Keyword Prioritization: Are You Targeting the Right Ones?

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• Only 15% of daily Google searches are brand new, emphasizing the need for keyword research that changes.
• High search volume doesn’t guarantee sales—what people want and if it fits your business matter more.
• Targeting keywords that are too competitive when you don't have authority wastes SEO time and money.
• Matching keywords to where people are in their buying process helps content fit customer needs, making people more interested.
• Automating content based on priority keywords makes publishing faster and helps put the plan into action.

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SEO can quickly become complex—between keyword research, changing algorithms, and endless competition, it’s easy to feel unsure about where to start. A key part of a good SEO plan that many miss is choosing which keywords matter most. Instead of looking at lots of search terms, choosing helps you focus on the ones that really count. These are the words that bring the right people to your site, match what they want, and help you meet your business goals.

Why Choosing Keywords Is Key to SEO Success

The number of keywords you find in keyword research won’t matter if you're targeting terms your ideal customers don’t search for—or if you have no realistic shot at ranking for them. Anyone can gather a list with hundreds or thousands of words, but without choosing which ones to focus on, you risk wasting time, energy, and budget.

Here’s what choosing keywords helps you do:

• Focus on terms based on customers: Find out what your customers are really searching for. Don't just go for words that look popular or get lots of traffic.
• Don't chase distractions: Skip keywords that are too hard to rank for or don't matter. These waste time and money.
• Match your overall SEO plan: Make content with a clear goal. Base it on where your audience is in their buying steps.

If you don't choose keywords, your SEO plan is like waiting around, hoping to get lucky with the wrong directions. But when you do it right, it's the base for an SEO plan that lasts and can grow.

Understanding the Real Value of a Keyword

Not all keywords are created equal. Some attract tons of no-action traffic. Others have a smaller monthly search volume but bring in high-value leads. Choosing keywords means knowing what makes them helpful, not just easy to see.

Let’s break it down:

1. Fit with Business Goals

A keyword might be popular, but if it doesn’t reflect your products, services, or audience pain points, it won’t add value. For instance, a local digital agency targeting general keywords like “advertising” may generate traffic—but from users outside their specific area or where they work.

Example: Don’t target “real estate” if you specialize in digital marketing for realtors. Instead, choose “real estate SEO agency” as a priority.

2. Potential for Sales

Will the person searching the keyword be likely to become a lead, subscriber, or buyer? Keywords that show someone is close to doing something, like buying or signing up, are better because they often lead to results.

Tip: Think beyond traffic. Choose terms that get people to act, like “buy crm platform for real estate agents.” Don't focus as much on general terms like “what is a crm?”

3. How You Stack Up Against Others

Even if a keyword fits your business well, words that lots of others use might be almost impossible to rank for when you're just starting out in SEO. This is especially true if your website isn't well known yet. A better plan is to find keywords that aren't used by many others. These words should still fit what you do and be ones you can actually rank for.

Critical Keyword Metrics That Matter

When you look at keywords, you'll see many numbers. However, only a few really help you decide which keywords matter most. Let's look at the numbers that show you the most important things.

Search Volume

This metric looks at how many users search for a given keyword each month. At first, bigger numbers look better. But you need to understand the situation.

• Words that get lots of searches often have lots of competition and people searching aren't always looking for something specific.
• Keywords that get fewer searches (especially long-tail words) can work better. This is because the people searching know more about what they want, and there's less competition.

Tip: A word searched 300 times a month where people want to buy might do better than a general word searched 10,000 times.

Keyword Difficulty (KD)

This score estimates how challenging it would be to rank on the first page of Google for a given term. Tools and common keyword research programs rate KD on a scale (usually 0–100). They consider how well known your website is, how many links point to it, and the content on pages currently ranking high.

If your website is new or not very known, trying to rank for keywords that are hard to get is much less likely to work. Instead, go for keywords that are easier to rank for. Look for ones that fit your specific business area and show up higher in search results more easily.

Business Fit & Search Intent

Search intent refers to the why behind a search. A main part of choosing keywords is figuring out if what someone is searching for matches what you sell or do.

Four main ways people search:

• Informational: The search user wants to learn something (“what is closing cost?”).
• Navigational: The user is looking for a specific site or brand (“Zillow mortgage calculator”).
• Transactional: The intent is to buy or convert soon (“buy CRM software”).
• Commercial Investigation: The user is comparing options (“best CRMs for small business 2024”).

If you want people to take action, focus on searches where they want to buy or find options. But don't forget searches where they just want info, because these can be good ways for people to first find you.

Step 1: Match Keywords to Buyer Stages

A good SEO plan follows the steps someone takes before they decide to buy. Choosing keywords works best when you match them to these steps:

Top of Funnel (TOFU) – Awareness

These keywords cover questions, terms, and broad topics. They often get lots of traffic, but people searching might not buy right away.

Examples:

• “how to choose a listing agent”
• “what is home staging?”

Use these to show you know a lot about a topic and to build trust.

Middle of Funnel (MOFU) – Consideration

Your audience is actively comparing solutions and looking for the best fit. These keywords are usually longer and more specific.

Examples:

• “best home staging software”
• “compare listing agents vs selling agents”

MOFU content should teach people things and softly show what makes you special.

Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) – Decision

These are your money-makers—keywords that signal buying intent. They often use brand names or words that show someone is ready to do something, like buy.

Examples:

• “hire real estate agent Austin TX”
• “list my house with Compass Realty”

Your content should help them take the next step. Use clear calls to action, ways to get their contact info, and reviews from others.

Step 2: Score and Segment Keywords by How Likely They Are to Work

To help you focus on making content, split keywords into groups and give them a score based on how likely they are to work. Here’s a basic scoring system:

Create a Score for How Likely They Are to Work

Assign points (scale of 1 to 10) for each number:

• Volume: How often the keyword is searched.
• Difficulty: How hard it will be to rank.
• Intent: How likely it is to lead to a sale or sign-up.
• Business fit: How well it fits with what you do.

Add the scores. Keywords that score between 30–40 should be at the top of your list. These are good keywords to go after as part of your SEO plan.

Put Keywords Into Groups

• Strike Zone: Not much competition + people really want to buy. These are the fast wins.
• Watchlist: Lots of searches + hard to rank for. Start making groups of content to help rank for these over time.
• Supportive: Keywords that don't lead to sales as much or are for people just learning (TOFU). These help you show you know a lot about the topic and get links from other sites.

Tool Example: Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush let you use filters to make lists of groups. You can then export these lists to use when planning content.

Step 3: Build SEO Content Campaigns Around Priority Keywords

After you have your list of keywords in groups, think about running content campaigns, not just writing single blog posts. Each keyword you put first can be the center of a whole group of content.

Build Main Content Pieces

Main BOFU or MOFU keywords can be the main pages for groups of content:

• “Best CRM software for property managers” → Main blog post.
• Other TOFU content around it → “Why do property managers need a CRM?”, “How to automate client follow-up.”

This way, linking pages together inside your site makes sense. It also helps you show you know a lot about the topic, which helps you rank better.

Example Campaign Flow

• Main Piece: Best real estate CRM 2024
• TOFU piece #1: Benefits of real estate CRMs
• TOFU piece #2: How to choose a real estate CRM
• MOFU piece: Top 5 real estate CRMs compared
• BOFU piece: Demo request landing page

Choosing the Right Tools for Choosing Keywords

Choosing keywords often means looking through hundreds of words. Doing this by hand is slow and boring. The right SEO tools make this process easier.

Tools for Beginners

• Google Keyword Planner: Free and gives basic search volume data.
• Ubersuggest: An easy tool to start with. It gives you a difficulty score, ideas, and content suggestions.

More Advanced Tools

• SEMrush: This tool can show you keywords you're missing, group keywords, tell you how hard they are, and show you what the search results page looks like now.
• Ahrefs: Good for checking links to your site, scoring how hard keywords are, and getting helpful data about how people click.

Tools Using AI

New tools like Clearscope, MarketMuse, and SurferSEO use AI to help you with keyword research. They also score your content and help you structure pages.

The Role of Automation in Your SEO Content Plan

Doing keyword tasks by hand takes a lot of time. It's too hard to keep up with as you grow. Tools that automate content help you use your priority keywords quickly.

Here’s how:

• Templates: Teach tools how you write so they can help with blogs, emails, or scripts that sound like you.
• Bulk scheduling: Plan months of content from one keyword list.
• Using content on many places: Take one piece and make it into posts for LinkedIn, stories, newsletters, and paid ads.

When you use automation for content linked to your main keywords, your SEO work runs smoothly and you know what to expect. And your team won't get tired out.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Keywords

Even experienced marketers make simple mistakes after keyword research is complete. Don't make these mistakes so your SEO plan stays on track:

• Chasing Keywords Only by How Many Searches They Get Lots of searches won't help you if they don't lead to sales. They make numbers look good but don't bring in new business.

• Ignoring What People Want When They Search Choosing keywords that don't match what people want confuses them. This leads to low interest.

• Not Looking at the Search Results Page If you don't look at the search results page now, you won't know who you're really competing with or what kind of content you need to make.

• Not Checking Keyword Plans Every Three Months How people search changes. Checking every three months helps you see what's new and remove keywords that don't work anymore.

• Content That Isn't Very Good or Is Repeated Don't just put keywords into content that isn't very helpful just to try and rank. Google's system likes good, detailed content.

Key Takeaways

• Choosing keywords is the smart step that turns keyword research into results for your business.
• Think about what people want when they search, how many others use the keyword, how often it's searched, and how well it fits your business. Do this for each keyword.
• Match keywords to where people are when they're thinking about buying. This helps you give them content that fits what they need better.
• Use automation tools to make more content faster based on your important keywords.
• Don't fall into common mistakes, like not looking at search results or trying to rank just for keywords that look good but don't help your business.

Keep Learning

Want to do more than just choose keywords? Want to build complete SEO content systems? Learn about things like grouping content, linking pages inside your site, and making changes to your pages. These help show you know a lot about a topic. Then make things easier by using automation tools. These tools can turn keyword lists into content plans ready to help you rank, without needing more time from your team.