Keyword Research Basics: Find the Searches Customers Actually Use Before You Write

A beginner's keyword research process: list topics, find Thai search terms, read search intent, pick winnable keywords and turn them into a content plan.

Your shop has been publishing articles for months. Good content, nice images, but almost no visitors from Google. When you search yourself, you find people are not typing the words you use. You write gentle skincare formula, but people search cream for sensitive skin, is it good? That is why keyword research should come before writing, not after.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research means finding which words your target audience types into search engines, with what intent, and which ones your site has a chance to rank on the first page for. The output is not just a list of words but a plan for which pages to write, which questions to answer and in what order.

Step 1: Start with topics, not tools

Write five to ten core topics your business relates to. A specialty coffee shop might have coffee beans, brewing at home, drip equipment and coffee for offices. Then ask your sales team or page admin what customers ask most often. Questions from real chats are an excellent keyword source.

Step 2: Expand into real search terms

Free sources you can use right away

• Google search box: type a core term and look at the suggestions, plus the People also ask section on the results page
• Google Trends: compare the popularity of two terms and see when interest rises
• Google Search Console: if you already have a site, see which searches show your site
• Keyword Planner in Google Ads: get keyword ideas and approximate search volume ranges

Thai-specific considerations

Thai users search in many forms: all Thai, English, or mixed, such as the Thai word for drip coffee, drip coffee in English, and reversed word orders, plus different spellings. Collect every form you find and see which is used more.

Step 3: Identify search intent

The same keyword can have different intents. If you write for the wrong intent, even great content will not rank.

• Informational: how to make drip coffee, write a step-by-step guide
• Comparison: which dripper brand is best, write a review or comparison
• Transactional: buy light roast coffee beans, use a product or category page
• Local: coffee shop near me, use your Google Business Profile and contact page

The easiest check is to search the term yourself and see what type of content is on the first page. Google is telling you what most people want.

Do not just ask whether many people search this term. Ask what the people searching it want.

Step 4: Choose keywords you can win

A new site rarely beats big sites on broad terms. Start with more specific terms, called long-tail keywords.

• Broad: coffee
• More specific: light roast coffee beans for drip
• Very specific: light roast beans taste too sour when dripped, how to fix

Specific terms may have fewer searches, but the people searching usually know what they want, and competition is lower. Check whether the first page has sites similar in size to yours or forum threads. If it does, you have a chance.

Step 5: Turn it into a content plan

1. Group keywords with the same intent into one page. You do not need a separate page for every term.
2. Choose one primary keyword per page and use secondary terms in subheadings.
3. Prioritise pages that are close to a sale and have low competition.
4. Add internal links between pages on the same topic.

Watch out for

• Search volume from every tool is an estimate. Use it to compare, not as an exact figure.
• Do not stuff repeated keywords into your content. Write for readers first. Search engines understand meaning far better than before.
• If you use AI to brainstorm keywords, always check against real search data, because AI does not know what Thai users are typing this month.

How to start this week

1. Write five core topics and ten frequent customer questions.
2. Expand each topic with Google suggestions and Google Trends.
3. Search every term yourself to see the intent, and note the content type ranking on page one.
4. Pick three winnable long-tail keywords and write your first piece.
5. Check results in Search Console after several weeks and adjust.

Continue with Writing blogs that rank, and if you are interested in working in this field, see SEO career basics or find SEO courses from our learning partners on Plants.work.