What To Do After Keyword Research: 5 Crucial Next Steps

So, you’ve completed keyword research, and now you have a list of 150+ keywords that could drive traffic to your website.

But, what’s next?

That’s just what I’m going to show you.

Follow this guide step-by-step to make the most of your keywords and turn them into content that ranks and converts.

5 Things to Do Right After Keyword Research

Step 1: Organize Your Keywords into 3 Strategic Buckets

Before diving into content creation, the first thing I do is organize my keywords into 3 logical buckets. This helps me align my SEO strategy with my business goals and search intent.

Bucket 1: Main Keywords (for Homepage)

Think of your homepage as the digital front door of your business. Unlike blogs or product pages that focus on specific, long-tail keywords, your homepage should target broader keywords to convey the essence of your brand.

It is supposed to be a central hub that helps visitors and search engines understand who you are, what you offer, and why you matter.

To optimize your homepage with your researched keywords–

a. Identify 1–3 primary keywords

↳ Think of the terms that describe your core business and match the terms your target customers use to search for products or services that you offer.

For example, a SaaS tool might target “project management software” or an eCommerce store could aim for “affordable smart home devices.”

Avoid hyper-specific keywords unless your business is highly niche. You want your homepage to capture a wide audience.

↳ Search for your primary keyword and analyze the SERPs. Look at the homepages of competitors ranking for this term. See what keywords they are using in their title tags, meta descriptions, and headings.

Apart from analyzing your competitor’s website for stealing keywords, you can also take inspiration to place them optimally.

Let’s say you’re doing SEO for a business that makes customized jewelry. Google a keyword that represents the essence of their business, like “custom jewelry.”

Open the top few results and see what keyword comes up the most.

As you can see, they are all targeting “personalized jewelry” on their homepages.

It’s a strong indication that this keyword aligns with user intent in the industry. And that’s a keyword you should probably target too on your homepage (considering it has a good search volume and manageable competition).

↳ Once you’ve chosen your primary keyword, identify 1–2 secondary keywords to complement it. These should be related terms or variations that help expand your homepage’s visibility.

Continuing the example of the custom jewelry business, if it specializes in gold and silver jewelry, you could pick keywords like “personalized gold jewelry” and “personalized silver jewelry” from the keywords list.

Or just open Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool and enter your primary keyword.

In the list, find related terms with decent search volume and relevance to the main keyword and the core business.

Bucket 2: Landing/Static Page Keywords

Now, we start getting a little more specific. Landing/static keywords are for service pages, category pages, or use-case pages. These are important because they target users with transactional or commercial intent.

Think of this as your business blueprint for:

↳ Service-based businesses: Include services and use cases (e.g., “smart thermostat installation”).

↳ eCommerce: Include category and subcategory pages (e.g., “smart security cameras,” “smart lights”).

↳ SaaS: Highlight features or use cases (e.g., “collaboration tools for remote teams”).

↳ Local businesses: Combine services with locations (e.g., “smart home installation in Dallas”).

Pro tip: For each service or category, create a mini keyword cluster with the main keyword and its variations for creating content later.

Bucket 3: Blog Keywords (Informational Content)

Blog keywords are typically informational and easy to spot—they often trigger long-form articles in the SERPs.

For example, searchers using terms like “how to install a smart thermostat” or “best smart home devices for renters” are simply looking for information.

So, if you have a blog, use your information-intent keywords to write articles. This helps establish topical authority and attract users in the awareness stage of the buyer journey.

Now, how do you make sure which keyword has information intent?

There are two ways to do it:

a. See What Dominates SERP

If you’re not sure whether a keyword has an information search intent or not, simply google it and see if it triggers a lot of blogs.

For example, I searched for “best vacuum cleaners” and the SERP is full of blogposts.

This tells me that by using these keywords, people are looking for informational comparison posts. So, I’ll use it for writing blogs.

b. Use SEMrush’s Keyword Overview Tool

Open Semrush’s Keyword Overview Tool, enter your target keywords and hit Search. I prefer this tool because you can check up to 100 keywords at once.

The keywords marked I have informational search intent. So, you want to use such keywords for writing blogs.

c. Create Keyword Clusters

If you have not already created keyword clusters during the research, do it now. It will really be helpful during content creation.

For example, terms like “best vacuum cleaners,” “best vacuum cleaner for home​,” and “best vacuum cleaner brands” are semantically similar keywords. You should put them in one cluster, with the most potent keyword (high Volume, low KD) being the primary keyword.

By addressing multiple angles of the topic, you can cover broader user intent and rank for more variations.

Once you’ve categorized your keywords, prioritize and focus on those that will deliver the highest impact first.

You want your most important pages (homepage and landing pages) indexed and ranking as soon as possible. These are the pages that drive conversions. Once they’re live and optimized, you can focus on scaling your strategy through blog content.

Now, let’s talk about how to optimize your website with your organized list of researched keywords.

Step 2: Optimize Homepage with Keywords

I’ve broken down the homepage into different elements that you need to optimize with keywords. Let’s discuss each in detail:

a. Title Tag and Meta Description:

Your title tag is the clickable headline in search results.

This is where you include your primary keyword (that you found with Step 1) and brand name.

For example, if you’re doing SEO for a website builder, your Title Tag could be:

“Website Builder | Create a Free Website with [Brand Name].”

Next, your meta description should include the 1-2 secondary keywords (that you found in Step 1) naturally. It should summarize your business’s unique value proposition.

Look at how Wix has done it:

b. Headings and Body Content:

Let’s do headings first.

Your H1 (Main Heading) should clearly convey your business’s core offering. This is where you want to use your primary keyword.

When you open Wix, you are greeted by a simple, direct, and impactful main heading that naturally uses their main keyword.

This is the sort of thing you would like to do with your H1 and primary keyword.

H2s and Subheadings come next.

Their purpose is to break up your content into digestible sections and include secondary keywords naturally.

These headings improve readability and help search engines understand your homepage’s structure.

It also makes it easier for the visitors to navigate to the different sections of your homepage that they are interested in.

Look at how Wix uses secondary keywords to draft catchy H2 headings.

Lastly, onto the Body Text.

Ideally, mention your primary keyword within the first 100 words of your content.

Use secondary keywords naturally throughout the text as you explain your products/services.

Here’s another example from Wix’s homepage.

You also need to optimize your Visual Content (like video, images, gifs, etc.) with keywords. How?

Include relevant and contextual keywords in their alt texts.

This is a very dumbed down example but let’s say a website is selling apples and has an image of green apples. One of their secondary keywords is “fresh green apples.” Then, they could use this keyword as their alt text because:

➔ It perfectly describes the image

➔ It is a well researched secondary keyword

Lastly, there are Internal Links.

On a homepage, these links help your visitors to navigate to those areas of your website that they are most interested in.

Use your primary and secondary keywords in the anchor text to direct users and Google to high-priority pages, such as “Services,” “Products,” or “About Us.”

For example, a keyword like “Build your website” could be linked to your website builder tool page.

A few expert tips

➔ Think Long-Term: Avoid targeting overly narrow keywords like “Plumber in Seattle” unless you’re sure that they align with your long-term goals. For businesses planning to expand geographically or diversify their services, opt for broader keywords.

➔ Balance Branded and Non-Branded Keywords: Your homepage will naturally rank for branded terms like your company name. However, you also need to optimize it for non-branded keywords such as “best smart home systems” or “time tracking software” to attract organic traffic.

Step 3: Optimize Landing/Static Pages with Keywords

Landing/Static pages are where conversions happen.

You want to optimize them with transactional and commercial intent keywords to bring potential buyers closer to taking action.

I’m breaking down the landing/static page into different elements which you can optimize using keywords.

a. Title Tag and Meta Description:

Use primary transactional keywords in the title tag of your static/landing pages.

Look at what Wix has done with its “Website Design” page title.

Straightforward title that includes the transactional keyword “Design a Website” naturally and simply tells what the page is about.

As for the meta description,

For example, when you open Wix’s “Website Design” page, this is the first thing you see:

As for your meta description, naturally include the 1-2 secondary keywords that have transactional/commercial intent. It should summarize what the page is about.

b. Headings and Content:

Let’s do it in a logical order.

Your H1 heading should focus on the main keyword that aligns with the page’s purpose.

For example, when I scroll down through Wix’s “Website Design” page, I see this:

The H1s simply convey the USPs and tools of their web design suite while incorporating the main keywords naturally.

This is what you want to do with your landing page H1s.

Now, for Subheadings and Content, use variations of the main keyword to target the intent of different users across your target audience.

This is also where you want to use your long tail keywords.

Look at how Wix has optimized its subheadings and content with keywords.

It has included both short and long tail secondary keywords that also effectively convey what a certain feature/tool is about.

Just like that, optimize your subheadings and content (like product/service descriptions) with keywords.

Lastly, optimizing your Internal Link anchors is also important. Use them to guide your visitors to related category pages, product recommendations, or blogs on your website that they might be interested in.

Step 4: Optimize Blog Pages with Keywords

Remember all the long-tail, informational keywords you worked so hard to research (or maybe you just used SEMrush!)? This is where they come in.

Blog pages are your opportunity to dominate informational intent searches.

Here’s how to optimize blog content with keywords:

a. Prioritize Keywords that People are Actually Searching for

Once you’ve identified blog keywords with informational intent and a good Volume to KD% ratio, it’s time to create quality content around these keywords.

The keyword clusters you created earlier steps, you’ll thank yourself for that now. You have all the similar keywords in groups and now you can just start writing blogs for each cluster.

Prioritize keywords that answer common queries, talk about target audience’s challenges, or offer unique insights.

Use keywords naturally in your content– but don’t shoehorn them!

Make sure your keywords align closely with user intent and match the most common content format in the SERPs for your information keyword (e.g., how-to guides or listicles).

b. Use Keywords where they Matter the Most

Just like in the homepage and landing/static page, there are different areas of your blog that you need to strategically optimize with keywords.

For Title Tag, Use your primary keyword naturally in the title. Keep it concise and enticing.

Let’s say, if you were writing a guide about smart thermostat installation and your primary keyword is “how to install a smart thermostat,” a good title would be: “How to Install a Smart Thermostat | Complete Guide”

It includes the main keyword and simply conveys the idea of the blog.

When it comes to Headings, use your primary keyword in the H1 and its variations in H2s and H3s to create structure and hierarchy.

For example, the H1 could be: “7 Simple Steps to Install a Smart Thermostat”

It uses a slight variation of the primary keyword and clearly indicates that this is where the main guide starts.

The H2s could be: “1. Turn Off Your HVAC System” & “2. Pop Off the Faceplate”

And then if there are sub parts of an H2 topic, you can put it in H3.

For the main Body Content, which consists the detailed answer of the query, here’s how to use the keywords:

→ Place the primary keyword within the first 100 words naturally.

→ Sprinkle secondary keywords naturally throughout the article.

→ Incorporate long-tail and related keywords to build topical relevance.

→ Avoid keyword stuffing. I’ve said it before. It’s a surefire way to tank user experience.

Then there are Internal Links. You should use internal links with intent and strategically include keywords in it.

When linking to related blog posts or resources, make sure your anchor text naturally includes relevant terms.

For example, link to a related post like “Best Smart Thermostats for Home” using descriptive anchor text such as “check out my top picks for smart thermostats.” The language in this anchor is natural and conversational– it can easily blend into your content without looking odd.

Then there are areas where the internal linking is obvious, such as “related articles” sections. And that’s alright.

Don’t forget Meta Descriptions. Use the primary keyword naturally and create an engaging summary that entices readers to click.

Step 5: Refresh and Repurpose Existing Content

Keyword research is not just for new content. You can also use it to revitalize your existing content.

Find overlaps in the keywords you have found and the topics you already have pages/content for. If those pages are not using these keywords, optimize them with your newly researched keywords (that are relevant to those pages).

This would be a good opportunity to refresh your content as well to make sure it’s better than your competitors.

To Refresh Content with Researched Keywords:

→ Add New Keywords: Integrate relevant keywords naturally into titles, headings, and body content.

→ Expand Content: Add sections to cover related questions or subtopics.

→ Improve User Experience: Include visuals like tables, videos, or infographics.

Make the Most of Your Keyword Research

By following this guide will help you get the maximum ROI on your keywords. But of course, if your keywords aren’t good enough, it doesn’t matter how well you implement them. Here are a few guides to help you find the right keywords:

↳ How to Do Keyword Research for B2B

↳ How to Do Keyword Research for SaaS

↳ How to Do Keyword Research for eCommerce

↳ How to Do Local Keyword Research For Small Businesses

Frequently Asked Questions