What the Heck Is a Seed Keyword?
A seed keyword is the starting point. The root word. The thing you type into a keyword tool before it spits out 10,000 variations.
Simple, right?
And yet... this is where 90% of people mess up their entire keyword strategy.
sighs
The Mistake Everyone Makes
They go too broad.
"Marketing." "Fitness." "Software."
Congrats, you just competed with every company on planet Earth. And you lost.
Or they go too narrow.
"Best blue yoga mat for left-handed women over 40 in Perth."
That's... not a seed keyword. That's a diary entry.
The Sweet Spot
Good seed keywords sit in the middle. They describe your core offering in 1-3 words that a real human would actually type.
Think about the category, not the product. Think about the problem, not the solution.
If you sell accounting software, your seeds aren't "our software" or "accounting." They're things like:
See the difference? Each one opens a door to hundreds of long-tail variations.
Where to Find Seed Keywords
Your own brain. What does your business actually do? Write it down 10 different ways.
Your customers. How do they describe what you sell? (Hint: it's never how YOU describe it.)
Your competitors. What topics do their top pages target? A competitor content gap analysis can reveal seeds you'd never think of on your own.
Google itself. Type your idea and look at autocomplete suggestions.
How Many Do You Need?
Honestly? 10-20 good seeds is plenty to build an entire keyword strategy.
Quality over quantity. Always.
We've run 500+ campaigns over 20+ years, and the best ones started with fewer than 15 seed keywords. Every single time. Ahrefs has a great deep-dive on this process if you want more tactical detail.
Now What?
Take your seeds. Expand them with tools. Group by intent. Map to pages.
Or just open SEO Checkup and follow the 113-task checklist. We've built the process right in.
Free. No credit card. 30 seconds.
Your seeds deserve better than guesswork.