SEO Process

How to Find and Use Related Keywords for SEO

Nick Eubanks
Published: Jan. 17, 2025

Related keywords are terms relevant to your primary keyword but not necessarily synonyms or close variations.

For example, a page targeting “off-page SEO” might include related terms like “link building,” “SEO tools,” or “guest posting.” 

These related terms address broader topics and user questions around your main subject.

And finding related keywords is one of the most powerful ways to expand your content’s reach. 

By targeting keywords connected to your primary topic, you signal to both users and search engines that your content covers the subject in depth.

This helps boost visibility and ranking across a wider range of search queries.

For example, I used this strategy to refresh my Semrush vs. Similarweb article. 

By adding related terms, I increased my rankings and traffic—and generated an overall value equivalent to $3.1K in paid advertising.

In this article, I’ll teach you how to find related keywords using proven methods to improve your content’s performance. 

First, let’s learn more about the importance of related terms in your content strategy. 

The Benefits of Related Keywords

While secondary keywords reinforce your main topic, related keywords broaden your reach by connecting your content to additional queries and contexts.

Organic Research – Traffic Think Tank – Article – Overview

Related terms help you connect with your audience more effectively in the following ways:

Broaden Your Article’s Scope

Using related keywords enables you to cover more ground on topics linked to your primary keyword.

It also helps you address search intent by answering tangential questions your audience might have.

For example, when I wrote about Semrush and Similarweb, I didn’t just share my own experience. I answered questions people often ask, like:

  •     How accurate is Similarweb traffic?
  •     How accurate is Semrush traffic analysis?

Adding these related keywords made the article more helpful for readers. It also improved its overall quality.

Plus, it helped my blog post show up in search results for these queries.

Google SERP – How accurate is Similarweb traffic

Enhance Content Depth 

Related keywords can also help you dive deeper into a topic.

By exploring specifics, you turn your content into a detailed and valuable resource.

In the same example, I included topics like:

None of these are direct synonyms for “Semrush vs. Similarweb,” but they’re relevant. 

Covering them in separate paragraphs added value for readers and increased the chances of ranking for those terms.

Traffic Think Tank – Article – Semrush vs. Similarweb

Increase Organic Traffic 

Optimizing your content for the main keyword and mixing in related terms can help boost your search rankings. 

And higher rankings often mean more visitors.

By covering related topics, you cast a wider net for search queries.

For example, when I updated my Semrush vs. Similarweb article, organic traffic increased by 49% in just a few weeks.

GSA – TTT – Semrush vs. Similarweb – Article

Does it always work like that? 

Not always. SEO isn’t 100% predictable. 

While this strategy has worked well for me, your results might differ.

How to Find Related Keywords & Suggestions 

There are plenty of ways to find related keywords.

You could even start by using tools like ChatGPT or Gemini. They’re great for brainstorming ideas.

ChatGPT – Semrush vs. Similarweb – Prompt

Google’s Keyword Planner is another straightforward option for discovering search terms and their metrics. 

Additionally, exploring forums and communities like Reddit or Pinterest can provide valuable insights into real user questions and concerns.

But if you want to drive organic traffic, focus on related keywords that people are actively searching for online. That means looking for ones with real search volume.

Below, I’ve outlined some methods to help you find and analyze related keywords.

Use Keyword Research Tools 

A straightforward method to find related keywords is by using Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.



Open the tool, type your seed keyword, and click “Search.”

Include your website’s URL to see metrics like Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%).

Keyword Magic Tool – Semrush vs. Similarweb – Search

Then, navigate to the “Related” tab to see a list of keywords linked to your seed keyword.

Semrush shows quite a few great options here, including “how does Similarweb work” and “how accurate is Similarweb.”

Keyword Magic Tool – Semrush vs. Similarweb – TTT – Keywords

While I favor Semrush for finding related keywords (check out my colleague’s full Semrush Review for more details), there are also free and budget-friendly alternatives worth considering.

AnswerThePublic, for example. 

This tool allows you to perform up to three searches daily without registration. You’ll need to create an account to continue using it beyond that limit.

AnswerThePublic – Semrush vs. Similarweb – List

Exploring these options can help you find the right fit for your keyword research needs.

Check Your Competitors’ Keywords 

Another way to find related keywords and suggestions is to analyze competitor pages that rank for your target keywords. 

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Run a quick Google search for your target keyword
  2. See which pages are currently ranking in the top 10 for your target keyword
  3. Copy a competitor’s URL
  4. Open Semrush’s Organic Research tool, paste a URL, and hit “Search” 
Organic Research – Semrush vs. Similarweb – Search

Next, select “Exact URL” at the top of the page.

Organic Search – Exact URL – Search

Now, navigate to the “Positions” tab to check all the keywords your competitor ranks for. This can help you collect a bunch of relevant keywords for your page. 

Organic Research – Style Factory Productions – Positions

You can also try Semrush’s Keyword Gap tool. 

It lets you check the common keywords shared by all pages, missing keywords your page doesn’t rank for, and much more.

Here’s how to do it: 

To use the Keyword Gap Tool in Semrush, enter your URL and up to four of your competitors’ URLs. 

Choose “Exact URL” so you only see the keywords those specific pages rank for.

Once you’re ready, click “Compare.” 

Keyword Gap – TTT – Competitors – Compare

Now, navigate to the “Missing” tab to see the unique keywords your competitors rank for but you don’t. 

Keyword Gap – Keyword Overlap – TTT

This will help you see where your page stands compared to your competitors and provide plenty of keyword ideas to improve your content.

Analyze the Search Engine Results Pages

Google’s autocomplete suggestions and related searches are a goldmine for keyword ideas. 

These terms are based on what people are actively searching for, so they’re highly relevant to your audience.

For instance, I typed in my target keyword, and Google came up with a list of related ones.

Some of these could be the topics for separate articles, but one that stood out to me was “semrush alternatives”: 

Google – Search suggestions – Semrush vs. Similarweb

You can also use:

  • People also ask
  • People also search for
  • Related searches

After you type in your search query, scroll to the bottom of the SERP. There, you’ll find a list of related searches that Google believes are related to your query. 

People also search for – Semrush vs. Similarweb

Use Google Search Console

Google can rank your page for related keywords, including ones you haven’t included in your content. Sometimes, you might rank for keywords you didn’t even plan for.

To find these keywords, use Google Search Console (GSC). 

It shows the keywords your page already ranks for but doesn’t get clicks for. If those keywords aren’t in your content, adding them can improve your page’s performance.



Here’s how:

Open GSC and click “Search results” in the left sidebar.

To focus on a specific page, click “+ Add filter” and select “Page” from the dropdown.

GSC – Add filter – Page

Next, choose “Exact URL,” insert your page URL, and hit “Apply.” 

GSC – Add filter – Exact URL – TTT

Now, click “Average position” to see the keyword rankings positions for your target URL.

GSC – Apply Average position

Next, scroll down the page, filter the report, and check out which keywords have lots of impressions but no clicks.

If your article doesn’t currently mention some of these keywords, you can add them to your content. This can help improve rankings for those keywords and get more clicks. 

GSC – Queries with Impressions-and no Clicks

You can also use custom regular expressions (regex) in GSC to find specific keywords that your website ranks for—or doesn’t rank for.

Think of it as a smart filter that lets you dig deeper into data you wouldn’t see with the basic filters.

For example, I often use regex to find informational keywords my website pages rank for and get impressions but don’t receive any clicks.

This helps me spot broader topics worth including in my content if I haven’t covered them yet.

Here’s how you can set it up:

  • Click on “+ Add filter.” 
  • Select “Query.” 
  • Next, choose “Custom (regex)” from the dropdown menu. 
  • Finally, pick “Matches regex.”
GSC – Add filter – Query – Custom (regex)

You can now enter an expression to find keywords that start with phrases like what, where, when, why, or how.

Here’s the expression I used: (?i)^(what|where|when|why|how)

This regex matches strings starting with “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” or “how,” regardless of case. 

The (?i) flag makes the match case insensitive, which works for both uppercase and lowercase. 

The ^ ensures the match occurs at the very beginning of the string, while (word1|word2|…) allows matching any of the specified words. 

For example, it matches “What is this?” but not “It is what you mean.”

You can tweak this by adding or removing words based on what you’re looking for.

GSC – Queries – Custom (regex)

How to Use Related Keywords for Optimization 

By now, you should have a solid list of related keywords. 

So, what’s next?

Here’s how you can use them to enhance your content and improve its performance:

Tweak Your Titles, Metadata, and Subheadings

Google doesn’t share its exact ranking factors, but its resources give us a good idea of what matters.

For example, Google’s ranking systems guide says:



The guide also mentions that Google understands how words connect to concepts, so you don’t always need exact match keywords to rank. 

To boost relevance and performance, I strategically incorporated related keywords into key areas like H1s, subheadings (H2s and H3s), meta titles, and descriptions. 

Specifically, I updated the H2s and H3s shown in the example image to include variations of my target keywords, ensuring they aligned with user search intent. 

This approach helped improve search engine visibility and made the content more scannable and engaging for readers.

Expand Your Content 

When optimizing your content, add related keywords naturally throughout the article.

You can adjust your headings to include them or work them into the body as new paragraphs. 

Another great option is adding an FAQ section to cover missing topics that people are searching for.

In my case, I included FAQs to address questions I hadn’t covered in the original article. It helped make the content more comprehensive and useful for readers.

Traffic Think Tank – Semrush vs. Similarweb – FAQs

Build Topic Clusters

If you have too many keywords that don’t fit naturally on one page, consider creating content pillars.

Think of a content pillar as a hub, with linked pages covering different aspects of a broader topic.

Why do this? 

It helps establish topical authority and makes your site structure easier for search engines to understand.

The pillar page focuses on your primary keyword, while the cluster pages target related keywords. Together, they create a strong, interconnected framework that boosts your content’s relevance and visibility.

Since I updated my article, Leigh McKenzie, one of Traffic Think Tank’s (TTT) digital strategy experts, covered two more Semrush comparison topics on the blog: Semrush vs. Moz and Semrush Alternatives

These keywords were beyond the scope of my article, so Leigh covered them in-depth in his own articles. 

Now, they are all interlinked as part of a cluster.

Content Pillars and Clusters SEO

To do this strategy yourself, use Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder to create a map of pillar pages and subpages with specific keywords to use for each page. 

Here’s how:

Open the tool, enter your seed keyword, and click “Create list.”

Keyword Strategy Builder – Search – Semrush vs. Similarweb

Scroll down to the “Pages Details” section to see the suggested structure for your pillar page and subpages.

Here, you’ll find a list of subtopics for each content cluster, along with recommended keywords for each cluster. These subtopics will serve as supporting content that will link back to the main pillar page.

Keyword Strategy Builder – Semrush vs. Similarweb – Page Details

This approach helps you organize your content and boosts your chances of ranking higher for related searches.

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By now, you’ve got a clearer picture of how to find and use related keywords in your content.

Still feeling unsure or have questions about applying these strategies? 

Here’s a suggestion:

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You’ll get access to regular webinars, live Q&A sessions, and 200+ hours of training designed to help you maximize your SEO efforts, no matter which tools you use.

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