como hacer un keyword research

How to Do Keyword Research: A Step-by-Step Guide

Want to rank your website but do not know which keywords to start with? Keyword research is the first step in any SEO strategy. Without it you are creating content blind, with no idea whether anyone is searching for it or whether you stand a chance of ranking.

In this guide we explain how to do keyword research step by step, from scratch to a prioritised list of keywords ready to work on. With practical examples and free tools you can use today.

What you will learn in this guide

  • What keyword research is: Why it is fundamental to SEO
  • The process step by step: From the first idea to the final list
  • Search intent: The most important factor
  • Tools: Free and paid options for researching keywords
  • Organisation: How to prioritise and group keywords

Contents

What is keyword research and why does it matter?

Keyword research is the process of identifying and analysing the words and phrases people type into search engines. The aim is to find the keywords most relevant to your business that have enough search volume and that you can realistically compete for.

It is the foundation of any SEO strategy because it lets you:

  • Understand your audience: You learn how potential customers search and what language they use
  • Prioritise your effort: You know where to invest time and resources to get results
  • Create relevant content: You produce content that answers real searches
  • Compete intelligently: You identify opportunities where you can beat the competition

Without keyword research you might create the best content in the world on a topic nobody searches for, or try to rank for keywords you can never win. It is the difference between working with data and working on assumptions.

The basics before you start

Before opening any tool, you need to understand these fundamentals:

Search volume

The number of times a keyword is searched each month. High volume means more potential traffic, but it usually means more competition too. Do not fixate on high-volume keywords alone.

Keyword difficulty (KD)

A metric showing how hard it will be to rank for a keyword. SEO tools calculate it from the authority of the pages already ranking. The higher your own domain authority, the harder the keywords you can go after.

Search intent

What the user actually wants when they search. It is the most important factor and we cover it in detail below. If you do not match the intent, you will not rank.

Long tail vs short tail

Short tail: Short, generic keywords (“shoes”). High volume, high competition, vague intent.

Long tail: Long, specific keywords (“running shoes for beginners”). Lower volume, less competition, clear intent, better conversion.

The keyword research process step by step

Keyword research follows these steps. Let’s go through them one by one with practical examples:

An overview of the process

  1. Define your niche and goals: What do you offer and what do you want to achieve?
  2. Generate seed keywords: Your initial list of ideas
  3. Expand with tools: Widen the list with suggestions
  4. Analyse the metrics: Volume, difficulty, trend
  5. Classify by intent: Informational, transactional, navigational
  6. Analyse the competition: Who ranks and what content do they have?
  7. Prioritise and group: Choose the keywords to work on

Do not skip a step. Proper keyword research can take several hours or even days on a big project, but that time turns into months of well-directed work.

como hacer un keyword research

Step 1: Generate your seed keywords

Seed keywords are your starting point. They are generic terms related to your business that you will use to discover more keywords.

How to find your seed keywords

Ask yourself:

  • What products or services do you offer?
  • What problems do you solve?
  • How would you describe your business in one sentence?
  • What terms would your customers use to find you?

A practical example

Imagine you have a bike shop in Barcelona. Your seed keywords might be:

  • bicicletas
  • bike shop barcelona
  • buy a bike
  • bike repair
  • cycling accessories
  • electric bike

These keywords are too generic to target directly, but they are perfect for feeding into tools and discovering hundreds of more specific variations.

Step 2: Use tools to expand your list

With your seed keywords in hand, it is time to use tools to find more related terms. Here are the most useful:

Free tools

  • Google Keyword Planner: Inside Google Ads. If you are not familiar with the platform, we explain what Google Ads is. It shows approximate volumes and keyword suggestions.
  • Google Trends: Compares how popular terms are and spots seasonal trends.
  • Ubersuggest: The free version is limited but useful to get going.
  • Answer The Public: Generates the questions people ask about a topic.
  • Google autocomplete: Type your seed keyword and look at the suggestions.
  • Related searches: At the bottom of the Google results.

Paid tools

  • Ahrefs: The most complete for keyword research and competitor analysis.
  • SEMrush: Very powerful, with both organic and paid keyword data.
  • SE Ranking: Good value for money.
  • Mangools (KWFinder): A simple interface, ideal for beginners.

See our guide to free SEO tools for more options.

Step 3: Analyse search intent

Search intent is what the user actually wants when they type a keyword. It is the most important factor in modern keyword research. Google favours results that satisfy the intent, so if your content does not match, you will not rank.

Types of search intent

  • Informational: The user wants to learn something. Example: “what is SEO”, “how to do keyword research”. Content: guides, tutorials, articles.
  • Transactional: The user wants to buy or hire. Example: “buy an electric bike”, “SEO agency Barcelona”. Content: product or service pages.
  • Navigational: The user is looking for a specific site or brand. Example: “Amazon”, “Gmail login”. Hard to compete for unless you are that brand.
  • Commercial investigation: The user researches before buying. Example: “best electric bike 2026”, “iPhone 15 reviews”. Content: comparisons, reviews.

How to identify the intent

Search the keyword in Google and look at the results. If blog articles appear, the intent is informational. If product pages appear, it is transactional. Google has already done the work of figuring out what people want.

Step 4: Analyse your competition

Keyword research is the foundation of any successful SEO strategy. Getting it right saves you months of misdirected work and lets you create content that genuinely ranks and delivers results.

At JRC Web we carry out professional keyword research with the best tools on the market (Ahrefs, SEMrush) and years of experience identifying real opportunities. As an SEO agency in Barcelona, we know the local market and how to find the keywords that work best for each business.

If you need a website optimised from the outset, our professional web design services include keyword research and a content architecture built to rank.

Want professional keyword research for your business? Get in touch and we will show you the opportunities you are missing.

Step 5: Filter and prioritise your keywords

Analysing what your competitors are doing tells you which keywords work and how you can beat them:

Identify your SEO competitors

Your SEO competitors are not always your commercial competitors. They are the sites ranking for the keywords you care about. Search your seed keywords and note who appears in the top positions.

Analyse their keywords

With tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush you can see which keywords any domain ranks for. That gives you ideas you may not have considered and shows you what works for them.

Assess their content

For the keywords you care about, study the content that ranks:

  • What format do they use? (guide, list, tutorial, video)
  • How long is the content?
  • Which subtopics do they cover?
  • What can you do better or differently?

A full SEO audit includes this competitor analysis to identify real opportunities.

Step 6: Group keywords into clusters

After gathering hundreds of keywords, you need to filter them down to the most relevant. You cannot work on them all at once.

Criteria for filtering keywords

  • Relevance: Is the keyword related to what you offer? Discard anything that does not fit your business.
  • Minimum volume: Set a threshold for your niche. In small niches, 50 searches a month can be enough.
  • Achievable difficulty: If your site is new, avoid keywords with very high KD. Start with the easier ones.
  • The right intent: Prioritise keywords whose intent your content can satisfy.
  • Conversion potential: Transactional keywords usually convert better than informational ones.

Build a spreadsheet

Organise your keywords in Excel or Google Sheets with columns for: keyword, volume, difficulty, intent, target URL and priority. That becomes the roadmap for your content strategy.

Keep your keyword research up to date

Related keywords should be grouped together so you can create coherent content. A single article can (and should) rank for several related keywords.

Content clusters

Group keywords by main topic and build content clusters:

  • Pillar page: Long-form content on the main topic (the most generic keyword)
  • Supporting pages: More specific articles on subtopics (long tail keywords)
  • Internal links: Connect every page in the cluster to the others

An example cluster

Topic: Electric bikes

  • Pillar: “The complete guide to electric bikes” (keyword: electric bikes)
  • Supporting 1: “The best electric mountain bikes” (keyword: electric mountain bike)
  • Supporting 2: “How long does an e-bike battery last” (keyword: electric bike battery life)
  • Supporting 3: “Electric bike vs electric scooter” (keyword: electric bike or scooter)

Common keyword research mistakes

Keyword research is not a one-off job. Trends change, new keywords appear and your site gains the authority to target harder terms.

When to refresh your keyword research

  • Quarterly: Review your positions and look for new opportunities
  • When you launch new products or services: You will need new keywords
  • When trends shift: Google Trends will tell you
  • When you gain authority: You can go after harder keywords

Monitor your positions

Use Google Search Console to see which keywords you already rank for (you may be surprised). It also shows keywords where you appear but get no clicks, which are opportunities to improve.

Find new opportunities

Periodically check the “Related searches” for your main keywords. Google adds new suggestions constantly based on search trends.

Frequently asked questions about keyword research

It depends on your resources. For a personal blog, 2-4 new keywords a month is reasonable. For a company with a content team, it could be 10-20 or more. What matters is creating quality content for each keyword, not quantity without quality.
Yes, especially if they are very specific (long tail) and carry transactional intent. A keyword with 50 monthly searches but high purchase intent can generate more business than one with 5,000 informational searches. They are also easier to rank for.
The initial keyword research is the most extensive part. After that, review and update it quarterly to spot new opportunities and shifts in trends, and to assess which keywords you already rank for. Do it whenever you launch new products or services, too.
Yes. With Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Ubersuggest (free version), Answer The Public and Google’s autocomplete you can carry out basic research. Paid tools give more precise and complete data, but they are not essential to get started.
Search for the keyword on Google and study the results. If the top positions are held by big brands, news outlets or sites with plenty of authority, it will probably be hard to compete. SEO tools also give a difficulty score you can weigh against your own domain authority.

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