How to Use Keyword Overview to Analyze Keywords

What Is Keyword Overview?

Keyword Overview is simply a instrumentality from Semrush that lets you analyse keywords related to your business.

For immoderate keyword you enter, it shows accusation similar however often the keyword gets searched, its contention level, related queries, and more.

This information tin assistance you recognize the worth of that keyword and find if it's a amended acceptable for paid hunt and/or SEO.

In this post, we’ll spot however to usage Keyword Overview to analyse keywords.

Let’s get started.

How to Use Keyword Overview

Here’s a step-by-step usher to utilizing Keyword Overview for your online business.

Enter a Keyword to Analyze

Simply participate the keyword you privation to analyse in the tool, prime your people country, and click “Search.” 

(You tin spell 1 measurement further and take a circumstantial metropolis oregon authorities you privation the keyword information for. Just take the due determination from the “Select location” drop-down.)

As an example, let’s analyse the keyword “credit cards” and look astatine the U.S. data.

We present spot an overview study for that keyword. 

There are tons of information points here. And each reveals thing important astir the keyword. 

Let’s spell implicit these metrics successful much detail.

Volume

Volume (also called search volume) is simply a metric that shows you however galore times a keyword is searched for each period (on average). 

The keyword “credit cards” gets 135,000 searches successful the U.S. each month. 

You should cognize these 3 things astir the measurement metric:

• It counts the fig of searches—not the fig of radical who searched. Sometimes, a idiosyncratic mightiness hunt for the aforesaid keyword much than erstwhile a period (e.g., “check net speed”). All those searches adhd up to the hunt measurement of that keyword, adjacent if it’s the aforesaid idiosyncratic searching.
• It’s not the aforesaid arsenic the postulation you’ll get if you fertile for it. If you optimize your website for SEO and get to the apical spot, you’ll apt lone get a portion of the disposable postulation from that keyword. In this case, portion of 135,000.
• It depends connected the country. The information you spot is country-specific. And it volition disagree for different countries.

Search measurement is simply a beauteous invaluable metric successful SEO and hunt advertising. Essentially, you privation to prime keywords that person a tenable fig of searches.

Otherwise, you won’t person overmuch if immoderate postulation to your website.

And support successful caput that hunt measurement is expressed arsenic an yearly average. So, you should ever look astatine the “Trend” graph to guarantee that the keyword isn’t a fad—meaning it was fashionable astatine 1 constituent but is declining successful popularity.

If the hunt measurement inclination is declining sharply, you whitethorn privation to debar targeting that keyword. Even if the existent measurement looks attractive.

Generally, it’s a bully thought to prime keywords that person accordant searches passim the year. Except successful the lawsuit of applicable keywords that are tied to peculiar seasons oregon holidays.

Global Volume

Global measurement is simply a metric that shows the full fig of searches for the keyword crossed each countries. For the keyword “credit cards,” it’s 540,300.

You’ll besides spot a country-by-country breakdown of hunt volume.

This tin assistance you place caller markets and opportunities for your concern oregon website.

For example, if you spot that a keyword has a precocious hunt measurement successful a state wherever you don’t person a presence, you mightiness privation to grow your scope there.

Start by moving hunt ads targeting users successful that country.

Keyword Difficulty

Keyword difficulty (KD) tells you however pugnacious it is to fertile highly for the keyword successful Google’s integrated (unpaid) hunt results. It ranges from 0 to 100, with higher numbers meaning it’s much hard to rank.

The keyword “credits cards” has a keyword trouble people of 100. That means it’s precise hard to fertile for this keyword.

In reality, cipher knows precisely however Google ranks pages. But we bash cognize immoderate of the cardinal factors that impact ranking: the fig of prime and applicable sites that nexus to you, however mobile-friendly your tract is, however precocious successful prime your contented is, etc.

Does having a precocious KD people mean you should wholly disregard the keyword?

Not necessarily. You should inactive people that keyword if it’s applicable to your business. In fact, immoderate of the champion keywords volition person precocious keyword difficulty.

So, don’t shy distant from them. Just cognize that you request to enactment successful a batch of enactment to amended your chances of ranking for them.

Intent

Intent (also called search intent) is the extremity oregon intent down a user’s hunt query. It reflects what the idiosyncratic wants to execute erstwhile they hunt connected Google.

There are 4 types of hunt intent:

• Informational: The idiosyncratic wants to find accusation connected a topic, get an reply to their question, oregon larn however to bash something. For example, “how to get a recognition card” oregon “what is simply a recognition score.”
• Navigational: The idiosyncratic wants to find a circumstantial website oregon page. For example, “chase login”, “american explicit rewards”, oregon “capital 1 recognition paper exertion status.”
• Transactional: The idiosyncratic wants to bargain a product, service, oregon subscription. For example, “apply for a recognition card” oregon “get a pupil recognition card.”
• Commercial: The idiosyncratic wants to comparison antithetic products, services, oregon providers earlier making a acquisition decision. For example, “best cashback recognition cards” oregon “best recognition cards with nary yearly fee.”

In SEO, knowing the hunt intent of your keywords is crucial. As it helps you make applicable and utile contented that matches the user’s needs and expectations.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

Cost per click (CPC) shows however overmuch advertisers wage connected mean for a click connected an advertisement shown successful hunt results for a definite keyword.

While it tin assistance you recognize whether ranking for that keyword organically is apt to thrust results, it’s chiefly a metric for advertisers. Because it tin springiness them a bully thought of a keyword’s worth for their campaigns.

For example, the keyword “credit cards” has a reasonably precocious CPC of $7.31. That’s due to the fact that radical who hunt for it are apt looking for a recognition paper service—and advertisers are consenting to wage to marque definite their ads look prominently to those searchers.

But it’s a antithetic lawsuit for “credit score.” Which lone has a CPC of $1.64.

Why?

Because this is an informational hunt query. And the chances of idiosyncratic straight converting from this keyword aren’t arsenic high.

Know that the CPC you spot successful our instrumentality is lone a snapshot successful time.

CPC, by its precise nature, is highly unstable. It tin alteration implicit clip arsenic contention gets stronger oregon weaker.

So, if you privation to get real-time CPC data, we urge that you usage Google Ads.

Competitive Density, PLA, and Ads

Competitive density is simply a metric that indicates the level of contention for moving hunt ads targeting your keyword.

A people of 1.00 means the keyword is highly competitive. And a people of 0.00 means that there’s nary competition.

The quality betwixt competitory density and keyword trouble is that competitory density shows the hunt advertizing competition. While keyword trouble is simply a measurement of the SEO competition.

Compare these 2 keyword metrics to fig retired whether it is easier to people your keyword done paid advertizing oregon SEO.

Along with competitory density, you’ll besides spot 2 different metrics:

• PLA: Shows however galore merchandise listing ads (Google Shopping ads) look successful hunt results for this keyword
• Ads: Shows however galore hunt ads amusement up successful hunt results for this keyword

If you click connected immoderate of these metrics, you’ll spot a illustration of what those ads look like:

See what benignant of headlines, powerfulness words, and calls to enactment these ads usage to pull customers. And usage the insights to amended your ain ads.

Evaluate Keyword Ideas

Generally, you privation to people aggregate keywords crossed your ads and successful your SEO strategy to get maximum exposure.

Keyword Overview makes it casual to uncover further keywords by showing related keywords (as “Keyword ideas”) for you to consider.

These keyword ideas are grouped into 3 categories. Let’s research each of them.

Keyword Variations

Keyword variations are different presumption that are intimately related to your archetypal keyword.

For example, immoderate of the keyword variations for “credit cards” are:

• “best bargain recognition card”
• “chase recognition paper login”
• “home depot recognition card” 

Click connected the “View each # keywords” fastener to spot adjacent much keyword ideas. This volition instrumentality you to our Keyword Magic Tool:

Almost each these keywords see competitors’ marque names, truthful it wouldn’t beryllium astute to people them from an SEO standpoint.

But you tin decidedly tally ads for them.

If you proceed done this report, you’ll yet spot unbranded keywords. These tin beryllium large for some SEO and hunt ads.

By targeting these variations, you tin scope a wider assemblage and seizure much traffic. 

Question Keywords

Question keywords are hunt presumption that commencement with a question word, specified arsenic “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” oregon “how.” They bespeak that the idiosyncratic is looking to find an reply to something.

For example, immoderate of the question keywords for “credit cards” are:

• “how galore recognition cards should I have”
• “what is apr connected a recognition card”
• “how to wage disconnected recognition paper debt”

These questions are bully ideas for content creation. Because they contiguous an accidental for you to stock invaluable accusation your target audience is looking for. And pull them to your website.

You tin spot a afloat database of question-based keywords by clicking connected the “View each # keywords” button. Which volition instrumentality you to a filtered study successful the Keyword Magic Tool.

Review the options present to find highly applicable questions you tin answer.

Keyword Clusters

Keyword clusters are groups of keywords that stock a communal taxable oregon theme. In Keyword Overview, these clusters are generated based connected your archetypal keyword.

Just click connected the “View each clusters” fastener to spot what clusters populated for the keyword “credit cards.”

You’ll beryllium taken to Keyword Manager. Which shows further details, specified arsenic the fig of keywords successful each clump and the full hunt measurement for the full cluster. 

Click connected immoderate clump to spot the idiosyncratic keywords that beryllium to it.

You tin usage these clusters successful 2 antithetic ways:

• Create an advertisement radical filled with conscionable keywords from a circumstantial clump and tally hunt ads for them. Make definite you person a customized landing page that speaks straight to the assemblage who’s searching for these keywords.
• Target each the keywords belonging to a circumstantial clump connected a azygous leafage and optimize that leafage for SEO

Study the SERPs

Looking astatine the hunt motor results pages (SERPs) for your people keywords tin springiness penetration into:

• The competitors you request to outrank
• The contented format (articles, merchandise pages, reviews, etc.) that is presently ranking
• The types of SERP features (special results that supply further information) that are present
• The benignant of messaging utilized successful ads (if immoderate ads are present)

Understanding the SERP scenery helps you optimize your leafage and/or ads.

You’ll get an in-depth SERP analysis study straight wrong our Keyword Overview tool.

You’ll spot the full fig of hunt results displayed for your keyword, each the SERP features that your keyword triggers, and the pages that are presently ranking astatine the apical for that keyword. 

The instrumentality besides provides assorted metrics for each leafage ranking successful the hunt results. Anlyzing these metrics is important for knowing wherefore those pages fertile good and however you tin amended your ain leafage to compete.

Page Authority Score

Page Authority Score (AS) is simply a metric that measures the wide prime of a page. It ranges from 0 to 100, with higher numbers indicating greater reputability.

The AS people is based connected respective factors, specified arsenic the fig and prime of backlinks (links from different sites pointing to that page), the full monthly postulation the leafage receives, and the authenticity of the page’s nexus profile.

You tin usage this metric to measure however hard it’s going to beryllium to outrank your competitors successful the SERP.

In the SERP for the “credit cards” keyword, we tin spot that each the top-ranking pages person an AS people of astatine slightest 20.

That means you astir apt request to person a leafage with an AS of 20 oregon higher to interruption into apical results for this keyword. 

One of the champion ways to boost a page’s authorization is done nexus building. It involves actively acquiring links from different websites to the leafage you privation to rank.

Further reading: Link Building Strategies: 8 Ways to Build Links successful 2024

Referring Domains

Referring domains is however galore unsocial websites nexus to each page. It’s antithetic from the fig of backlinks, which counts the full fig of links.

The fig of referring domains is simply a bully indicator of a page’s nexus illustration diversity. 

Having links from galore antithetic and applicable domains means that the leafage is trusted by different websites successful your niche.

Generally, the much referring domains a leafage has, the higher its AS people and ranking potential. 

If we look astatine the “credit cards” SERP, we tin spot that astir top-ranking pages person hundreds to thousands of referring domains.

That means you apt request to person a akin oregon higher fig of referring domains if you privation to vie with them

Once again, nexus gathering is the solution here.

Further reading: Link Building for SEO: The Beginner’s Guide

Backlinks

The “Backlinks” file shows the full fig of links that constituent to each page. Which tin see aggregate links from the aforesaid domains.

Backlinks stay 1 of the astir important ranking factors for SEO. The much prime backlinks pointing to a page, the much authorization and spot gets passed to it.

When inspecting the SERP for "credit cards," we spot the top-ranking pages person hundreds, thousands, oregon adjacent millions of backlinks.

The circumstantial fig of backlinks matters little than the authorization and diverseness of domains linking to you.

Even a fewer links from precocious authorization sites tin interaction rankings much than hundreds from unimportant sites.

Search Traffic

The “Search Traffic” file successful Keyword Overview tells you however overmuch monthly integrated postulation each leafage receives. That postulation tin travel from each keywords the leafage ranks for—not conscionable the keyword you entered into the tool.

This metric gives you a consciousness of the postulation imaginable if you decently optimize your ain page.

URL Keywords

The “URL Keywords” file shows the fig of antithetic keywords and phrases the apical pages fertile for. 

You tin click connected the fig to spot the existent database of keywords each leafage is ranking for.

For example, the fig 1 ranking leafage for "credit cards" besides ranks for related keywords like:

• “credit paper application”
• “bank recognition card”
• “apply for recognition card”

This boosts the wide hunt postulation the leafage receives. 

If you’re optimizing your leafage for the main keyword “credit cards,” you tin see optimizing for immoderate of these different keywords arsenic well.

Get an In-Depth Overview of Any Keyword

That’s everything astir our Keyword Overview tool.

All the keyword data, caller keyword ideas, and SERP-related insights tin assistance you set your keyword strategy for success.

If you haven’t already utilized our Keyword Overview tool, springiness it a try.

Enter a keyword you privation to analyze, prime the state (and determination if you wish), and click “Search.”

And commencement your keyword investigation today.