To pick keywords for SEO, score every candidate on four things: business value (could a searcher become a customer?), intent fit (can you build the type of page Google already ranks?), winnability (is the first page weak enough for your site?) and click potential (will ranking actually send visits?). Start with the keywords that score high on value and winnability, even when their search volume is small. Leave the big, contested terms for later.
Finding keyword ideas is the easy half; our keyword research tutorial covers it. This guide is about the decision that comes after: which of the 200 ideas in your spreadsheet deserve a page this month. It includes a scoring calculator, a worked example and the picking mistakes that waste the most time.
Key takeaways
- Score keywords on business value, intent fit, winnability and click potential. Volume comes last, not first.
- Use a 0–3 business value score (the scale Ahrefs uses internally) and drop anything that scores 0.
- If page one is all product pages and you planned a blog post (or the reverse), skip the keyword or change the page you plan to build.
- For a new site, keep keyword difficulty under about 20 and confirm with a look at the live results.
- Format affects clicks. Free tools earn 2.11× the CTR of a site's articles at the same positions, while "what is" definitions earn 0.52× (Outrank, 6.2M pages).
The four questions that decide a keyword
| Factor | The question | How to check it | Drop the keyword when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business value | Could someone searching this become a customer? | Score it 0–3 (below) | It scores 0 |
| Intent fit | Can you build the page type Google ranks for it? | Look at the top 10 results | You can't or won't build that page type |
| Winnability | Can your site reach page one? | Keyword difficulty plus a look at the results | Page one is far stronger than your site, with no weak spots |
| Click potential | Will ranking actually bring visits? | Volume of the topic, SERP layout, query type | Few searches and the answer is fully shown on Google |
Search volume sits inside the last factor on purpose. A keyword with 40 searches a month and a buyer behind every one of them beats a keyword with 4,000 searches from people who will never need you.
1. Business value: score it 0–3
Ahrefs uses a simple scale for this in its own keyword research process, which it calls Business Potential:
- 3: "Our product is an irreplaceable solution to the problem."
- 2: "Our product helps quite a bit, but it isn't essential to solving the problem."
- 1: "Our product can only be mentioned fleetingly."
- 0: "There's absolutely no way to mention our product."
Ahrefs reports that 77% of its own blog posts scored 2 or 3. That is a useful benchmark: most of what you publish should give you a natural reason to mention what you sell. Keep a few 1s for topical coverage. Drop the 0s, however tempting their volume.
2. Intent fit: build the page Google already ranks
Search intent is what the searcher wants to do: learn something, compare options, buy, or reach a specific site. You don't need to guess it. Search the keyword in a private window and look at what ranks:
- Guides and how-tos mean informational intent. A blog post fits.
- "Best X" lists, reviews and "X vs Y" pages mean commercial investigation. A comparison or roundup fits.
- Product, category or pricing pages mean the searcher wants to buy. A blog post won't rank; a product or service page might.
- One brand's homepage or login page means navigational intent. Unless it is your brand, skip it.
The rule: if you can't build the page type that fills the top results, the keyword isn't yours. A software company with no comparison page will not rank a how-to guide for "best project management software"; the first page is lists.
Mixed results (some guides, some product pages) are a good sign for a smaller site. Google hasn't settled on one answer, so a page that serves both needs can break in.
3. Winnability: compare the first page with your site
Keyword difficulty (KD) is the quick filter. It estimates how hard it is to reach the top 10, mostly from the backlinks of the pages ranking now. Our guide to keyword difficulty explains what each score means; the short version for a new site is KD under 20 in Ahrefs or under 30 in Semrush.
Then look at the actual results. Forum threads, outdated posts and small sites in the top five are signs you can win even when the score is higher. Ten big brands with fresh, thorough pages are a sign to wait, even when the score is low. Our low competition keyword method has a checklist for this step.
4. Click potential: volume, layout and format
Volume tells you demand. Whether you get the clicks depends on two more things:
- The whole topic, not the single phrase. A page rarely ranks for just one keyword. Ahrefs' Traffic Potential metric exists for this reason: it "shows how much search traffic the top-ranking page for your keyword gets", across every query it ranks for. A 90-search keyword can sit on a topic worth thousands of visits.
- What Google shows above you. Some queries are answered on the results page itself. In Outrank's study of 1.2 million queries, question queries in the top 3 earned 58% fewer clicks than other queries at the same positions.
- The format you can offer. In Outrank's analysis of 6.2 million pages, free tools and calculators earned 2.11× the click-through rate of the same site's articles at positions 4–10. "What is" definitions earned 0.52×.
So between two keywords with similar value and difficulty, pick the one where your page can be the thing people click for: a template, a calculator, a comparison, a specific how-to. A one-line definition Google can quote is the weakest pick.
Score your keywords
Run each shortlisted keyword through this calculator. The weights are ours: business value counts most because traffic that can never buy is worth little, and intent fit multiplies everything else because the wrong page type rarely ranks at all.
Interactive calculator
Keyword priority score
Priority score (out of 100)
68
- Estimated visits a month once it ranks on page one
- 11
A keyword with zero business value can't score above 50, and one where you can't build the page type that ranks can't score above 30. That is the point: those are the picks that look good in a spreadsheet and never pay off.
A worked example: six candidates for a bookkeeping app
Say you run a bookkeeping app for freelancers and your site is a year old with a few dozen articles. Your spreadsheet has these ideas. The scores below are judgment calls of the kind you would make, not data:
| Candidate keyword | Value (0–3) | Page type that would rank | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| bookkeeping app for freelancers | 3 | Product page or comparison list | Build the landing page now; expect it to need links |
| how to do bookkeeping as a freelancer | 2 | Step-by-step guide | Pick now: informational, your product fits naturally |
| freelance invoice template | 2 | Downloadable template | Pick now: a free template earns clicks and sign-ups |
| QuickBooks alternatives for freelancers | 3 | Comparison list | Pick now if page one has weak spots; high value |
| what is double-entry bookkeeping | 1 | Definition | Skip: low value, and definitions earn the fewest clicks |
| best accounting software | 2 | "Best X" list from large publishers | Later: broad, contested and mostly not freelancers |
Three picks this month, one landing page, one for later and one skip. The broad keyword with the most volume is the one you don't write yet.
Where to find candidates worth scoring
You can only pick from good candidates, so start where real demand shows up:
- Search Console (Performance → Search results → Queries): queries you already get impressions for at positions 8–30 are the fastest wins. Our guide to checking keyword rankings shows how to filter them.
- Competitors' top pages: a keyword gap analysis lists keywords your competitors rank for and you don't.
- Customer words: support tickets, sales calls and reviews give you the phrasing people actually use.
- Free keyword tools for volume and KD, such as Outrank's free keyword research tool.
Mistakes that waste picks
- Sorting by volume first. The biggest keywords are usually the hardest and the vaguest. Sort by business value, then winnability.
- Picking keywords you can't serve. A blog post can't rank where Google wants product pages.
- Giving every keyword its own page. Keywords that show the same results belong on one page. Group them with keyword clustering before you assign pages, or you will end up with pages competing for the same search.
- Ignoring how many you can publish. A plan of 300 keywords at two posts a month is a three-year backlog. Our guide on how many keywords you need shows how to size the list to your capacity.
- Never revisiting. Recheck difficulty and the live results before writing anything you picked months ago.
How Outrank picks keywords
Outrank runs this selection automatically for each site: it analyzes the niche and competitors, pulls live volume and difficulty, and schedules one keyword a day. In the last 90 days, the median keyword it picked for customer sites had a KD of 14 and 170 monthly searches. 54% became explainer guides and 27% how-to guides, with roundups and comparisons where the results called for them. You can review and change the plan before anything is written. The 3-day free trial shows you the keyword plan it builds for your site.
FAQ
How do I choose the right keywords for SEO?
Score each keyword on business value, intent fit, winnability and click potential. Keep keywords where your product is relevant, where you can build the page type Google ranks, and where the first page is beatable for your site. Use search volume to break ties, not to start the list.
How do I pick keywords for a new website?
Choose specific long-tail keywords with a keyword difficulty under about 20, clear intent and a direct link to what you sell. Check that the first page includes weak results such as forum threads or outdated posts. Broad head terms can wait until your site has links and a few dozen ranking pages.
Should I pick keywords with low search volume?
Yes, when the business value is high. Low-volume keywords are easier to rank for and often come from people with a precise need. The median keyword Outrank targets for customer sites gets 170 searches a month, and a page that ranks usually picks up related queries too.
What makes a good keyword?
A good keyword has a searcher who could become your customer, a results page you can match with the right type of page, a first page your site can realistically break into, and enough demand across the topic to justify the work. Missing any one of those makes it a weak pick.
How many keywords should I pick per page?
One primary keyword per page, plus a few close variants that show the same search results. If two keywords bring up different results, they need separate pages. Our guide on how many keywords to use for SEO covers this in detail.
