Keyword research

Keyword research is the process of finding the phrases customers type into Google when they need your product or information, measuring how often each phrase is searched and what the searcher wants, and then choosing which phrases to write content for or bid on in ads.

What is keyword research for?

In its SEO Starter Guide, Google advises thinking about the words people would use to find your content, since experts and newcomers often search differently. Google also says you do not need to anticipate every variation: its systems can match a page to many queries even when the page does not repeat the exact words (Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide, accessed October 2026).

The results feed two jobs: choosing topics and page structure for SEO, and choosing keywords and bids for search ads.

Three numbers to read in Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner sits inside Google Ads: enter seed words or a website and it suggests related keywords with data. Your account needs billing information before you can use it (Google Ads Help, Use Keyword Planner, accessed October 2026).

• Avg. monthly searches (search volume): how often a keyword and its close variants were searched, averaged over 12 months by default. The numbers are rounded (Google Ads Help, About Keyword Planner forecasts, accessed October 2026).
• Competition: the number of advertisers showing on the keyword relative to all keywords on Google, shown as low, medium or high. This is ad competition, not SEO difficulty.
• Top of page bid: a low range near the 20th percentile and a high range near the 80th percentile of what advertisers have paid, based on the last 30 days.

For keywords your site already ranks for, open the Performance report in Google Search Console to see which queries bring impressions and clicks.

Search intent

Google’s guidelines for its search quality raters group queries by intent: Know (find information or explore a topic), Do (accomplish a goal such as buying or downloading), Website (find a specific site or page) and Visit-in-person (find a business or place to visit). One query can carry several intents (Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines, section 12.7, September 2025 edition). Keywords on the same topic with different intents belong on different pages.

Keyword research example: an ergonomic chair shop in Vietnam

The search volumes below are real Keyword Planner figures (Vietnam, Vietnamese language, checked October 2026). The shop, click share and conversion rate are hypothetical.

The short head term has by far the most searches but mixes every kind of searcher. A new shop should start with longer phrases (long-tail keywords) that show clear buying intent.

The category page targets “cheap” and “buy”: 880 + 210 = 1,090 searches a month. Assume the page turns 5% of those into clicks, about 55 clicks; at a 2% conversion rate that is about 1 order a month. Buying those 55 clicks at the high top of page bid for “buy ergonomic chair” (about VND 18,600, see CPC) would cost about VND 1 million.

The “what is an ergonomic chair” blog post brings in people who are still researching. It should link to the category page or a landing page so readers have a next step.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate are Keyword Planner search volumes?

They are rounded estimates that move with seasons and events. They are better for comparing keywords against each other than for forecasting traffic.

Should I write for a keyword that shows 0 searches?

Keyword Planner cannot show keywords with very low search volume, so 0 does not mean nobody searches it. If the phrase matches a question customers really ask, you can still write for it and track it in Search Console.

If you need a keyword set grouped by intent for both SEO and ads, contact Adtek.