Choosing the Right Keywords For Google Search Rank

By Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
Learn how to choose keywords that drive traffic and rank high on Google. Discover strategies, common mistakes, and untapped opportunities from real-life SEO success.
*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.
Choosing the right keywords is one of the most crucial steps in any content marketing or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. Keywords are the bridge between your content and the audience searching for information online. If you pick the wrong keywords, your content may remain invisible despite your effort and expertise. 
On the other hand, the right keywords can propel an article to the top of Google, bringing in thousands—or even millions—of views.

I learned this lesson the hard way, but also serendipitously. My highest-ranking article was an accident. I didn’t write it to beat my competitors or to rank higher than anyone else. I simply wrote about a topic that wasn’t covered well anywhere online at the time. That one article ended up ranking at the top of Google, bringing in 1.3 million views so far.
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The lesson? Copying your competitors isn’t always the best SEO strategy. Sometimes the real opportunity lies in noticing what hasn’t been said yet and filling that gap with something genuinely useful.
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Why Choosing The Right Keywords Matters

Keywords are more than just words on a page—they are the signals that search engines use to understand the content of your article. They indicate the topic, context, and intent behind the content. Choosing the right keywords ensures that your content reaches the right audience (any any audience!).

There are different types of keywords to consider:
  • Short-tail keywords: Broad terms with high search volume, like “SEO” or “digital marketing.”
  • Long-tail keywords: More specific phrases with lower competition, such as “how to choose keywords for SEO.”

​While short-tail keywords can bring a lot of traffic, they are highly competitive and hard to rank for. Long-tail keywords, on the other hand, allow you to target specific audiences with more precise intent, which can lead to higher engagement and conversions.

My Accidental Right Keyword Choice

When I wrote my top-performing article, I wasn’t thinking about SEO at all. I didn't even know that SEO existed at the time! I was just writing about things that I had expertise on that I couldn't really find online.

The result? Google recognized the unique value of my content and ranked it highly. Over time, this article has brought in over a million views, proving that originality and usefulness can outperform traditional keyword-heavy strategies.
​In the years since then, other writers have written even better articles and pushed it down in ranking, but I still learned an important lesson: the best keyword strategy isn’t always about mimicking your competitors—it’s about noticing gaps in the content landscape and filling them with something meaningful

How to Choose Keywords Strategically

Choosing keywords involves more than picking terms that sound relevant. Here’s a process to guide your keyword selection:

​1. Identify Your Audience’s Needs
The first step is understanding what your audience is searching for. This involves identifying questions, problems, and gaps in existing content. Tools like Ubersuggest can help you research keywords and get to know what people are both searching for and writing about (I use Ubersuggest every single day for something or another).

2. Balance Relevance and Opportunity
The sweet spot in keyword selection is finding terms that are both relevant to your content and underserved in the existing content landscape. This requires a combination of research, humility, stretch-goals, and a willingness to experiment. 

Choosing Keywords for Strong & Long-Living Websites
For example, using Ubersuggest, I look up to see how many people are searching a given topic and how competitive the topic is to get highly ranked in Google search. On this website (which is already ranking really well and rated highly by Google), I can try for higher volume, more competitive keywords. You can see in the image below from Ubersuggest that I have attempted to rank for very competitive keywords like "self-esteem" and "resilience".
Of course, you can also see that I only get a handful of views because I'm not ranked in a high enough position on Google to capture very many of the people searching for those keywords. 

Choosing Keywords for New Websites
Over the last month, I have been building a new website on spiritual topics, and the strategy looks very different. In the image below, you can see that the highest difficulty keyword that I even rank for has a ranking of 43. And you'll see that I get basically 0 views even for these keywords because my website is only a month old. 

But the good news is that I am ranking for the keywords I targeted, so as long as I keep building up the website (to increase its authority and credibility), I'll continue to move up the Google search position.
3. Look for Gaps and Opportunities
Instead of competing head-to-head with established sites, look for areas where content is thin, outdated, or unclear. This is exactly what worked for me. My million-view article filled a gap in the content landscape, offering clarity and depth that wasn’t available elsewhere. And this is a strategy I continue to use. Whenever I search for something and am unsatisfied with what I find, I make a mental note to write my own article on the topic.

Integrating Keywords Naturally

Once you’ve selected your keywords, integrate them naturally throughout your content. Focus on creating clear, useful, and engaging content rather than forcing keywords into awkward sentences. Use variations and related terms to help Google understand your topic while maintaining readability.
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In my million-view article, I didn’t worry about repeating keywords unnaturally. I focused on making the content clear, actionable, and useful. That authenticity and clarity helped it rise above other content that was technically optimized but less useful.

Using ChatGPT to Choose the Right Keywords​

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT can be a powerful ally in keyword research. While traditional keyword tools provide data on search volume and competition, ChatGPT can help you brainstorm ideas, identify gaps, and refine your content strategy in a way that feels intuitive and creative.

For example, I often ChatGPT to generate lists of potential keywords for each article. Although it's not great at zooming in on one topic, it often helps me think of new keywords and article topics that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. This approach can uncover opportunities that keyword tools alone might miss.

After generating keyword ideas with ChatGPT, I refine them with traditional tools to check search volume and competition. Then, I draft content around the selected keywords, focusing on clarity, usefulness, and originality. ChatGPT can also help brainstorm headings, meta descriptions, and even content outlines, which turns the 5-hour-per-article process that I used to build this website into a 1-hour-per-article process. In short, we can use our existing expertise combined with AI to build websites faster and more efficiently. (Note that I still don't use AI for the PLR articles that I sell.)​

Articles Related to Choosing the Right Keywords​

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Books Related to Choosing the Right Keywords​

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

Final Thoughts on Increasing Website Pageviews​

Keyword selection isn’t about copying what everyone else is doing. It’s about understanding how content gets found, noticing gaps in existing web-based content, and offering clear, valuable, and original information. My experience shows that even an “accidental” article can outperform highly optimized content when it genuinely fills a gap.

As you plan your content strategy, remember to look beyond search volume and competition. Ask yourself: what hasn’t been said yet? What topics has no one covered well? By answering these questions, you can find untapped SEO opportunities and create content that not only ranks but resonates.

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