In 2023, when I was learning SEO, like you, I was also confused about broad keywords. Especially in the beginning phase, I didn’t fully understand what they were; I was making guesses based on what I saw in keyword research tools.
At first, I assumed that a broad keyword was just any one- or two-word keyword with a high search volume.
Whenever I checked a keyword in SEMrush and saw thousands of monthly searches, I thought, “Wow! This keyword must be searched that many times every month, so if I target it, I should be able to get a lot of traffic.”
I also kept wondering whether broad keywords were the best keywords to target, whether websites actually ranked easily for them, and whether every SEO strategy should start with broad keywords.
Since I couldn’t find a clear explanation anywhere, I spent a lot of time making assumptions rather than understanding the underlying concept.
As I gained more experience in SEO and keyword research, I discovered that there was much more to broad keywords than just high search volume or short keyword length.
In fact, I uncovered a few surprising insights that completely changed the way I looked at keyword research, and one of those insights is something I’ll share with you later in this article.
What Are Broad Keywords? Definition With Example
You may already know that a broad keyword consists of one or two words, but top SEO experts such as Neil Patel and Brian Dean also describe other signs you need to understand deeply. And I am going to give you the MOST unique definition of a broad keyword, a mix of my 3 years of experience and experts’ insights.
Definition of Broad Keywords
Broad Keywords are keywords that are general and broad in scope and represent an entire topic rather than a specific question or need.
They usually consist of one or two words, such as SEO, Shoes, Skincare, Insurance, or Digital Marketing.
Since these keywords have a very broad meaning, different people search for them for different purposes. Google cannot determine the user’s exact intent until it has enough contextual signals.
Google may rank different pages for a broad keyword because that keyword often has multiple search intents. However, it doesn’t rank pages simply because they contain the keyword.
Google evaluates which pages are most relevant to the user’s query and then decides which page should appear first based on factors such as relevance, content quality, domain authority, backlinks, and overall user experience.
A detailed example of broad keywords
Now imagine yourself as a user or a searcher.
Suppose you want to buy a new pair of shoes. Now ask yourself: would you go straight to Google and type in “Shoes”, or search for “Shoes for Sale”?
If you search “Shoes”, have you told Google what brand of shoes you want?
- What kind of shoe do you need?
- Men’s, Women’s, Running Shoes, or Formal Shoes?
- What is your budget? Or do you want to see different options?
No.
That’s why Google also shows you different relevant results, like different brands, shopping results, category pages, and other information, because your search intent isn’t completely clear yet.
When you look at the different options and decide that you want, for example, Nike Running Shoes, then your search also becomes specific, like:
- Nike Running Shoes
- Nike Running Shoes for Men
- Nike Air Zoom Price
Now that Google clearly understands what you want, the results are more relevant.
Similarly, take the example of this article.
If you’ve made it this far, you’ve most likely done a keyword search like “Broad Keywords” or “What Does Broad Keywords Mean”. Now, think to yourself, were you clear at that time what you wanted to know?
Probably not.
Maybe you want to know what broad keywords are, or the difference between broad and long-tail keywords, or when to use them in SEO. That is, you had the same topic in mind, but the question was still not completely clear.
That’s why it’s called a Broad Keyword, because it represents a broad topic, not a specific question or goal.
Why Are They Called “Broad”?
The word “Broad” means Wide or General. In SEO, a Broad Keyword is a Keyword that represents a broad Topic. It does not represent a specific question or purpose.
It is called Broad because it can have not just one but many different Search Intents behind it.
For example, keywords like “SEO” or “Shoes” do not make it clear what the user actually wants. Unless the search query is more specific, the user’s intent (Intent) is not clear.
How to know this is a Broad Keyword? 4 Signs of Broad Keywords
When I started learning SEO, I had the same question in my mind: How do we know if a keyword is really broad?
I often used to guess that it might be a broad keyword just by looking at the search volume or the keyword length, but later I realized that it wasn’t.
The fact is that there is not just one but many clear signs of a broad keyword. When you understand these signs, you can pretty much guess by looking at any keyword whether it is a broad keyword or not, and whether it would be appropriate to target it on your website or not.
Now, let’s understand these 4 important signs one by one.
1) Usually One or Two Words
The first and easiest sign of a broad keyword is that it usually consists of one or two words, such as SEO, Shoes, Insurance, Skincare, or Digital Marketing.
If a keyword consists of 3 to 5 words, it is usually called a short-tail keyword, while a keyword with 5 or more words is often a long-tail keyword.
Although not every keyword can be judged by word count alone, having one or two words is one of the strongest signs of a broad keyword.
2) Broad Search Intent
As we saw in the examples above, when someone searches for just “Shoes” or “Broad Keywords”, it is often not clear to them what specific thing they are looking for.
They may have several possible intentions about the same topic.
That is why Google also tries to understand the user’s intent (Search Intent) first, then shows relevant results.
If there is more than one possible Search Intent behind a Keyword, then this is a strong indication that it is a Broad Keyword.
3) High Search Volume
When I first started using SEMrush, I also thought that if a broad keyword’s search volume were high, people would search only for that one Keyword many times every month.
But later I learned that the reality is a little different.
Most SEO tools estimate search volume by grouping close variants and similar queries rather than counting only the exact phrase. That is why the Search Volume of Broad Keywords usually looks very high.
4) High Competition
While broad keywords have high search volume, their competition is usually very high.
This was also an important learning point for me. Initially, I thought that high search volume meant high traffic, so I targeted those keywords.
But later I realized that big, well-established websites are already ranking for those keywords, so it is quite difficult for a new website to rank for them.
If your website is new, instead of targeting broad keywords directly, it is better to focus on long-tail keywords and topic clusters first.
When your website’s authority is strong, your content is good, and your internal linking and backlinks are strong, you can confidently target broad keywords or pillar pages.
Interestingly, after creating a strong topic cluster, your cluster articles often start ranking for broad keywords as well, even if you did not target them directly.
Comparison Table between short tail and long tail
What Are the Benefits of Broad Keywords?
1.2 image
We get new ideas from broad keywords, and when a high-authority website ranks, Google Search Console also shows many related keywords, as shown in image 1.2.
When you have an idea about how to do keyword research, you will know exactly how broad keywords give you new ideas for related keywords.
The biggest benefit of broad keywords is their ability to build topical authority, as they are targeted in pillar content. Without broad keywords, pillar content cannot form, and clusters will lack a pillar topic, leading to incomplete topical authority.
Since broad keywords have high search volume, there is another benefit for a website with a 40+ DA: more people can reach it. If your article is on a long-tail keyword and your website has good domain authority, it will also rank for different broad keywords, even if you don’t target them in your content.
Last but not least, content planning becomes easier because we can extract new subtopics from broad keywords, for example, if the broad keyword is “Tomato Plant”, the subtopics will be;
• Tomato plant growing guide
• tomato plant history
• tomato planting time
• tomato plant varieties, etc
What are the Disadvantages of broad keywords?
Broad keywords also have disadvantages, especially for newly registered websites. If big websites are already ranking for broad keywords, you won’t have the opportunity to rank with a low DA. That’s why tops seo experts recommend targeting long tail keywords with clear intent.
Since broad keywords are highly competitive, new websites take years to rank for them. However, this ranking time depends on website authority and age.
Through broad keywords, it is difficult to understand what users want to search for and know about. Suppose a user searches for “Laptop”; they may want to buy a laptop and may want to see reviews or other information, such as history, hardware, and software topics.
Because broad keywords don’t target a specific audience, visitors don’t convert into customers every time. On the other hand, to rank on these broad keywords, you will also need investment for high-quality backlinks and content quality.
When Should You Target Broad Keywords?
→When your website has a 40+ domain authority
→When your website is 3-5 years or more old
→when you already have published cluster content (in this situation, website DA doesn’t matter)
How to Find Broad Keywords?
Here, I am going to share my experience-based method for finding broad keywords. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, this method is for everyone;
Step 1: Can You Choose Broad Keywords?
If your website is still new, I do not recommend using broad keywords; however, if it meets the above requirements for choosing broad keywords, follow the steps to find them.
Step 2: Make a list of Seed Words
After deciding on a niche, you have to make a list of seed words. Seed words are the main topic consisting of only one word, and through them, we can find out broad, short-tail, and even long-tail keywords.
If you’re a beginner and don’t know how to find the seed word in your niche, here’s a simple method.
1) Open ChatGPT and paste this prompt by filling in the placeholder “give me a list of seed words in my niche (paste here your niche).” As shown in image 1.3
Image 1.3
After doing this, you will have a complete list of seed words. Now, follow the other steps.
Step 3: Go to Your Keyword Research Tool and Paste in the Seed Word
Open your keyword research tool- maybe you’re using Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, or another, but here I am going to use SEMrush.
1) Open the Semrush Dashboard and paste one seed word copied from ChatGPT, as shown in the following image 1.4
Image 1.4
Step 4: Open the “Keyword Variation” Option in Semrush
Now, below, you will find two options in SEMrush: one is “keyword variations” and the second is “questions”. You will have to go to the “keyword variations” option to find out broad keywords. However, if you are searching for long-tail keywords, go with the “question” option. (shown in image 1.5)
Image 1.5
Step 5: Apply Filters of KD and Word Count
Now, here you will find many keywords, including broad, short-tail, and long-tail. Since we are choosing broad keywords, you have to apply a word count filter of “one ot two words”, because this is the core sign of broad keywords. We will also apply the KD filter to improve ranking. You will have to see if you can find a broad keyword with low KD; however, if you don’t find anything like this, then continue with a broad keyword with high KD. A stronger website has a better chance of ranking.
Image 1.6
Advance Filter→Word count, add “1” in the first box and “2” in the second box to find out broad keywords.
Now, also apply the KD filter from 0 to 29
Now we have a lot of broad keywords, but some are irrelevant to our niche, “gardening,” so we can use the “include and exclude” filter to keep only the relevant broad keywords.
Best Practices for Using Broad Keywords
The above method I’ve told you is the same as how we do normal keyword research, because I’ve already described that if your website starts getting high domain authority, your already published content will start ranking for broad keywords automatically. However, as a beginner, you should have an idea of what broad keywords are, how to find them, and when you should use these types of keywords beyond fixed situations.
For instance, you are targeting long-tail keywords for your new website with less than 40 DA, and you have published all related topics as clusters; now you will also need pillar content that will support your clusters. In this situation, you can choose a broad keyword, even for a new, fresh website. Here, topical authority matters more than authority rules.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are in the above situation, always try to target broad keywords with a low KD; Search volume should not be your primary deciding factor. Since your website will already be new, let’s target broad keywords with low KD and even 0 search volume.
Even though a brand-new website is unlikely to get significant traffic by targeting highly competitive broad keywords, you can still gain some initial traffic by targeting low-KD broad-related keywords or specific long-tail keywords while keeping them under the same pillar topic.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Targeting Broad Keywords
Don’t target highly competitive broad keywords; always try to fit slightly more specific broad keywords with low search volume, even with 0 search volume, especially if the website is fresh.
Don’t forget to make clusters, even if your website has high domain authority, because topical authority always deserves the first seat.
Don’t ignore the search intent of the broad keyword, since they don’t have a clear intent; make sure to write detailed articles that cover each intent properly.
Without deep and proper internal linking, your content will be just text. Always write cluster content first, publish it, then move on to pillar content, linking those clusters in that pillar content.
Your previous content needs to be linked in the current content, and you’ve forgotten, don’t do this, always remember to link all related content to each other. The second name of this is “updating content regularly”
These were mistakes that most beginners, even intermediates, make, so if you’re also facing them and don’t understand what to do, book a free consultation now!!