How to Uncover Valuable Keywords for Content - Expert Tips
Finding the right keywords can make or break your content strategy, but knowing where to start often feels overwhelming. This guide compiles proven strategies from seasoned SEO professionals who have cracked the code on keyword research that actually drives results. From uncovering low-competition opportunities to mining social platforms for real user language, these expert-backed techniques will help you build a keyword strategy that connects with your audience and supports your business goals.
Prioritize Pain-Led, Low-Volume Searches
I start keyword research by mapping real pain-driven questions customers ask before they ever search for a product, like "how to relieve lower back pain at home" or "nerve pain relief without meds." I use Ahrefs as my primary tool, but I validate everything against Google's "People Also Ask" and AI search answers to understand intent, not just volume. My process prioritizes problem-aware and solution-aware keywords over product terms, because that's where trust is built early.
I also cluster keywords by pain type (sciatic, neck, joint) and stage of awareness so content naturally guides users toward massager solutions. One tip: the most valuable keywords often look "low volume" but convert incredibly well because they mirror how real people describe their pain, not how brands describe products.
Expand from Existing Rankings
Hi there,
Thanks for the opportunity to pitch to you today.
My name is Brandon Grill, and I'm the owner of BG Copywriter, a marketing firm specializing in marketing for mental health private practices.
Your query speaks directly to me because keyword research is where I love to be. I love helping clients identify the appropriate keywords for their site and their domain authority level.
So my tip is to start with what the site already ranks for, then build outward.
So what that looks like is going into Ahrefs, my favorite keyword research tool, exporting every keyword that the website currently ranks for, then mapping those keywords, i.e., choosing primary keywords from that list and mapping it to specific URLs on the website, and only choosing one primary keyword per URL.
Then there's going to be a lot of keywords left over.
And from here, you pick and choose secondary keywords.
What's really cool about this is you're already ranking for these secondary keywords without a dedicated URL. So by creating dedicated content for that keyword with a dedicated URL, you strengthen your topic cluster and your topical authority, and you're going to rank better for that keyword assuredly.
So that's my favorite tip. It's very practical, easy to do.
If you only did that for a website that's had some SEO investment before, you'd be on a strong footing to increasing rankings, topical authority, and likely backlinks. Of course, I have other tips for brand new websites, just let me know if you want me to talk about that and I'd be happy to.
Okay, thanks again for the opportunity, and I appreciate the work that you're doing.
Best,
Brandon Grill
BG Copywriter: bgcopywriter.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mental-health-copywriter
Anticipate Emerging Demand Early
We treat keyword research as a forecasting exercise that looks ahead rather than reacting. The process starts by identifying emerging terms before they reach broad adoption across industries. Semrush helps us track early-stage keyword growth across regions over time. We analyze low volume queries with rising click through rates to spot demand early.
We compare how keywords perform across informational and evaluative content to confirm alignment. If a term supports both formats, it shows strong intent and practical value. We avoid keywords driven by hype and focus instead on workflow improvement and measurable outcomes. Strategy works best when we anticipate future questions and plan content with foresight.
Adapt to Mobile Social Needs
Keyword research today requires a mobile-first, social-first mindset. I no longer focus on chasing high-volume global keywords. Instead, I prioritize hyper-local intent, conversational language, and real user behavior shaped by mobile usage. I start by analyzing context-driven search intent. Some users value speed, convenience, and fast delivery, while others care more about price sensitivity and data-efficient experiences. From there, I build seed keywords in the primary local language and expand them into long-tail phrases that reflect how people naturally speak, not how brands want to rank.
I consistently mine the "People Also Ask" section to uncover real questions and validate those insights on social platforms, where discovery often happens before search. Short-form video trends and hashtags act as early demand indicators. For execution, I rely on SEO tools with strong local datasets, combined with trend analysis platforms. I deliberately target mixed-language, slang-driven queries, because overlooking them means missing a significant share of mobile-driven traffic and intent.
Leverage AI-Sourced Opportunities
I've started looking at what questions AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity actually pull answers from. It sounds common but it tells you what content is getting picked up by AI, not just Google. So I search my topic in those tools and see which sources they cite. Then I reverse engineer what those pages are doing right. What questions are they answering? How are they structuring things? That gives me keywords and content angles that work for both traditional SEO and this whole new AI search world.
For tools, I still use Ahrefs for the basics. But the edge lately comes from combining that with AI search testing. Most people are still just chasing Google rankings. But if your content shows up when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question, that's a whole new traffic source people aren't even tracking yet.
Align Topics with Business Outcomes
Keyword research is still one of the most important foundations of any SEO and content strategy.
My process for effective keyword research is a mix of data, intent, and real-world business context.
I usually start by understanding the business goals first — whether we're aiming for leads, sales, brand visibility, or education. From there, I map keywords based on search intent, not just volume. I group them into informational, commercial, and transactional keywords so content is created with a clear purpose instead of just "ranking for traffic."
Next, I expand keyword ideas using a combination of tools and SERP analysis. I don't rely on tools alone — I look at what's already ranking, how competitors structure their content, and what Google is actually rewarding on page one. That gives me strong clues about content depth, format, and user expectations.
My favorite keyword research tool is Ahrefs. I use it heavily for keyword expansion, parent topic analysis, and understanding ranking difficulty beyond just the KD score. I also cross-check with Google Search Console and Google's "People Also Ask" to uncover real questions users are already searching for.
One practical tip for identifying valuable keywords:
Don't chase high-volume keywords blindly. I look for keywords where:
The intent clearly matches the business offer
The SERP isn't dominated by huge authority sites only
There's an opportunity to create something more useful, clearer, or more practical than what's currently ranking
In many cases, lower-volume, high-intent keywords drive better leads and conversions than flashy head terms.
At the end of the day, effective keyword research isn't about finding more keywords — it's about choosing the right ones and turning them into content that genuinely helps users and supports business outcomes.
Bridge Entities with Unanswered Intent
For content strategy, choosing keywords is like selecting entities. You have to look at the product you're selling, how you want to market it, and what type of informative content you can cover. Then, you look at others in the industry—if it's not a monopoly, you have to find a unique USP to add.
The research begins by listing all entities and auditing existing blogs to identify what hasn't been covered yet. Tools like Semrush certainly help, but the real strategy is identifying 'content holes' where others only scratch the surface.
My Tip is to target 'unanswered intent.' Look for the missing links between technical data and what the user actually needs.
If you can bridge the gap between complex topics and user intent, you don't just participate in the market; you can own the entity.
Own Mid-Volume, Low-Difficulty Phrases
The first place to start is with the client and understanding what is their USP (Unique Selling Proposition), what makes them stand out from the competition. Yes it's important to included high volume search terms, but the real wins are focusing on the middle ground, searches of between 400-600 per month, this shows that they are being searched, but normally there is less competition. I use a combination of Ubersuggests and Answer the public, Urbersuggests I get the short tail keywords sorted and Answer the public I see all the long tail keywords for producing good quality blog content. So the strategy is simple, target keywords that have low to medium volume and have difficulty screes of less than 40, this means there is less competition and you are more likely to rank quicker for. My last tip is to focus in on a specific keyword and own it, as an example I chose 'Small business marketing consultant' and then tried to create content around all of the variations, like 'marketing consultant for small business' and even focusing on the plural, so using 'consultants'. While I'm not number one, I do feature high in search for these search terms and attract more clients this way.
Pursue Proven, Persistent Competitor Terms
One mistake we made early on was treating keyword research like a numbers game instead of a decision-making tool. We'd pick keywords with good volume, write the content, and still see pages stall because the traffic wasn't actually useful.
Our process changed when we started using SpyFu to study what competitors consistently rank and pay for, not just what looks good on paper. One thing we always look for is keywords that competitors have been ranking or bidding on for a long time, even if the search volume is low. That usually means the keyword brings in real leads.
For example, we noticed a competitor had been bidding on the same service-related keyword for over a year. When we built content around that exact topic, it became one of our highest-converting pages. The lesson for us was simple: keywords that stick around are often more valuable than keywords that just look popular.
Build Pillars around Audience Value
I think effective keyword research starts with understanding who you're speaking to and why they should care. Because our primary audience is MSPs, our keyword strategy is built around the topics that matter most to them: how to market their services more effectively, differentiate in a crowded space, and speak to real business outcomes.
We start with broad themes relevant to MSPs, such as cybersecurity, IT services, compliance, and co-managed support. From there, we refine those topics into more focused categories and questions, often organizing them into structured content series that look at the topic from multiple angles instead of one-off posts. This pillar-and-subtopic approach allows us to build depth, consistency, and authority while keeping the content educational and engaging. Because, let's be honest, often reading one short content post leaves you with more questions that you end up going to a different site to answer. You don't need to write a textbook, but seriously, give it some thought... explain concepts, strategies, and realities that are really relevant to your audience.
When creating content for clients, we follow the same framework but tailor it to their specific focus. If an MSP specializes in a particular vertical (like legal or healthcare), we layer in industry-specific keywords around compliance, risk, and security challenges unique to that space. The goal isn't just traffic; it's relevance. We want to attract readers who are already interested in the subject matter and likely to become qualified leads.
Our primary keyword research tool is Semrush. It allows us to start with a broad keyword and uncover related phrases, questions, and patterns that naturally support a content series. The most important tip for identifying valuable keywords is to align them with your business's value proposition. When your content reflects what you actually offer and the problems you solve, it resonates with the right audience, and that's where keyword research truly pays off.
Target Local Problem-Driven Emergencies
My keyword research focuses on LOCAL SEARCH INTENT than broad traffic volume because home service customers need immediate solutions in specific geographic areas. I use GKP and Google My Business data to see what exact phrases people are searching for when they're having heating, cooling, plumbing or electrical troubles in our service areas.
The first component is CUSTOMER PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION, which can be accomplished through analysis of service calls and customer complaints. That helps show us the precise language people use when they have pressing questions. For example, one of our plumber clients discovered that people searched more for "toilet won't flush all the way" than they did for "toilet repair," so now we've created content that speaks to specific problems and not general services.
My guilty pleasure tool is GMB performance data (actual search queries driving calls and directions from your local consumers). This is better than basic keyword volume estimates because it demonstrates what shapes business.
A good keyword strategy is to go for LONG-TAIL EMERGENCY PHRASEs which our competitors would be less likely to have and use, just because they seem like a low search numbers. Terms such as "furnace making loud noise at night" or "water heater leaking basement" might not be as competitive but could draw the kind of ready-to-hire customers your client would want to speak with.
Mine Platform Language Word for Word
We start keyword research by using Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to review comments, captions, DMs, and hashtag trends, which gives us the exact phrases our audience uses. My favorite tool for this is Instagram, because hashtag and comment language shows the words people actually use. Tip: pull recurring phrases word for word from those threads to spot valuable keywords and guide your content.
Apply Attribute-Focused Metadata Keywords
We use a two-pronged process of keyword research and copywriting to optimize metadata, starting with identifying terms that balance search volume, difficulty, and clear user intent. Ahrefs is my go-to for surfacing those opportunities, which we then translate into titles and descriptions that align with how users search. Tip: mine Google’s People Also Ask and apply a “Specifications Strategy” to target specific product or feature attributes that signal strong intent.
Capitalize GSC Insights with Untapped Impressions
My favourite keyword research tool isn't even meant to be a keyword tool but meant to be a broader webmaster console - Google Search Console (GSC). GSC is filled with tons of useful information for SEO and one of my favourite components is the Queries report which shows you a sampling of which keywords your site currently ranks for and an estimate of the total impressions you generated. When combing through here, you can identify which keywords should be the focus of upcoming content based on the discrepancy between your clicks and total impressions - for instance, if you generated lots of impressions but low clicks you know this term is popular but you're ranking too low to take advantage of all that's out there. Overall, I find optimizing where you currently have a foot in the door pays better immediate dividends that branching out even further.
Listen on Reddit, Validate with Data
Keyword research always begins with understanding how people actually look for information. Before diving into tools, the focus is on the questions they ask and the language they use. That's where Reddit has become surprisingly useful.
For niche or technical topics, Reddit threads often reveal how audiences describe their challenges. Those conversations show what people care about, what confuses them, and what words they naturally associate with a subject. Once those insights are clear, tools like Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner help validate them.
Each keyword is then checked for search intent. Informational terms guide educational pieces while commercial ones inform landing pages and case studies. The process feels less like chasing numbers and more like tracing the way real conversations evolve online.
Reddit helps uncover the why behind a search, and the tools confirm where that demand actually lives. Together they turn research into something closer to listening and that always leads to better content decisions.
Pair SERanking with Console Signals
At EMILY, effective keyword research is the backbone of every successful content strategy and we treat it like both a science and a strategy.
We start with SERanking, our go-to platform for competitive keyword research. It allows us to analyze what our competitors are ranking for, identify gaps in their coverage, and uncover hidden opportunities with high-volume, low-difficulty keywords. We combine this with Google Search Console to track real-time performance, what keywords are actually driving impressions and clicks to our clients' websites right now.
From there, we use a Gaps and Pillar Strategy, clustering keywords around foundational "pillar" topics and branching out into related "cluster" content that supports long-term visibility and internal linking strength.
Pro tip for identifying valuable keywords:
Look for intent-rich keywords, phrases that signal what someone is trying to do (buy, learn, compare, solve). These often have lower competition and convert better. For example, "how to start a SEP IRA for employees" might not have massive volume, but it attracts users with clear purpose and interest, which is gold for niche content.
By using data from SERanking and Google Search Console side-by-side, we not only build smarter strategies, we adapt them as real-world user behavior shifts. That's what makes our SEO approach both agile and performance-driven.
Seek Zero-Volume Decision-Maker Queries
First, I review voice-of-customer data, such as sales calls, support tickets, and Reddit threads, to identify the problems our audience wants to solve. We turn those pain points into search queries and check the data to see how we can guide the conversation.
We still use Ahrefs for most tasks, but my favorite strategy tool right now is AlsoAsked. It displays 'People Also Ask' data to reveal how questions are connected. This helps us see not only what users search for, but also the order in which their questions come up.
If I could give one tip for 2026, it would be to stop worrying about 'Zero Search Volume' keywords. Most tools miss real traffic from very specific, bottom-of-funnel searches. In B2B and fintech, a keyword with '0 volume' can still mean a CEO or decision-maker is searching and ready to buy. We see these micro-keywords as valuable and focus more on visitor quality than on the number of clicks.
Harvest Autocomplete and PAA Questions
You don't always need expensive software to find good keywords. One of my most effective strategies involves just using Google itself. I learned this when I was broke and starting my freelance career. I couldn't afford the big enterprise tools, so I had to get creative.
I type my main topic into the Google search bar but don't hit enter. I just watch the autocomplete suggestions. Then I go through the alphabet. "Dog walking a...", "Dog walking b...", and so on. This shows you what real people are actually typing in right now.
For a pet sitting client, we found "dog walking rates for 2 dogs" this way. No tool was showing high volume for it yet, but Google suggested it immediately. We built a pricing calculator page around that term. It became their highest converting landing page.
I also use a free browser extension called Keywords Everywhere to see rough volume data right there in the search bar. But the real value is seeing the "People also ask" box. I click on those questions to expand them, and Google gives me more. I keep clicking until I have a list of twenty real questions. That is my content calendar for the month.
