How to Choose Your SEO Keywords: the Complete Targeting Method

Choosing the wrong keywords is the most widespread mistake in SEO. You spend hours writing an article, you optimise the page carefully — and no one reads it, because no one is searching for what you wrote. Or worse: thousands of people are searching for it, but players ten times more powerful already occupy the top positions and you have no realistic chance of overtaking them in the short term.

Choosing your keywords means choosing your battles. Here's how to do it intelligently.

Understanding Search Intent Before Volume

The first question to ask when looking at a keyword isn't "how many people search for it?" but "why are they searching for it?"

Search intents fall into four categories:

• Informational: the user wants to learn something. "How does Google work", "what is SEO". These queries attract readers in the discovery phase, rarely immediate buyers.
• Navigational: they want to access a specific site or page. "Google Search Console login", "GitHub Microsoft". No SEO interest unless you are the target site.
• Commercial (investigation): they are comparing options before buying. "Best SEO tool 2026", "SEO agency vs independent consultant". High conversion potential.
• Transactional: they are ready to buy or act. "SEO audit pricing", "contact SEO consultant Brive". Directly monetisable intent.

The golden rule: one page = one intent. Don't mix an informational and a transactional target on the same page. Google ranks pages based on their relevance for one intent, not multiple.

The 3 Keyword Evaluation Criteria

Once you have a list of candidates, evaluate each one across three dimensions:

1. Monthly Search Volume

This is the most-watched metric — and the most overrated. A keyword with 50 monthly searches but precise and low competition can generate more revenue than a 5,000-search keyword where you'll be in position 15.

Tools to measure volume:

• Google Keyword Planner (free, direct Google data)
• Ubersuggest (freemium)
• Semrush / Ahrefs (paid but most accurate)

Caution: these volumes are estimates, sometimes very far from reality. Cross-reference multiple sources.

2. Competition (Keyword Difficulty)

Before targeting a keyword, look at the top 10 positions in Google. Who are your competitors? If they're Wikipedia, major news sites, mega authority sites — you have virtually no chance in the short term, unless your site has equivalent authority.

SEO tools calculate a "Keyword Difficulty Score" (KD) out of 100. As a general rule:

• KD < 30: accessible for a young site with few backlinks
• KD 30-60: requires excellent content and some targeted backlinks
• KD > 60: reserved for sites with high domain authority

3. Commercial Relevance (Business Value)

This is the most frequently overlooked criterion. A keyword can be highly searched and low competition — but if the people searching for it aren't your target audience, what's the point?

Ask yourself: if someone who types this query lands on my site, what's the probability they become a client, subscriber, or at least a qualified contact?

The Long-Tail Keyword Strategy

High-volume keywords ("SEO", "search engine optimisation") are called "head terms". They're extremely competitive and reserved for authority sites.

The long-tail refers to all the more specific queries, searched less individually, but which collectively represent the majority of searches. "How to choose SEO keywords for a travel blog in 2026" — that's a long-tail query.

Advantages of long-tail keywords:

• Less competitive → easier to rank
• More precise intent → better conversion rates
• Allow you to build authority before attacking head terms

A healthy strategy: start with niche keywords (KD < 20, volume 100-500), rank on them, build authority, then progressively move toward more generic terms.

Practical Method: Building Your List in 5 Steps

Here's a concrete method for building an actionable keyword list:

Step 1 — Free brainstorm. List all topics related to your business. No filter. Use your clients' vocabulary, not your internal jargon.

Step 2 — Interrogate Google. Type your ideas into Google and look at autocomplete suggestions (Google Suggest), "People Also Ask" questions, and the related terms at the bottom of the page. These are real data about what people are searching.

Step 3 — Analyse your competitors. Which keywords make your competitors rank? Semrush or Ubersuggest let you see the top positions of a given site. It's a goldmine.

Step 4 — Filter by intent + difficulty. For each candidate, identify the intent (informational, commercial, transactional) and estimate the difficulty. Eliminate what doesn't correspond to your stage of development.

Step 5 — Group into clusters. Semantically related keywords should be covered on the same page or in a cluster of linked pages. This is the foundation of content architecture.

Classic Targeting Mistakes

Some traps to absolutely avoid:

Targeting too broadly too early. A 10-page site has no chance of ranking for "SEO" — start with "SEO consultant Corrèze" or "SEO audit for small artisan businesses".

Ignoring local SERPs. If you offer a local service, check that Google actually shows local results for the query. If the SERP is dominated by Google Maps packs, you need an optimised Google Business Profile, not a blog post.

Cannibalising your own pages. Two pages targeting the same main keyword compete with each other within your own site. Google doesn't know which to prioritise and may neglect both. Ensure one intent = one page only.

Neglecting semantically related terms. Since BERT, Google understands that "electric car" and "zero-emission vehicle" cover the same topic. Use synonyms, related terms, connected entities in your texts — without forcing them.

Putting the Strategy into Practice

Understanding the theory is good. Applying it in a real context is what makes the difference. Our SEO simulator puts you in the position of an SEO professional who must choose keywords, decide on a content strategy, and measure results — all in game mode, without risk.

To go further on SEO basics, explore our complete guide to learning SEO or read our article on how Google works.

And if you want an expert to analyse the relevance of your current targeting and propose a keyword strategy tailored to your market, request an SEO audit — it's the best starting point.

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Article written by Alexandre De Sousa, SEO & GEO consultant, founder of iZZi. Last updated: May 2026.