Digital marketing glossary

What is a keyword?

Written and reviewed by L.K. Monu Borkala · Updated 7 November 2026

Definition

A keyword is the word or phrase a person types or speaks into a search engine, such as 'bridal makeup artist Mysuru' or 'how to start a cloud kitchen'. In marketing, keywords tell you what your customers are looking for in their own words, so you can build pages and ads around those exact needs.

How it works

Keyword research starts with the phrases customers would use, then checks how often each is searched and what the results already look like. Free tools such as Google Keyword Planner (inside a Google Ads account), Google Search Console and Google's autocomplete suggestions help here. For each keyword you note the search volume, the competition and the intent: is the person trying to learn, compare or buy? You then group similar keywords and map each group to one page, so your own pages do not compete with each other. In Google Ads, keywords work differently: you bid on them, and match types decide which searches can show your ad.

Example

Suppose a home bakery in Kochi assumes people search for 'artisan sourdough'. Search Console and autocomplete show that local buyers actually type 'eggless cake Kochi' and 'birthday cake home delivery Kakkanad'. The baker creates a dedicated page for eggless birthday cakes with prices, flavours, delivery areas and a WhatsApp order button. If she later runs Google Ads, she can bid on the same phrases with a small daily budget of, for example, ₹300, and pay only when someone clicks.

An illustration: the business and the rupee figures are made up to show how the idea works.

Common mistake

Chasing the biggest keyword instead of the right one. A small shop targeting 'cake' competes with every big brand and food app for searches that rarely lead to an order nearby. Another mistake is writing for a keyword without checking the current results. If Google shows only recipes for that search, a product page will struggle to rank there.