Okay I’ve done my keyword research, now what?

You’ve put in the hard work to identify your target keywords using the right tools and research tactics. Or maybe you collaborated with an SEO professional or agency to get a comprehensive keyword research report.

Either way, you now have a solid list of buyer and search intent keywords that are relevant for your business. But the work doesn’t stop there – keyword research is just the beginning.

Now you need to take action on those keywords to maximize their value. Proper keyword implementation and optimization is crucial for seeing actual results from your keyword strategy.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the key steps to take once your initial keyword research is complete:

• Prioritizing keywords

• Updating existing content

• Creating new content

• Optimizing pages for keywords

• Monitoring keyword rankings

• Expanding keyword research

Follow this process to ensure your keywords turn into tangible SEO results, traffic and revenue for your business.

Stage 1: Prioritize Your Keywords

The first step is to organize your keyword list into groups or buckets based on priority. This helps develop a workflow for optimization and content creation.

Group keywords using these best practices:

• Volume – Separate keywords by search volume and traffic potential. Focus first on higher volume keywords.

• Intent – Group keywords by informational, transactional/commercial, or navigational intent. Different types of content or pages may be needed.

• Topic – Sort keywords by relevant topics, categories and sub-categories they relate to. Makes content creation more organized.

• Value – High commercial value keywords with buyer intent should be prioritized over marginal value keywords. Identify the “money keywords” to go after first.

• Competitiveness – Separate keywords by difficulty to rank for. Easier keywords should be targeted first in most cases.

• Relevance – Keep keyword relevancy to your products and services at the center. Avoid irrelevant niche keywords.

By bucketing keywords, you can systematically work through the list in a logical order. Knock out the quick wins first where you already have a strong foundation.

Stage 2: Update Existing Pages & Content

The next step is to align your existing site content with your keyword buckets and priorities. Take inventory of current pages and posts to identify optimization opportunities.

Ways to update existing content include:

• Title & Headers: Update page/post titles and H1/H2 headers to include priority keywords where relevant.

• Content: Refresh content to better focus on priority keywords and related topics. Expand thin content.

• Meta Descriptions: Revise meta descriptions to include strong keywords to boost click-through rate (CTR).

• Media: Add images, graphics and videos related to priority keywords and topics. Enhance pages visually.

• Links: Interlink related content internally using anchors with keywords to spread authority and topical relevance.

• Promotion: Increase promotion of pages and posts optimized for priority keywords through social, email and paid channels.

Leverage website analytics to see which existing pages are already ranking and driving traffic for target keywords. Double down on optimizing those pages further.

Focus on pages closer to ranking on page 1 for key terms so you can more efficiently improve position. Going from page 2 to page 1 has higher ROI than moving from page 10 to 9.

Stage 3: Develop New Keyword-Focused Content

When updating existing content isn’t enough, you’ll need to develop new pages, posts and media focused on priority keyword buckets that lack coverage.

Identify groups of high-potential keywords that competitors are ranking well for but your site lacks content for. Produce new, optimized content to target those open opportunities.

Forms of new content to create include:

• Blog Posts – In-depth articles targeting keyword topics, groups and buckets. Include related terms in content naturally.

• Landing Pages - Create dedicated pages with deep content for buyer keywords around products, services and offers.

• Videos - Develop videos organized around keyword topics using target terms in titles, descriptions and content.

• Tools - Build tools related to target keywords to attract traffic while providing value to users.

• FAQs – Expand question and answer content to rank for question-based informational keywords.

• Local Pages - Geo-targeted location pages to rank locally for business keywords in your area(s).

Distribute this new content across channels like your website, YouTube, social media and more to maximize exposure and optimization surfaces.

Stage 4: Optimize Pages for Keyword Density

As you update and create content, you need to focus on proper on-page optimization for keywords. This includes getting keyword density right.

Follow these best practices for keyword density on pages:

• Include keywords naturally in the page title, distributing them between the beginning and end.

• Use keywords appropriately in H1 and H2 header tags 2-3 times max per page. Don’t over-optimize.

• Aim for a keyword density of 1-2% in the body content (200-300 words per 10,000 words). Too much looks spammy.

• Include related long-tail and LSI keyword variations to diversify usage beyond just the one target term.

• Use keywords 3-5 times within meta descriptions. Focus on compelling click enticement over density.

• Add keywords to image file names, ALT text and captions – but don’t force it. Stay relevant.

• Include related keywords in hyperlinked text within the content to provide greater context.

Getting keyword density within an optimal range improves relevance signals for search engines. But too much keyword stuffing triggers spam flags. Stay natural.

Stage 5: Monitor Keyword Rank Tracking

Now it’s time to monitor the fruits of your keyword optimization labor. Set up tracking in tools like SEMrush, Google Search Console and analytics to observe how your target keywords perform over time.

Track these metrics:

• Ranking Position – Monitor keywords ranks for target terms on core pages. Improvement?

• Impressions – Keyword impressions indicate SEO visibility and search traffic potential. Increasing?

• Clicks – More keyword clicks and higher CTR confirms ranking gains are converting into traffic.

• Traffic – Track organic traffic growth by important keyword groups month-over-month. Achieve goals.

• Conversions – Monitoring keyword conversion rate tied to revenue paints the full ROI picture beyond just traffic.

• Competitors – Keep an eye on what competitors rank for target terms. Lose rankings?

Continual rank tracking lets you double down optimization efforts on terms showing momentum and identify declining rankings that need work.

Stage 6: Expand Keyword Research

After your initial keyword optimization and content creation, it’s time to expand keyword research further to find new opportunities.

Ways to level up your keywords include:

• Volume - Search for new keyword variations around core topics with higher search volume potential.

• Long Tail - Mine long-tail versions of keywords for low competition wins.

• Questions - Leverage “People also ask” data to find more question and answer keywords.

• Related Topics - Identify related topics and keywords to create wider content clusters.

• Semantic Search - Expand into semantic keyword variations with similar meaning and intent.

• Competitors - See what new keywords competitors are targeting and ranking for.

• Trends - Stay on top of seasonal keywords around trends, events and changes in demand.

Ongoing keyword discovery ensures you continually uncover new optimization and content opportunities over time.

Don’t let your initial keyword research go to waste. Proper optimization and execution drives results. Use this comprehensive process to turn your list of target keywords into SEO wins.