If you person a website, keyword mapping should beryllium a priority.

Why?

Because it tin assistance you get much visitors, leads, and conversions. Noticeably more.

At Backlinko, keyword mapping helps america scope 500k+ integrated sessions each month.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll find everything you request to get started with keyword mapping.

Plus, a escaped keyword mapping template.

But first, let’s commencement with the basics.

What Is Keyword Mapping?

Keyword mapping is the process of organizing people keywords into groups and assigning them to circumstantial pages connected your website.

And creating a elaborate keyword representation to support way of important details. Including keyword volume, difficulty, and more.

Like this:

Why not conscionable scribble it each down connected a napkin?

Creating a elaborate keyword representation ensures you person a permanent, organized papers to usher your SEO strategy. Which helps support you accordant successful your optimization efforts.

And gives your website contented a superior vantage connected hunt motor results pages (SERPs).

Benefits of Keyword Mapping

Not definite keyword mapping is worthy the effort? Here’s a look astatine the benefits it tin provide:

• Improves the tract acquisition for visitors and hunt engines
• Reduces bounce rates
• Creates a way for hunt engines to follow
• Builds a beardown interior linking system
• Helps debar keyword cannibalization
• Identifies keyword gaps

At Backlinko, we usage keyword mapping to debar cannibalization and guarantee a beardown interior nexus network. This allows our users to easy find accusation connected immoderate halfway topic.

Keyword mapping helps america deliberation strategically astir our perfect customers and however to plan our website to champion conscionable their needs.

Leigh McKenzie, caput of SEO astatine Backlinko, said:

How to Do Keyword Mapping successful 5 Steps

1. Download Our Free Keyword Mapping Template

Ready to larn however to make a keyword map? Download our escaped keyword mapping template to travel on with our step-by-step tutorial below.

Once you’ve downloaded the template, rename it successful the precocious left.

Here’s a peek astatine immoderate of the terminology and columns successful the template:

• Pillar pages: A database of your site’s pillar leafage keywords
• Cluster topics: A database of subtopic keywords
• Volume: The mean monthly searches for each superior keyword
• KD (keyword difficulty) score: The estimated trouble level of each superior keyword
• Keyword variations: Groups of keywords you tin usage arsenic secondary keywords
• Total volume: The combined imaginable postulation of superior keywords and keyword variations
• Target URL: The tract leafage you delegate to each radical of keywords
• Status: A drop-down enactment that indicates the page’s status
• Last updated: A grounds of the past clip you optimized the leafage for its existent keywords

2. Find Keywords for Mapping

Before utilizing the keyword mapping template, you’ll request to make 3 keyword lists:

1. Pillar leafage keywords
2. Cluster taxable keywords
3. Keyword variations

Start by choosing 1 of your blog’s main topics.

For example, if your blog’s niche is gardening, you mightiness take a main taxable similar “gardening tools” oregon “gardening tips.”

Got it?

Now you’re acceptable to dive into keyword research and physique your lists.

Pillar Page Keywords

Pillar leafage keywords correspond your site’s main topics. You’ll delegate them to your site’s pillar pages.

Use a keyword probe instrumentality similar Semrush’s Keyword Magic oregon Google Keyword Planner to place keywords that lucifer your site’s main topic.

For this example, we utilized the Keyword Magic Tool.

Enter your main tract taxable into the hunt barroom and click “Search.” We utilized “gardening tips.”

Enter your site’s URL into the purple hunt barroom for personalized information (including a keyword trouble people tailored to your domain).

Scroll down to presumption the results.

Then, prime the keyword you deliberation is the champion lucifer for your pillar leafage topic.

Our “gardening tips” hunt turned up keywords similar “beginner gardening tips” and “vegetable gardening tips.”

These mightiness marque large clump taxable keywords. Or they mightiness enactment for a antithetic pillar leafage down the road.

But they’re not arsenic large for a pillar leafage connected “gardening tips.”

Because we privation a keyword that describes our main taxable perfectly.

We’re successful luck.

There’s an nonstop match, “gardening tips,” astatine the apical of the keyword results page.

The estimated monthly hunt measurement is 1,600, which is simply a bully magnitude of traffic.

The keyword difficulty people is rated arsenic “difficult,” meaning we’ll request galore referring domains and optimized contented to assistance this leafage rank. For our illustration site, this is attainable.

Next, we’ll cheque the keyword’s search intent. Search intent, sometimes called “user intent,” is the crushed down a person’s search.

And it’s a large woody successful keyword mapping.

Matching keywords with the close hunt intent makes it easier for Google to scale your pages correctly.

Which tin yet effect successful much postulation to your website. It besides helps searchers find the benignant of contented they’re looking for, reducing bounce rate.

The astir communal types of hunt intent are:

• Informational: The searcher is looking for accusation connected a topic. Like “gardening tips” oregon “how to commencement a roseate garden.”
• Navigational: The searcher is looking for a circumstantial website. Such arsenic “MyGardeningTips” oregon “Amazon.”
• Commercial: The searcher is checking retired products oregon services. For example, “gardening tools nether $10.”
• Transactional: The searcher is actively looking to marque a purchase. Like “buy gardening gloves.”

Check the “Intent” file adjacent to the keyword successful the Keyword Magic Tool.

“I” indicates “informational” hunt intent, “C” indicates “commercial,” and truthful on.

Our “gardening tips” keyword has some an “informational” and “commercial” intent. But what’s astir important is the “informational” intent.

Since we’re creating an eventual guide, this intent works well. Informational blog contented similar how-to guides, tips, and listicles is astir ever a bully lucifer for “informational” hunt intent.

Once you’ve decided connected your keyword, prevention it to a keyword database successful Semrush.

Check the container adjacent to the keyword(s) you privation to save. Click “+ Add to list.”

Click “Create caller bare list” and springiness your keyword database a name. We named ours “Pillar leafage keywords.”

Repeat this process for the different 2 lists you’ll physique adjacent (“Keyword variations” and “Cluster taxable keywords).

Cluster Topic Keywords

Cluster taxable keywords correspond subtopics of your pillar pages. Each clump taxable leafage you make volition nexus to its main pillar page. And the pillar leafage volition nexus backmost to the cluster.

This creates a strong, topic-driven interior linking strategy.

You tin find fashionable subtopic ideas utilizing your archetypal keyword research.

For example, our main keyword was “gardening tips.” Which turned up a fistful of large subtopic ideas.

Like “raised furniture gardening tips” and “spring gardening tips.”

Long-tail keywords, similar the 2 above, enactment good for clump posts.

Why?

Because long-tail keywords are highly circumstantial presumption that thin to person little keyword trouble scores.

Add the subtopic keywords to your “Cluster taxable keywords” lists successful Keyword Magic.

Keyword Variations

Keyword variations are phrases that person akin meanings to the archetypal keyword.

Including antithetic keyword variations increases the chances of capturing a wider assemblage who mightiness operation their searches differently.

It tin besides amended your website’s visibility connected SERPs by covering much hunt queries and expanding your chances of ranking for related terms.

Find keyword variations by looking astatine your hunt results successful Keyword Magic Tool.

For example, “tips connected gardening,” “gardening tips and tricks,” and “tips for gardening” appeared successful our archetypal hunt for “gardening tips.”

Add the variations to your “Keyword variations” list.

3. Add the Keywords to Your Map

If you haven’t already, download our escaped keyword mapping template.

Now, unfastened your keyword mapping template and adhd your pillar leafage keywords to file “A.” Add monthly hunt volumes to file “C” and KD scores to file “D.”

When you’re finished, it should look similar this:

Next, participate your clump taxable keywords successful file “B,” alongside their measurement successful file “C” and KD scores successful file “D.”

Like this:

Next, adhd your keyword variations to the map. Enter these successful file “E” arsenic a group.

Add hunt measurement successful parentheses down each keyword.

Like this: “tips connected gardening (210), gardening tips and tricks (170).”

No KD% people needed.

Here’s what it looks similar successful the keyword map:

Next, get retired your calculator to tally up the full hunt measurement for each row.

Why?

Recording the full hunt measurement provides a broad presumption of imaginable traffic, helping you prioritize high-impact content. This strategy besides ensures you absorption connected keywords that thrust the astir value, enhancing your SEO efforts.

And maximizing your website’s visibility and engagement.

For each row:

1. Add the superior keyword Volume (column C) + the full measurement of each Keyword Variations (column E).
2. Record your reply successful Column F, “Total Volume.”

For our example, our Total Volume for this enactment is 2,150

4. Match Keywords to Pages

In this step, we’ll lucifer each enactment of keywords to an existing oregon aboriginal leafage connected your site.

Let’s commencement with the archetypal row.

In this example, the archetypal enactment contains the superior keyword “gardening tips.”

If you already person a published portion of contented that matches the superior keyword, adhd its URL to file “G.”

Like this:

Don’t you person a portion of contented that matches the superior keyword? Leave file “G” blank.

Next, determination to file “H” and prime a presumption from the drop-down menu.

Which presumption should you choose?

• To Create: If you haven’t published contented for the superior keyword yet
• To Optimize: If you’ve published contented for this taxable but haven’t afloat optimized it for the superior and secondary keywords successful this map
• Updated: If you’ve published contented for this keyword AND it is afloat updated according to the superior and secondary keywords successful this map

The adjacent and last measurement is file “I,” “Last Updated.”

This file lone applies if you person an progressive URL entered successful file “G.”

Otherwise, permission it blank.

Use this abstraction to enactment erstwhile you past optimized this station for the keywords successful your map. If you haven’t optimized oregon created it yet, permission it blank.

Repeat the process for each enactment successful the template.

It should look thing similar this:

Congrats! You’ve conscionable completed your keyword map.

Now what?

Use your completed keyword representation to optimize website content and program caller content.

We volition amusement you however successful the last measurement below.

5. Use Your Keyword Map to Optimize Website Pages

Start with your existing tract pages, if you person any.

For example, let’s accidental you already person a pillar leafage called “The Ultimate Guide to Gardening Tips.”

Its keywords are:

• Primary keyword: Gardening Tips
• Keyword variations: tips connected gardening, gardening tips and tricks, tips for gardening

To optimize the pillar leafage truthful it aligns with your keyword map, usage the superior keyword successful your:

• Title tag
• Meta description
• Introduction (first 100 words)
• Subheaders erstwhile relevant
• Throughout the text, naturally
• Image alt text, erstwhile appropriate

Add each of the secondary keywords (keyword variations) astatine slightest erstwhile wrong the blog post.

Apply the aforesaid techniques erstwhile creating caller pillar pages and clump posts.

Update the “Status” and “Last Updated” columns successful your keyword mapping template each clip you optimize oregon make different page.

Your completed representation besides shows wherever you person content gaps.

Any enactment without an existing “Target URL” successful file G is simply a spread you’ll privation to capable with caller content.

Your caller keyword representation volition assistance you program what contented to adhd oregon update next. And guarantee that you don’t miss retired connected oregon duplicate immoderate tract keywords.

SEO Tools for Keyword Mapping

Free Keyword Mapping Tools

Some of the astir fashionable escaped keyword mapping tools include:

• Google Keyword Planner: For archetypal keyword probe and discovery
• Semrush’s keyword tools: For identifying pillar and clump keywords (search up to 10 presumption per time for escaped successful Keyword Magic Tool and Keyword Overview)
• Ahrefs Keyword Difficulty Checker: Another large enactment for uncovering keywords
• Google Search: For brainstorming taxable and subtopic ideas

For example, Google Keyword Planner is escaped to use. It tin assistance you find caller taxable ideas related to your main keyword.

Go to: “Google Ads” > “Solutions” > “Keyword Planner” and participate a keyword. Then, click “Get Results.”

Like we did with “gardening tips.”

Our gardening tips keyword produced caller subtopics we hadn’t thought of before.

Like “backyard decor ideas,” “composting tips,” and “cheap instrumentality gardening ideas.”

While this tin beryllium a large mode to probe caller terms, Google lone shows a scope for monthly hunt volume—unless you’re actively utilizing Google Ads and hitting an undisclosed monthly spending requirement.

If you find keywords with potential, driblet them into the Keyword Overview to spot a much precise estimation.

Paid Keyword Mapping Tools

Need much in-depth insights?

A paid SEO tool similar Semrush, Ahrefs, oregon Surfer SEO whitethorn beryllium worthy the investment.

Semrush

While galore of Semrush’s tools person free, constricted access, a paid subscription offers adjacent much features and tools.

For example, Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder instrumentality simplifies and automates the keyword mapping process.

Here’s how:

Enter your site’s main keyword and click “Create list.”

Like we did present with the “gardening tips” keyword.

When your study is ready, you’ll person a full, customized strategy built astir your keyword. Including a database of suggested pillar leafage and clump taxable keywords.

For the keyword “gardening tips,” it gave america ideas similar “vegetable gardening” and “rose plant” arsenic pillar pages.

And suggested clump topics specified arsenic “Hanging handbasket flowers” and “water hose.”

Earlier, we were reasoning that the keyword “vegetable gardening” would marque a bully clump taxable keyword. But this strategy suggests utilizing the keyword for a pillar page.

And that’s not a atrocious idea. So, we’ll springiness it immoderate thought.

Scroll down the leafage for adjacent much pillar and clump keyword suggestions.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is simply a broad suite of SEO tools that tin assistance you with keyword mapping.

For example, driblet a keyword into its Keywords Explorer tool, and it’ll make thousands of ideas. It’ll besides automatically clump keywords, helping velocity up your keyword mapping efforts.

Surfer’s Topic Explorer

Surfer SEO’s Topic Explorer helps you analyse tract topics and provides suggestions for supporting clump pieces. It tin besides amusement you what taxable clusters your contention covers.

Enter a keyword, and the instrumentality volition make a representation with subtopics. We entered “gardening tips,” and it suggested further pillar leafage ideas (called Topics), specified arsenic “Home Gardening” and “Planting Guide.”

It besides provides keyword ideas, on with the keyword trouble and hunt measurement for each term.

Getting Started with Keyword Mapping

Keyword mapping is 1 of the smartest SEO moves you tin make.

It helps you deliberation strategically astir each topic, keyword, and leafage connected your site. Boosting rankings and the idiosyncratic acquisition successful the process.

But keyword mapping is conscionable the start.

You’ll request a broad SEO strategy to thrust year-round integrated traffic.

In our SEO Strategy Guide, larn however to analyse SERP results and make contented that outranks your competitors.

The station Keyword Mapping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Better SEO appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.