Keyword Checklist: Best Keywords Every Company Should Target
TL;DR:
- Focus on bottom-of-funnel, low-competition, and long-tail keywords in your keyword strategy
- To find the best keywords, talk to your customers and use keyword research tools for sanity checks
- Align your keywords with search intent and the correct stage in the buyer journey
- High-intent types of keywords to target are: competitor keywords, category keywords, integration keywords, "how to" keywords, and playbooks
Vanity metrics are one thing, tangible business value another. And sadly, keywords — while a staple of your SEO strategy — are used wrong by 80% of companies out there.
Why?
- They target keywords that bring in unqualified traffic — people who will never buy their product
- The keywords they choose don't match the right buyer stage. For example, they have a qualified prospect who is still in the unaware phase but have targeted a solution-aware keyword — that prospect isn't ready to buy
The keywords you target need to be capable of qualifying a prospective buyer or moving a deal forward, or else you're wasting your time.
The sooner your content can drive conversions for you, the better — and it all starts with a keyword.
What Keywords are Best for SEO?
1. Competitor Keywords
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Competitor keywords, or those that include your competitors' names or offerings, are for in-market buyers who are shopping between you and your competitors.
Cover all variations of:
- Competitor A vs Competitor B — here you can intercept prospects and include yourself in the conversation as a third alternative
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- Competitor vs You
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- Alternatives to You
- Alternatives to Competitor X
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- Common FAQs or errors for competitors that you do better. For example: "Gong doesn't install on Google Meet"
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2. Category Keywords
You can intercept prospects that are actively searching for tools in your particular category using keywords like:
1. Best [your category] software or tools. For example, "Best SEO Tools"
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2. Best [your category] software or tools in [latest year]
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3. [Your category] tool for [vertical]. For example, "X best CRM Software for Agencies"
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3. Integration Keywords
Prospects always need to integrate the tools in their tech stack. If you offer useful integrations for common tools, target keywords like:
- [Your category] [app] integration. For example, "CRM software Calendly integration"
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4. The "How to" Keywords
The "how to" appendix makes up 37% of all searches on Google.
You want to make sure you target "How to" keywords where you do something better than the norm — "how to do X" when you automate X.
For example, for a tool like tl;dv, an ideal target keyword would be "How to share snippets from Zoom calls."
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5. Playbooks
Playbooks are strategic guides to accomplishing something that your software enables and excellent for intercepting searchers.
For example: "ABM playbook for 2024."
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Focus on Bottom-of-Funnel Keywords You Stand a Chance of Ranking For
Don't waste time and resources chasing keywords that you don't actually stand a chance of ranking for or that will simply churn prospects.
The formula for keywords that convert is rather simple: bottom-of-funnel intent + low-competition keywords + relevance to real customers.
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