Direct answer
Keyword research reveals how people express needs. It should shape task coverage, terminology and architecture, never a target percentage of repeated words.
Practical steps
- Collect first-party customer and search language.
- Group by task and decision.
- Map one intent owner and supporting evidence.
- Write naturally and test usefulness.
Common mistakes
- Optimizing to density.
- Creating pages for trivial variants.
- Ignoring customer vocabulary outside tools.
Limitations
- Tools estimate demand imperfectly.
- Low-volume language can still represent high-value work.
Primary sources
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — Google Search Central; 2025-12-10; 2026-08-14.
- Spam policies for Google web search — Google Search Central; 2026-05-15; 2026-08-14.
- Search Engine Optimization — IJERT; 2013-11; 2026-08-14.