How Many Keywords Should I Use for SEO in 2026?

Want to know how many keywords to use for SEO?

Focus on 1 primary keyword and 3 to 5 related (secondary) keywords.

As an SEO and content writer, I have written hundreds of pieces of content that rank on the first page by strategically placing keywords within the article.

Then, you can focus more on keywords than search intent.

But now, search is changing, and the way we optimize content for search engines no longer works like before.

Presently, when I’m writing content, I focus on SEO and AI SEO so that my content ranks on search engines and also gets cited by AI platforms.

Users are now shifting toward using AI search engines to search for information and get exact responses, which now leads to zero-click searches.

To give an answer to the question, how many keywords should I use for SEO? No specific number of keywords to use when writing content.

In fact, with the latest Google helpful content update, you can’t just stuff keywords in your article and expect it to rank.

What matters most is the quality of content and how it resonates with your audience.

 To write content that Google loves, focus on 1 primary keyword and 3 to 5 related phrases.

You don’t need to cover hundreds of terms, but focusing on a single topic in-depth is more crucial while naturally including semantic variations. 

Many SEO blogs like Ahrefs, Sentius, etc., also support the use of one keyword and 3 to 5 secondary keywords

How many keywords should I use for SEO content?

Now that you understand to only use one single keyword and a few secondary keywords for SEO per page, that is great.

Now, to give answers to how many keywords to use for SEO content, there is no golden ratio of keywords to use in a page.

As an SEO expert, I used to include many keywords in my content and also calculate the keyword density.

This is no longer working.

Search is changing, and Google is getting smarter every day.

In this modern age, the Google algorithm is changing and uses the most sophisticated machine learning technology to understand the content of the web pages.

If you want to rank higher on Google nowadays, you need to write naturally and target intent and not only keywords.

How many SEO keywords should I use?

While Google and other search engines do not specify the number of keywords to use for SEO in a blog post.

Many SEO experts and suggest targeting 1 primary keyword per page or blog post and 2 to 4 related secondary keywords ( LSI keywords).

The secondary keywords need to complement the main topic naturally.

For example:

One primary keyword.

The focus keywords of your content is “how to create a digital products”?

2 to 4 secondary keywords

There are variations and related keywords, such as:

sell digital products, how to promote digital products, best place to sell digital products.

NOTE: Focus more on search intent. Ensure your content answer what users are searching for with those keywords.

Use Tools: Keyword tools like Keysearch, Ubersuggest or Google Keyword planner are great SEO tools to help you research both primary and secondary keywords.

Find the best keywords with KeySaerch SEO Tool

What Are Keywords in SEO?

Keywords are words or phrases people type into search engines to find the information they’re looking for.

SEO keywords (keywords or phrases) are words or phrases added to the online content to improve the search engine ranking for those phrases.

Primary vs Secondary Keywords

Let’s differentiate between the two for better understanding.

The primary keyword is also known as the seed or target keyword. It is the main topic of a page.

Secondary keywords are keywords that are related to the primary keyword that you can optimise for the page.

The keyword synonyms and long-tail keyword variations are also secondary keywords.

To structure your page for SEO, use primary keywords as the main topic and secondary keywords as subtopics.

Why do we recommend one primary keyword?

To focus more on relevance: It will help you to focus and create relevant content based on the keyword. It will help to align the content with user intent.

Content optimization: Focusing on the primary keyword will help you to create well-structured content to improve the user experience and readability.

Improve SEO: It also helps to incorporate related keywords and phrases into the content to improve SEO without keyword stuffing.

Improve User Experience: It will guide you to write quality content based on user intent and engage the readers.

Rank: For hundreds of keywords, if it’s well optimized.

According to the study, the average page 1 ranking will also rank in the top 10 for more than 1000 keywords.

One major important thing is to write quality content and optimize to rank on the first page.

Why do you need secondary keywords?

Secondary keywords help to cover the topic in full. When creating content, you need to add relevant subtopics to ensure that the content engages readers. And one way to do that is to use secondary keywords.

What Are Secondary Keywords?

Secondary keywords are variations or related keywords of your primary keyword.

They support the main topic and help your content rank for many search terms.

For example

Let’s say your primary keyword is”

“How to create an online course.”

Here are some of the secondary keywords

• Where to sell online courses
• How to sell online courses
• Best platforms to sell online courses
• How to make money selling an online course
• Sell digital products online

These are terms that users might search for with a similar intent.

Why Include Secondary Keywords?

Search engines use them to understand your content

To rank for more long-tail keywords

They help to improve the topic in-depth and relevance

It boosts the chances of your content showing for related searches.

Tips: Use secondary keywords naturally in your content, such as:

• Subheadlines
• Body text
• FAQs
• Alt text

Instead of forcing them into the content and making it look unnatural, rewrite the sentence.

You can easily find them using tools like:

Google auto-complete. Just start typing the main keyword.

Use People also ask

And other related keyword tools, such as Google Planner and Ubersuggest.

How Many Keywords Should You Use For SEO?

While there is no specific answer to the question, we recommend one primary and many secondary keywords based on the type of content.

I have read many articles where the author recommends the number of times to use a keyword per page.

Many suggest 4 to 7 times in a post, while others use keyword density to provide answers.

And it is very essential to understand keyword density and how to calculate it.

Ideal keyword density in SEO

Keyword density is the number of times a keyword is used in a page or blog post.

For example, if the target keyword is used 5 times in a 500-word article, then the keyword density is 0.01 or 1%..

Many bloggers and content creators use keyword density to determine whether the page is optimised or not.

Google is becoming smarter, and keyword density is not as relevant as before.

Don’t focus on keyword density; the quality of content matters.

Many SEO experts also suggest that 1 to 2% keyword density is ideal for a blog post.

Avoiding keyword stuffing

One thing to avoid when creating content is keyword stuffing.

Keyword stuffing is a method of using the same keywords (or phrases) over and over again in your content.

Keyword stuffing makes content lack value and does not engage readers.

How to Choose the Right Keywords

Let’s look at a practical approach to finding primary and secondary keywords that can rank on search engines.

How to find primary keywords

These methods will help to find the main topic for your content.

Method 1: Use a keyword research tool

One of the easiest ways to find a keyword to target is to use a keyword research tool.

A tool that uncovers keyword ideas and provides search engine optimization (SEO) metrics.

For this article, we will use the Keysearch tool– one of the best SEO keyword research tools.

 You can also use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMrush.

However, the downside of Ahrefs and SEMrush is that they are very expensive.

Let’s say you run a blog with pet supplies, and you think dog food may be a good topic for your readers.

Here is the list of the best SEO tools you can check to find a reliable keyword research tool for your business.

Dog food will be your primary keyword (seed).

Go to Keysearch>> keyword research>> brainstorm

Step 1: Enter your seed keyword, “dog food.”

You will see all the related keywords to dog food.

Copy all the keywords and save them in a notepad.

Step 2: Go to Quick Difficulty.

From Keysearch>> keyword research >> Quick difficulty.

Beside the search bar, click on the rectangle box. It will open a pop-up where you can paste all the keywords you copied in step 1.

On the right-hand side, you can see all the keywords with their SEO metrics, such as volume, CPC, PPC, and difficulty score.

Filter the keywords based on volume and keyword difficulty score (KD)

Select the keyword based on keyword difficulty, traffic potential, and what is relevant to your blog.

Top Keyword research tools

Semrush is my favorite keyword research tool, and I have also used others like Keysearch, Ahrefs, and Ubersuggest.

You can read my Semrush review to learn more if you want the best SEO tools to grow your business.

It is more expensive but offers more advanced features; you can check how much Semrush costs.

Optimize for AI visibility.

If you’re not optimizing your content to get cited in AI overviews, you’re missing thousands of customers to your competitors.

There are many AI SEO tools you can use to help you optimize your content so that AI like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity will understand your content.

One platform that combines SEO and AI visibility tools is Semrush One. You can use it to optimize your content for AI, perform keyword research, and much more.

Every post I write is now optimized for AI overviews so that my brand will be visible and attract more visitors.

You can check the Semrush AI visibility tool if you want to improve your brand’s visibility.

And if you’re new to SEO, here is my blog post on SEO in content writing.

Method 2: Find topics in any niche

The Keysearch content gap helps you to find keywords that your competitors are ranking for. It will help you to find topics you can cover on your site.

• Go to Keysearch competitive analyses
• Open Content Gap
• Enter a website URL that has similar content to your site.
• Then search.

You can filter by volume and KD. Say, a keyword with 200 volume above and a minimum keyword difficulty of 20.

Method 3: Analyse competitor’s Keywords

This method will show all the keywords your competitors rank for, so you can choose any of them that relate to your site.

• From Keysearch competitive analyses
• Go to organic keywords
• Enter your competitor’s website, and click search.

Refine all the keywords and choose those that relate to your website. You can choose by volume and KD.

Keyword Placement Strategies

Now you have all the keywords for your content, here is the best keyword placement to help you optimise your blog post for SEO.

Best practices for keyword placement

• Title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Headings (H1, H2, H3 etc.)
• body
• URLs
• Image alt texts

Balancing Keywords with Quality Content

Ranking higher on Google is far beyond keyword research. Google uses many other factors to rank a page.

And now that Google is serious about core updates, it is important to know that you need to balance keywords with quality content.

Make sure your keywords flow with the content of your page.

Quality matters, and it can help your page rank higher.

And don’t forget to write relevant content based on user intent.

Your content should put your readers first and not search engines.

Writing for humans vs. search engines

Who are you writing for?

Humans or search engines?

Even if you rank on the first page, and your content lacks quality, not engaging, it will lose the ranking when the bounce rate begins to increase.

Don’t Ignore Long-Tail Keywords

When carrying out keyword research for your blog posts, finding long-tail keywords is very important and has many benefits.

A long-tail keyword is a phrase with three to six words. They is more specific than generic terms.

Advantages of targeting long-tail keywords

• They are less competition
• They have higher conversion rates
• They can easily rank with no backlinks

Mistakes to Avoid In Keyword Placement

• Over-optimization
• Keyword stuffing
• Ignoring user intent
• Focus more on search volume over relevance

Conclusion: How Many Keywords Per Page for SEO?

We have answered the question of how many keywords should I use for SEO.

And also provide more details on keyword research.

Recap:

Choose one primary keyword per page. The keyword will be the topic of your blog post or page.

Use related secondary keywords as subtopics for blog posts or pages.

Include your primary keyword in the title tag, URL, body, etc.

Optimise your primary keywords to rank for many long-tail keywords.

There are many SEO tools available for keyword research, but I recommend the KeySearch keyword research tool, as it is affordable and has many features.

It does not matter where you belong, blogging, digital marketing, etc, getting organic traffic is the best way to grow your business and increase your income.

After reading this content, we hope you now understand better how many SEO keywords you should target per page or blog post.

The main goal is to target one primary keyword and 2 to 4 secondary keyword variations.

Find the best keywords with Keysearch

You can also learn about the Semrush Guru plan if you have an agency or team. If you want to learn how to automate your SEO workflow, then use the best SEO automation software.

FAQ

If you have any questions on how many keywords should I use for SEO, kindly let us know in the comment section.

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