Keyword Research: Curated, Intent-Based, Decision-Ready
Keyword research is the entry point of every collaboration. Before a wireframe is created or a line of text is written, it’s clear which page should rank for which keyword – with real Google Ads data, clustered by search intent, with target URL and page type for every cluster.
Curated, intent-based, cleanly separated
Curated keyword research is not a tool list. The difference lies in three properties: curated means anything that doesn’t fit your offer gets removed – competitor brands, foreign product families, keywords without a clear assignment. Intent-based means clustering by search intent, not by word similarity: “SEO audit cost” and “SEO audit guide” look similar, one search wants to buy, the other to learn – two intents, two pages.
Cleanly separated means every distinct combination of intent and topic gets its own page. No catch-all cluster where everything that sounds related lands. The result sits in the template sheet “Keyword Analysis”: each cluster with search volume, existing ranking from Google Search Console, target URL and page type. Wireframes and texts later grow from this sheet – not the other way around.
Tool lists deliver data, not decisions
An export from Ahrefs or Semrush looks like work but answers not a single question: which page do you build? For whom? In what order?
Volume without intent
A keyword with high volume and the wrong intent isn’t an opportunity but a trap. Build a sales page for a search containing “free” and you attract visitors who never intended to buy.
Wrong audience
B2C keywords on a B2B page bring traffic but no enquiries. In the dashboard everything still looks good.
Cannibalisation
Two pages target the same keyword and steal each other’s ranking – usually because nobody defined before writing which URL owns which topic.
List instead of decision
Thousands of rows of raw data look like substance. Without assignment to a URL and a page type, every row remains an open work order.
“I run around 15 client projects in parallel, and the starting point is the same everywhere: first the sheet, then the text. A keyword list without target URLs isn’t a work state for me, it’s raw material.”
— Viktor Pásztor, SEO freelancer in BerlinThe process in seven steps – always ending with your approval
Define seeds
The seed terms grow from your services, products and target audiences.
Pull raw data
The Google Ads API delivers real search volumes, not estimates from third-party databases. Hits are reused as seeds until nothing new comes up.
Cluster by intent
Transactional, commercial, informational or local – only then sorted by topic.
Check B2B, B2C and product families
If your shop sells to businesses, DIY keywords get removed. Related but foreign products likewise.
Reconcile with Search Console and CMS
What already ranks, which URLs exist? Existing pages are kept or reworked, not blindly replaced.
Assign target URL and page type
Every cluster gets exactly one URL. Cannibalisation is flagged before it costs texts.
Approval
The finished sheet sits in your folder. You comment, delete, add – and approve. Without your approval no wireframe and no text is created.
DIY / pro / agency / automated
| Criterion | Do it yourself | SEO pro (manual) | Agency | How I do it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data basis | free tools, often estimates | pro tools like Ahrefs or Semrush | the agency’s tool stack | Google Ads API, real volumes |
| Clustering | by feeling or alphabet | by experience, by hand | process-dependent, often tool-assisted | by search intent, cleanly separated |
| Target URL and page type per cluster | rarely | if commissioned | depending on package | always, a mandatory part |
| Cannibalisation check | barely feasible without experience | yes, costs hours | usually only in the audit | flagged before writing |
| Your time investment | high | briefing and coordination | meetings and coordination rounds | answering questions, approving the sheet |
| Costs | your working time | by hourly rate, €100 with me | depending on agency and scope | €99–399 per month, depending on module scope, plus credit usage as consumed |
Five effects of clean research
How much ranking better keyword research brings you depends on your website – I won’t invent percentages. What the module delivers:
Decisions instead of raw data
You don’t see thousands of keywords, but a list of pages with a clear brief.
One URL per topic
No text cannibalises another, because the assignment is fixed before writing.
Ready to build on
Every row in the sheet is the direct brief for wireframe and text, with no translation step in between.
Traceability
Real Google volumes and GSC rankings instead of estimates. You can verify every number.
One place for structural decisions
New rankings from Search Console feed in on the next run. The sheet remains the one place where page decisions are made.
Questions about keyword research
Where do the search volumes come from?
Directly from the Google Ads API – the same values Google uses to plan ad campaigns. No extrapolations from third-party databases.
What happens to keywords that can’t be clearly assigned?
They get discarded. A catch-all cluster for “sort of fits” later produces a page without a clear topic, and that ranks for nothing properly.
I already have a keyword list. Do I still need the module?
Your list is usable raw material and feeds in. What it lacks is exactly the part the module provides: curation, clustering by intent and the assignment of target URLs.
What does it cost?
The module is part of the MCP SEO subscription: €99 to €399 per month plus credits, cancellable monthly. How it compares to support and audit is shown in the SEO costs overview.
Back to the pillar
Keyword research is module one of MCP SEO, my system for automated SEO routine work – every collaboration starts here. Two neighbouring modules build directly on the research: SEO Texts fills the approved clusters with content, and internal linking connects the finished pages along the URL structure from the sheet.
Prefer a one-off, deep research with a personal workshop? The keyword research as a manual service covers that. What each route costs is on the SEO costs.
Request keyword research for your project
A conversation about your seeds: what do you sell, to whom, in which market? I don’t need more to start. Reply within 24 hours on weekdays. The subscription is cancellable monthly, there’s a quarterly report, and the sheet belongs to you – even if you leave.
→ Book your free consultation