How to map keywords to pages

Why every search needs one page

Once you have a keyword master list, the next question is simple: which page on your site answers each search? Writing that down is called keyword mapping. It turns a list of searches into a plan for your pages.

Google shows the one page from your site that it thinks answers a search best. If you have no such page, you can’t be shown. If you have three half-answers spread over three pages, Google has to guess, and the guess changes from week to week. A clear map avoids both problems: each important search has one page built for it, and each page has a small group of closely related searches it is built for.

Step 1: list your pages and what they are for

Export the list of pages from a crawl or from your sitemap. Beside each one, write in a few words what the page is about and what a visitor should be able to do there: learn how to choose a shoe, compare two models, buy one, or find your shop. Skip pages that are not meant to be found in search, such as the basket, account pages and thank-you pages.

This short description matters more than it seems. If you can’t say in one line what a page is for, Google will struggle too.

Step 2: assign searches to pages

1. Start from what Google already does. In Search Console, open Performance, click a page in the Pages tab, then open Queries. These are the searches Google already connects with that page. If they belong on your map, write them against it.
2. Group searches that one page can answer. “Trail running shoes”, “off-road running shoes” and “trail shoes for beginners” can share one page. “Trail running shoes” and “road running shoes” usually can’t: the results Google shows for each are different.
3. Use the results page as the test. Search both terms. If the same pages appear in the top results for both, one page of yours can answer both. If the results are mostly different, Google treats them as different needs, and you probably need two pages.
4. Match the kind of page. A search where the top results are buying guides needs a guide, not a product listing. Our guide to search intent gaps explains how to read this.
5. Mark the gaps. Searches with no suitable page get “none yet”. They become candidates for new pages or for a section on an existing one.

What a map looks like

A spreadsheet is enough. Keep one row per search, so you can filter by page or by topic:

Read the map page by page as well as row by row. A page with fifteen unrelated searches is probably stretched too thin. A page with none may not be needed in search at all.

Step 3: find pages that compete with each other

When two of your pages answer the same search, they compete. People sometimes call this keyword cannibalisation. It is not a penalty; Google simply has two similar candidates and shows one, sometimes this one and sometimes that one. Your position swings, and neither page builds the strength that one clear page would.

Not every overlap is a problem. A category page and a product page can both appear for a product name and serve different people. It becomes a problem when the pages say much the same thing, or when the page Google picks is the weaker one.

1. Check a search, not a page. In Search Console, filter Performance to one search (Query, exact) and open the Pages tab. If two or more of your pages each get a real share of the impressions, they are competing.
2. Watch for the ranking page switching. If your rank tracker shows a different page ranking each week for the same search, Google is unsure which one to show.
3. Read both pages side by side. Ask whether a visitor would get something different from each. If not, one of them should go or change.

Step 4: settle the competition

Choose the page you want to rank: usually the one with more useful content, more links pointing to it, or more sales. Then pick one of these fixes:

• Merge them. Move anything useful from the weaker page into the stronger one, then redirect the weaker address to it with a 301 redirect so visitors and links follow.
• Refocus one. If both pages are needed, change the weaker page so it is clearly about something else: a different product, a different question, a different stage of buying.
• Point to the main page. If the second page must stay for visitors but adds nothing for search, a canonical tag on it can name the main page. Google treats the canonical as a strong hint, not an order.
• Link with clear words. Link from the weaker page and from related pages to the main page, using words that describe it. Our guide to internal linking shows how.

Keep the map up to date

Look at the map whenever you plan a new page. Before writing, check whether an existing page already covers the subject; a better section on that page is often more useful than a new page that competes with it. Once a month, compare the map with Search Console to see whether Google shows the page you chose for each search.

When Google keeps showing a different page from the one on your map, take it as information rather than a mistake. Sometimes Google is right: the other page answers the search better, and the simplest fix is to update the map. Sometimes the page you chose is missing something the searcher wants, such as prices, sizes or a short answer near the top. Either way, the map tells you where to look.