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Having trouble getting your ecommerce store in front of the right customers?
You’re not alone. With millions of online stores competing for clicks, showing up in search results requires a solid SEO strategy—and it all starts with the right keywords.
This guide explains everything you need to know about keyword research for ecommerce—how to find, analyze, and use keywords that drive traffic and sales.
Ecommerce keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing the search queries people use when looking for products online. The goal is to find the most relevant terms and add them to your store’s content such as product pages, category pages, and blog posts.
This increases your site’s chances of appearing in search results for those queries and driving more visitors and sales.
Let’s say you run an online store specializing in home office equipment. A potential buyer might search for “heavy duty monitor arm” on Google:
If your website is optimized for that phrase, you’ll have a better chance of ranking in search results and attracting ready-to-buy shoppers (like the listings shown in the screenshot above).
By knowing what people are already searching for, you can tailor your pages and content to match their intent and drive more sales.
In ecommerce, every search represents a potential sale. Keyword research helps you understand what your customers are looking for and how they search for it.
When done right, keyword research does the following:
Keyword research helps you identify search terms with high buying intent.
“There’s a big difference between someone typing ’hospital bed’ and someone searching ’best home hospital bed for elderly with arthritis.’ The first could be anyone—perhaps a student working on a project. The second is almost definitely a caregiver ready to buy,” says Kyle Sobko, CEO at SonderCare.
By targeting high-intent keywords like these, you attract shoppers who are actively looking to make a purchase, not just browsing.
If you sell eco-friendly water bottles, optimizing your product listings with relevant terms like “BPA-free water bottle” or “reusable gym bottle with straw” helps you appear in more specific and relevant searches.
Keyword data helps you plan content that matches your audience’s search queries. For example, if you notice consistent monthly searches for “running shoes for flat feet,” you could create:
You can promote these pages using platforms like Google Ads or Meta Ads to drive sales.
Keyword trends show what people care about and what they’re willing to pay for. A spike in searches for “collagen supplements for skin” may signal growing demand in that niche.
Running ads without proper keyword research can quickly deplete your budget.
“I use Google Ads to test which terms and landing pages bring in the best conversion rates, so I don’t waste time optimizing for keywords that might bring visitors but don’t drive sales,” says Victor André Enselmann, founder and SEO strategist at Modeva. “In my experience, long-tail queries like ’noise-cancelling headphones under $200’ tend to have better conversion rates because they capture more specific intent. Whereas broad terms like ’headphones’ generate more traffic but can also attract a lot of window shoppers.”
Rank higher on Google
Use this free SEO checklist to optimize your website and content. Learn how to rank for relevant search terms so more shoppers discover your store first.
Before you start researching keywords, understand these key concepts. They’ll help you identify which terms are worth targeting—and why.
Search intent is the reason behind a user’s search query. Understanding intent helps you target the right keywords on the right pages. There are four main types:
Focus on keywords that are commercially relevant for your store—ones that will drive sales when you rank for them.
Read more: Long-Tail Keywords Strategy for Ecommerce SEO
Consider these two key metrics when deciding if a keyword is worth targeting:
Ideally, look for keywords with high search volume and low competition. But the reality is more nuanced.
A high-volume keyword might seem attractive but could be too competitive for a new store. Meanwhile, a low-volume, long-tail keyword might bring fewer visitors, but those shoppers are often closer to purchasing.
Along with search volume and competition, consider search intent, relevance, and your site’s authority when analyzing which keywords are feasible for your store.
Common ecommerce keyword categories include:
This classification helps you map keywords to the right pages and structure your site effectively.
Here’s the step-by-step process:
This initial brainstorm helps define the scope of your research and ensures you don’t miss major product areas or different ways customers might search for what you sell.
Here’s how to get started:
Now you have a foundation of seed terms and topics directly related to your ecommerce business, which sets you up for the next step.
Use your seed keywords to find relevant keyword ideas related to your niche with these techniques:
Use ecommerce keyword research tools
Keyword research tools help you find variations, gauge search demand, and evaluate competition.
Start with Keyword Planner—a free tool within Google Ads. While it’s primarily designed for paid search campaigns or search engine marketing, you can also use it for your organic search (SEO) efforts.
Enter a seed keyword into the tool. It will generate a list of related keywords along with metrics such as average monthly searches and competition (more on this later).
For more thorough keyword research, use professional SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush. They provide deeper insights on search volume, keyword difficulty, trend data, search engine results page (SERP) features, and competitor information.
Here’s a snapshot of related keywords and their metrics from Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool:
You can also learn about your competitors’ SEO and keyword strategy using these tools.
For example, if you’re an organic pet supplies brand and your main competitor is Only Natural Pet, enter their website URL into Semrush’s Domain Overview tool to find the keywords driving their product and category page traffic.
Collect the relevant keywords from all these reports and add them to your list.
Read more: How to Run a Competitor Keyword Analysis
Go through customer conversations
One of the most effective ways to identify high-impact keywords is by listening to your customers. They often tell you exactly which search terms they use.
Look for recurring terms, pain points, or descriptive phrases in these places:
For example, if multiple reviews mention “fits well for wide feet,” that could be a keyword worth targeting.
“An underrated tactic we find useful is analyzing customer-generated content for keyword ideas,” says Teresha Aird, director of search marketing at Custom Neon. “These sources reveal the different languages customers use when describing our products, their uses, or problems, often uncovering long-tail keywords that standard tools may miss. For example, analyzing reviews might show phrases like ‘custom neon sign for gaming room’ that reflect specific intent and can be targeted for high-conversion pages.”
Explore search engine features
Finally, explore these Google features to find additional queries, phrases, and questions related to your seed keyword:
Collect all the relevant keyword ideas you find from above tools and sources and add them to your keyword list.
Next, use keyword data to focus on terms that are both relevant for your business and realistic to rank for based on your website’s domain authority.
Analyze keywords based on these key factors:
Relevance
This is the most important factor. Does the keyword align with a specific product, category, or content on the page you’re planning to optimize?
If you run an online office furniture store, ranking for “best single beds for small rooms” won’t benefit your business—even if it brings traffic. That traffic won’t connect with what you sell. Make sure your target keywords directly relate to your products.
Search intent
Does user intent align with the goal of your target page? For example, someone searching for “best laptop backpacks under $200” is likely looking to compare options, not buy immediately. That’s what search results reflect:
To rank for this keyword, a product comparison post would work better than a product page.
Search volume and keyword difficulty
Find a balance between these factors. A high-volume keyword like “mountain bike” might seem attractive, but if your website is new and the keyword is highly competitive, ranking for it would be challenging.
A long-tail keyword like “mountain bike under 1000” with moderate volume and low difficulty could bring in highly targeted, ready-to-buy visitors:
“One factor I always consider is business intent alignment,” says Marcus Clarke, owner and lead SEO at Searchant. “A keyword might have great volume and low difficulty, but if it doesn’t align with what we sell or the stage the user is in, it’s a distraction. I also look at SERP behavior. Does Google show shopping ads, local packs, or forums? That tells me a lot about user intent and whether we can compete meaningfully.”
Consider all these factors when prioritizing your target keywords to improve your ranking chances and attract qualified traffic.
Think of each page on your site as a solution to a specific user query. Your goal is to match each keyword (or group of related keywords) with the most relevant page type based on search intent.
Use this table to understand how to assign keywords to different content types:
Assign one primary keyword and a few secondary/related keywords to each important page on your website (your home page, category pages, product pages, and relevant blog posts). Make sure the assigned keywords align with the page’s content and purpose.
Once you’ve mapped keywords to content types, schedule your content production. A content calendar helps you:
Your content calendar should include:
Here’s an example content calendar for an ecommerce sports store:
AI tools can help you spot keyword trends before they peak. These tools analyze search patterns, social conversations, and content engagement data to find keywords that are just starting to gain traction.
For example:
By identifying these early stage keywords, you can create content, optimize listings, or launch products that ride the trend—not chase it after it’s saturated.
“I use AI to simulate buyer personas,” explains Marcus. “I prompt ChatGPT with a customer profile: ‘You’re a 35-year-old golfer looking for waterproof trousers in the UK’ and ask what they’d search for, how they’d phrase questions, and what objections they might have. It gives me more natural, high-intent phrases than most keyword tools, especially for long-tails. I still cross-check with data from traditional tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush, but AI helps me uncover the why behind the search.”
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Keyword research isn’t a one-time task. Search behavior changes. New competitors enter the market. Product lines evolve. You need to update your keyword list regularly to stay competitive and capture new ranking opportunities.
“We revisit our keyword strategy quarterly for a full audit and make monthly tweaks based on performance data,” says Teresha. “If a page’s rankings or conversions drop (tracked via Google Search Console/Analytics), we re-evaluate keywords for relevance or competition.”
Track your keyword rankings regularly and monitor the traffic they bring using tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Keep adding relevant keywords to your list as you discover them.
To help your site rank higher in search engines and attract more qualified traffic, place your target keywords in these strategic locations:
“In early 2023, our product page ‘Aura Premium Hospital Bed’ wasn’t converting like it used to,” explains Kyle. “Traffic numbers were fine, but fewer people were taking action.
“After reviewing transcripts from customer support calls and emails, one phrase kept showing up: ‘hospital bed for elderly parents with arthritis.’ That wording wasn’t used anywhere on the page, so we rewrote the product description, added that exact phrase in the title, and included a section explaining how the bed supports people with arthritis, especially around stiffness and mobility.
“After those changes, the page began pulling in long-tail searches we hadn’t ranked for before. Conversions nearly doubled within a few weeks.”
Your search engine optimization efforts are only as effective as your process. Most store owners, especially when starting out and short on time, don’t have a proper process in place.
Maybe that was you before, but now you have a game plan. To improve your overall SEO marketing strategy, check out our SEO checklist.
Here are the key steps to effective ecommerce keyword research:
When you research what your target audience searches for, you can identify market demand, trends, popular features, and new niches. You can use these insights to guide your product research and development and improve your offering.
Keywords in ecommerce are the words and phrases people type into search engines or marketplaces to find products. These range from short-tail terms like “running shoes” to long-tail, high-intent searches like “buy waterproof running shoes.” Keywords guide how you structure product pages, categories, content, and ads to match user search behavior.
Keyword research ensures your content (blog posts, product descriptions, guides) aligns with what people are searching for. It helps you attract qualified traffic, improve rankings, and guide readers to product pages through internal linking and strategic CTAs.
SEO in ecommerce refers to optimizing your online store so your product, category, and content pages rank higher in search results. It includes on-page elements like keyword usage, meta tags, and product descriptions, as well as technical SEO (site speed, mobile optimization), internal linking, and backlink building. The goal is to increase organic traffic and drive more sales.
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