What is different about ecommerce keyword research
Most keyword research guides are written for content sites — blogs, SaaS, publications. They optimize for informational keywords that pull readers in. Ecommerce keyword research has a different job: every keyword needs to map to a page that can plausibly turn a searcher into a buyer.
That means three things in practice:
This guide is the workflow that fits that reality.
Step 1: map intent to your page types
Before researching specific keywords, know which page type ranks for which intent. This is the single most common mistake — targeting a transactional keyword with a blog post, or an informational keyword with a product page.
| Page type | Keyword intent | Example pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Product pages | Transactional, specific | "[brand or specific product]" |
| Collection pages | Commercial, category-level | "[product type]", "best [product type] for [audience]" |
| Blog: buying guides | Commercial investigation | "best [product type] for [use case]", "[A] vs [B]" |
| Blog: how-to | Informational, near-buying | "how to choose [product type]", "how to care for [product]" |
| Blog: definitional | Informational, top-of-funnel | "what is [product type]" |
| Homepage | Brand + broad category | "[brand]", "[brand] [main category]" |
Every keyword you research has to be assignable to one of these slots. If it does not fit, it is not a keyword for your store.
Step 2: find seed keywords from your own catalog and audience
Seed keywords are the starting list you expand from. The best sources are the ones closest to your actual products and your actual customers.
Your product catalog
For each product type you sell, write down:
This produces 5–10 seed keywords per product category. Most stores skip this step and start from competitor analysis, which gives you keywords the competitor is targeting — not necessarily the ones that fit your catalog.
Google Search Console (the highest-signal free source)
If your store has been live for at least 3 months, GSC is the single best source for keywords. It shows what you already rank for, including queries you would not have thought to research.
The workflow:
Export these. They are higher-priority than any keyword you would find from cold research because Google has already decided you are relevant for them.
Search autocomplete and "People also ask"
Type your seed keywords into Google. Two free signals:
These reflect actual buyer language better than tool-generated keyword lists do.
Competitor analysis
Pick 3–5 competitors who target the same audience. In Ahrefs or Semrush (paid), use the "Content Gap" or "Keyword Gap" tool — keywords your competitors rank for that you do not. Without paid tools, manually search a competitor's top 5 collection pages and product pages, look at the page titles, and note the patterns.
The goal is not to copy their entire keyword list — it is to find the 10–20 keywords you should plausibly target but have missed.
Step 3: evaluate honestly against your domain authority
Most stores fail at this step. They build a keyword list of head terms with high volume, write content targeting them, and never rank because they cannot compete with established sites.
The honest version of keyword evaluation has three dimensions:
Volume
Search volume tells you the ceiling on traffic if you ranked #1. It does not tell you whether you can rank. Free tools (Google Keyword Planner) show volume ranges; paid tools (Ahrefs, Semrush) show more precise estimates. Either is fine; the exact numbers do not matter as much as the relative comparison between keywords.
Ignore keywords with under 50 searches per month unless they have very high purchase intent — they are not worth the optimization effort.
Difficulty
How hard is it to rank on page 1? Difficulty scores from Ahrefs and Semrush are estimates, not guarantees, but they correlate well with reality. A simple framework:
Going above these targets is fine — but expect a 12+ month timeline to results, and accept that the page may never rank.
Intent fit
Does this keyword indicate someone is in a position to buy from you? "How does a leather wallet work" is informational and does not convert. "Best leather wallet for travel" is commercial investigation and converts well. "Buy bellroy travel wallet" is transactional and converts very well, but the volume is small.
Mix all three on your site, but be honest about which keywords produce revenue and which produce traffic.
Relevance
The keyword has to match a product you actually sell. Ranking for "best running shoes" when you sell only trail running shoes drives bounce traffic, not sales. Ranking for "best trail running shoes for wide feet" when you sell exactly that converts.
Step 4: build a keyword map
A keyword map assigns one primary keyword to one page. The format is a simple spreadsheet:
| Keyword | Volume | Difficulty | Intent | Target page | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [head term: category] | [high] | [high] | Commercial | /collections/[category] | Live, weak content |
| [variation: with qualifier] | [medium] | [medium] | Commercial | Blog post: buying guide | To write |
| [specific product] | [low] | [low] | Transactional | /products/[handle] | Live, optimized |
| [problem-style query] | [medium] | [medium] | Informational | Blog post: how-to | Idea |
Two rules:
This map becomes your SEO roadmap. The "Status" column tells you what to work on next.
How to find and fix keyword cannibalization on Shopify
Cannibalization is the most common quiet SEO problem on Shopify stores that have been blogging for a year or more. To check:
The fix:
This consolidates the signal Google receives. A single strong page outranks two competing weaker pages every time.
Step 5: optimize the pages you have, in priority order
Optimization in priority order:
For implementation details:
Tools, ranked by what you actually need
| Tool | What it is best at | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Existing keyword performance, cannibalization diagnostics | Always. This is the highest-signal free source. |
| Google Keyword Planner | Volume bands for new keywords | When you do not yet have a paid tool and need volume estimates |
| Google Trends | Seasonality, comparative interest | Before targeting a keyword with strong seasonality |
| AnswerThePublic | Question-style keyword variations | Brainstorming blog post topics |
| Ahrefs | Comprehensive keyword data, competitor analysis | When you have 30+ ranking pages and need to track them |
| Semrush | Similar to Ahrefs; slightly different UX | Same as Ahrefs |
You do not need both Ahrefs and Semrush. Pick one if you need the paid features. For most stores under $1M annual revenue, free tools cover everything.
When not to do keyword research
The common version of keyword research is "spend three weeks building a 200-keyword spreadsheet before writing anything." For most stores, that is the wrong order.
If you have:
Keyword research is a tool. It is not a substitute for shipping content.
A 90-minute starting workflow
If you are starting from scratch:
Repeat the GSC review monthly. Most of your future keyword research will come from data on what is already working.