What are keywords and how do you choose them?

What is a keyword?

A keyword is any term or phrase that users type into a search engine like Google to find information, products, or services. It can be a single word ( "shoes" ), a short phrase ( "cheap running shoes" ), or a complete question ( "what are the best shoes for running on asphalt" ).

From an SEO perspective, keywords act as signals that tell Google what your content is about. If your page accurately answers what the user is searching for with that keyword, Google will display it in relevant positions. Therefore, choosing the right keywords is the foundation of any SEO strategy.

The size of traffic on major search engines (Google, Bing)

Search engines handle an astronomical amount of daily traffic. Google processes approximately 8.5 billion searches per day, and its website registers around 2.8 billion visits per month.

By a huge margin, Bing reached 660.5 million unique visitors in June 2023, driven by its integration with GPT-4.

Search engine market share

According to Semrush data, the search market distribution in 2026 is as follows:

One key fact: ChatGPT already generates 55 million monthly visits, although it still only represents 2% of Google's total traffic. AI is starting to gain market share, but Google remains the undisputed king.

Why keywords are the gateway to all that traffic

Every time someone types something into Google or Bing, they're using a keyword. The search engine scans billions of pages in milliseconds and decides which ones best match that search intent. If your website isn't optimized for the right keywords, you simply won't appear in the results, even if your content is excellent.

The mechanism used by search engines

1. The user enters a search term (a keyword)

2. The search engine algorithm evaluates which pages best respond to that intent.

3. The results appear in order of relevance and authority.

4. The user clicks, and that click becomes organic traffic for the person who ranks the site.

Without well-chosen keywords, your website is invisible in that process. With the right keywords, each position gained on Google can translate into hundreds or thousands of free monthly visits.

Google vs. Bing: Do they treat keywords the same?

Not quite:

• Google uses advanced semantic search: it understands synonyms, intent, and natural language. Two pages with different words but the same meaning can rank for the same search.

• Bing is more literal with keywords, although it has improved since its integration with OpenAI. It also gives more weight to social signals and the anchor text of links.

This means that a well-executed keyword strategy can give you simultaneous traffic on both search engines, but you need to slightly adapt your approach.

The true value of each web position in search results

Not all positions on Google are worth the same. Click distribution is extremely uneven:

• Google's #1 result receives around 27-30% of all clicks

• Result #2 receives around 15%

• From position #4 onwards, the percentage falls below 10%.

• Google's second page receives less than 1% of total traffic

This explains why choosing the right keywords isn't just about visibility, but about direct profitability. Ranking in the top 3 for a keyword with 5,000 monthly searches can generate over 1,000 organic visits per month without investing a single euro in advertising.

The SEO market in 2026: a $108 billion industry

The global SEO industry reached $108.28 billion in 2026. That number reflects exactly how much money companies are willing to invest to appear in the top search engine results using well-optimized keywords. It's not a technical whim; it's one of the most profitable growth drivers in digital marketing.

The challenge of knowing where you stand in all of this

With billions of daily searches and millions of websites competing for the same keywords, the big problem for most website owners is that they don't know exactly what organic traffic they're receiving or what terms they're actually ranking for — let alone what their competition is doing.

💡 With Lookkle you can analyze the estimated organic traffic of any domain, discover which keywords are attracting visits to your competitors, compare the evolution of your website against other domains in your sector and detect ranking opportunities that you have not yet taken advantage of — all without the need for complex tools or large budgets.

In a scenario where Google concentrates 90% of global search traffic and the difference between position #1 and #5 can mean multiplying your visits by 5, knowing the real traffic data of your market is no longer optional: it is the most important competitive advantage you can have.

Types of keywords

Not all keywords are created equal. Ranking them correctly will help you build a more efficient and balanced strategy.

By length and specificity

• Head keywords ( short-tail keywords ): generic one- or two-word terms with high search volume, but also very high competition. Example: "digital marketing"

•  Middle tail keywords: two- or three-word phrases that are more specific. Example: "online digital marketing course"

•  Long - tail keywords: long, very specific phrases with fewer searches but higher purchase intent and conversion rates. Example: "digital marketing course for SMEs in Spanish"

  Long tail keywords are highly recommended for projects that are just starting out, as they have less competition and attract users with a much more defined search intent.

By search intent

User intent is one of the most important factors in 2026. Google no longer just looks for an exact match with a term, but interprets what the user wants to achieve with that search:

• Informative: the user wants to learn or resolve a doubt. Example: "what is SEO"

• Transactional: the user wants to buy or perform an action. Example: "buy Nike running shoes"

• Navigational: the user is searching for a specific website or brand. Example: "Google Analytics login"

• Commercials: The user is comparing options before deciding. Example: "best SEO tools 2026"

The 3 key criteria for choosing well

Before investing in a keyword, you should evaluate three fundamental factors:

1. Search volume: How many people search for that term per month? A very low volume may mean that no one is interested; a very high volume, that the competition is insurmountable for a new site.

2. Ranking difficulty (KD): This indicates how difficult it is to rank at the top of Google for that keyword. SEO tools express this on a scale of 0 to 100. To begin, look for keywords with a KD below 30-40.

3. Relevance to your business: ranking for a keyword with high traffic is useless if that traffic has nothing to do with what you offer. Relevance is the most important filter.

With the right SEO tools, you can discover this data and choose long-tail keywords.

The process for choosing your keywords in 2026

The approach has evolved. It's no longer enough to create a random list of terms; by 2026, keyword strategy must be aligned with the business and the user's intent at every stage of the buying process.

Step 1 — Align keywords with your sales funnel

Think of your website as a funnel. There are users who don't know you yet ( TOFU: top of funnel ), others who are evaluating options ( MOFU: middle of funnel ), and others who are ready to buy ( BOFU: bottom of funnel ). You need keywords for each stage:

• TOFU:  "What is organic traffic?"

• MOFU:  "How to increase my business's web traffic"

• BOFU:  "tool for analyzing web traffic"

Step 2 — Create your keyword universe

Start with seed keywords: terms related to your main activity. Then expand them using:

• Related Google searches (bottom of results)

•  Google's "People also ask" section 

• Keywords your competition uses

• Long-tailed variations

Step 3 — Analyze search intent

Before creating content for a keyword, search for that term on Google and see what kind of results appear. Are they blog posts, product pages, videos, or comparisons? That tells you exactly what format and approach you should use.

Step 4 — Prioritize judiciously

You can't work on all keywords at once. Rate them according to:

Step 5 — Group and map the content

Organize your keywords into thematic clusters: a main page for the most important keyword and secondary pages that cover related subtopics. This approach, known as topic clusters, strengthens your website's thematic authority with Google in 2026.

Where to place the keywords?

Once chosen, the location is key for Google to interpret them correctly:

• Page title (H1): always include the main keyword

• Meta description: naturally, not forced

• Article URL: short and descriptive ( /que-son-palabras-clave)

• First 100 words of the text: Google gives more weight to what appears first

• Subtitles (H2, H3): Use variations and synonyms

• Image alternative text (alt text)

• Body text: natural, without saturating (avoid keyword stuffing )

Most common mistakes when choosing keywords

Knowing the most common mistakes will save you months of work in the wrong direction:

• Targeting overly generic keywords: high competition and low conversion. "Sneakers" is almost impossible for a small store to rank for.

• Ignoring search intent: creating an online store optimized for an informational keyword is a strategic mistake.

• Obsessing over volume: a keyword with 200 monthly searches but high transactional intent can be worth more than one with 10,000 searches with no purchase intent.

• Failing to update your strategy: trends change. A profitable keyword today may not be profitable in six months.

• Keyword stuffing: artificially repeating keywords penalizes your ranking. Google rewards naturalness and depth of topic.

Keywords and AI in 2026

The SEO landscape has changed significantly with the rise of artificial intelligence in search engines. AI-generated summaries on Google (AI Overviews) are reducing organic clicks on many informational searches. This means that in 2026 it will be more important than ever:

• Optimize for intent, not just for the exact term

• Create in-depth content that AI cannot fully summarize

• Focus on transactional and niche keywords, where the user needs to click to get what they are looking for.

• Combining traditional SEO with GEO ( Generative Engine Optimization ): writing while also considering how AIs extract and present information

From theory to action: your keyword checklist

Before publishing any new content, review this list:

• Have I identified a clear main keyword?

• Does the search volume justify the effort?

• Is the difficulty level manageable for my current skill level?

• Have I analyzed search intent by reviewing Google results?

• Do I have secondary keywords and synonyms to enrich the text?

• Does the keyword appear in the title, URL, and first paragraphs?

• Have I checked what my competitors are doing with that keyword?

Help finding the right keywords and creating content that ranks

Knowing that keywords matter is just the first step. The real challenge is finding the right keywords for your niche, understanding what users want when they search for them, and turning that knowledge into content that Google wants to show. This process has a clear logic that you can repeat time and time again.

Start with the general to get to the specific

The most common mistake is trying to rank directly for broad terms like "nutrition,  " "marketing," or "travel." These keywords do have millions of searches, yes, but they also face brutal competition dominated by media outlets with decades of established authority.

The smart strategy is exactly the opposite: start with a generic term to discover the specific variations that you can actually win.

Imagine you have a nutrition blog. Your starting point is the word "diet." From there, tools like Keyword Research Tool automatically generate hundreds of long-tail keyword variations with their search volume and competition levels. Suddenly, you discover that:

• "ketogenic diet for beginners" → 2,100 searches/month, medium competition

• "Mediterranean diet for people over 50" → 880 searches/month, very low competition

• "What to eat before training to lose fat" → 1,400 searches/month, low competition

Those are your real opportunities. Concrete terms, proven demand, and no publishing giants blocking the way.

Turn each keyword into a content intent

Finding the keyword is only half the battle. Before writing a single line, you need to understand what the user expects to see when they search for that term —because Google already knows, and rewards those who respect that.

A long-tail keyword like "ketogenic diet for beginners" has an informative and educational purpose : the user wants to learn, not buy. This means your content should be a practical guide, not a product description or a sales page. If you create the wrong format for the right purpose, Google won't rank you, even if your text is impeccable.

Once you have a clear intention, you can structure the article: what to cover, in what order, what questions to answer, and what subtopics to include. You can use an AI-powered content generator, whether from chatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, to create an initial draft based on that keyword and intention, review it with your own judgment, correct it, and enrich it with more in-depth information and real-world examples. The result is a text that starts with real search data and arrives at high-quality, publishable content in much less time than you imagine.

Take advantage of the potential of artificial intelligence, ask chatGPT to create the prompt for your text and then use it to create a base text.

Look at who's in front of you before you write

Before investing hours in an article, it's worth knowing if you have a realistic chance of ranking well. This is where competitive analysis comes in, and it's more revealing than it seems.

With Lookkle's Website Competitor Analysis, you can analyze your domain's estimated organic traffic and discover which other websites in your niche have similar or higher traffic than yours. This gives you a list of real competitors—not the ones you think they are, but the ones Google considers equivalent to your site.

The next step is to analyze websites with more traffic than yours. Observe what type of content they publish, how often, what topics they cover and which they don't. Every gap they leave unfilled is an opportunity you can fill with the right content.

Discover exactly which keywords your competition is using to beat you.

When you find a website that clearly surpasses you in organic traffic, the natural question is: why? The answer lies in the specific keywords that are working for them.

Using Lookkle's Organic Keywords Tool, you can see exactly which terms a competitor ranks for and in what position. This is especially valuable when you spot keywords where they're in mid-range positions—between 5th and 20th—because it means there's already validated demand, but their content still has room for improvement.

If a competitor ranks #9 for "what to eat before training to lose fat" with an outdated 600-word article, you can publish a comprehensive, up-to-date, and well-structured guide—and surpass them in just a few weeks. This strategy, known as the content gap, is one of the most effective ways to grow organically without starting from scratch.

Check if the difference comes from the content or the links

Sometimes you produce quality content, target the right keywords, and still fail to outrank certain websites. In many of these cases, the problem isn't the content—it's the backlinks: the external links pointing to your domain that Google interprets as votes of trust and authority.

With Lookkle's Backlinks Checker, you can analyze the link profile of any domain and understand whether its ranking advantage comes from its content or its accumulated domain authority. If you discover that they have 200 domains linking to them and you have 20, you know that in addition to improving your content, you need a link building strategy: guest posts, press mentions, and collaborations with other blogs in your industry.

Knowing this information prevents you from getting frustrated thinking that your content isn't good enough, when in reality the problem is something completely different — and it has a solution.

Start for free, scale when you need to

All these tools are available on Lookkle with a free plan that allows you to explore their features without commitment.

For more intensive use, unlimited analytics, historical data, and cross-domain comparisons, the Starter plan includes a free one-week trial to get you started. Sign up, try it for seven days, and see for yourself how many keyword opportunities are waiting in your niche.