Manual and tool-based keyword research methods

Two SEO terms to know first

• Topical authority — Google prefers websites that are subject-matter experts; building content around one coherent niche earns better authority than spreading across unrelated topics.
• Keyword cannibalization — when multiple pages on the same site target the same keyword, Google gets confused about which to rank, and both pages suffer. Always cluster keywords and write unique content per cluster to avoid this.¹

Method 1: Google Instant (manual)

1. Go to Google and start typing your main keyword (e.g. "best phone under") — the autocomplete suggestions are popular real searches.
2. Feed the same seed into a keyword helper tool (e.g. Keyword Shitter, Keywordtool.io) for long-tail suggestions.
3. Copy every suggestion into a spreadsheet.
4. Group keywords by intent — e.g. "best shoes for men" and "top shoes for office" share intent and belong in one group; "how to polish shoes" belongs in a different group.

Limitation: Google Instant does not surface synonyms or alternate phrasings, and misses many keyword variants — this is why a second method is usually run alongside it.

Method 2: Ahrefs / SEMrush

1. Open Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.
2. Enter your seed keyword.
3. Use filters like "Also Rank For" or "Having Same Terms".
4. Export the matching keywords and terms.

Group the results by search intent and topic relevance — e.g. a "Buying Shoes" cluster ("best shoes 2025", "shoes under 1000") versus a "Shoe Maintenance" cluster ("how to polish shoes", "clean sneakers").

Method 3: the EMD secret-combo method

Best suited to niches built around Exact Match Domains (EMDs).

1. Search the keyword in Ahrefs or SEMrush and identify the top-ranking site.
2. Manually open the top results and copy every URL that matches the keyword exactly (EMD-based competitor sites).
3. Paste everything into one spreadsheet.
4. Repeat the same search with a second country/location filter (e.g. UK, US) and add those results too.
5. Remove duplicate sites from the combined list.

Competitor analysis (manual, via Ahrefs Site Explorer)

1. Enter the main competitor's domain into Site Explorer.
2. Select Top Pages, filtered by your target country or "All World".
3. Analyze which pages rank for which keywords.
4. Copy the top-performing URLs, check their structure in Google, and save everything to a spreadsheet.

Finalization: repeat Site Explorer against remaining competitors, export keywords, and use Keyword Shitter again for any final manual extraction before moving to article-writing prep.

Tools used, at a glance

Footnotes

1. iSkills SEO course notes, compiled 2025. ↩