Keyword Mapping for SEO: What You NEED To Know

Your website isn’t just a collection of pages, it’s a conversation with your audience.

Keyword mapping ensures that conversation flows like melted butter, leading to more engagement and more conversions.

Ready to turn your website into a lead-generating machine?

From the 101 to advanced tips, let’s turn you into a keyword mapping master.

What is Keyword Mapping?

Keyword mapping acts as a website’s navigation system for search engines. The process involves assigning relevant keywords to specific pages on a website.

The easiest way to explain the concept is to show you. Here’s a sneak peek at what a keyword map might look like for a hypothetical gardening blog:

In this example, you’ll notice that specific keywords are assigned to a relevant page (or URL). Structuring a website in this way allows both users and search engines to understand what each page is about.

How to Create a Keyword Map: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Ready to roll up your sleeves? Let’s create a keyword map.

Step 1: Gather Your Keywords: Strike Pay Dirt with Your Keyword Research

Alrighty, bust out a little keyword research and round up those high-value search terms. We’re not just throwing darts at a board here. Oh, no. We’re using data-driven intel to lasso the terms your audience is actually searching for.

1. Start with Your Low-Hanging Fruit:

Your brand name, product names, and service offerings are the obvious starting point. Don’t overthink it—these are your bread-and-butter keywords.

2. Channel Your Inner Sherlock (or Moriarty):

Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to conduct a little competitor analysis, uncovering your competitors’ top-ranking keywords.

Here’s how to do this with Ahrefs:

1. Select Site Explorer.
2. Enter your domain.
3. Then, click the Organic competitors report.

Bingo, you’ve identified your closest competitors.

Next:

1. Choose one of the competitors and click on the tiny down arrow next to their domain name.
2. Then, select Organic keywords.

From here, you can filter for just about anything you like. For instance, if you’d only like to see low-difficulty keywords with high search volume, do this:

1. From the filter bar, select Volume and set how many searches the term attracts every month (for this example, I chose 1000 searches).
2. Next, do the same for KD (I went with a KD of no more than 20).
3. Then, hit Show results.

And to export the keyword list as a CSV file:

1. Simply click Export.
2. Download the first 1000 keywords or all of them (limited by your plan).
3. Select the format you’d prefer.
4. And then hit the Export button.

Another way to do this is to use the Competitive Analysis report. This is handy if you’d prefer only to see the keywords your competitor is ranking for and you aren’t.

To do this:

1. Select Competitive Analysis from the top navigation bar.
2. Enter your domain.
3. Enter your competitor’s domain/s.
4. Hit the Show keyword opportunities button.

And there you have it. A list of keywords that’s ripe for the picking. Filter till your heart’s content and then export the list to a CSV using the same method as before.

3. Eavesdrop on the Digital Water Cooler:

Head over to social media, forums, and Q&A sites like Quora, Reddit, et. al. to see what questions your target audience is asking. What pain points are they struggling with? What language are they using?

Understand the answers to these questions, and you’ll have a chance to uncover long-tail keywords that your competitors might have missed.

Speaking of long-tail keywords, you could also enlist the services of another great keyword tool called LowFruits. It’s fantastic at uncovering low-competition keywords that you’ll find hard to locate elsewhere.

Step 2: Map Keywords to Pages: It’s All About Making the Perfect Match

Now that you have a glorious pile of keywords, it’s time to do some matchmaking.

You can use good old spreadsheets for this step and match the exported keywords with a relevant URL, but that’s a lot of work (particularly if you’ve got a long keyword list). Instead, why don’t you lean on our new best friend (or mortal enemy), AI?

I’ll do this with Claude, as it’s my favorite tool to carry out this type of stuff. No problem if you prefer Gemini or “other ChatGPT alternatives“. They’ll both happily help, too.

To do this, download your site’s sitemap. Typically, you’ll find this at www.examplegardeningsite.com/sitemap.xml. Alternatively, you can use Google Search Console to download it, or you could use a tool like Screaming Frog to scrape the site’s URLs and export them. Now:

1. If you’re using Chrome, click the three dots in the right-hand corner of the browser.
2. Click Print.
3. From the dropdown menu, select Save as a PDF.
4. And hit the Save button.

Next:

1. Open the exported CSV file that contains the keyword list.
2. Select the keyword column and copy the text (if you’d like to include data points like volume and KD, you can also copy those columns, too).

1. Paste the copied text into your AI tool of choice and enter a prompt like this:

I have two assets:

1. Copied text from a CSV file containing data from a list of keywords relevant to a website.
2. An XML sitemap file containing all the URLs of a website.

Analyze the content of each URL in the sitemap and assign the most relevant keyword(s) from the copied text to each URL.

Tabulate the output with the following columns:

URL: The full URL of the page.

Primary Keyword: The most relevant keyword for the page.

Secondary Keywords: Any additional relevant keywords for the page.

Prioritize accuracy and relevance when assigning keywords. If there is no suitable match for a URL, leave the keyword fields blank.

Here’s what the output looks like:

Cool, right? Trust me, this method is a HUGE time saver.

Step 3: Optimize Your Content: Keyword Whisperer, Not Keyword Screamer

Now that your keyword map is done and dusted, let’s sprinkle that SEO fairy dust on your content. But hold the glitter cannons and confetti—subtlety is key.

This isn’t about keyword stuffing (that’s so 2005). It’s about artfully weaving your keywords into your content in a way that feels natural, not forced.

Here’s where to focus your efforts:

• Title tags and meta descriptions are your website’s first impression in the search results. Make them count with compelling copy that includes your primary keyword.
• Header tags are your content’s chapter titles. Use them to structure your content and incorporate relevant keywords in a hierarchical way.
• Body copy is where you can really shine. Naturally weave your primary and secondary keywords throughout the text, making sure to prioritize readability and user experience.

Remember, Google’s algorithm is getting smarter every day. It can easily sniff out keyword stuffing and penalize your site accordingly. So focus on creating high-quality content that provides genuine value to your audience.

And don’t be afraid to use variations and synonyms of your target keywords. Using keyword variations we’ll allow you to learn into semantic search, avoid sounding repetitive, and cast a wider net for different search queries.

Step 4: Track, Analyze, and Refine: ‘Cause Remember, SEO is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

We’re nearly done. But don’t pop the champagne just yet. Your keyword mapping journey is far from over. It’s actually just beginning.

Why? Keyword mapping isn’t a “set it and forget it” kind of deal. It’s an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring, analysis, and refinement.

You need to monitor it closely and adjust it as your website structure changes, algorithms update, new trends emerge, and old ones fall flat.

Here’s what to watch for:

• Are your target pages climbing the SERPs or taking a nosedive? Changes in rankings could signal a need to adjust your keyword strategy.
• Is your keyword map driving the right kind of traffic to your site? If not, it might be time to reassess your target keywords and search intent.
• A newly released algorithm update caused a sudden dip in traffic? What worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. Stay up-to-date on the latest changes and adjust your keyword map accordingly.

Remember, the goal of keyword mapping isn’t just to rank higher in search results. It’s to create a website that truly serves your audience and delivers the information they’re seeking.

There’s no understating this. If the recent Google leaks are to be believed, engagement metrics matter. If you’re satisfying search intent, visitors will stick around, increase time on page, reduce bounce rates, and, as a result, Google will (hopefully) reward you with higher rankings.

Conclusion and Next Steps

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to dust off your Excel spreadsheets, fire up your favorite SEO tools, and start crafting a keyword map that will make your website shine.

Need a little extra guidance? Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of keywords? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.

The Loganix team is here to help you navigate everything SEO and develop a content strategy that delivers real results.

🚀 Book a strategy call with us today, and let’s discuss how we can take your website to the next level. 🚀

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