What is Keyword Clustering?
Keyword Clustering is a process used in search marketing where keywords are grouped into various categories based on marketing objectives and strategy.
As search marketing evolves more and more, Google better understands the context and all the semantic aspects behind words, making keyword clustering an essential part of any online business.
Methods of Keyword Clustering
Keyword clustering can be customized case by case and from business to business, depending on KPIs, the importance of services/products, profitability, etc. Two of these groupings are essential and should not be overlooked at all:
Keyword clustering by topics
The topics of a site can be defined by categories, subcategories, types of products, types of services, main themes of a page, or a blog. Starting from a general topic, we can have several sub-topics that we can include or not include in the clusters.
For this article, let’s use the example of a jewelry store: Bijuteria SRL. The store manager wants to develop their Search Marketing strategy and perform keyword clustering. They start their research with „rings” as the main topic. But in doing research, they realize there are several sub-topics: Engagement Rings, Diamond Rings, Gold Rings, Silver Rings. These are part of the main topic, forming the entire idea of rings, but will be considered sub-topics.
Keyword clustering by user intent
Understanding user intent is one of the most important parts of a manager or marketing specialist. It shows us what users want and the reason behind a search.
There are 3 main types defining the intent behind a search:
- Transactional searches: Searches that designate a type of product or service or even the product itself. These searches are close to the direct intention of buying, regardless of the type of search, whether general (ring) or niche (engagement ring with solitaire diamond).
- Navigational searches: Searches where users try to reach a specific site or specific products/services on the site. For example: engagement ring Bijuteria SRL, pendants Bijuteria SRL.
- Informational searches: Those searches where users try to get information (Diamond vs Zirconium) or learn something (What is sapphire). They have a low conversion probability but high traffic potential. These searches can be used for remarketing lists.
If you’re having trouble identifying intent, you can conduct a search on Google where there are two possibilities:
If the results consist of blogs, then it’s an informational search.
If the results consist of online stores, then it’s a transactional search.
The steps for Keyword Clustering
1. Keyword Research
Any keyword clustering starts with keyword research. This can be done using any tool, but we recommend Google Keyword Planner because it’s free, provides extensive data, and is user-friendly.
The method of conducting research isn’t crucial, but we recommend starting with a general keyword and adding all related keywords, including those with zero searches, to simplify later work.
2. Keyword Clustering in Excel
After extracting data from the keyword planner and exporting it to Excel, we recommend using the following columns: Keywords, Topic, Intent, Search Volume, Monthly Search Volume.
In a separate sheet, a pivot table will be created with the following fields:
- Intent
- Topic
- Keyword
- Search Volume
- Months (if desired)
This will result in:
What do you use the data for?
The data from keyword clustering will be used by the agency or SEO specialists to develop the SEO strategy, but it can also be used in paid search campaigns.
From a business perspective, we gain a clear picture of user interest and prioritize products. For example, by examining the table, we can see that bracelets have more searches than engagement rings, indicating that we may need to focus more attention there. By adding profitability data and search volume by month, we can observe which group is more profitable, what the trend of interest is for each group, and make decisions accordingly.
Advantages and benefits of keyword clustering
Despite being a procedure that requires a higher time investment, keyword clustering offers two major benefits:
Macro visibility for user interest
Grouping keywords in this way provides a global view of topics, which helps in choosing marketing directions. By creating multiple and prioritized groupings, we can conduct more complex analyses to assist in making marketing decisions.
Understanding the intent behind the search
Understanding the intent behind a search is essential, considering the evolution of search engines. Google values satisfying user needs and providing the best possible user experience. For example, if someone is searching to buy a product, Google will give extra points to sites where the transaction is completed, as users have completed their purchase process there. Conversely, if someone is looking for information and lands on a product or category page that does not provide that help, and the user bounces, Google will penalize that site and over time its rankings will decrease until it loses visibility.
In recent years, search engine updates have begun to focus more on the intent behind the search and provide results that best match what users are looking for. With this data at hand, we can use and develop pages that offer the best experience from search to conversion