Keyword research is the work of finding the words and phrases real people type into search engines to find products, services, or answers like yours, and understanding the intent behind each one. It is the starting point of any sensible SEO plan, because it tells you what your customers actually want before you write a single page.
Volume, difficulty and intent
Good research weighs three things together rather than chasing raw numbers. Search volume estimates how often a term is searched each month. Keyword difficulty estimates how hard it would be to compete for that term. Intent is the reason behind the search: is the person looking to learn, to compare, or to buy? A term with high volume but the wrong intent will bring traffic that never becomes an enquiry, so the most valuable keywords are often the specific, lower-volume ones where the searcher is ready to act.
- Informational: the person wants to understand something, such as “how does local SEO work”.
- Commercial: they are comparing options, such as “best SEO agency in Galway”.
- Transactional: they are ready to act, such as “book an SEO audit”.
The foundation of a content plan
Once you have grouped keywords by topic and intent, you can map each group to a page: services to your SEO service pages, local terms to a Galway location page, and questions to guides that answer them. This is how a clear structure emerges rather than a scattered pile of posts. Google’s own advice on creating helpful content reinforces the point: write for the person behind the search, not for a keyword count. Research keeps you honest about what those people are truly looking for.
The practical takeaway: build your plan on evidence of real demand, not guesswork. If you would like to see which terms your site could realistically compete for, our free SEO audit reviews your current keywords and the gaps worth pursuing.
