Keyword Clustering

The result of keyword clustering is a keyword list in which the keywords were sorted by customer journey phase and topic and represent a complete customer journey for each defined product.

a. Keyword Intent

In order to be able to assign the existing keywords to the phases of the customer journey, it helps to take a look at the intention behind the individual keywords. Two types of keywords are important for keyword research:

1. Informational keywords

With these keywords, the user is primarily looking for information on a topic or for a solution to his problem. Whether the user is at the beginning or already in an advanced phase of the customer journey can only be determined by the depth of content to the keyword.
Informational keywords usually belong to the attract and engage phases.

2. Transactional Keywords

Transactional keywords indicate a specific action (buy, download, contact). They assume that the user already knows exactly what he or she is looking for.

Transactional keywords usually belong to the convert phase.

b. Customer Journey Phase

The keywords should be divided into the different phases of the customer journey. This ensures that the entire customer journey is covered and that content is available for each phase.

1. Attract

In this phase, the reader has a rather basic knowledge about the topic. Accordingly, it is about clarifying the basics of the searched topic / keyword.

• What is [Keyword] ?
• How does [Keyword] work (in general) ?

2. Engage

In this phase, the user is already more advanced and wants to expand his existing knowledge.

• How does [Keyword] (specific) work ?
• How do I use [Keyword]?
• Comparison of [Keyword] to [Keyword] ?

3. Convert

In this phase, the user is looking for a specific, usually transactional, solution.

• Keyword + buy / order / contact / implement

If customer journeys have already been created in advance, this step is simplified because the sequence of keywords and topics has been defined in advance. As additional information, the corresponding persona can be noted behind each keyword. Accordingly, it will be clear at the end where gaps exist in the customer journey of the respective persona.

c. Topics cluster

In order for the content strategy to be based on topic-based clusters (pillars) in the future, the keywords must be sorted thematically. Accordingly, keywords that belong to the same or a similar topic should be collected.

The topic should be an effectively existing keyword with the largest possible search volume. This signals to Google that the company is the expert for this overarching topic.

The final list of the keyword research could look similar to the below example (the terms and values are invented):