How to Choose the Best Keywords for SEO (2025)

Are you writing website content and not seeing your site rise in the search engine results pages (SERPs)? If so, you're probably not targeting the best SEO keywords.

The SEO keyword research process can seem daunting at first. It's actually pretty simple. You just need a few tools, some time, and a good understanding of your market.

How to Choose the Right Keywords for SEO

I’ve broken down the search engine optimization (SEO) keyword research process into a step-by-step guide. By the time you're done, you’ll:

• Feel more comfortable finding the right SEO keywords for your site
• Have a better chance of ranking on the first page of organic search results

What you’ll need:

• A website
• Access to a keyword tool like Ahrefs or Semrush
• The name of at least one industry competitor
• An idea of your target audience’s interests and wants

Make a List of Seed Keywords

First, you need to make a list of seed keywords. These are the terms that will help you find your primary keywords.

To develop seed keywords, you can:

• Evaluate what you already know about your product, service, or audience.
• Check Google Search Console and Google Analytics for terms associated with your site
• Browse top social media hashtags
• Talk to your customer service team about the questions they get from existing users.
• Take a look at the Exploding Topics trend library and Meta Trends reports.

You need at least one seed keyword to start your research.

Once you’ve identified your seed keywords, enter them into your keyword research tool. I like to use the Semrush Keyword Overview, as it lets me analyze up to 100 seed keywords at a time.

You can then click on the results for any of your seed keywords to explore related terms, including questions.

Find Low-Competition Keywords

Now it’s time to pick out related keywords.

Keyword competition, or keyword difficulty, is a metric that assesses how hard it will be to achieve a good position in the SERP.

On a difficulty scale of 0-100, you can consider 100 as the hardest. As we see here, it'll be difficult for most websites to rank highly for “SEO tools.”

Here’s why I think Semrush shines for keyword research, though: you can enter any domain and see a customized difficulty score.

When I put “semrush.com” into this report, the keyword difficulty score drops from 85% to 13%. This is because the Semrush domain is highly relevant to the topic of SEO tools.

If I put in “dickssportinggoods.com,” though, the difficulty score jumps to 91%. This makes sense, as a sports equipment store website has nothing to do with SEO tools.

Most SEO tools (including Semrush) let you sort keyword lists by difficulty by clicking on the associated column header.

Sort your list so that the low-difficulty keywords are at the top, then pick out the ones that you like best.

Identify High Traffic Keywords

The lowest-difficulty keyword isn’t always the best choice, though. Ideally, you want to find keywords that have a low to moderate difficulty score and good search traffic.

The search volume number reported by SEO tools usually refers to average monthly searches. You can sort a list of keywords by volume the same way that you sorted by difficulty.

You can also use filters to narrow down your reports.

When I'm working on keyword selection, I apply filters to show me terms that have:

• A difficulty score of 0-30, and
• Search volume of at least 100

I'll then tweak my filters based on the number of results. Setting a high search volume threshold or changing the keyword difficulty range can narrow the number of options that you have to go through.

Check Keyword Search Intent

You can further narrow and improve your keyword list by evaluating search intent.

Search intent refers to what a searcher is hoping to get from their query. There are four types of search intent:

	What The Searcher Wants	Example Keyword	Type of Content
Informational Intent	An answer to a specific question	“Making sourdough bread at home”	Blog post
Navigational Intent	A particular webpage	“Google Drive login page”	Landing page
Commercial Intent	Information about a company or item they’re interested in	“Semrush vs. Moz”	Sales funnel
Transactional Intent	A way to buy, sign up, or otherwise make a conversion.	“Buy a kitchen scale”	Product page

It’s important to make sure that you select keywords with a search intent aligned to the purpose of your page.

For example, if I want to publish a blog post about car repair, I’ll need to find informational keywords that align with my how-to topic, not commercial keywords that may be best for an e-commerce company selling car parts.

Check SERP Features

When people talk about ranking in the first spot on Google SERPs, they're usually referring to the standard blue website links that appear on every search result.

But you can also appear in a SERP via features, which consist of photos, videos, text, reviews, and other relevant information.

Depending on the keyword, there may be multiple SERP features in the results, including:

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are AI-generated answers that attempt to answer the query. The content is typically sourced from top-ranking results.

The latest SEO statistics suggest that AI Overviews appear in more than 74% of problem-solving queries.

Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are links that Google chooses to highlight at the top of the results.

Grabbing a featured snippet is a sure-fire way to drive more traffic to your site. And research suggests that obtaining a featured snippet gives you a 60% chance of appearing in an AI Overview as well.

People Also Ask

People Also Ask questions are related queries that other users have searched for.

Optimizing your content for People Also Ask questions is another way to get more traffic.

Local Pack

Local packs display information relevant to your location, including a map and local business listings.

By looking for keywords that have a SERP feature, you can both get more keyword ideas (such as the questions in the People Also Ask section) and increase your share of voice in the search results.

Assess Business and Audience Potential

Of course, any keyword you choose needs to be something that your target audience will actually search for.

If my company only sells products for runners, I'd waste time by targeting "best battery-powered drills."

Ask yourself:

• Do these search queries make sense for my target audience?
• Do I have information or products to offer people searching a specific keyword?
• Do the keywords align with how I want to market my brand?

If the answer is “yes” to all three, then you’ve found a keyword with potential!

Conduct a Competitor Keyword Gap Analysis

You can also look to competitors for high-potential keywords. A keyword gap analysis is one of the best ways to do this.

During the competitor analysis process, you compare your site's keywords against a competitor's.

Tools like the Semrush Keyword Gap report make this process much faster than if you tried to do it manually. Just plug in your domain and at least one competitor to see:

• Keywords that you rank highly for and your competitors don’t
• Keywords that your competitors rank well for and you don’t
• Keywords that one competitor ranks well for, but you and the others don’t

By applying the same process of considering keyword difficulty, search volume, and search intent to your competitor analysis, you can:

• Surpass a competitor in the SERP
• Target valuable searches that your competitors are ignoring
• Improve existing content
• Address low-hanging fruit for quick wins

Frequently Asked Questions: Choosing SEO Keywords

How Do I Choose Keywords for SEO?

Your primary SEO keywords should be those with:

• Highest brand or product relevance
• Proper search intent alignment
• A reasonable keyword difficulty score
• Existing search volume

How Do I Know What Keywords to Use for SEO?

When choosing keywords to use for SEO, look for terms that:

• Aren’t too competitive
• Have a decent monthly search volume (though lower search volume isn't always a bad thing!)
• Align with the proper search intent for your webpage
• Directly relate to your products and audience
• Focus on a topic about which you can provide valuable information or resources

Which Keywords Are Best To Target for SEO?

The best keywords to target for SEO are ones that closely align with your company, expertise, and audience.

It’s better to pick a highly relevant keyword with a search volume of 50 than a high search volume keyword that's not related to your business.

How Do I Use Keywords In My Content?

It’s important to include primary keywords in your content without overusing each term. A good approach is to use your primary keyword in the page title, and put your most important secondary keywords in any subheadings.

You can use primary and secondary keywords throughout the page too…if you can do it naturally.

If you find yourself awkwardly rearranging text to stuff in keywords, your content might not meet EEAT guidelines.

Are There Free Tools For SEO Keyword Research?

Yes, there are free tools that can help you find target keywords and related search terms. Google Keyword Planner is one option, but it requires you to log into a Google Ads account.

You can actually use Semrush for free, and we even have our own free keyword research tool! Both are a great place to start your SEO efforts.

How Do I Prioritize SEO Keywords?

There are a few different metrics by which to prioritize SEO keywords. You could choose terms that:

• Closely align with your planned digital marketing campaigns, content strategy, or upcoming product launches
• Have high potential based on your competitor gap analysis
• Your site ranks poorly for at present
• Target a specific user intent
• Offer the best ratio of high organic traffic volume to low keyword difficulty

Another often-overlooked method of keyword prioritization is by evaluating the term’s trend data to see changes in interest. You can find trending keyword information in two ways:

1. View historical trend data in Google Trends or via Semrush
2. Explore forward-looking trend forecasts with Exploding Topics Pro

Next Steps: Find Keywords with Potential for Growth

Take your SEO research process even further with Exploding Topics Pro.

Incorporating our trend forecasts into your keyword research and prioritization process gives you an additional competitive edge.

When you combine Exploding Topics Pro with traditional keyword research tools like Semrush, you'll:

• Quickly identify new seed keywords
• Give your SEO strategy a long-range edge
• Get a better understanding of what your audience wants
• Discover keyword opportunities your others are missing

Get started with a 14-day Exploding Topics Pro trial for just $1. You'll get full access to our best tools—and an immediate boost in your SEO research process.