Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines in order to find what they're looking for, and the ideas and topics defining what a piece of content is all about. Keyword research is a foundational part of your SEO strategy enabling you to identify the right words and phrases to target. From this foundation you can better understand your online competitors, improve your on-page optimization and have an outsized impact on achieving your SEO goals.
Are you a professional SEO? Explore a strategic approach to Keywords & Content with the Professional's Guide to SEO.
This page is your home base for learning all about keywords and keyword research. Filter by resources below to discover resources for learners of all skill levels.
Webinar - Turn Up The Volume: Efficient Keyword Research
In this webinar, Tom will tell you how to spend less time on the grunt work and more time adding value to your keyword research. He'll explain some pitfalls in common techniques that often result in misleading recommendations, the best metrics to focus on and a few to avoid, and a few tips and tricks to help you get better answers in less time.
Trash in, garbage out: A guide to non-catastrophic keyword research
Presented by Tom Capper (he/him) at MozCon 2022
Keyword research is one of the first and most basic tasks that SEOs learn. And yet, it's strewn with pitfalls and ubiquitous errors, even for experienced practitioners. In this talk, Tom will talk you through the various ways the wrong data can lead you astray, and how to leverage the right techniques for the right tasks.
The Keyword Research Master Guide
Win traffic through keyword research.
Not sure where to begin with keyword research? This guide outlines a step-by-step process you can implement today to identify keyword opportunities with the greatest potential ROI for your business.
How Many Words Is a Question Worth?
Presented by Dr. Pete Meyers at Mozcon 2019
Traditional keyword research is poorly suited to Google's quest for answers. One question might represent thousands of keyword variants, so how do we find the best questions, craft content around them, and evaluate success? Dr. Pete dives into three case studies to answer these questions.
Ranking Is a Promise: Can You Deliver?
Presented by Dr. Pete Meyers at MozCon 2018
In our rush to rank, we put ourselves first, neglecting what searchers (and our future customers) want. Google wants to reward sites that deliver on searcher intent, and SERP features are a window into that intent. Find out how to map keywords to intent, understand how intent informs the buyer funnel, and deliver on the promise of ranking to drive results that attract clicks and customers.
MozCon Video Bundle
Did you miss this year's MozCon? Now is your chance to experience what everyone has been talking about! We have over 19 hours of actionable inbound marketing knowledge.
Facing the Future: 5 Simple Tactics for 5 Scary Changes
Presented by Dr. Pete Meyers at MozCon 2017
We've seen big changes to SEO recently, from an explosion in SERP features to RankBrain to voice search. These fundamental changes to organic search marketing can be daunting, and it's hard to know where to get started. Dr. Pete will walk you through five big changes and five tactics for coping with those changes today.
I'd Rather Be Thanked Than Ranked
Presented by Wil Reynolds (he/him) at MozCon 2017
Ego and assumptions led me to choose the wrong keywords for my own site. How did I spend three years optimizing my site and building links to finally crack the top three for six critical keywords, only to find out that I wasted all that time? However, in spite of targeting the wrong words, Seer grew the business. In this presentation, Will shows you the mistakes made and share with you the approaches that can help you build content that gets you thanked.
How to build an SEO-intent based framework for any business
Presented by Katie Cunningham at MozCon 2017
Everyone knows intent behind the search matters. In e-commerce, intent is somewhat easy to see. B2B or, better yet, healthcare, isn't quite as easy. Matching persona intent to keywords requires a bit more thought. In this video, we'll cover how to find intent modifiers during keyword research, how to organize those modifiers into the search funnel, and how to quickly find unique universal results at different levels of the search funnel to utilize.
How to Target Multiple Keywords with One Page - Next Level
In this edition of our educational Next Level series, you'll learn an easy workflow for researching and targeting multiple keywords on one page. Read on and level up!
Are Words the New Links?
Presented by Mike Blumenthal at MozCon Local 2017
As we move towards a world of things & entities, Google has used started using non linked based signals for ranking. In several case studies we will look at factors that determine relevance and develop a model how Google might use them to determine rank.
What Is SEO?
What is SEO all about, and why do things like keywords, on-site optimization, and links matter when it comes to improving a site's search engine visibility and ranking? Learn the basics in this article.
You Can't Type a Concept: Why Keywords Still Matter
Presented by Dr. Pete Meyers at MozCon 2016
Google is getting better every day at understanding intent and natural language, and the path between typing a search and getting a result is getting more winding. How often are queries interpreted, and how do we do keyword research for search engines that are beginning to understand concepts?
Taking the Top Spot: How to Earn More Featured Snippets
Presented by Rob Bucci at MozCon 2016
Featured snippets (also known as “answer boxes”) are steadily appearing in the first organic SERP spot, providing big opportunities for SEOs able to snag them. Armed with the latest data and analysis, Rob Bucci will take you on a deep dive into the constantly evolving featured snippet and show you how to earn more for your site.
A Step-by-Step Process for Discovering and Prioritizing the Best Keywords
Rand outlines a straightforward and actionable 4-step process (including an array of tools to check out) for uncovering and prioritizing the best keywords for your SEO campaigns.
Want to accelerate your learning?
Get certified with SEO Essentials.
Whether you're building a robust SEO team or leveling up your own marketing skills, this Moz Academy SEO Essentials Certification covers everything you need to quickly ramp up on fundamental SEO topics and develop a competitive SEO strategy.
Semantic SEO for the People
Since Hummingbird was silently rolled out, semantic search has become the new black of SEO. In this webinar, you'll learn what semantic SEO is and how to implement it strategically and correctly with actionable practices.
International Keyword Research
The first step to international SEO is optimizing your keywords to the non-English searcher. Learn how to choose the right keywords for most languages without the need to become fluent in another language.
Measuring ROI in the Age of 'Not Provided': 5 Tips for Search Marketers
In this webinar, we'll guide you through advanced Google Analytics techniques that you can use today to help justify your marketing efforts, measure your search traffic, and segment your data in new ways.
Local Competitive Intelligence
This Moz Academy video will help you learn how to get a leg up on the competition in local SEO and Google Maps.
Metrics for Better Keyword Research — Whiteboard Friday
In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Tom explains some of the common mistakes SEOs make when doing keyword research that are easy to fix, many of which come from metrics like search volume, click-through rate, and difficulty.
Estimating Search Opportunity — Whiteboard Friday
Estimating the opportunities within your various SEO efforts is an important component of your analytics, not only to help determine where to focus your energy, but also to prove the potential value of your work to others. In today’s episode, Robin walks you through a good strategy for this all-important estimative work.
The Professional's Guide to Keywords & Content
Professional keyword research is more than just finding a list of likely words to build your site content around. Learn more in the Professional's Guide to SEO.
Google Autocomplete: More than a Free Keyword Research Tool
For years, SEOs have been using Google Autocomplete (aka Google Suggest) as a free keyword research tool. Yet there’s much more to this search feature, especially after all the updates Google has introduced, turning Google Autocomplete into a smart and predictive platform of its own.
Aspirational Analysis: Competitive Research for New (or Small) Sites
Competitive SERP analysis is based on understanding the broader ecosystems of your ranking keywords. This is great if you’re an established business, but what if you’ve got a brand new site or are still developing your SEO strategy and aren’t ranking for many keywords? Dr. Pete walks you through a solution: aspirational analysis.
Understanding the Google Ads Auction: The Importance of Quality Score + How to Improve It
Google Ads is very competitive and Google uses an auction system to decide which ads to show. With so much competition, how can advertisers improve their performance on Google Ads? In this post, Tanuja discusses the importance of Quality Score when it comes to winning ad placements, and walks you through how to improve it.
Level-Up Your Search Strategy with the Professional’s Guide to SEO
Over 14 million people have cut their SEO teeth on our Beginner's Guide to SEO, learning the ins and outs of search engine optimization from scratch. Now, for the first time, we're introducing the next-step resource to take you from practicing SEO to preaching it.
Daily SEO Fix: Competitive Keyword Research
Before you begin your quest to find new keywords, you need to know exactly who your competitors are. In this newest Daily Fix, some of our best and brightest Mozzers will show you what you need to do to get the most out of Moz Pro’s Competitive Research tools, which allow you to find your true competitors, what keywords they rank for, and what their top performing content is.
New Competitive Research Suite: Actionable Data to Drive Real Results
We’re thrilled to announce Moz’s Competitive Research Suite, built from the ground up to drive targeted data and actionable insights about your competitors, your competitive keyword gap, and your content gap.
How to Prep Your SEO Strategy for a New Website
Your SEO strategy should be one of the primary considerations before you even start your website. Instead of fighting to make your website SEO-ready later on, start with this holistic SEO checklist for new websites and save yourself valuable time and resources
Keyword Research for Thanks Instead of Ranks
Presented by Wil Reynolds (he/him) at MozCon 2022
Seer Interactive has used keyword research methods to uncover ways to help clients understand their customers better. From diversity and inclusion, to hopes and fears, customers are leaving clues in their long tail searches. Wil demonstrates why you should spend the time to find them.
How to Use Keyword Clustering to Seamlessly Optimize Your SEO Content
Keyword clustering is the SEO tactic to use if you want to seamlessly optimize your SEO content and streamline your workflow at the same time. The best part? It’s fairly simple, and SERPs give you all the information you need to make an informed decision on exactly how to do it.
5 Simple Tips for SEO + Email Marketing Flywheels
In today’s episode of Whiteboard Friday, Cyrus explains how to use the complementary powers of SEO and email marketing over and over again so that each strategy becomes bigger and more powerful the more you do it.
Daily SEO Fix: Advanced Keyword Explorer Metrics and Reporting Tips
In these Daily SEO Fix videos, we show you how you can use Moz’s keyword metrics to help you evaluate how much of an impact ranking for certain keywords will have.
Long Tail SEO in 2021: How You Can Have It All or Die Trying
Due to Google’s advancements in Natural Language Processing, the long tail of search has exploded. However, I will argue that NLP has also imploded the long tail, and understanding how and why may save our collective sanity.
How to Select Meaningful B2B SEO Keywords
It’s no secret that B2B marketing is different than B2C. The sales cycle is longer, there are multiple stakeholders involved, and it’s usually more expensive. To market effectively, you need to create content that helps, educates, and informs your clientele. The best way to do that is to identify the keywords that matter most to them, and build out content accordingly.
Daily SEO Fix: Gaining Insight from Exported Moz Pro Data
To help ensure that you’re doing all you can to maximize the value of your exported data, we’ve created a handy collection of Daily SEO Fix videos.
Daily SEO Fix: Collecting, Organizing, and Tracking Keywords with Moz Pro
We want our customers to know the most effective ways to use Moz Pro to get keyword data, so we’ve put together these Daily Fix videos to help you do just that!
A Must-Have Keyword Research Process for Winning SEO
Smart keyword research forms the basis of all successful SEO. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Cyrus Shepard shares the basics of a winning keyword research process that you can learn and master in a short amount of time. Plus, sign up for his free webinar on May 21, 'Build a Winning Keyword Strategy: Start-to-Finish'!
Announcing: The Keyword Research Master Guide
Why a new guide? Often in SEO, we get so preoccupied with technical SEO (pagination, site speed, the latest Python course, etc.) that we forget the basis of winning SEO begins and ends with keywords. Not choosing keywords before you start with SEO means shooting in the dark — a likely losing gamble if your content will succeed or not.Choosing the wrong keywor...
Which of My Competitor's Keywords Should (& Shouldn't) I Target? - Best of Whiteboard Friday
Which of your competitor's keywords are worth targeting, and which can be ignored? Learn how to tell the difference in this fan favorite Whiteboard Friday. Plus, save a seat our upcoming webinar, Competitive Analysis for SEO: Size Up & Surpass Your Search Rivals!
Find Competitive Keywords, Ranking Distributions, & Common Questions: 3 Workflows for Smarter Keyword Research
What keywords do your top competitors both rank for that you're missing out on? How do you know how much top real estate your URL or page owns in the SERPs? Britney Muller presents a series of quick and useful videos designed to help you work smarter, not harder.
Find Ranking Keywords, Uncover Opportunities, Check Rankings, & More: 5 Workflows for Easier Keyword Research
Have you ever wished there were an easy way to see all the top keywords your site is ranking for? How about a competitor's? Britney Muller presents a brand-new series of super quick and useful videos designed to help you do better, easier keyword research.
Moving Targets: Keywords in Crisis
Presented by Dr. Pete Meyers at MozCon Virtual 2020
Too often, we take a once-and-done approach to keyword research, but Google changes at the pace of information, and that pace speeds up even more during a crisis. How do we do keyword research in fast-paced industries and during world-changing moments? Dr. Pete provides concrete tactics for adaptive keyword research and spotting trends as they happen.
The One-Hour Guide to SEO
Can you learn SEO in an hour? Surprisingly, the answer is yes, at least when it comes to the fundamentals! From SEO expert Rand Fishkin, we present you a six-part series of roughly ten-minute-long videos designed to deliver core SEO concepts.
Super-Practical Tips for Improving Your Site's E-A-T
Presented by Dr. Marie Haynes at Mozcon 2019
Google has admitted that they measure the concept of "Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness" in their algorithms. If your site is categorized under YMYL (Your Money or Your Life), you absolutely must have good E-A-T in order to rank well. In this talk, you'll learn how Google measures E-A-T and what changes you can make both on site and off in order to outrank your competitors. Using real-life examples, Marie will answer what E-A-T is and how Google measures it, what changes you can make on your site to improve how E-A-T is displayed, and what you can do off-site to improve E-A-T.
Keywords Aren't Enough: How to Uncover Content Ideas Worth Chasing
Presented by Ross Simmonds (he/him) at Mozcon 2019
Many marketers focus solely on keyword research when crafting their content, but it just isn't enough if you want to gain a competitive edge. Ross will share a framework for uncovering content ideas leveraged from forums, communities, niche sites, good old-fashioned SERP analysis, tools and techniques to help along the way, and exclusive research surrounding the data that backs this up.
Keyword Research with Moz Academy
Learn practical tips on how to organize your keyword research, scale research processes, and save time when developing content ideas.
Google Hummingbird
What is Google's "Hummingbird" algorithm update? What influence did this update have on how search results are built? Learn in this article.
Launching a New Website: Your SEO Checklist
Hovering your finger over the big red "launch" button for your new website? Hold off for just a second. From a keyword-to-URL content map to sweeping for crawl errors to setting up proper tracking, today's Whiteboard Friday covers 5 boxes you need to check off before finally setting your site live.
What is a SERP feature?
What are SERP features? How do they impact your search visibility, and how can you earn them? Learn in this article.
How to Build a Killer Content → Keyword Map for SEO
You've got content on your site that doesn't intentionally target any keyword. But how do you identify those opportunities and, most importantly, capitalize on them? In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand illustrates the process of creating your own content-to-keyword map to discover where to optimize, what content to build, and how to intelligently target keywords when you're auditing a site.
Diving for Pearls: A Guide to Long Tail Keywords - Next Level
Finding the right long tail keyword can be like searching for buried treasure. Tap into search terms that are easier to rank for and that indicate stronger intent — Jo Cameron shows you how to curate your own long tail list (and have a grand old time while you're at it).
Keyword Research in 2016: Going Beyond Guesswork
Traditional keyword research focuses on discovery, leaving you with a pile of keywords and a lot of guesswork to prioritize them. What if there were a better way? I explore four metrics you can use to evolve your keyword research.
How to Optimize for Competitors' Branded Keywords
It's probably crossed your mind before. Should you optimize for your competitors' branded keywords? How would you even go about it effectively? Well, in today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains some carefully strategic and smart ways to optimize for the keywords of a competitor, from determining their worthiness to properly targeting your funnel to using third-party hosted content for maximum amplification.
Can SEOs Stop Worrying About Keywords and Just Focus on Topics?
Should you ditch keyword targeting entirely? There's been a lot of discussion around the idea of focusing on broad topics and concepts to satisfy searcher intent, but it's a big step to take and could potentially hurt your rankings. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand discusses old-school keyword targeting and new-school concept targeting, outlining a plan of action you can follow to get the best of both worlds.
The Illustrated SEO Competitive Analysis Workflow
An integral part of keyword research is an in-depth look at your competition. This post offers a concise flowchart to visualize and guide you through that process.
Targeting Multiple Keywords on a Single Page
Learn the in's and out's of using one webpage to simultaneously target multiple keywords.
Keywords to Concepts: The Lazy Web Marketer's Guide to Smart Keyword Research
Concepts have become more important for search marketing than individual keywords. Many people in the SEO space mistakenly assume that because Google withholds keyword referral data in the form of (not provided), keywords no longer matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. The trick today is turning those keywords into concepts.
When Keyword (not provided) is 100 Percent of Organic Referrals, What Should Marketers Do? - Whiteboard Tuesday
The rate at which Google is lumping keywords into "(not provided)" has skyrocketed in the last month, leading to a huge drop in referral data and speculation that 100% of keywords will soon be masked. In this special Whiteboard Tuesday, Rand covers what marketers can do to make up for this drastic change.
A Visual Guide to Keyword Targeting and On-Page SEO
As the "O" in SEO has broadened in scope, the most effective elements of on-page optimization have changed. While there is arguably no "perfectly optimized page," this update to a 2009 post provides a comprehensive guide to steer you in the right direction.
Helpful Tips for Doing Search in a Low-Volume Niche
Harmonizing your organic, paid, and CRO efforts is key to finding success when you do SEO in a low-search volume niche. Get inspired by these tips and strategies for maximizing what you have to work with.
3 Tactics for Hyperlocal Keywords
Reaching the perfect audience is priceless, but hyperlocal keyword research is frustrating. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares how to find powerful, laser-focused keywords to bring you *exactly* the customers you're looking for.
How to Uncover Hidden Keyword-Level Data Using Google Sheets
Which keywords are driving your organic traffic? Keyword-level data doesn't have to be (not provided). Sarah Lively shares a smart solution using two free add-ons for Google Sheets.
The Keyword + Year Content/Rankings Hack
Earning site traffic from competitive keywords with decent search volume doesn't always have to be a struggle. In this Whiteboard Friday, Rand shares how to make ranking for competitive keywords easier on yourself using very fresh content.
What We Learned From Analyzing 1.4 Million Featured Snippets
From optimal snippet length, to practical application tips, to which queries prefer tables, lists, or paragraphs, learn everything you need to know to supercharge your snippet wins.
Google Keyword Planner's Dirty Secrets
Google Keyword Planner has some pretty scary skeletons in its closet! Learn about all the dirty secrets that should make you think twice about relying on Google's volume estimates.
Keyword Research and Targeting Without Exact Match
Google recently removed the ability to target exact match keywords in AdWords. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand tells us what that means to marketers performing keyword research, offering tips for the most effective approaches going forward.
Hummingbird Unleashed
There are many misconceptions about Google's Hummingbird update. What exactly did the update do, and how is it different from Penguin and Panda? How is it related to the move toward 100% (not provided)? This post consolidates the information we have available to answer all of these questions and more.
Local Lessons from Small Town USA
Presented by Mike Ramsey at MozCon 2014
Whether your audience is in one region or thousands of major metros across the world, these small town lessons will guide you through the complex world of local search.
Strings to Things: Entities and SEO
Presented by Matthew Brown at MozCon 2013
In the last year, Google and Bing have both indicated a shift to entity-based search results as part of their evolution. Google has unscored this point with rich snippets and Knowledge Graph, and Bing has now upped the ante on personal search results with Bing Snapshots. Find out how you can adopt strategies to stay ahead of the curve in the new world of semantic search results.
International SEO and the Future of Your ROI
Presented by Aleyda Solis (she/her) at MozCon 2013
Take a bold step into the international market. Aleyda will walk you through how to calculate the possible ROI of international sales, how to sell it to your boss or client, and the practical how-tos of international implementation on your site.
Not Your Dad's Keyword Tool: Advanced Keyword Research Use Cases
This isn't your dad's keyword tool. Learn about novel ways to take advantage of powerful keyword tools like Moz Keyword Explorer to do far more than find related keywords.
How to Use Your Competition's "Top Pages" Data to Bolster Your SEO Efforts
By comparing top pages data from multiple sources against one another, you can get some really cool, powerful advanced SEO opportunities in your content and keyword targeting. Rand explains how in this Whiteboard Friday.
Hunting Down SERP Features to Understand Intent & Drive Traffic - Next Level
SERP features are your insight into what content Google thinks best serves the needs of searchers for any given keyword. Learn how to target and win them with this follow-along educational workflow.
Featured Snippets: From Start to Finish
You know why featured snippets are important, but how do you find the right questions, track, and win those featured snippets?
Tactical Keyword Research in a RankBrain World
RankBrain represents a more advanced way of measuring relevance, built on teaching machines to discover the relationships between words. How should RankBrain change our approach to SEO and specifically to keyword research?
What Is Semantic Search and What Should You Do About It?
Semantic search is the present and future, and it's important to have a good handle on what it is and how you can use it to your advantage. This post presents 5 strategies for getting started with semantic SEO.
How Much Keyword Repetition is Optimal
If you're targeting a certain keyword, knowing where and how often to use that keyword in the various elements of your page is essential. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand offers his recommendation.
Comparing new vs. old keyword difficulty scores
Why are keyword difficulty scores in Keyword Explorer different from those in Moz's old Keyword Difficulty tool? See what Rand and the community have to say in this Q&A post.
Parole, Parole, Parole: Practical, Modern Keyword and Topical Research
Presented by Gianluca Fiorelli at Mozcon 2015
Just using Keyword Planner and Google Suggest is a waste time. Gianluca will show you how keyword and topical research is more about culture, not guessing, and explore unusual sources and seldom used tool features to make your research more effective.
Getting Local Keyword Research and On-page Optimization Right
Presented by Mary Bowling at LocalUp 2015
Local keyword data is often difficult to find, analyze, and prioritize. Get tips, tools, and processes for zeroing in on the best terms to target when optimizing your website and directory listings, and learn how and why to structure your website around them.
How to do Keyword Research in 90 Minutes
Using a hypothetical client, Jeremy Gottlieb shows you just how much keyword research you can get done in 90 minutes (and walks you step-by-step through how to do it).
Illustrated Guide to Advanced On-Page Topic Targeting for SEO
The concepts of advanced on-page SEO are dizzying: LDA, co-occurrence, and entity salience. The question is "How can I easily incorporate these techniques into my content for higher rankings?" The truth is, you can create optimized pages that rank well without understanding complex algorithms.