Documenting keyword research results

[Lazeh]

I really struggle to document my keyword research results in a usable way. I know the strategy for finding keywords but I wonder if there's a spreadsheet template or some guidance on the process that could help me organise things better

[effectdigital]

It really depends what the use-case of your keyword research is. Maybe it's to inform what types of websites you will gain links or editorial placements on / from. Maybe it's to inform which content, that doesn't exist now (on your or your client's site) should be created. Maybe it's to inform the tweaking of content or Meta data on existing pages

What you really need is a spreadsheet that lists and groups all the keywords (along with search volumes, your search rankings and the search rankings of some key competitors). You need to work out where you have strong visibility already, where you are weak or average (in terms of rankings or KG panel placements). Once that's done, you can begin having ideas (e.g: "we're ranking at 67 for this keyword, but our competitor is #3 and also holds the knowledge graph panel. I notice that we have placed the keyword on a page which is really about something else, whilst our competitor has a dedicated URL and some great content for this keyword. We should do something similar, but even better - here is my plan...")

You can add your ideas per keyword (or per keyword group, if you assign each keyword a thematic group in your spreadsheet) into a new column. Once your sheet is finished, you can create an actions summary. Some stuff you can do, some stuff that may require design / dev support (like building a micro-site for careers at your company, or something). If you work on behalf of clients, some actions may be for the client (e.g: "send us more business-insider info and stats on X topic, so we can create a page or sub-site about it")

Once you have your actions list, deliver it to your audience (internal or external) via a simple email or a PowerPoint presentation - if some of your ideas are larger and need supporting diagrams

[Lazeh]

Thank you, that was helpful, I'll certainly make use of that.