Keyword Research Checklist

Pull the active ICP and persona docs from the brand library. Note the persona's job title, the problems they search for, and the vocabulary they use — keyword work that ignores persona language ends up ranking for terms the buyer never types.

30-minute working session with Product Marketing. Capture product category terms, jobs-to-be-done phrases, and competitor brand terms. Aim for 20-40 seeds across the buyer journey (TOFU/MOFU/BOFU) before expanding with tools.

Run the Content Gap report (Ahrefs) or Keyword Gap (Semrush) against 3-5 named competitors. Filter to keywords where competitors rank top 20 and you don't rank at all. Export to the working sheet.

In Google Search Console, filter Performance to queries ranking positions 8-20 with impressions above your monthly threshold. These are striking-distance terms — usually the highest-ROI place to start before targeting net-new keywords.

Use Ahrefs Keywords Explorer or Semrush Keyword Magic to enrich the master list with monthly volume, Keyword Difficulty (KD), CPC, and parent topic. Cross-check volume against Google Keyword Planner for paid-side sanity.

Tag each keyword as Informational, Navigational, Commercial, or Transactional. Manually open the SERP for any ambiguous term — Google's ranking pages are the ground truth on intent, not the keyword text. A term that returns only listicles is informational regardless of how transactional it sounds.

Group keywords that share a parent topic and SERP overlap into a single cluster — these become pillar pages and supporting articles. Use Ahrefs Parent Topic, Keyword Insights, or manual SERP-overlap clustering. One cluster, one URL; never split intent across two competing pages.

Note featured snippets, People Also Ask, video carousels, AI Overviews, and shopping packs on each target SERP. Heavy AI Overview presence or zero-click formats lowers expected CTR — adjust ROI scoring accordingly.

Apply a priority score combining business relevance, intent match, KD vs. domain authority, and traffic potential. Flag the top 15-25 clusters as Priority 1 — these drive the next quarter's content calendar. Keep Priority 2 in the backlog.

Reviewer feedback typically lands on intent classification or competitive realism for high-KD terms. Update the sheet, re-run scoring, and circulate for sign-off before moving to content mapping.

For each priority cluster, find the best existing URL (if any) using a site: search plus GSC query data. Mark each cluster as Optimize Existing, Consolidate (when two URLs cannibalize), or Create New.

Two URLs ranking for the same query is the most common cannibalization pattern; both pages underperform. Decide which URL to keep, redirect (301) the loser, and update internal links pointing to the redirected page.

Document the redirect map in the working sheet: source URL, destination URL, and internal links to update. Coordinate with the dev team for the implementation window. Validate redirects in Screaming Frog post-launch — chains and 302s are common mistakes here.

Each brief includes target keyword, secondary keywords, search intent, target word count based on top-10 average, suggested H2s pulled from People Also Ask, internal-link targets, and the persona angle. Use Clearscope or Surfer for content-grade targets where available.

Slot each cluster into the editorial calendar (Notion, Asana, or Airtable) with assigned writer, editor, target publish date, and pillar/supporting role. Pillar pages get the longest lead time; supporting articles cluster around the pillar's publish date.

Load the priority keyword list into Ahrefs Rank Tracker, Semrush Position Tracking, or your tracker of choice. Tag by cluster and by content status (existing/optimize/new) so reporting can roll up by initiative.

Build a GA4 exploration filtered to organic sessions on the target URLs, with conversion events for the relevant CTAs. Verify the conversion events fire correctly — mis-mapped conversion events (firing on email-blur instead of submit) is the most common reporting distortion.

Calendar a 30-day check on indexing status (GSC Coverage), early ranking movement, and CTR on optimized URLs. Most net-new content needs 60-90 days for stable ranking, but indexing and impression trends should already be visible at 30.

Roll cluster performance into the monthly stakeholder report: ranking deltas, organic sessions, conversions, and recommended adjustments. Tie back to the Priority 1 clusters so leadership sees the throughline from research to revenue impact.