Keyword Research Playbook with Auditite

Overview

Keyword research is the strategic foundation of SEO. It determines which topics you target, which content you create, and how you measure success. This playbook provides a repeatable process for finding keywords that align with your business goals and audience intent.

Step 1: Define Your Seed Topics

1. List your core products, services, or content themes.
2. Review your existing content and identify the main topics you already cover.
3. Talk to your sales and support teams about the questions customers frequently ask.
4. Analyze competitor sites to identify topics they rank for that you do not cover.
5. Create 10-20 seed topics that represent your primary business areas.

Step 2: Expand Your Keyword List

For each seed topic, generate keyword variations using these methods:

1. Autocomplete suggestions. Type your seed term into Google and note the autocomplete predictions.
2. Related searches. Scroll to the bottom of Google results for “People also search for” and “Related searches.”
3. People Also Ask. Note questions that appear in PAA boxes for your seed terms.
4. Competitor keyword analysis. Identify keywords your competitors rank for using SEO tools.
5. Modifier expansion. Add common modifiers: “best,” “how to,” “vs,” “for [audience],” “[year],” “guide,” “template.”

Step 3: Gather Keyword Data

For each keyword on your expanded list, collect:

1. Monthly search volume (average over 12 months)
2. Keyword difficulty or competition score
3. Cost per click (CPC) — indicates commercial value
4. Current ranking position (if you already rank)
5. Search intent classification (informational, navigational, commercial, transactional)

Step 4: Classify Search Intent

Intent Type	Signals	Content Format
Informational	”how to,” “what is,” “guide”	Blog post, guide, tutorial
Commercial	”best,” “review,” “vs,” “top”	Comparison page, listicle
Transactional	”buy,” “price,” “discount,” “near me”	Product/service page
Navigational	Brand name, specific product name	Homepage, product page

Match your content format to the dominant intent for each keyword.

Step 5: Prioritize Keywords

Score each keyword on three dimensions:

1. Business relevance (1-5). How closely does this keyword relate to your product or service?
2. Ranking opportunity (1-5). Can you realistically rank on page 1 given your domain authority and existing content?
3. Traffic potential (1-5). How much qualified traffic could this keyword drive?

Multiply the three scores and sort by the composite score. Focus on keywords scoring 60+ (out of 125) first.

Step 6: Map Keywords to Content

1. Assign one primary keyword per page or content piece.
2. Group related secondary keywords to target within the same content.
3. Avoid keyword cannibalization — do not target the same primary keyword on multiple pages.
4. Create a keyword map spreadsheet: URL, primary keyword, secondary keywords, search volume, intent.
5. Identify content gaps where you have target keywords but no existing page.

Step 7: Create a Content Plan

1. Prioritize content creation for high-scoring keywords without existing pages.
2. Identify existing pages that should be optimized for their target keywords.
3. Plan content refresh cycles for time-sensitive keywords (annual trends, changing information).
4. Schedule keyword research refreshes quarterly to capture emerging topics and shifting search demand.

Measuring Keyword Research Success

Track these metrics monthly:

• Number of keywords ranking on page 1
• Total organic impressions for target keywords
• Click-through rate from search results
• Organic traffic to pages created or optimized based on keyword research