is live, Google Search Console shows you the queries people are already using to find your pages. Look for keywords where you rank between positions 8 and 20. These are searches where you have some visibility but are not yet capturing much traffic. Adding intent modifiers or improving those pages can be a quick win.
Use keyword research tools
Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush help you understand search volume and keyword difficulty. These metrics are useful filters, but treat volume as directional rather than exact. Google Keyword Planner overestimates volumes 54% of the time, so use it to identify relative opportunity rather than precise numbers.
How to Filter Your List Down to the Keywords Worth Targeting
Once you have a list of potential keywords, you need to narrow it down. Here is a practical way to think about it.
First, remove anything with purely informational intent unless you are building out the top of your funnel deliberately. If your goal is to bring in customers in the next quarter, focus on commercial and transactional terms.
Second, look at keyword difficulty. Most tools give this a score from 1 to 100. High-volume keywords with high difficulty scores are rarely worth pursuing if your site is relatively new or lacks authority. SeoProfy suggests filtering for a difficulty score of 30 or lower as a starting point, then checking whether the remaining keywords still attract enough traffic to be worthwhile.
Third, check the SERP to see whether you can realistically compete. If page one is dominated by national brands with thousands of backlinks, you are unlikely to break through without serious investment. Look for pages where the current results are thin, outdated, or fail to answer the question well. These are the gaps you can fill.
Fourth, ask yourself a direct question: would someone searching this phrase be ready to talk to us within the next month? If yes, it belongs in your priority list. If not, it is content for later.
Mapping Keywords to the Right Pages
Not all keywords belong on the same type of page. Matching the keyword to the right format is just as important as choosing the keyword itself.
Informational keywords belong on blog posts, guides, and resource articles. Commercial keywords work well on comparison pages, service pages that address specific needs, or case studies. Transactional keywords belong on service pages, landing pages, and contact pages with a clear call to action.
Getting this wrong means your content will not rank, regardless of how good it is. According to Neil Patel, a page that mismatches intent with content format will fail to rank no matter how well optimised it is, because Google’s job is to show the right type of content, not just the best content.
One keyword per page is the standard approach. Trying to rank a single page for too many different keywords dilutes the focus and sends confusing signals to search engines. Choose one primary keyword per page, then support it with four to six closely related phrases that naturally appear in the content.
A Word on AI Search and How it Changes Things
AI search tools are changing how people phrase their queries. When someone asks Google a question, they might type four or five words. When they ask ChatGPT the same thing, they write a full sentence with context, constraints, and specifics.
This is worth factoring into your keyword strategy. The phrases your customers use in conversation with AI assistants tend to be far more specific and intent-rich than traditional search queries. Targeting these longer, conversational variations puts you in a better position for AI-driven discovery as well as traditional search.
It is also worth knowing that AI Overviews now appear for an estimated 86.8% of commercial searches, and they reduce organic click-through rates on the queries they appear for. Transactional and long-tail keywords are less affected by this than broad informational head terms, which is another reason to prioritise specificity over volume.
If you are also running paid campaigns alongside your SEO, our breakdown of SEO vs paid ads for long-term ROI is worth a read.
Start With Intent, Not Volume
The businesses that get the most from keyword research are not the ones chasing the biggest numbers. They are the ones who understand what their customers are trying to do at each stage of the buying journey, and who create content that meets them there.
Start with your customers’ language. Prioritise intent over volume. Focus on specificity and realistic competition. And map each keyword to the right type of page.
If you want help building a keyword strategy that actually converts, get in touch with the Adrageous team. We build organic search strategies that connect your brand with the people most likely to buy from you.
FAQs
What is the difference between informational and transactional keywords? Informational keywords are searched by people who want to learn something, such as “how does SEO work.” Transactional keywords are searched by people who are ready to take action, such as “hire an SEO agency.” Informational terms build awareness while transactional terms are more likely to generate direct enquiries or sales.
How do I find keywords my competitors are ranking for? Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush allow you to enter a competitor’s domain and see the keywords they rank for organically. Focus on their service pages and pricing pages to find the commercial and transactional terms that are most relevant to your business.
How many keywords should I target on one page? One primary keyword per page is the standard recommendation. Support it with four to six closely related phrases that naturally appear in your content. Trying to rank for too many unrelated keywords on a single page reduces its focus and can hurt performance.
Do long-tail keywords actually get enough searches to be worth it? Yes. Long-tail keywords make up the vast majority of all online searches and convert at a significantly higher rate than broad short-tail terms. Even keywords with relatively modest monthly search volumes can drive meaningful revenue if they attract people who are close to a buying decision.
How often should I review my keyword strategy? At minimum, review your keyword strategy every quarter. Search behaviour changes, competitors move, and new opportunities open up. If you are in a fast-moving industry or have recently launched new services, reviewing monthly is worthwhile.
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