Keyword research is one of the most critical steps in the SEO process.<\/p>\n
Google Search Console is best known as a tool to measure site performance and fix issues. But you can also use it for keyword research. It\u2019s free, intuitive, and easy to access with your Gmail account.<\/p>\n
Ready to start? Here\u2019s all you need to know.<\/p>\n
Google Search Console (GSC), formerly Google Webmaster Tools, is a\u00a0free SEO tool<\/a>\u00a0that lets you track, maintain, and optimize your website\u2019s visibility in Google search results.<\/p>\n That visibility matters since Google is the most-used search engine. It has a\u00a092% market share<\/a>\u00a0of mobile and desktop searches. So it\u2019s likely one of the first places your ideal customers look for information on your business, products, or industry.<\/p>\n Image Source:\u00a0StatCounter<\/a><\/p>\n GSC offers insights on search queries, click-through rates, and website indexing. That allows you to:<\/p>\n Of course, its keyword data will also help you find the perfect terms to target in your SEO and content marketing strategies.<\/p>\n Targeting relevant keywords will help your business appear in your ideal customers\u2019 search results.<\/p>\n Google Search Console isn\u2019t technically a keyword research tool. But there are compelling reasons to use it as one:<\/p>\n Further reading:<\/strong>\u00a0Once you\u2019ve perfected Google Search Console keyword research, explore the tool\u2019s other features and reports with help from our\u00a0Google Search Console Ultimate Guide<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Looking at the many queries driving traffic to your site may feel overwhelming. Here are three methods to try when using Google Search Console for keyword research.<\/p>\n Start by identifying keywords with high impressions and click-through rates. These search terms are already driving traffic to your site. Keep them in your strategy to continue benefiting.<\/p>\n A quick reminder:<\/p>\n Impressions<\/strong>\u00a0are the number of times your website or content shows in search engine results pages (SERPs) for a certain search query (i.e., keyword). Impressions count whenever an item appears in the current page of results. That\u2019s the case even if the user doesn\u2019t scroll down to see that item. As long as they don\u2019t click \u201cSee more\u201d or move to another SERP, the impression sticks.<\/p>\n Your\u00a0click-through rate<\/strong>\u00a0(CTR)<\/strong>\u00a0is the percentage of people who click on your website\u2019s link in the SERPs out of the total number of times it appears.<\/p>\n From the GSC Overview page, select the \u201cSuchen<\/strong>\u00a0results<\/strong>\u201d tab on the left.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see the number of clicks and impressions your site got from organic search over the past three months.<\/p>\n You can change the date range to fit your needs by clicking the \u201cDate<\/strong>\u201d button.<\/p>\n In this case, we\u2019re after a big-picture view of our top-performing keywords. So 12 months is more helpful:<\/p>\n Below the initial chart, GSC breaks the traffic into specific queries. Sort these by \u201cClicks\u201d to see which terms drive the most traffic to your site.<\/p>\n Branded queries (from users who searched for your site on Google) are important to be aware of, but not the goal of this exercise.<\/p>\n Instead, look for other high-performing keywords and topics to keep in your strategy.<\/p>\n In our example, the domain\u2019s pages appeared in search results 465 times for \u201cheadspace marketing strategy,\u201d and resulted in 160 clicks.<\/p>\n That means content on this topic drove organic traffic to our site. We could capitalize on its popularity by:<\/p>\n Further reading:<\/strong>\u00a0Online advertising, influencer partnerships, email marketing, and guest posting all get more eyes on your site. Learn more in our\u00a0Guide to Content Amplification<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Be mindful of\u00a0keyword cannibalization<\/a>\u00a0when writing about one topic multiple times. That\u2019s an SEO issue where different pages on one site compete with each other for the same keyword rankings. It can harm your search performance and conversions.<\/p>\n Cannibalization only occurs when two pages satisfy the same search intent. So factor that in when planning follow-up content.<\/p>\n For example, if a publisher gets traffic for a news article about new restaurants in Milan, it could create a new page listing the best restaurants in Milan without cannibalizing. The two pieces meet different needs\u2014the first is a factual update, the second offers helpful guidance.<\/p>\n If a keyword has high impressions but low CTR, that suggests you\u2019re ranking for the term but too far down the SERPs to win searchers\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n Finding these terms in GSC will help you identify existing content that needs optimizing. A few on-page tweaks could help you rank higher so you can generate more traffic to your site.<\/p>\n How do we know?<\/p>\n Because consumers are using search engines\u00a020% more year-over-year<\/a>\u00a0and over\u00a0two-thirds (68.7%)<\/a>\u00a0of their Google clicks go to the top three organic search results.<\/p>\n To find keywords that need work:<\/p>\n Select \u201cSuchen<\/strong>\u00a0results<\/strong>\u201d below the \u201cPerformance\u201d tab on GSC\u2019s overview page.<\/p>\n Choose a timeframe at the top of the page.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll go for three months this time so we can see what\u2019s performed well recently.<\/p>\n If we choose a longer period, the data might include content that performed well in the past but is no longer relevant.<\/p>\n Now sort the list of keywords by \u201cImpressions<\/strong>\u201d in descending order.<\/p>\n At the top, you\u2019ll see terms you\u2019re showing up in the SERPs for, but not getting any traffic from. Some will be too broad and competitive, like \u201ccontent marketing agency\u201d and \u201ccontent marketing company.\u201d<\/p>\n The more niche terms with high impressions will be easier to rank for because they have lower keyword difficulty scores, which you can check in Semrush\u2019s\u00a0Keyword Overview tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n For example, we could revisit existing content relating to the \u201csaas seo\u201d keyword.<\/p>\n This content might need updating to become more relevant. Even if it\u2019s technically well-optimized, a \u201c2017 Guide to SaaS SEO\u201d is less likely to get clicks than a \u201c2023 Guide to SaaS SEO\u201d because the title immediately suggests the piece is older and less likely to be relevant.<\/p>\n Or it could be missing a keyword from its\u00a0meta description<\/a>\u00a0or URL.<\/p>\n You can use plenty of simple tweaks to push underperforming content up the SERPs. Learn more in our\u00a0guide to on-page SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n Easy win keywords are the queries that unoptimized pages on your site show up for naturally.<\/p>\n Once you know what those queries are, you can target them. Then you\u2019re likely to rank even higher and gain more traffic.<\/p>\n From the \u201cSearch results\u201d Performance page, click the \u201cPages<\/strong>\u201d tab:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see a list of pages with their CTR and impressions data. Select the one you want to optimize to see its performance report.<\/p>\n Then switch back to the \u201cQueries<\/strong>\u201d tab.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see all the terms relevant to your page. And the number of impressions and clicks they\u2019ve generated in the SERPs.<\/p>\n Look for terms with high impressions that you can use as the primary keyword for your on-page SEO efforts.<\/p>\n One crucial element when deciding on keywords to target is search volume, or the number of times users search for a term, on average, per month.<\/p>\n GSC doesn\u2019t provide this data because (per\u00a0Google Support<\/a>) it doesn\u2019t use a common server to track searches for SEO purposes. It only tracks them for advertisers who use keywords to promote their businesses on Google Ads.<\/p>\n To get a better idea of search volume, use Semrush for keyword research. You can use the\u00a0Keyword Magic tool<\/a>\u00a0to indicate search volume:<\/p>\n You can also see which keywords your competitors are ranking for using the\u00a0Organic Research tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n First, type in the URL. Let\u2019s use imdb.com for this example:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll first see a dashboard showing previews of key info, such as number of keywords, site traffic, keywords organized by search intent.<\/p>\n Then. you can dive deeper to show the top keywords and keywords by intent. You can see many metrics, including search volume, and view more in-depth reports.<\/p>\n Ensure the keyword you choose relates closely to the page you want to optimize. Otherwise, you risk making unnatural tweaks that decrease the content\u2019s relevance\u2014and potentially damaging your SEO performance.<\/p>\n In the Headspace example above, \u201ccontent marketing app\u201d has high impressions, but zero clicks. We can capitalize on that opportunity by creating fresh content around content marketing apps and linking to it from our original piece on Headspace\u2019s marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n But \u201cheadspace marketing\u201d is a more relevant primary keyword to target with any significant on-page changes. Like tweaking the URL, meta description, or title.<\/p>\n Once you know how to use GSC for keyword research, the next step is measuring your outcomes. Then you can do more of what works to keep improving your site\u2019s visibility\u2014and ditch any tactics that don\u2019t deliver.<\/p>\n The first and most obvious place to check is the \u201cPerformance\u201d chart on GSC\u2019s \u201cOverview\u201d page.<\/p>\n It shows your total web search clicks over the past three months. So you can see if your SEO and keyword research efforts translate into organic traffic growth.<\/p>\n Click \u201cFull<\/strong>\u00a0report<\/strong>\u201d for a more detailed version that includes impressions and clicks.<\/p>\n Check whether these are up or down since you started using GSC for keyword research. Increases show your tactics work. Decreases mean you must revisit your strategy.<\/p>\n Shorten or extend the period using the \u201cDate<\/strong>\u201d button above the chart. This time, the ideal period will depend on when you started trying to improve search performance.<\/p>\n Change the chart\u2019s data by selecting the relevant check boxes at the top.<\/p>\n GSC shows \u201cTotal clicks\u201d and \u201cTotal impressions\u201d by default, but you can also see \u201cAverage CTR\u201d and \u201cAverage position\u201d (i.e., average ranking).<\/p>\n Different metrics suit different objectives.<\/p>\n If you want to grow visibility, \u201cTotal impressions\u201d and \u201cAverage position\u201d are your best markers.<\/p>\n If you were already ranking but not getting much traffic, pay closer attention to how \u201cTotal clicks\u201d and \u201cAverage CTR\u201d change over time.<\/p>\n You can check the same metrics for individual queries and pages to see whether your\u00a0content optimization<\/a>\u00a0efforts (i.e., on-page SEO tweaks) work.<\/p>\n From the \u201cSearch performance\u201d page, select the appropriate tab under the main chart: \u201cQueries<\/strong>\u201d or \u201cPages<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Then click the relevant search term or URL to assess its performance.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see a new graph with data relevant only to your keyword or page. In this example, we can see impressions and clicks for our page peaked in March before leveling gradually.<\/p>\n That tells us the on-page SEO changes we made at the end of January (when clicks and impressions were low) increased visibility and traffic. We could do the same with other pages performing poorly.<\/p>\n Google Search Console is great for free, easy, and basic keyword research.<\/p>\n But Semrush offers more comprehensive keyword analysis and search performance tracking. Our database contains data on more than 25 billion keywords, 43 trillion backlinks, and 808 million domain profiles.<\/p>\n You can connect GSC to six Semrush tools to make both tools more powerful. There are details about all six in our\u00a0Google integrations guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n But for now, the most useful GSC integrations for keyword research are\u00a0Organic Traffic Insights<\/a>,\u00a0On Page SEO Checker<\/a>, and the\u00a0SEO Dashboard<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what each can do and how to set them up.<\/p>\n Organic Traffic Insights<\/a>\u00a0combines your Google Analytics (GA), Google Search Console, and Semrush data into a single dashboard.<\/p>\n Allowing these tools to share information gives you a list of keywords that drive organic traffic to your top-performing pages.<\/p>\n With GA alone, you\u2019d see \u201c(not provided<\/a>)\u201d in this column.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to set it up:<\/p>\n Click on \u201cConnect Google Account<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n Then choose or enter your Google account details.<\/p>\n Click \u201cAllow<\/strong>\u201d to let Semrush access data from your Google accounts. Remember this part of the process since you\u2019ll need to do it each time you integrate a Google account with Semrush.<\/p>\n In the next window, you can choose which properties to link to your Semrush Project.<\/p>\n After connecting GA and GSC and choosing your properties, your Organic Traffic Insights campaign will be able to house all your valuable keyword performance data.<\/p>\n\n
Why Use Google Search Console for Keyword Research?<\/h2>\n
\n
How to Find Keywords Worth Targeting in GSC<\/h2>\n
Method 1: Find High-Value Keywords to Keep in Your Strategy<\/h2>\n
\n
Method 2: Find High-Performing Keywords That Need Extra Work<\/h2>\n
Method 3: Find Easy Wins (Low-Hanging Fruit)<\/h2>\n
How to Measure Keyword Research Outcomes on Google Search Console<\/h2>\n
Supercharge Semrush with Data from Google Search Console<\/h2>\n
Connecting Google Search Console to Organic Traffic Insights<\/h3>\n
Connecting Google Search Console to On Page SEO Checker<\/h3>\n