Skip to main content
Before you write a page or a blog post, check what people actually type into Google. Keyword research shows how many searches a phrase gets each month, how hard it is to reach the first page, and other searches worth considering. This guide researches “coffee roasters portland” for Northwind.

​
Search for a phrase

1

Open Keywords Explorer

Click Marketing in the left rail, then the SEO Analysis card. Click Manual Tools at the top, then Launch Keywords Explorer.
2

Type a phrase and click Analyze

Under Keyword Research, type what a customer might search for, the way they would type it, and click Analyze. A search takes a few seconds and uses some of your plan’s monthly SEO research.
Keyword Research with coffee roasters portland typed, outlined, and the Analyze button, outlined

A phrase Northwind's customers might type

​
Read the results

The first row is the phrase you typed. Below it are related searches.
Analysis Results for coffee roasters portland: Total Keywords 31, Avg Search Volume 273,978, Avg Difficulty 19 and Low Competition 21, the All Keywords tab, and the first row, outlined: coffee roasters portland, 8,100, difficulty 5, $1.67, MEDIUM, commercial

The results for coffee roasters portland

  • Volume is how many times a month people search for it, across the United States.
  • Difficulty estimates how hard it is to reach the top 10, from 0 to 100. Up to 20 is within reach of a new site, 21 to 40 needs good content, and above 40 needs a site that other sites already link to.
  • CPC is what advertisers pay on average for one click on a Google ad for it.
  • Intent says why people search: to learn (informational), to compare (commercial), to buy (transactional) or to find a particular business (navigational).
Here, coffee roasters portland gets 8,100 searches a month with a difficulty of 5: a good phrase for Northwind’s home page.

​
Pick the ones that fit

Related searches include big chains and appliances that have nothing to do with a Portland roaster, and they push up the averages in the cards at the top. Look down the list for searches that match what you sell and where, such as the ones near the end here.
Rows for heart coffee roasters portland, 1,300; best coffee roasters portland, 480, difficulty 42, commercial, outlined; portland coffee roasters costco; airport menu; and in portland reddit

Local searches worth a page or a post

Best coffee roasters portland gets fewer searches but they come from people choosing a roaster, so it’s worth a page, even at difficulty 42. A search for another roaster’s name, such as heart coffee roasters portland, is someone looking for that business: skip it.

​
Good to know

  • Track the ones you pick. Add them to Track Where You Rank on Google to see whether your pages move up.
  • Write for them. Have the AI Write a Blog Post can start a post around a phrase you chose.
  • More tools. Keyword Ideas, Related Keywords, Keyword Difficulty, SERP Analysis and Keyword Trends at the top of Keywords Explorer look at a phrase from other angles.