Not to be confused with the black hat tactic keyword stuffing, which would create negative SEO results, keyword clustering is a strategy that consist of pooling together similar keywords into groups. This group of similar keywords will signal to search engines that your web page contains a good answer to a search query. Clustering helps in with the removal of unnecessary keywords and discovery of the important one for your users. It will also provide better rankings for short-tail and long-tail keywords as well as improve content quality due to a better understanding of your audience’s search intent. Use this technique to develop your website structure and create a user experience that is valuable to your target audience:

Step 1: Create a List of Keywords 

Depending on the industry your business is in, the topics, and access to research tools could be flooded. Here are some of the most common ways to create a keyword list: 

• Google’s Keyword Planner or SEMRush used for researching competitors’ keywords
• Check for common keywords with Ahrefs or AnswerThePublic

• Use your website data from Google Search Console
• Look in suggested searches on search engines and brainstorm ideas

Step 2: Sort Keywords into Groups

Group keywords using an automated tool such as Keyword Insights or manually plug the terms into a excel spreadsheet based on good search volume, same search intent, items your think you can rank on, or are appropriate for the marketing funnel stage you are currently in. After that, you will need to identify keyword modifiers around the cluster you formed. This can be enhancement terms, for example, you are researching search intent for strawberry jelly. Some repeat terms that show up might be “healthy” or “organic”.  

Step 3: Other Ways to Cluster by Topic

When you have identified the keyword clusters that answer the questions your audience asks the most, you can start creating a content plan around those clusters you have discovered. Some clusters have subjects in common and can be further grouped into topic clusters. Use the hierarchy of most to least relevant to create a page structure or sitemap for your business’s website. In the middle of every topic cluster, place a piece of content that can target a large number of keywords and phrases. Then surround the larger content withsmaller pieces of content. These content pieces are usually blog posts. This will allow you to focus more on certain topics, build up internal linking, and generally explore the various aspects of the topic that may be too rich to fit on one page without exhausting the reader. You could also use these keyword clusters for Google ads and other marketing campaigns if you fear your website is getting too crowded. 

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