Keyword Research Guide
SpiderDog keyword research helps you discover what your audience is searching for, how hard it is to rank, and which keywords are worth targeting first.
Run your first keyword search
Go to the Keyword Research page, enter a seed keyword (for example, seo audit or international esim), optionally pick a domain for authority comparison, and click Research.
Each search consumes one lookup from your monthly keyword allowance. Results are cached for 7 days, so repeat searches within that window are free.
Read the metrics
Each result card tells you something different. Here is how to read them:
| Metric | Higher or lower? | What to aim for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Volume | Higher is better | More searches = more traffic potential. Pick terms with enough volume to be worth the effort. |
| Difficulty | Lower is better | Below 30 is usually easy; 30–60 is moderate; above 70 is hard. Aim for difficulty below your site authority. |
| CPC | Context matters | High CPC usually means strong buyer intent. A high-CPC, low-difficulty keyword is often a hidden gem. |
| Opportunity Score | Higher is better | Calculated from volume and difficulty. High volume + low difficulty = high opportunity. >10k is attractive; >50k is excellent. |
| Intent | Match it to content | Informational → blog/guide. Commercial → comparison/landing page. Transactional → product/checkout page. |
What these numbers measure
These metrics come from SpiderDog’s keyword data provider, not from your own analytics account. They reflect the general search landscape for that keyword: how many people search for it, how hard the keyword provider estimates it is to rank, and what the average paid click costs.
That means an Opportunity Score of 2,000 is not a score of your site and it is not a trend line. It is a static estimate that says: “If you can rank well for this keyword, the traffic opportunity is roughly this attractive.”
How to “achieve” the score
You do not directly increase the Opportunity Score — you increase your chances of capturing the traffic it represents. The playbook is:
- Create or optimize a page that matches the keyword’s intent.
- Make the content deeper and more useful than the current top-ranking pages.
- Get the technical basics right: fast load times, clean canonicals, proper hreflang.
- Build internal links from relevant guides and pages on your site.
- Earn backlinks from reputable sites in your niche.
- Track the keyword in rank tracking and refine the page over time.
As your rankings improve, your actual organic traffic goes up. The Opportunity Score itself stays the same unless the underlying search volume or difficulty changes.
Use the site authority comparison
If you select one of your domains, SpiderDog compares its authority score to the keyword difficulty. You will see badges like Within reach or Tough, plus an estimated chance to rank.
Chance to rank is shown as a percentage — the higher the better. Anything above 70% is a strong target; below 40% usually needs more authority or content work first.
Use this to prioritize quick wins: target keywords where your authority is close to or above the difficulty score.
Mine related keywords and questions
The Related Keywords table shows phrases that are similar to your seed. These are ideal for building out topic clusters and finding long-tail variations.
The People Also Ask / Questions list surfaces question-based searches. These are perfect for FAQ sections, blog posts, and featured-snippet opportunities.
Study the SERP
The Top SERP Results section shows who currently ranks for the keyword and what kind of content Google rewards. Look at:
- Content format (listicle, product page, guide, video).
- Page title and meta description angles.
- Domain authority of the ranking sites.
- Special SERP features (featured snippets, People Also Ask, local pack).
Save and revisit searches
Every keyword research run is saved to your History tab. Each row opens a snapshot of the full results in a new tab. Snapshots expire after 4 weeks and are refreshed automatically when you search the same keyword again.
Use History to avoid repeating searches and to share a specific result with your team.
Turn research into action
A simple prioritization framework:
- Quick wins: high volume, low difficulty, intent matches a page you already have — optimize that page.
- New content: high volume, manageable difficulty, no relevant page yet — create a new article or landing page.
- Long-tail questions: lower volume but clear intent — add to FAQs or short blog posts.
- Tough terms: high difficulty — track for later, build authority and backlinks first.