What is Keyword Clustering?
It is a common practice to include keywords to optimize content for search engines.
The precise words and phrases users enter into a search engine to retrieve results are known as keywords.
Adding keywords to your content helps you appear in searches and, if done correctly, can push your content to appear as top results.
However, using keywords got trickier as Google and other search engines kept refining and enhancing their algorithms.
The technique of grouping related keywords according to search intent, or the precise goal of the searcher, is known as keyword clustering.
For example, consumers looking for "king mattresses" and "king size mattress" are looking for the same products. Google also shows comparable search results.
Why bother with keyword grouping?
Keyword clustering is crucial to SEO Because visitors might use many search engines to find the same page; finding every pertinent phrase aids in your optimization (and, therefore, ranking) for a greater range of keywords.
Multiple keywords can rank for the same web page. Why should we be obsessively focused on a particular keyword when we can optimize our content that targets dozens of similar and related keywords?
When you focus only on one keyword, you aren't covering enough territory to score highly for the topics you want to appear on search engine results pages.
Keyword clusters also assist you in making your content more user-friendly Because readers are more likely to find the content they want to read when you are optimized for the search intention of the topic.
You do not need to optimize pages around keyword clusters to get multiple ranks,. However, it can be quite beneficial.
Moreover, incorporating relevant terms into your writing may encourage you to write on subjects you hadn't previously thought about. This should improve the natural flow of your writing. (Because you aren't continuously using the same term.)
These two elements can raise the caliber of your content, leading to improved rankings and engagement. By using keyword grouping, you may grasp SEO potential more fully.
Not only is the impact of keyword clustering in increasing organic traffic underappreciated, but it is also largely disregarded.
In this blog, I'll walk you through our unique keyword grouping approach so you can maximize the number of keywords your content can rank for.
How To Do Keyword Clustering?
Here is your guide to keyword clustering.
Step 1 - Manual Keyword Clustering Build a Keyword List
You need a list of suitable keywords in order to do keyword clustering. Make this list by researching potential keywords. Find keywords by topic first, then move forward with competition research to determine if you are missing out on anything.
Following are some of the highly effective ways to collect keywords manually :
Your competitors
Tools for third-party data (such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, AnswerThePublic, and Moz).
Your current Google Analytics/Search Console data
Generating a list of your own thoughts and comparing them
Combining keywords together
Google's autocomplete recommendations and "Searches related to"
Plenty of resources are available for gathering keywords, and more keyword research tools are currently available than ever. Our intention is to be so comprehensive that we will never need to "find more keywords" again—unless, perhaps, we are focusing on targeting a different topic.
Step 2 - Categorize Your Keywords
Now, when you have collected enough keywords, it's time to cluster them with the help of automated tools.
Before understanding how to cluster keywords, you need to comprehend the components of a successful keyword cluster.
It's possible that you grasp search intent intuitively. It's not always evident, though. Examine the search engine results page (SERP) for the term first.
Examine whether your keywords are :
Informational: When people are curious to find out more.( for example, keywords like, “Anroid processor” )
Navigation: When users are looking to find a specific page ( for example, keywords like, Apple store”)
Commercial: When the user is researching a product or service to make the purchase ( best Android)
Transactional: when users are in the process of making an action like “sell second-hand iPhone online” or “buy iPhone 15.“
Sometimes, segmenting the keywords and understanding how much segmentation is required can be complicated. Here is how you can figure it out:
SERP Analysis: Are both keywords highly ranked on the same pages? In such cases grouping the terms together is usually better.
Quality of the content: Could you produce high-quality content for both pages? You can combine the keywords if individual pages are too short, or you must divide them if a single page with them on it would be too lengthy.
User Experience: Will the typical user wish to explore both topics concurrently? If yes, put all the content on a single page; otherwise, divide them for better user experience!
Several tools are available in the market that can help you generate keyword clusters based on intent and relevance, like the keyword manager tool by Semrush.
Another way you can do keyword clustering is by using a spreadsheet. You must create a “category” column and then find the terms with similar search intent to form a cluster. Name each cluster under a tag or tag keywords in bulk with the help of checkboxes.
After grouping a set of keywords together, move forward with the next keyword cluster. Select the new or untagged keywords using the checkboxes and repeat the process.
After classifying most of your keywords, go through the remaining ones. For most of these, you can use the existing tags.
Additionally, be careful to merge clusters where necessary.
Intent: The intent of the search (whether commercial, transactional, navigational, or informative)
Volume: The typical monthly search volume
Keyword difficulty score, or KD%, indicates how challenging it will be to naturally rank in the top 10 Google results.
Add All the related keywords of a seed keyword according to the categories, to begin with the keywords grouping process. Then, follow the same process with other groups of seed keywords.
Step 3 - Identify Content Gaps and Create a Strategy
After grouping all the keywords, inspect each cluster by applying a filter. Next, decide how you're going to target these keywords.
The primary keyword, or the keyword you want to rank for, should be tagged first. Make your choice based on the following metrics and search intent:
Volume: Average monthly searches
KD%: the difficulty level of the keyword to rank in the top 10 of the Google search results.
In general, the higher the rank, the higher the clickthrough rate. Even though a keyword has a smaller search volume, it is preferable to prioritize it if it is less challenging.
By extension, every other term in your cluster is a secondary keyword.
Next, find out if your page is able to fulfill the search intent for this term cluster.
If so, then optimize the current page.
If not, make a new page and optimize it.
In a spreadsheet, create a task ensuring that the target URL and keyword cluster are noted.
Repeat with the remaining keyword groups after that.
Also, take note of the subsequent metrics for keyword clusters: Total Volume, Average Keyword, the difficulty level for keywords, The volume of primary keywords, and Primary keyword complexity. You will need to use a pivot table or formula to calculate the overall volume and average keyword difficulty. Excel Formula Bot and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools can be useful in calculating the metrics.
Lastly, prioritize your tasks according to company objectives and available resources and consider the page's SEO potential.
Now, it is time to optimize content around the keyword clusters.
Following are some of the most crucial on-page SEO strategies:
Put the primary keyword in the title tag, meta description, H1 tag, and URL slug.
Include the primary keyword in the first paragraph of the body content
The average difficulty is lower, suggesting better ranking potential even though the primary difficulty is higher
Visitors to a product category page are more likely to make a purchase since they are further down the purchasing funnel than those who see a measurement guide.
Include major and secondary keywords in your body text as a matter of course.
Use distinct terms from the secondary keywords if you cannot fit them all in. When applicable, use secondary keywords in subheadings.
Include internal connections to relevant sites.
In real-time, the SEO Writing Assistant rates your readability, uniqueness, tone of voice, and SEO.
Repeat the same steps with other clusters.
Step 4 - Track Your Keyword Rankings
Check your rankings to determine the effectiveness of your keyword clustering plan. If you fail to create or raise your desired keyword rankings, take remedial action by examining your SEO strategies.
A tool I use to measure my keyword ranking is Semrush’s Position Tracking Tool. You can monitor important indicators for individual keywords and keyword clusters using Semrush's Position Tracking tool.
How can you make use of Keyword Manager?
Open a keyword list first. Using the "Send keywords" button, you may choose a cluster from the Clusters page and submit it to Position Tracking.
Select an already-started project or start from scratch. Click "Send keywords" after that.
Click "Return to Keyword Manager" and follow the previous instructions if you need to export more keywords. Click "Go to Position Tracking" otherwise.
In Position Tracking, visit the "Overview" report to display ranks (as well as other data) for specific keywords.
Proceed to "Rankings Overview" by scrolling down.
Open the "Tags" report to get average ranks (along with additional information) for keyword clusters.
Use tags to organize your keywords so you can keep an eye on metrics for keyword clusters.
Check the boxes next to relevant terms, then select "Actions" > "Add Tag."
Enter the category name of the keyword cluster and then click “Apply.”
Afterwards, go to the "Tags" report to view metrics by term cluster.
Great, you've finished the task at hand. So, what's next? Well, now you can explore and plan new content you may not have even realized was necessary. Alternatively, you can review your keyword groups and subgroups and align them with existing pages on your website. This helps you add keywords and optimize the header tags, body text, and other areas you may have previously overlooked, especially for long-tail keywords.
Keyword grouping is an underrated and often overlooked strategy that can create a huge opportunity for optimizing search terms. Sometimes, all it takes is adding a particular phrase or a few sentences to target a long-tail keyword, which can increase search traffic to your site. You can gradually increase organic traffic to your site by doing this repeatedly.
What are your thoughts on keyword clustering? Share your comments below and let me know your opinion.
If you need any assistance, feel free to contact our SEO experts. We are always happy to help you with our SEO service in New York.