Day 2: Keyword Research & Search Intent
✅ Today you will learn
- What a keyword is and why intent matters most
- The four types of search intent
- Short-tail vs long-tail keywords
- Free tools to find keywords
- Prioritise and map keywords to pages
🏢 In the real world
Mr. Sharma wants to rank for “computer course”. That phrase is searched by people all over India and is extremely competitive. His real students search things like “tally course fees aligarh”. Keyword research finds those real, winnable searches.
Search intent – the most important idea
| Intent | The searcher wants… | Example | Best page type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | to learn something | what is tally prime | Guide, tutorial, blog post |
| Navigational | a specific site or brand | sharma computer institute | Home or contact page |
| Commercial | to compare options before deciding | best computer institute in aligarh | Course page with reviews, comparison |
| Transactional | to act now – buy, enrol, download | tally course fees aligarh | Fees / admission page with a clear call to action |
Search the keyword and look at the top results. If they are all guides, the intent is informational; if they are course pages with fees, it is commercial/transactional. Make the same type of page.
Short-tail vs long-tail
Short-tail
- 1–2 words: “computer course”
- Very high searches
- Very hard to rank
- Unclear intent
Long-tail
- 3+ words: “tally course fees aligarh”
- Fewer searches
- Easier to rank
- Clear intent – visitors more likely to enrol
Free keyword tools
Search volumes and difficulty scores in this lesson are example estimates for practice. Real tools show ranges and their figures differ from each other – use them to compare keywords, not as exact counts.
Prioritise with a simple score
A quick, transparent way: Priority = monthly searches × business value ÷ difficulty². Business value: 10 = searcher is likely to enrol, 5 = might enrol, 1 = only learning. Difficulty (1–100) is squared because hard keywords are far harder for a small site than the number suggests. Higher priority is better. (Brand searches like “sharma computer institute” are left out – you will rank for your own name anyway.)
| Keyword | Intent | Searches/month | Difficulty | Value | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| computer course in aligarh | Commercial | 880 | 22 | 10 | 18.20 |
| tally course fees aligarh | Transactional | 140 | 10 | 10 | 14 |
| best computer institute in aligarh | Commercial | 320 | 18 | 10 | 9.90 |
| basic computer course syllabus pdf | Informational | 1,900 | 35 | 5 | 7.80 |
| python course near me | Commercial | 2,400 | 48 | 5 | 5.20 |
| what is tally prime | Informational | 6,600 | 55 | 1 | 2.20 |
| ccc course online form | Transactional | 9,900 | 70 | 1 | 2 |
Top three to target first: computer course in aligarh, tally course fees aligarh, best computer institute in aligarh. Note how “what is tally prime” and “ccc course online form” have huge searches but low business value and high difficulty – better as later blog posts.
Keyword mapping – one main keyword per page
| Page | Main keyword | Supporting keywords |
|---|---|---|
| /courses/tally/ | tally course in aligarh | tally course fees aligarh, tally with gst course |
| /courses/ | computer course in aligarh | best computer institute in aligarh, computer classes near me |
| /blog/what-is-tally-prime/ | what is tally prime | tally prime features, tally prime uses |
| /contact/ | sharma computer institute | sharma computer institute address, phone |
If two pages target the same keyword, they compete with each other and both may rank lower. Merge them or give each a different main keyword.
Solved examples
Example 1: From seed keyword to keyword list
- 1Seed: “tally course”.
- 2Autocomplete adds: tally course fees, tally course near me, tally course online, tally course with gst.
- 3Add location and Hinglish: tally course in aligarh, tally sikhne ki fees.
- 4People also ask: “How long is a Tally course?”, “Is Tally useful for jobs?” → FAQ ideas.
- 5Group by intent: fees/near me → course page; “how long”, “is it useful” → FAQ on the same page.
Practice exercises (unsolved – answer hidden)
Try each exercise yourself first – on paper, in a text editor or on your own site – then open the answer to check.
🏋️ Practice – do it yourself
Show solution
(a) Informational (b) Navigational (c) Transactional (d) Commercial (e) Informational.Show solution
excel course for job aligarh (9.3) > o level course fees (4.1) > free typing test hindi (1.2). The local job-focused keyword wins despite low volume.Show solution
Example: informational – what is vlookup, excel formulas list, excel shortcut keys; commercial – best excel course online, excel course for job, advanced excel course near me; transactional – excel course fees, excel course admission; Hinglish – excel sikhne ka tarika, एक्सेल कोर्स फीस. Pages: blog/guide (informational), course page (commercial + transactional + Hinglish fees), FAQ section on course page.🏅 Job skills unlocked today
Quick quiz
🧠 Quick Quiz – test yourself
Interview corner
💼 Interview Corner
How do you choose keywords for a new website?
Start from the audience and business: list seed topics, expand with autocomplete, People also ask and Search Console data, check intent by looking at the SERP, prefer long-tail keywords with business value and lower difficulty, and map one main keyword to each page.
What is search intent?
The goal behind a query – informational, navigational, commercial or transactional. The page type must match it to rank and convert.
Summary
- Intent first: informational, navigational, commercial, transactional.
- Small sites win with long-tail and local keywords.
- Priority = searches × value ÷ difficulty².
- One main keyword per page; avoid cannibalisation.
Day 3: on-page SEO – title tags, meta descriptions, headings, URLs, images and internal links.
