Why is it important to group relevant keywords together?

And remember: successful SEO isn't based on isolated keywords, but on well-articulated topics backed by useful content. Let's type!

What is keyword clustering?

Keyword grouping consists of organizing related terms—whether they are synonyms, long-tail variants, frequently asked questions, or associated phrases—into clusters or thematic groups. Each group revolves around a main keyword (central theme), and is complemented by secondary keywords that share the same search intent.

For example:

• Main keyword: “how to choose a mattress”
• Secondary keywords: “best mattress for sleeping”, “ideal back mattress”, “types of mattresses and their benefits”

This model helps Google understand that your content covers an entire topic, not just an artificially repeated word.

Real benefits of clustering keywords

👉 Improve thematic authority: Google rewards sites that demonstrate mastery over a topic. By grouping keywords, you're telling the algorithm that your content is well-structured, consistent, and valuable to the user.

👉 You avoid internal competition: Optimizing several pages for very similar keywords generates internal competition. This confuses Google and dilutes the value of your internal links. Good clustering eliminates this problem.

👉 Increase your visibility in SERPs: By covering multiple variations of a keyword, you can position yourself for more related terms. This improves your presence on the results pages, even if you're not in first position for your main keyword.

👉 It makes it easy to create strategic content: Having clear groups allows you to plan more complete content, from thematic guides to specific articles that support your pillar page.

👉 Improves the user experience: A site well organized by topic makes it easier for the reader to navigate and deepen. In addition, this reduces the bounce rate and improves page time, two positive signs for Google.

Use search intent as a guide

Not all keywords that seem similar have the same intention. For example:

• “buy mattress” → transactional intent
• “what size mattress to choose” → informational intent

If you mix both in the same group, you'll be creating contradictory content. My advice is to always check the SERP for each keyword before grouping it together. If Google shows different results, they probably belong to different groups.

In addition, use tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs or MAKE IT TOOL to identify search patterns, common keywords in the highlighted results, and opportunities to enrich your content with semantic terms.

I'll explain how to do it with MAKE IT TOOL 👇

1. Identify search intent

Go to the “Main Intent” and “General Intent” section.

• Types of Intent:
  
  • Informational (56%): Users seek to learn (blogs, tutorials, guides).
  • Transactional (87%): Users want to buy, hire or convert.

➡️ Group keywords according to their intention, creating separate lists:

• News (top of funnel)
• Transactional (bottom of funnel)

2. Use the “repeated keywords” section

This heatmap-like block groups terms by common themes.

🔹 Example of detected clusters:

• Technical SEO: “Site Speed”, “Schema Markup”
• Content Marketing: “Blog Posts”, “Infographics”
• Off-Page: “Guest Blogging”, “Influencer Outreach”
  

➡️ Group your keywords into thematic clusters based on these visual categories.

3. Analyze the “keyword type” and “difficulty”

• If Branded (branded) or Generic keywords appear, separate them.
• Check the difficulty score (for example, 61 = Difficult):
  
  • Low difficulty = easier positioning opportunity.

➡️ Group keywords by difficulty:

• Easy: content for quick positioning
• Difficult: strategic content or long-term campaigns

4. Explore “Frequently Asked” and “Related Keywords”

These tables give you up to 20 more data per keyword

• Monthly search volume
• Intention
• CPC
• Suggestions

➡️ Group:

• Frequently asked questions for FAQ or blog content
• Semantic relationships to expand the main content

5. Sort by search volume

With the pie charts “Keywords by Volume” and “Related Keyword by Volume”, identify which keywords have the most weight.

➡️ Prioritize:

• High search + transactional intent = sales pages
• High search + informational intent = educational content or blog

6. Evaluate competence and CPC

• COMPETITION + CPC tell you if it's worth investing.
  
  • Low CPC + Low Competition = organic SEO opportunities
  • High CPC + High Search = keywords for paid campaigns

➡️ Create groups for SEO vs SEM.

7. View the SERP Features and Clicks

In the “SERPs Results”, “Clicks Gender” and “Clicks Age” graphics:

• If there are Featured Snippets, “People Also Ask” or “Image Pack”, consider:
  
  • FAQ, optimized images, structured text.
• Clicks by age/gender help to profile your content.

➡️ Group keywords that point to similar types of SERP results.

How to implement it in your SEO strategy

• Initial Research: Use a keyword research tool to generate a wide list of keywords related to your business or niche.

• Classification by intention: Separate keywords according to their intent: informational, commercial, transactional. This classification defines what your content will look like.

• Logical clustering: Within each intention, create groups based on central themes. For example, under “information about mattresses”, you can have subgroups such as “sizes”, “materials”, “ergonomics”.

• Thematic architecture design: Define a pillar page (extensive content on the general topic) and cluster pages (specific content that supports the main topic). It connects both with strategic internal links.

• On-Page Optimization: It distributes the group's keywords in a natural way in the title, subtitles, meta description, first paragraph and body of text. Avoid stuffing; prioritize the reader's experience.

• Monitoring and adjustments: Use a position-tracking tool to monitor how your keyword groups are behaving. Review every 3 months and adjust content if you see falls or new opportunities.

Keyword clustering isn't just a technical step: it's a fundamental part of a modern SEO strategy. It helps create strong thematic structures, improve your site's authority, and deliver relevant and in-depth content.