Keyword research template
A free sheet with one row per keyword and the 12 columns that decide what to write: searches, intent, where you rank now, the page that should rank, and what to do first. The Target page column maps each keyword group to one URL, so it works as a keyword map too. With a filled-in example and how to fill it for free from Search Console.
Paste into cell A1 of a new Google Sheet and each value lands in its own cell. The CSV opens in Excel and Numbers.
What is a keyword research template?
A keyword research template is a sheet with one row per search people type into Google and the columns you need to decide what to write: how many people search it, what they want, whether your site already shows up, which page should rank, and what to do first.
Once a group has its target page, plan the article with the content brief template.
The 12 columns
What goes in each column and where the value comes from. Most of it is free.
- Keyword
The search, written the way people type it.
Where: Search Console's Queries table, Google's autocomplete, related searches, Keyword Planner ideas.
- Group
A short name for the set of keywords one page can answer. Keywords in the same group go on the same page.
Where: Your judgement, or the free keyword clustering tool.
- Intent
What the searcher wants: Learn (a guide), Compare (best-of lists, reviews), Buy or do (a product, tool or service page), or Go (one site's page).
Where: Search the keyword and look at what kind of pages fill the first page.
- Monthly searches
About how many searches a month. A range is fine; you only need to know which keywords are bigger.
Where: Keyword Planner in Google Ads, or any keyword tool. Leave it blank if no tool has a number.
- Impressions (3 months)
How often your site already showed up for it in Google. Blank if you don't show up yet.
Where: Search Console, Performance, Search results, Queries tab (the default range is the last three months).
- Position
Your average position for it over the same three months: the position of your site's highest result, averaged. Blank if you don't show up yet.
Where: Search Console, the same Queries table with Average position turned on.
- What ranks now
The kind of page on page one: guides, lists, tools, product pages, forums, videos.
Where: Search the keyword yourself.
- Difficulty
Low, Medium or High: can a page like yours beat what ranks now?
Where: Your read of page one, or a keyword tool's difficulty score.
- Target page
The URL that should rank for the group, New if the page doesn't exist yet, or None if you skip the group.
Where: Your site. One target page per group.
- Priority
High, Medium or Low, from the rules below.
Where: Your decision.
- Status
Idea, Writing, Published or Updating.
Where: Your plan.
- Notes
Anything that changes the plan: a question the page must answer, a competitor to beat, a date.
Where: Your research.
How to fill it in for free
7 steps, from the searches you already show up for to a sorted list of pages to write.
Start with what Google already shows you for
In Search Console, open Performance, then Search results. The Queries tab lists the searches your site showed up for in the date range, the last three months by default. Turn on Average position, use Export, and copy each keyword with its impressions and position into the sheet.
Add new ideas
Type your topic into Google and write down the autocomplete suggestions and the related searches at the bottom of the results page. Leave impressions and position blank for keywords you don't show up for yet.
Add monthly searches
Keyword Planner is in Google Ads, under Tools. Google asks for billing information and a finished account setup before it shows keyword suggestions, and it leaves out keywords with very low search volume. A rough number is enough: you only need to know which keywords are bigger.
Search each keyword
Note the intent and what ranks now. If page one is all calculators or product pages, a blog post won't fit; write that in Notes.
Group keywords one page can answer
Give them the same Group name. To start fast, paste the list into the keyword clustering tool.
Pick one target page per group
Use an existing URL or write New. The keyword cannibalization checker shows where two of your pages already split the same searches.
Set priority and status, then sort
Use the rules below. Work from the top: High priority rows first, one group at a time.
How to set priority
Searches where Google already shows your site come first: they usually need a better page or one new page, not more research.
- High
- Your site already shows up at about positions 8 to 30, the intent matches a page you have or can write, and difficulty is Low or Medium. A better page, or a section added to the one that shows up, can reach page one fastest.
- Medium
- The intent fits and people search for it, but you don't show up yet, or page one is hard and needs something you don't have yet (a calculator, your own photos, a lot of links). Worth doing later.
- Low
- Small or seasonal searches you rank far back for, or intent that doesn't fit your site. Keep them in the sheet so you don't research them twice.
To see what moving up is worth, the CTR calculator compares your click rate with the typical rate at your position, and the SEO ROI calculator turns the extra clicks into money.
A filled-in example
7 keywords for a garden-care blog, November 2026, sorted by priority. The numbers are made up.
| Keyword | Group | Intent | Monthly searches | Impressions (3 months) | Position | What ranks now | Difficulty | Target page | Priority | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| when to plant garlic | Planting garlic | Learn | 1K-10K | 4,120 | 12 | Guides, extension pages | Medium | /planting-garlic | High | Updating | Page 2 already. Add a planting date table by region. |
| how deep to plant garlic | Planting garlic | Learn | 100-1K | 1,380 | 16 | Guides | Low | /planting-garlic | High | Updating | Answer in the first paragraph, same page as above. |
| raised bed soil mix | Raised bed soil | Learn | 1K-10K | 2,940 | 24 | Guides, calculators | Medium | New | High | Writing | Shows up on the raised bed post but no page answers it. Give the mix in a table. |
| how much soil for a raised bed | Soil calculator | Buy or do | 1K-10K | 610 | 38 | Calculators | Medium | New | Medium | Idea | Page one is all calculators. Needs a calculator, not only text. |
| best mulch for vegetable garden | Mulch | Compare | 1K-10K | – | – | Lists, forums | High | New | Medium | Idea | Big sites hold page one. Write it once we have our own photos. |
| when to harvest butternut squash | Harvesting squash | Learn | 1K-10K | 220 | 55 | Guides, videos | Medium | /growing-squash | Low | Idea | Seasonal. Update the page before late summer. |
| garden planner app | Garden apps | Buy or do | 1K-10K | – | – | App stores, product pages | High | None | Low | Idea | Wrong intent for a blog: people want an app. Skip. |
Serpwright does the Search Console part for you: it reads your numbers every week, finds the searches no page of yours answers yet, suggests them as titles you approve, and writes the articles.
3 days free, no card.
Let Serpwright find the searches with no page yet
Serpwright reads your Search Console, finds the searches no page of yours answers yet, and turns them into articles you approve.
- It syncs Search Console once a week, or when you press Sync now.
- It lists the searches your site shows up for without a page, as titles you approve, and writes the articles.
- Drafts wait for your review before publishing unless you turn on the drip or auto-publish. Auto-approve takes only titles above a confidence threshold you set.
3 days free, no card.