Keyword Research
Keyword research that maps intent, not just volume.
Intent classified per query. KD calibrated to your domain authority. 50-100 keywords worth pursuing, not a 5,000-row vanity dump.
- Every keyword tagged by search intent
- KD calibrated to your domain authority
- 50-100 prioritised targets, not 5,000 rows
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Most keyword research lists chase monthly volume.And ignore whether the intent actually drives revenue.We prioritise intent before volume.
Most keyword research lists chase monthly volume. And ignore whether the intent actually drives revenue. We prioritise intent before volume.
A real keyword list separates the 5,000-row export from the 50-100 keywords actually worth pursuing. We use Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool, Google Search Console for queries you already get impressions on, AlsoAsked for People Also Ask clustering, and Google Trends for seasonality. Each keyword is then classified by intent, calibrated against your domain authority, and scored on impact-to-effort so the list you act on is the list that compounds revenue, not just sessions.
See keyword research outcomesHow a keyword research engagement runs
How a LASEO keyword research engagement runs
Five phases over two to three weeks. Output is a prioritised target list of 50-100 keywords, clustered, classified and scored, not a raw export. Then quarterly refresh tracking as SERPs shift.
- 01
Business and commercial goal alignment (week 1)
We start with revenue, not search volume. Which products, services or categories drive the most margin. Which pages already convert when traffic arrives. Which segments you want to expand into next quarter. That conversation defines the seed keywords. Output: a written brief naming the three to five commercial outcomes the keyword list must support.
- 02
Seed expansion in Ahrefs and SEMrush (week 1)
Seed keywords expanded through Ahrefs Keyword Explorer (Matching Terms, Related, Questions) and SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool. We pull GSC Performance for queries you already get impressions on (a goldmine usually ignored). AlsoAsked for People Also Ask clustering. Google Search Operators (site:, intitle:) to find what competitors actually rank for. Output: a raw candidate list of 3,000-8,000 keywords.
- 03
Search intent classification (week 2)
Every candidate above a volume floor gets a live SERP check. Tagged informational (guides, how-to), commercial (comparisons, alternatives, reviews), transactional (pricing, buy, demo) or navigational (brand names). Info-only queries with no commercial path go to a separate awareness queue. Commercial and transactional queries stay in the priority queue. Output: 1,000-2,000 keywords with intent labels.
- 04
KD calibration to your domain authority (week 2)
Each surviving keyword is filtered against your actual domain authority. Top 10 backlink profiles checked manually for the top 30 candidates. Keywords where the top 10 averages DR 70+ and you sit at DR 30 get demoted. Keywords where the top 10 has weaker pages than yours get promoted, even if the KD score looks high. The Ahrefs KD column is a starting point, not the verdict.
- 05
Prioritised target list (week 3)
Surviving keywords clustered into parent topic plus long-tail groups. Each cluster scored on commercial value (CPC, conversion intent), traffic ceiling (volume x realistic CTR), SERP difficulty (calibrated KD plus manual SERP scan) and effort. Top 50-100 form the priority target list with cluster maps, SERP feature notes and recommended page format. Output: the keyword research spreadsheet plus a 6-page strategy memo.
Keyword research as arevenue map, not a volume list.
The keyword research that ships value is the keyword research that gets cut. The 5,000-row Ahrefs export is the easy part. The hard work is removing the 4,900 keywords with wrong intent, ceiling-locked SERPs or KDs that your DR 30 site has no business chasing. What survives is a list of 50-100 keywords that map to specific pages, specific revenue lines and a realistic ranking timeline.
What keyword research actually means
Keyword research, explained without the tool-vendor hype
Keyword research is the discovery and prioritisation step before content strategy. It maps the commercial query space your domain can realistically compete in. Different from keyword planning (which is the act of choosing which keywords go into which content piece) and different from content gap analysis (which compares your existing rankings to a specific competitor set).
Keyword research vs keyword planning
Keyword research is discovery and prioritisation: which keywords are worth pursuing across your market. Keyword planning is execution and assignment: which keyword goes on which page, on which week, written by whom. Most teams confuse the two and end up with a research deliverable that pretends to be a content calendar. Research first, planning second, with a clear handoff between them.
Search intent classification, the part most tools skip
Ahrefs and SEMrush will both label intent algorithmically, and both get it wrong roughly 30% of the time on commercial queries. The only reliable intent classifier is a human reading the top 10 SERP and noting whether it is guides, comparisons, product pages or branded results. We do that read for every keyword that makes the priority list. The tools support the read; they do not replace it.
Why KD has to be calibrated to your domain
A KD of 35 means different things to a DR 30 site and a DR 75 site. The 35 score assumes a domain at average authority for that SERP. If your DR is half the average top 10 DR, your effective KD is closer to 60. If your DR is above the top 10 average, your effective KD might be 20. Static KD thresholds (always go for KD under 30) are why most beginner keyword lists fail.
Parent topic plus long-tail strategy
Single keyword targets do not rank well on modern SERPs because Google evaluates topical authority across the cluster. A page targeting one head term without supporting long-tail content will lose to a competitor with a pillar plus 8 spokes. We map the cluster before we recommend any single keyword: parent topic for the pillar, long-tail variants for the spokes, internal links between them.
Commercial intent over vanity volume
High-volume informational queries are the most common keyword research trap. They look impressive on a deliverable, drive traffic that converts at zero, and crowd out the lower-volume transactional terms that actually pay. We score every keyword on commercial value times traffic potential, not volume alone. The CPC column on the Ahrefs export is a useful proxy: high CPC means buyers, low CPC means browsers.
Seasonality and trend analysis
Google Trends matters. A keyword with steady year-round volume is worth more than the same volume seasonally concentrated, because content investment compounds across the full year. We check Trends on every priority cluster and flag seasonal terms so the publishing calendar lands the content before the search peak, not after. Trending terms (Trends rising) get fast-track briefs.
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Why LASEO vs alternatives
Keyword research compared honestly
DIY with free tools, a typical agency keyword report and a LASEO keyword research engagement all start with the same seed list. Here is where the work diverges.
5,000-row volume dump
- Ahrefs Keyword Explorer with default filters. 5,000-15,000 raw keyword ideas exported and handed over.
- Algorithmic intent label from the tool, accepted without verification. Roughly 30% wrong on commercial queries.
- Ahrefs KD column copied across. No calibration to your domain authority.
- Keywords listed as flat rows. No parent topic, no long-tail mapping. Customer left to figure out which keyword goes on which page.
- Sort by volume descending. Top 50 by volume recommended. Commercial intent ignored.
- Skipped. Volume and KD only.
50-100 prioritised keywords
- Ahrefs Keyword Explorer plus SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool plus GSC Performance plus AlsoAsked plus Google Search Operators. Five sources cross-checked because no single tool catches everything.
- Manual SERP read on every priority keyword. Tagged informational, commercial, transactional or navigational based on actual top 10 composition. Tools support the read; humans do the classification.
- KD calibrated to your DR. A KD 35 for a DR 30 site is treated as effective KD 60. Top 10 backlink profiles checked manually for the top 30 candidates.
- Parent topic plus 5-10 long-tail clusters. Internal link relationships mapped. Cluster format recommendation per topic. Architecture before publishing.
- Impact-to-effort scoring per keyword: commercial value (CPC + conversion intent), traffic ceiling, calibrated KD, effort. High-volume vanity terms with wrong intent cut from the priority list.
- SERP feature analysis per cluster (snippets, PAA, image packs, video, local pack). Google Trends overlay on every priority cluster for seasonality and trend timing.
Topical cluster
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Keyword research at scale
Keyword research engagements that mapped real revenue
What our keyword research clients say
Keyword research in their own words
Our previous keyword research deliverable was a 6,000-row CSV sorted by volume. LASEO came back with 73 priority keywords with intent labels and a KD calibrated to our DR 38 site. Five months later we rank top 10 on 41 of them and our organic trial signups are up 62%.
The intent classification was the unlock. We had spent two years writing high-volume info posts that converted at 0.2%. LASEO mapped 38 commercial-intent keywords our competitors quietly owned and gave us a parent-plus-spoke structure to attack them. Three of those clusters now drive more revenue than our entire blog did last year.
What I respected most was that they cut 94% of the raw keyword list before recommending anything. Most agencies dump the export. LASEO did the calibration work and only recommended 58 keywords. We have shipped pages targeting 42 of them. 29 are now ranking top 10 within six months.
Our previous keyword research deliverable was a 6,000-row CSV sorted by volume. LASEO came back with 73 priority keywords with intent labels and a KD calibrated to our DR 38 site. Five months later we rank top 10 on 41 of them and our organic trial signups are up 62%.
The intent classification was the unlock. We had spent two years writing high-volume info posts that converted at 0.2%. LASEO mapped 38 commercial-intent keywords our competitors quietly owned and gave us a parent-plus-spoke structure to attack them. Three of those clusters now drive more revenue than our entire blog did last year.
What I respected most was that they cut 94% of the raw keyword list before recommending anything. Most agencies dump the export. LASEO did the calibration work and only recommended 58 keywords. We have shipped pages targeting 42 of them. 29 are now ranking top 10 within six months.
Honest answers about keyword research 
What buyers actually ask before commissioning a keyword research engagement.
Keyword research is discovery and prioritisation. It maps the entire commercial query space your domain can realistically compete in, classifies each candidate by intent, calibrates difficulty against your domain authority, and ends in a prioritised list of 50-100 keywords worth pursuing. Keyword planning is the execution step after. It assigns specific keywords to specific pages, sets publishing dates, names writers, and slots clusters into a 6 to 12 month content calendar. Research feeds planning, not the other way round. Most teams skip the research and jump straight to planning, which is why their content calendars are full of high-volume keywords that look impressive but never convert.
Keyword research strategy call
Bring a keyword questionto a senior consultant.
30 minutes with a LASEO senior consultant. We will not pitch. We will diagnose the three biggest gaps in your current keyword set, name the cluster most likely to move revenue first, and tell you whether a full keyword research engagement is worth the spend right now.
