What Keywords Should I Use: What It Means and Why It Matters
You know the feeling: you've written a great page, hit publish, and then nothing — the silence usually means you picked the wrong keywords. This guide walks you through the practical steps to choose keywords for SEO, YouTube, and Google Ads, so your content actually gets found.
Google processes daily searches: 8.5 billion ·
Long-tail keywords share of traffic: 70% ·
Online experiences that start with a search engine: 93% ·
Users who never scroll past the first page: 75%
Quick snapshot
- Google Keyword Planner is a free tool (Perth Marketing Company (agency keyword guide))
- Long-tail keywords have lower competition (The Flux Canvas (YouTube SEO guide publisher))
- Keyword stuffing is penalized by Google (YouTube SEO in 2025 — What Actually Works (video))
- The exact number of keywords needed per page is debated
- Optimal keyword density varies by industry
- Updated Google Ads keyword guidance published May 2025 emphasizes relevance over volume (Perth Marketing Company (agency keyword guide))
- Cross-channel keyword workflows (web, YouTube, Ads) become the new standard for content planning
Most content fails because creators pick broad, high-competition keywords that no one searching for them actually converts on. The smarter move: choose long-tail phrases with lower search volume but higher purchase or engagement intent.
What are good keywords?
A good keyword is one that connects what you offer with what someone is actually typing into a search bar. It balances three things: search volume (how many people look for it), competition (how many others are chasing it), and relevance to your specific content. The Flux Canvas (YouTube SEO guidance publisher) recommends focusing on long-tail phrases of 3–5 words for better targeting and less keyword competition.
What makes a keyword good?
- Relevance: The search term matches what your page, video, or ad actually delivers. A recipe site targeting "SEO tips" will bounce visitors fast.
- Search volume: Enough people search for it to make the effort worthwhile, but not so many that you're buried in results.
- Clear intent: A "good" keyword signals what the user wants — information ("how to bake a cake"), a purchase ("buy cake mixer"), or a specific site ("Duncan Hines store").
A creator targeting "YouTube SEO 2025" competes against thousands of established guides. One targeting "how to rank YouTube Shorts for small business in 2025" faces far fewer competitors while attracting viewers who already know what they need.
Examples of good keywords for different niches
The table below shows how specificity transforms keyword effectiveness.
| Niche | Broad keyword (hard to rank) | Good long-tail keyword (easier, higher intent) |
|---|---|---|
| Fitness | weight loss | best pre-workout snack for runners over 40 |
| Tech | new laptop | lightweight Linux laptop for web development under $800 |
| YouTube | YouTube growth | how to grow a gaming channel with no face cam 2025 |
| Google Ads | plumber | emergency plumber Sydney same-day service |
The pattern across every niche is the same: specificity beats generality. A long-tail keyword like "how to grow a gaming channel with no face cam 2025" already matches the exact query a potential viewer will type into YouTube. Medium (YouTube SEO resource publisher) highlights that long-tail keywords like "how to rank YouTube videos for small business" generate higher intent and improved conversion potential compared to generic terms.
What this means: a good keyword is rarely a single word. It's a phrase that tells you exactly what the searcher expects to find — and whether you can deliver it.
How do I know what keywords to use?
Knowing which keywords to target starts with understanding your audience's language, not guessing. The process breaks into three clear steps: brainstorm seed topics, validate with data, and refine based on intent.
Steps to find the right keywords for your website
- Brainstorm seed keywords: Write down 5–10 broad terms that describe your content, product, or service. These are starting points, not final targets.
- Use YouTube and Google autocomplete: Type a seed phrase into a search box and note the suggested completions — these reflect real searches people make. YouTube SEO Tutorial 2025 (video guidance) suggests doing this in incognito mode to get unbiased suggestions.
- Analyze competitors: Look at which keywords are driving traffic to top-ranking pages in your niche. Tools can help surface their target phrases.
- Check search volume and competition: Use keyword research tools to estimate how many monthly searches a term gets and how many pages are competing for it.
- Map to user intent: Categorize each candidate keyword by what the searcher wants — information, a product, a comparison, or a specific website.
Using keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner remains a free starting point: enter your seed keywords, and it returns average monthly searches, competition level, and suggested bid ranges for ads. A 2025 update to Google Ads keyword guidance emphasizes relevance over raw search volume as noted by Perth Marketing Company (Google Ads best practices guide).
For YouTube-specific research, The Flux Canvas (YouTube SEO guide) recommends using YouTube search suggestions, competitor video analysis, and Google Trends filtered to YouTube search as core methods. Browser extensions like TubeBuddy, VidIQ, or Keywords Everywhere provide estimated search volume and competition metrics directly on YouTube search results pages.
Creators who invest in audience-derived language will consistently outperform those who guess.
What are the 4 types of keywords?
Keywords fall into categories based on length, branding, and the searcher's goal. Understanding these helps you mix phrases that attract traffic at every stage of the buyer's journey.
Short-tail vs long-tail keywords
- Short-tail keywords: One or two words ("shoes", "SEO tips"). High search volume, high competition, vague intent.
- Long-tail keywords: Three or more specific words ("best running shoes for flat feet"). Lower volume, lower competition, clear intent.
LinkedIn — YouTube SEO Checklist for 2025 explicitly recommends long-tail keywords like "how to rank YouTube Shorts in 2025" over broad head terms such as "YouTube SEO" because the longer phrase signals clearer search intent and faces less competition.
Branded vs non-branded keywords
- Branded: Includes a brand name ("Nike running shoes", "TubeBuddy review"). High conversion for that brand, irrelevant for others.
- Non-branded: Describes the product or need without naming a brand ("best running shoes", "keyword research tool"). Broader reach, lower barrier to entry.
Transactional, informational, navigational, commercial investigation
The table below categorizes keywords by searcher intent.
| Intent type | What the searcher wants | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | Answer to a question or learning | "how to do keyword research" |
| Navigational | Reach a specific site or page | "Google Keyword Planner login" |
| Transactional | Make a purchase or sign up | "buy keyword research tool" |
| Commercial investigation | Compare options before a purchase | "Ahrefs vs SEMrush vs Moz" |
The pattern: each type serves a different stage of the search journey. A healthy keyword strategy includes a mix of informational terms (to attract new visitors) and transactional or commercial terms (to convert them).
What should I put in keywords?
Once you've picked your target keywords, the next question is where and how to place them. Proper placement signals relevance to search engines without triggering penalties for over-optimization.
How to optimize keywords in your content
- Title tag (or video title): Place your primary keyword near the front. LinkedIn — YouTube SEO Checklist for 2025 recommends keeping titles between 50–65 characters, while The Flux Canvas (YouTube SEO guide) says under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results.
- H1 tag: The main page heading should include the primary keyword naturally.
- Meta description: A concise summary (under 160 characters) that includes the keyword and a call to action.
- Body content: Use the keyword and its variations in the first 100 words, but never force it. Write for the reader first.
- URL slug: Keep it short and include the primary keyword (e.g., /what-keywords-should-i-use).
- Image alt text: Describe the image using the keyword where relevant.
Placing keywords in titles, headers, and meta descriptions
Medium (YouTube SEO tips guide) recommends treating tags as "contextual breadcrumbs" rather than primary ranking factors — reinforcing that titles, descriptions, and engagement carry more weight. For YouTube specifically, Latevaweb (YouTube SEO guide publisher) advises populating descriptions with original text rich in target keywords and broader semantic variations rather than copying website content verbatim.
Every placement is a signal, but too many signals in unnatural places trigger Google's spam filters. One well-placed keyword in the title and naturally throughout the body outperforms stuffing it into every tag, comment, and file name.
Why is keyword research important in SEO?
Keyword research prevents you from creating content that nobody searches for. Without it, every page, video, and ad is a guess — one that 93% of online experiences won't validate because they don't start with your content at all.
Impact of keyword research on organic traffic
Identifying the right search terms directs your effort toward topics with proven demand. A page optimized for a keyword with 1,000 monthly searches and low competition will regularly outrank a generic page targeting a term with 100,000 searches that's fought over by established domains, media sites, and e-commerce giants. Long-tail keywords collectively account for 70% of all web traffic — not because they're individually large, but because there are thousands of them, each pulling in a steady, relevant stream of visitors.
How keyword research informs content strategy
- Topic clusters: Research reveals which subtopics your audience cares about, allowing you to build connected content (pillar page + supporting articles).
- Content gaps: You may discover high-search-volume questions that no competitor has answered well — an opportunity to capture untapped traffic.
- Intent prioritization: Knowing whether searchers want a tutorial, a product page, or a comparison changes how you structure the page and what action you ask them to take.
- Cross-channel alignment: A keyword that works for SEO can also feed your YouTube titles, tags, and Google Ads campaigns, creating a consistent funnel.
Urban Splatter (YouTube marketing insights) encourages repurposing Shorts concepts into longer tutorials and adding chapter timestamps rich in keywords so both viewers and Google Search can navigate directly to key sections — a direct application of research across formats.
Keyword research is the only step that simultaneously improves your organic traffic, your YouTube discoverability, and your Google Ads ROI. The same data that identifies what people search for also tells you what they're willing to click, watch, or buy.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a keyword and a search term?
A keyword is the term you target in your content or ads; a search term is what a user actually types into a search box. They often match, but keyword research tools account for variations and synonyms.
How often should I update my keyword list?
Review your keyword list at least quarterly. Search trends, competition levels, and seasonal shifts can change a keyword's value within months.
Can I use the same keyword on multiple pages?
Ideally, assign one primary keyword per page. Using the same keyword on multiple pages creates internal competition and confuses search engines about which page to rank.
What are negative keywords?
Negative keywords are terms you exclude from Google Ads campaigns to prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. For example, adding "free" as a negative keyword if you sell premium products.
How many keywords should I target per page?
Focus on one primary keyword per page, plus 2–4 related semantic phrases. Targeting too many dilutes the page's relevance signal.
What is the best free keyword research tool?
Google Keyword Planner is the most widely used free tool, offering search volume and competition data directly from Google's ad platform. YouTube autocomplete and search suggestions are also free and highly relevant for video content.
Why is keyword stuffing bad?
Keyword stuffing makes content unreadable and triggers search engine penalties. Modern algorithms prioritize natural language, context, and user experience over keyword frequency.
Choosing the right keywords is the difference between publishing content that gets found and content that waits for a search that never comes. For anyone running a website, YouTube channel, or Google Ads campaign, the decision is clear: invest the 30 minutes to research properly, or watch your competitors take the traffic.