How to research keywords with Keyword Forge

Keyword Forge, under SEO Tools → Keyword Forge, shows how many people search for a keyword in a given place, and how worth chasing it is. Use it before you write a blog post or a service page.

How to research one keyword

1. On the Research tab, enter a Keyword (for example "ceramic coating atlanta").
2. Enter a Location and pick from the suggestions.
3. Click Get Keyword Data. The cost shows on the button. Results take 5 to 10 seconds.

You get the keyword's Forge Score, monthly Search Volume, Average CPC, Difficulty out of 100, the 3 Month Trend and the Volume Change over 12 months. Below that is a table of related keywords with their own scores.

City or country

• A city (Atlanta, Miami): search volume and difficulty for that city. Best for local businesses.
• A country (United States): national numbers. Use it for businesses that sell everywhere.

Difficulty is always based on country-level competition, even when you pick a city.

The Forge Score

The Forge Score is a 0 to 100 grade for how good an opportunity a keyword is. It adds up four parts:

• Volume (up to 25 points): more searches score higher. In the related-keywords table, volume is scored against the other keywords in the list.
• Difficulty (up to 35 points): easier keywords score higher. A difficulty of 0 gets all 35.
• Intent (up to 30 points): someone ready to buy ("plumber near me") gets 30, comparing ("best plumber in phoenix") 24, learning ("how to unclog a drain") 12, looking for a brand 6. Unknown intent gets 15.
• Trend bonus (up to 10 points): 10 if searches are up 15% or more (last 3 months against the 3 before), 5 if steady, 0 if down 15% or more.

Grades: A is 80 or more, B 65 to 79, C 50 to 64, D 35 to 49, F below 35.

The related keywords table

• Filter Results: Filter by Grade (tick A to F) and Score Range (drag the ends). Reset Filters clears them.
• Click a column heading to sort.
• The first 10 rows show; click Show All for the rest.
• Export to CSV downloads the table.

How to get ideas from a website

1. Under Keyword Ideas, enter any Website URL (a client's, a prospect's or a competitor's).
2. Click Unleash Zeus on This URL. The cost shows on the button.

Zeus reads the site's pages and topics and recommends keywords with their Forge Scores. Website ideas use United States data.

Act on a keyword

Each keyword row has two actions:

• Zeus Ideas (or Ask Zeus for Ideas): Zeus suggests 3 blog article ideas for the keyword. From there you can Add to Content Strategy for a client or Create a Blog Article. Getting ideas is free.
• Track: add the keyword to a client's tracked keywords so its ranking shows on the client's SEO → Keywords tab. See Client keywords and rank tracking.

Past searches

Every search is saved. Find them on the Past searches tab: search, expand a row for its related keywords, export to CSV or delete.

Examples

• A detailer in Atlanta: "ceramic coating atlanta" with Location Atlanta. Pick the related keywords graded A or B for new service pages.
• A new client with no keyword list: run Unleash Zeus on This URL on their site, then Track the best five.
• Blog planning: on an A-grade keyword, click Zeus Ideas, then Add to Content Strategy.

Limits and what it can't do

• The keyword must be at least 2 characters.
• Searches aren't tied to a client, so everyone with Keyword Forge sees every search on Past searches.
• Numbers are monthly averages from search data. They're estimates, not exact counts, and small towns often show low or zero volume.
• Zeus Ideas is limited to 20 a minute and 300 a day per agency.

Credits

One keyword research charge per Get Keyword Data or Unleash Zeus on This URL, shown on the button. If the lookup fails, or the website gives Zeus nothing to work with, the credits are returned. Zeus Ideas and opening past searches are free.

You can also run keyword research from a connected AI assistant, which shows the cost first. See Connect an AI assistant.

Who can use it

Owners and Admins, and Members with the Keyword Forge tool on. Unleash Zeus on This URL and Ask Zeus for Ideas also need the Zeus tool; with it off they're grayed out. Tracking a keyword for a client also needs the Clients tool. Client people can't use Keyword Forge.

Troubleshooting

• Zeus is switched off for your account. Ask your agency owner to turn it on.: your Zeus tool is switched off. An Owner or Admin can turn it back on under Tools on your row in Settings → Team Members.
• "Keyword must be at least 2 characters": type a longer keyword.
• "Location is required" or "Location must be at least 2 characters": pick a city or country from the suggestions.
• "Website URL is required" or "Invalid website URL format": enter a full address, such as example.com.
• "Could not extract enough content from the website. Please ensure the URL is accessible.": the site blocked the read or has almost no text. Open it in your browser; try another page. Credits are returned.
• "Could not extract relevant keywords from the website content.": the site's text didn't give usable keywords. Try a service page instead of the home page. Credits are returned.
• "Keyword research completed but failed to save to database. Results shown below.": the results are fine but won't be in Past searches. Export to CSV if you need them.
• Volume shows 0: few people search for it in that place. Try the nearest bigger city, or the country.
• "Tool access required": Keyword Forge is switched off for you.