Conductor’s Guide to SEO Research: From Keyword Discovery to Opportunity Prioritization

This section focuses on leveraging Conductor's Explorer and other tools to discover a wide array of keywords relevant to your strategy. 

1️⃣ Unearthing Your Core Topic Landscape with Topic Explorer

Use Topic Explorer to brainstorm and expand on core themes, uncovering a wealth of related keywords, questions, and associated topics. This is your starting point for understanding the breadth of a subject. 

Benefit: Discover a comprehensive list of keywords related to a core topic, understand searcher intent, and identify various content formats that resonate with your audience. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Explorer ↗️.

2. Enter your "seed" keyword or phrase (e.g., "enterprise data security," "B2B content strategy").

3. Select your target Market (country/language) and click "Explore."

4. Analyze queries in the "Related Keywords" Tab:

   1. Focus on Search Volume to gauge demand.

   2. Note the Monthly Search Interest Trend to understand if interest is growing or waning, steady or seasonal.

   3. Examine Search Intent (Informational, Navigational, Commercial, Transactional) to align keywords with content goals.

   4. Review Result Types (e.g., Answer Box, People Also Ask, Video, Local) to see what formats Google prioritizes for these terms.

   5. Expand the blue arrow next to each keyword to review the Top 5 Results.

5. Make use of filtering options: 

   1. Refine keyword list by including/excluding terms

   2. Select priority result types or search intents according to content goals

   3. Surface question-based keywords to identify common user questions to inspire content that directly addresses audience needs.

6. Action: Choose promising keywords to track and add them to a new or existing Keyword Group for organization.

2️⃣ Identifying Your Current Traffic Drivers with Domain Explorer

Understand which keywords are currently bringing users to your site by analyzing your domain's performance for terms ranking in top positions. 

Benefit: Identify your current keyword strengths and the content that is successfully capturing organic traffic. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Explorer ↗️.

2. Enter your website's domain.

3. Select your target Market and click "Explore."

4. Go to the "Keywords" tab.

5. Apply Filters:

   1. Filter for keywords "On First Page."

   2. Use the “Keywords Containing” filter to exclude branded terms. 

6. Analyze the Results:

   1. Sort by Modeled Traffic or MSV (descending) to see high-impact keywords.

   2. Note the Ranking URL for each keyword (by expanding the blue arrow) to understand which pages are performing well.

7. Action: Ensure these high-performing keywords are tracked and monitored in relevant Keyword Groups.

3️⃣ Spotlighting "Striking Distance" Keywords for Quick Wins

Identify keywords where your content is ranking just outside the top traffic-driving positions (e.g., positions 11-20). These are often your "low-hanging fruit." 

Benefit: Find opportunities to make small tweaks to existing content for a rankings boost that could significantly increase traffic. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. In Explorer ↗️, with your site selected (as per workflow #2), go to the "Keywords" tab.

2. Filter for "Keyword Ranks" in “Striking Distance” for the most recent date.

3. Analyze the Results:

   1. Sort by MSV (descending) to prioritize terms with higher search potential.

   2. Identify the Ranking URL for each keyword.

4. Action: Add these keywords to a specific "Striking Distance" or "Optimization Targets" Keyword Group. Plan to optimize the corresponding ranking pages (which you can monitor in a dedicated Page Group) with the help of Writing Assistant ↗️.

4️⃣ Discovering Untapped Potential: Important Keywords with Low Rankings

Discover relevant keywords for which your site ranks, but too low (e.g., position 21+) to be visible. This can highlight gaps or areas needing substantial improvement. 

Benefit: Pinpoint important topics where your current content isn't competitive, indicating a need for major revisions or new, more targeted content. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. In Explorer ↗️, with your site selected, go to the "Keywords" tab.

2. Filter for "Keyword Ranks" → “Custom” → 21-100.

3. Analyze the Results:

   1. Sort by MSV (descending).

   2. Evaluate the relevance of these keywords (see Keyword Research Best Practices for guidance).

   3. Examine the current Ranking URL. Is it the most relevant page on your site for this term?

4. Action: For high MSV, relevant keywords in this category, determine if the existing ranking page can be drastically improved or if new content is required. Use Writing Assistant ↗️ to draft optimizations or create a new page.

5️⃣ Revealing Competitor Wins: Keywords Driving Their Traffic

Uncover the keywords that are successfully driving traffic for your competitors, especially those where they rank in the top 10 results and you do not. 

Benefit: Identify proven keywords that resonate in your market and find competitive content gaps you can fill. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Explorer ↗️.

2. Enter a key competitor's domain.

3. Select the target Market and click "Explore."

4. Click “Compare a Second Domain” beneath the search bar and enter your website.

5. Go to the "Keywords" tab.

6. Analyze the Results:

   1. Filter by “1st Domain Exclusive” and sort the keywords by MSV or your competitor’s Modeled Traffic (descending).

   2. Use the “Keywords Containing” filter to exclude branded terms (both your competitor’s and your own).

   3. Expand the blue arrow to see your competitor’s highest Ranking URL and (if ranking in top 100 positions) your Ranking URL.

7. Action: Add relevant competitive gap keywords to a dedicated Keyword Group for potential targeting.

8. Go to the “Pages” tab.

9. Analyze the Results:

   1. Use the “Keywords Containing” filter to exclude competitor branded terms

   2. Open the blue arrow next to a high-performing page to see its top traffic-driving keywords

10. Action: Start tracking relevant keywords for potential targeting, and make note of your competitors’ most successful content to help guide strategy.

6️⃣ Aligning Keywords with Content Goals Using Intent & Result Type Filters

Filter keyword research to find terms that match specific user intents or where particular search result types are visible (like questions for "People Also Ask" or Local Packs). 

Benefit: Tailor your keyword discovery to fit your content strategy, whether you're aiming to create informational blog posts, detailed product pages, video content, etc. 

🛠️ Steps (Example using Topic Explorer): 

1. In Explorer ↗️, research a topic (as per workflow #1)

2. In the "Keywords" tab, use filters at the top:

   1. Filter by Search Intent: Select "Informational" if you're planning blog content, "Commercial" or "Transactional" for product/service pages.

   2. Filter by Result Type: Select "People Also Ask" or "Answer Boxes" if you're looking for keywords to target with FAQ-style content, or "Video" if you're planning video production.

3. Analyze the Filtered Results: Review the narrowed list of keywords for relevance and MSV.

4. Action: Add these intent-specific or result-type-specific keywords to appropriate Keyword Groups.

7️⃣ Tapping into Community Buzz: Keywords from Online Forums

Discover keywords and topics being discussed on platforms like Reddit, Quora, or niche industry forums, as these often reflect genuine user pain points and questions. 

Benefit: Tap into authentic user conversations to find long-tail keywords and content ideas that directly address audience needs. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Rank Comparisons ↗️.

2. Add the Web Property of a relevant forum (e.g., reddit.com, quora.com, or specific industry forums).

3. Select a broad Keyword Group that represents a topic area you're interested in, or analyze against all your tracked keywords.

4. Filter for “Their Exclusive” keywords.

5. Find an interesting keyword and copy the forum’s ranking URL by expanding the left arrow. 

6. Go to Explorer and research that specific forum URL (remove “scroll to text” string in URL if necessary). This will show you more keywords that specific forum page is ranking for.

   1. Alternatively, navigate to the ranking forum page itself to understand the context of the discussion around those keywords. If you have the Conductor for Chrome extension ↗️, you can use the “Keyword Research” section to review the page’s ranking keywords.

7. Action: Add relevant discussion-based keywords to your Keyword Groups, particularly for generating bottom-of-funnel or problem-aware content.

Once you've found a broad set of potential keywords, the next crucial step is prioritization. This ensures you invest your resources in opportunities that will yield the greatest return. 

1️⃣ Maximizing Existing Content: Using Content Opportunity Score for "Striking Distance" Keywords

Focus on existing content optimization by identifying Keyword Groups with high near-term potential and then targeting keywords within those groups that are close to page 1. 

Benefit: Achieve quicker ranking improvements and traffic gains by optimizing content that's already performing reasonably well. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Keyword Groups ↗️.

2. Sort by highest "Content Opportunity Score" which indicates a large amount of search volume ranking just outside of traffic-driving range.

3. Click into a high-potential, relevant Keyword Group.

4. In the Keywords view for that group, filter for keywords with Rank between 11 and 20 (or your defined “striking distance”).

5. Sort by MSV (descending).

6. Action: Prioritize optimizing the existing content ranking for these high MSV, striking-distance keywords. Use Conductor's Writing Assistant ↗️ to help with these optimizations.

2️⃣ Charting New Territory: High MSV Keywords with Low Rankings for New Content

Look for Keyword Groups with high overall MSV but a very low average rank, indicating a topic area your audience cares about but where your site currently has little visibility. 

Benefit: Pinpoint valuable topic areas where creating new, targeted content can significantly expand your organic reach. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. In Keyword Groups ↗️, identify groups with high aggregate MSV but a low Average Rank.

2. Click into such a Keyword Group.

3. In the Keywords view, sort by MSV (descending).

4. Look for highly relevant, high MSV keywords where your Rank is very low (e.g., 31+) or you're not ranking at all.

5. Crucial Step: Validate SERP Attainability. For each promising keyword, click into it to see the Keyword Details report. Analyze the top-ranking pages. Are they from authoritative sites you can realistically compete with? Is the intent clear and something you can satisfy? See Keyword Research Best Practices for more guidance.

6. Action: If the keyword is relevant, has good MSV, and you believe you can create competitive content that matches search intent, prioritize creating new content for these terms with Writing Assistant ↗️.

3️⃣ Boosting CTR: Capitalizing on GSC High Impressions with Low Clicks

Integrate GSC with Conductor to find keywords that are already getting impressions but have low click-through rates (CTR), indicating potential for optimization. 

Benefit: Improve the performance of content that Google already deems relevant enough to show in search results. 

🛠️ Steps (assuming GSC is integrated): 

1. Navigate to the Keywords ↗️ report.

2. Ensure Google Search Console data points like "Impressions" and "CTR" are selected in the "Active Columns" dropdown.

3. Apply Filters:

   1. Filter for "Impressions" is greater than a meaningful threshold (e.g., >100, >500, depending on your site's traffic).

   2. Filter for "CTR" is less than a certain percentage (e.g., <3%, <1%).

4. Analyze the Results:

   1. Look at the keywords and their Ranking URLs.

5. Action: For these high-impression, low-CTR keywords, investigate why users aren't clicking. This could involve:

   1. Optimizing title tags and meta descriptions to be more compelling.

   2. Ensuring the content fully aligns with the search intent.

   3. Improving page load speed or user experience on the ranking page.

4️⃣ Closing the Gap: Identifying Keywords Where Competitors Dominate Page 1

Use Rank Comparisons to identify important keywords for which all your top competitors rank on page 1, but your site does not. 

Benefit: Find critical industry terms where you are lagging behind the competition, highlighting urgent content or optimization needs. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to Rank Comparisons ↗️.

2. Add 2-3 of your top competitors.

3. Select a relevant Keyword Group or analyze all tracked keywords.

4. Analyze the Results:

   1. Filter for "Their Exclusive" keywords (where selected competitors are in the Top 10 and you are not).

   2. Pay attention to the MSV of these keywords.

5. Action: These are high-priority keywords to target with new content or by significantly improving existing, underperforming pages. Use Writing Assistant ↗️ to start drafting optimizations or new content.

5️⃣ Resolving Internal Conflicts: Tackling Keyword Cannibalization

Identify instances where multiple pages on your site are competing for the same keywords, potentially diluting your SEO efforts. 

Benefit: Consolidate your ranking signals to the most appropriate page, improving its authority and ability to rank higher for the target keyword. 

🛠️ Steps: 

1. Navigate to the Keywords ↗️ report.

2. Look for the "Find Cannibalization" preset view, which highlights keywords for which more than one of your URLs are ranking.

3. For each identified instance of cannibalization, click into the Keyword and toggle to "You" on the Rank Over Time graph:

4. Analyze the Results:

   1. Determine which URL is the best and most comprehensive page for that keyword (the "canonical" version).

   2. Assess the content on the competing pages.

5. Action:

   1. Consolidate Content: If pages are very similar, merge the content onto the strongest page and 301 redirect the other(s) to it.

   2. Re-optimize: If pages serve slightly different intents, refine the content and on-page SEO of each to target more distinct variations of the keyword or different long-tail terms.

   3. Improve internal linking to signal to Google which page is the most important for a given term.