What keyword research is for
Keyword research answers one question before any content is written: is this a query people actually type, and can this site realistically rank for it? A keyword with volume and no chance is a wasted page; a keyword with a chance and no volume is a wasted page too. Research is how you find the ones with both, and the questions and long-tail phrases around them that a subject needs to cover.
In OnPagePilot, keyword research is the step before Topical Authority: you find the head term here, then you build the subject around it there.
Starting a search
Enter a seed keyword, choose the search engine (Google), the location from the country list and the language, and run. Two options shape the result set: ignore synonyms keeps near-duplicate phrasings out of the list, and replace with core keyword folds variants back onto the term you typed. Previous searches are kept in History, and keywords you collect go into Saved Lists. Keyword Ideas is the alternative entry when you have a topic but not yet a keyword.
Reading the results
The results page opens with the seed keyword: its intent (Informational, Commercial, Transactional or Navigational), search volume per month, SEO difficulty out of 100 with its band (Easy 0 to 30, Medium 31 to 60, Hard 61 to 80, Very Hard 81 to 100), CPC, the number of search results, the SERP features detected for the query (AI answers, organic results, People Also Ask, perspectives, related searches, video, featured snippet, images, discussions and more) and a 12-month volume trend.
The difficulty band is the first thing to read. A new site on a Very Hard term is a long campaign; the same subject approached through Easy and Medium long-tail terms is a series of pages that can rank this quarter and build up to the head term.
Below the seed, four tabs expand the subject: Related Keywords with their combined volume, Questions people ask about the term, Long-tail Ideas and a SERP Preview. Each row carries volume, trend, difficulty, intent, CPC and SERP features, so you can compare candidates on the same line.
Filter by difficulty band, by intent, by minimum volume, or to rows that have SERP features only. Select All or pick rows by hand, then Add Selected to List, Save to List, or Export CSV.
A practical workflow
1. Start with the head term of a subject, in the market and language you sell in; volume and difficulty are different in every country.
2. Filter to Informational and Commercial intent first. Those are the terms a content page can win; Transactional and Navigational terms usually belong to product pages and brands.
3. Read the Questions tab as a page outline. The questions people ask are the headings a complete page needs; if there are many, the FAQ Page template is built for exactly that.
4. Save the candidates to a list, then take the head term to Topical Authority and let the competitor analysis show what the ranking pages actually cover.
Where the list goes
A saved list is the seed for the rest of the product. The head term becomes a Topical Authority map; the map becomes a brief in the SEO Editor; the brief becomes a draft in AI Writing. The SERP features you saw here tell you what the page must offer: a query with People Also Ask and a featured snippet wants direct answers under clear headings.
Where to go next
The Topical Authority guide explains the step after research: building the subject around the head term you found. The Topical Authority feature page shows the competitor selection and the map with product captures.
If you are in the BETA and a keyword shows a volume or difficulty that does not match what you know about your market, tell us on the contact page.
- Seed keyword, search engine, country and language per search
- Intent, monthly volume, difficulty band, CPC, SERP features and 12-month trend
- Related Keywords, Questions, Long-tail Ideas and SERP Preview tabs
- Filter by difficulty, intent, minimum volume and SERP features
- Saved Lists, History, CSV export
- The head term goes straight into Topical Authority