Keyword Mapping is part of the Keyword Research Process and stands for attributing keywords to particular landing pages in a manner that allows those landing pages to target those keywords through Search Engines. Search Engines may see seemingly similar keywords as different topics and seemingly different keywords as the same topic, which is why Keyword Mapping pertains to the assignment of wider topics (keywords) to content types (landing pages).
In alternative terms, Keyword Mapping also addresses such issues as Keyword Cannibalisation or in other words a solid Keyword Mapping strategy must ensure keywords are not cannibalised across different landing pages. In simple terms what this means is that Keyword Mapping must ensure two landing pages do not compete for the same keywords and, on the other hand, gather all keywords that are part of a topic under one single landing page.
Keyword Mapping is the step in the Keyword Research Process following the Keyword Clustering stage, where after all potential keywords are gathered into one batch by common Topic, they are assigned individual landing pages, existing or new, that will target those keywords.
How Does Keyword Mapping Work?
So, Keyword Mapping is the process that comes after Keyword Clustering, is part of the Keyword Strategy and can be defined as assigning keywords to landing pages. As we previously explained as a general rule we can have multiple keywords assigned to a single page, but in order to avoid keyword cannibalisation we must avoid assigning the same keyword to multiple landing pages, which is where Search Topics come into play.
A Search Topic is comprised of a number of search queries along with their keyword variations and supporting keywords which address the same Search Intent, and this is where the Content Types come in. Content Types are various “types” of content laid out on a Landing Page and selecting the right type of content will depend on your Search Topic’s Search Intent. Generally, there are the following types of content:
- Blog post
- Product page
- Landing page
- Interactive tool
- Wiki/help article
Keyword Variations are variations of the same keyword which serve the same Search Intent and in principle, the only different thing is the way or the order they’re laid out on the page, while Supporting Keywords can be in the hundreds and stand for additional subtopics of the same topic, often targeted through separate sections on the landing page.
Keyword Mapping Importance
There are several benefits to keyword Mapping.
Firstly, Keyword Mapping organises your content effectively, which not only aids the search engines’ understanding of how relevant this URL is for a search query but also makes it easier for content creators to write and easier for readers to understand.
Furthermore, it also empowers you to build a better internal linking strategy. Ideally, you want your content to be contextually linked from one topic to another. This helps search engine crawlers index your pages while helping visitors find what they’re looking for by navigating to different pages.
But generally, the most important benefit that comes in the form of Keyword Mapping is setting it straight for search engines which page should rank for which keywords.
Apart from these, Keyword Mapping can help you find keyword gaps. In other words, your keyword strategy may be falling behind just because your content strategy doesn’t cover all the necessary keywords or is not properly aligned with your keyword strategy. Thus Keyword Mapping will help you find missing keyword opportunities and target them with the relevant pages.
Keyword Mapping can also go a long way in identifying threats in the form of Keyword Cannibalisation. Using the same keywords on different pages may result in keyword cannibalisation where your content competes against itself for a limited set of keywords. Keyword Mapping thus helps assign unique keywords to landing pages avoiding conflicts among themselves.
Keyword Mapping Guide
Keyword mapping is simple once you understand the process, but it does take a bit of time to research and implement it properly.
1. Identifying Keywords
The first thing you should do is identify the main keyword you want to rank for on each page within your site, which is something to be fed from your Keyword Discovery process. In a few words, to discover your list of Seed Keywords you must think about how potential customers might be searching for your business or website. Determine the products or services your business offers, and create a list of the potential search terms your target audience might use to find them.
Checking Existing Keywords in Google Search Console
Similarly, if your website is already established and has some traction from organic search, you can head over to Google Search Console, visit the Performance report and identify keywords your website is already ranking for. You can take this a step further by filtering the results by URL to get keywords which are only related to a specific URL to get an early structure for your Keyword Mapping.
Employing Ahrefs Keywords Explorer to Find New Keywords
These so-called seed keywords can then be used to find a larger set of keywords. Employing the Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, use the seed keyword to identify all the words and phrases you’ll be mapping to your pages. This is already enough to generate a certain amount of keyword ideas to work with. Depending on how big your website is, you may want to enter all the keywords your website will be targeting at once, or do it on a page-by-page basis.
Once you enter a list of keywords in Ahrefs Keyword Explorer and click search, you will be presented with a list of various factors to consider when doing Keyword Research among which will be such Keyword Metrics as Keyword Difficulty, National and Global Search Volumes along with Traffic Potential and Paid Search Cost per Click (CPC). You are also presented with a graph that shows fluctuations of SERPs for this keyword over time along with the SERPs themselves for manually determining Search Intent.
You can then expand this list by navigating to the Keyword Ideas panel on the left-hand side and clicking “Matching Terms”, which will show you the keyword ideas that contain your target keyword or phrase. You can then further filter by “All” search terms or “Questions” only, which may help to further narrow down your search. There’s also filtering by “Related Terms” which shows keyword ideas that are related to your seed keywords or phrases as well as “Search Suggestions” which shows “Autocomplete” suggestions for your target query.
“Matching Terms” however remains the most lucrative way of further expanding your list of seed keywords and you’re encouraged to apply filters to this view to get the most out of it. Another great benefit of Ahrefs is that you can add these keywords directly to a list that can be accessed at a later point in time or they can be added directly into Rank Tracker by clicking the plus button in front of any keyword from the list.
Checking Competition Keywords in Ahrefs Site Explorer
Next, identify your competition and head over to Ahrefs Site Explorer, then open Organic Keywords Report which will show you an exhaustive list of all the keywords your competition is ranking for. Repeat this step for 5 to 10 competitors and you will get a comprehensive list of keywords your competition is already ranking for.
You will be presented with the same list of Keyword Metrics as in Keywords Explorer and given the chance to add individual keywords to either a list or directly to Rank Tracker.
You may also opt for a prioritisation of keywords based on how important they are for your business which will later feed into your Keyword Strategy.
2. Grouping Keywords
Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords, it’s time to start organising them. Begin by grouping keywords into clusters based on Semantical Relevance and Search Intent. Your goal here is to create a group of keywords that are all semantically similar and answer the same Search Intent. Select one of these as your primary keyword, while keeping the other as either Keyword Variations or Supporting Keywords. These clusters will help you determine the structure of your site and create a logical path for visitors and search engine spiders to follow.
As a closure to this step, this is a good time to start thinking about a URL structure that will target these keywords. Ideally, you should aim to include the main keyword in your URL. While this only plays a minor role in your search ranking, having keywords in the web address helps both users and search engines understand what the page is about.
3. Mapping Keywords
After Keyword Clustering, to start building your keyword map, outline your site’s hierarchy logically. Depending on how your keywords progress across topics you may end up having subdirectories.
Take the primary keyword for a page and use it to create your page title, meta description, header 1 tag, and URL. If you’re optimising an existing site, you’ll likely want to include columns for an existing title, meta description and H1 tag and URL as well as columns for recommended or updated versions next to them.
List your Keyword Variations and Supporting Keywords in one or two separate columns at the beginning of your spreadsheet and you’re all set.
4. Optimising Onpage Content
When creating your keyword map you may encounter some differences between your existing and new content elements which you are then expected to optimise. At this stage, you may also find opportunities for internal linking within your URL structure and identify any keyword cannibalisation issues.
5. Improving Keyword Mapping
Keyword Mapping can also be a continuing process which doesn’t end with its first draft because as you’re adding new content you’ll have to ensure it fits within this map by not being duplicated or irrelevant to the rest of your content structure. As your capabilities grow you may find yourself consistently adding new keywords to existing pages and thus open up new opportunities for Onpage Optimisation.
Avoiding Keyword Cannibalisation
If you have a set of similar keywords and subtopics and are unsure whether they should be mapped to the same page or different ones you should disambiguate this by ensuring there’s no keyword cannibalisation on your website. The main purpose behind tackling keyword cannibalisation is to ensure your landing pages don’t compete for the same keyword and don’t still traffic from each other.
To disambiguate this you should generally map highly similar keywords together, but better say the keywords with the same Search Intent while keeping those with a different intent separately. Generally, by analysing a query’s Search Intent you should be able to find whether two keywords should be targeted with the same or different landing pages.
To put it simply you should try to understand whether the two search queries have generally the same search results or not. In case the search results are highly similar between two search queries it generally means they have the same Search Intent. On the other hand, if the search results are significantly different then you may be in a better position to target each keyword with a different page.
These are general guidelines as opposed to a strict set of factors to consider and should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Use common sense when choosing one option over another as search results are far from perfect especially in less competitive niches and these instructions should be taken with a grain of salt.