loader from loading.io

Complete Guide to Keyword Research

The Digital Marketing Podcast

Release Date: 06/06/2025

How to Fix AI Slop: Better Context, Stronger Brands and the Return of Human Judgement with Pacey.ai show art How to Fix AI Slop: Better Context, Stronger Brands and the Return of Human Judgement with Pacey.ai

The Digital Marketing Podcast

How to Fix AI Slop: Better Context, Stronger Brands and the Return of Human Judgement What happens when AI makes it easier to produce marketing content, but that content all starts to look and sound the same? In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Ciaran Rogers speaks to Evan Greally, founder and CTO of Pacey AI, about avoiding AI slop and getting back to the work that matters: understanding customers, developing ideas and building a distinctive brand. Introduced by Daniel Rowles, the conversation draws on Evan’s experience as Head of Creative Tech and Innovation at Droga5 Dublin,...

info_outline
How to Create AI Skills: Build Reusable AI Workflows That Save Time show art How to Create AI Skills: Build Reusable AI Workflows That Save Time

The Digital Marketing Podcast

AI tools are evolving fast. One of the biggest shifts is the move from one-off prompts to reusable AI skills. Instead of rewriting the same instructions every time you use ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot, you can package your best workflows into portable skills that deliver consistent, repeatable results. In this special episode, recorded as the Digital Marketing Podcast celebrates its 16th anniversary, Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers explore why AI skills could fundamentally change the way marketers work. They explain how skills fit alongside projects, agents and prompts, why they are becoming an...

info_outline
Design That Sticks: Applying Neuroscience to Predict Attention show art Design That Sticks: Applying Neuroscience to Predict Attention

The Digital Marketing Podcast

Why do so many beautifully designed websites, ads and digital experiences still fail to convert? In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles is joined by Kramer Reeves, CEO of EyeQuant, alongside neuroscientist Professor Peter König, one of the company’s founders and a leading expert in visual attention and cognitive science. Together, they explore how neuroscience and AI are reshaping the way marketers, designers and brands understand attention. The conversation dives into the hidden mechanics behind how people actually experience digital content. From subconscious...

info_outline
Reddit Marketing Case Study with Dove - Turning Real Reviews into Real Growth show art Reddit Marketing Case Study with Dove - Turning Real Reviews into Real Growth

The Digital Marketing Podcast

What happens when a global brand hands over its creative control to unfiltered customer feedback? In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles speaks with Emily Barfoot, Head of Dove Beauty at Unilever, about a bold and unconventional campaign built on Reddit conversations. At a time when trust in polished marketing is eroding and AI is reshaping how content is discovered, Dove leaned into one of the internet’s most unpredictable platforms. By amplifying genuine, unedited user reviews, both positive and negative, the brand not only drove awareness but also delivered...

info_outline
The Changing Customer Journey in an AI-First World -  Insights from Adobe Enterprise's CMO show art The Changing Customer Journey in an AI-First World - Insights from Adobe Enterprise's CMO

The Digital Marketing Podcast

As AI rapidly reshapes how customers discover, evaluate, and engage with brands, marketers are being forced to rethink the fundamentals of the customer journey. In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles speaks with Rachel Thornton, CMO of Adobe Enterprise, to explore what this shift really means in practice. Recorded just ahead of Adobe Summit, Rachel shares exclusive insights into Adobe’s latest thinking, product direction, and how enterprise marketers should adapt to an increasingly AI-driven landscape. From evolving user expectations to the rise of AI as the primary...

info_outline
Practical Video Marketing - How to Make Video More Human, More Useful and More Effective show art Practical Video Marketing - How to Make Video More Human, More Useful and More Effective

The Digital Marketing Podcast

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles is joined by Kendall Breitman from Riverside for a practical conversation about how marketers can use video without needing a full production team, a huge budget or a complicated workflow. Together, they explore why video has become so central to modern marketing, how brands can use it to strengthen SEO and answer engine optimisation, and why authentic, human-led content is outperforming overly polished corporate production. The discussion also dives into practical ways to build a video strategy from webinars, podcasts,...

info_outline
Eight Psychology Experiments for Marketers show art Eight Psychology Experiments for Marketers

The Digital Marketing Podcast

What happens when you combine practical digital marketing experience with behavioural science? In this episode, Daniel Rowles is joined by Phil Agnew, host of the Nudge podcast and a specialist in behavioural science, to explore eight psychology experiments and principles that can help marketers create more effective campaigns, stronger customer experiences and more persuasive messaging. Phil shares the original studies behind concepts such as social proof, loss aversion, anchoring and the peak-end rule, then shows how they can be applied in real marketing scenarios, from Reddit ads and SaaS...

info_outline
Gamification for Digital Marketing show art Gamification for Digital Marketing

The Digital Marketing Podcast

What happens when clicks get harder to earn, paid media gets more expensive, and audiences spend less time engaging with static content? In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles explores why gamification is moving from a nice-to-have tactic to a serious strategic opportunity for marketers. This episode is split into two parts. First, Daniel sets out the business case for gamification in today’s digital landscape, where AI overviews, rising cost per click and declining organic reach are all putting pressure on traditional marketing performance. Then he is joined by Luke...

info_outline
How to Drive AI Adoption - A Step-by-Step Case Study show art How to Drive AI Adoption - A Step-by-Step Case Study

The Digital Marketing Podcast

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles is joined by Emma Tronson, Deputy Director of Marketing at Aston University, for a practical, honest and refreshingly structured look at how to move beyond AI experimentation and into real organisational adoption. Many teams are stuck in what Daniel calls “pilot purgatory”. Everyone is testing tools. Everyone is experimenting. But very few organisations have truly embedded AI into day-to-day operations. Workloads have not reduced. If anything, they have increased. This episode explores what it actually takes to embed AI into a...

info_outline
The Hubspot CMO Interview - Kipp Bodnar on AI, Answer Engine Optimisation and the Future of Marketing show art The Hubspot CMO Interview - Kipp Bodnar on AI, Answer Engine Optimisation and the Future of Marketing

The Digital Marketing Podcast

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel Rowles sits down with Kipp Bodnar, CMO of HubSpot, to discuss what may be the most disruptive year in marketing history. Kipp believes that 2026 could represent the biggest single wave of change our industry has ever seen. Weeks feel like months. Channels are fragmenting. Discovery is shifting. AI agents are entering workflows. And traditional attribution models are starting to break down. From Answer Engine Optimisation to AI agents, rising ad costs to workflow automation, this conversation explores how marketers can stay ahead when the...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, Daniel, Ciaran, and Louise take a deep dive into the often-misunderstood world of keyword research - one of the most foundational yet complex elements of digital marketing.

What starts as a seemingly simple task (“just pick some keywords, right?”) quickly unravels into a minefield of audience intent, brand positioning, search behaviour shifts, and the sometimes soul-crushing reality of traffic that doesn’t convert. The trio break down the full process with real-world insight, humour, and some very candid reflections on what not to do.

From teaching postgraduate students at Imperial College to running real commercial SEO campaigns, Daniel shares his evolving approach to keyword strategy - highlighting how brand clarity, buyer personas, and mapping the full user journey are essential to getting keyword research right.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

  • Why volume-based keyword selection is a trap

  • How to balance traffic, intent, and competition in your keyword choices

  • Why middle-of-the-funnel content is often your secret weapon

  • How to prune and optimise your existing content for better conversions

  • The problem with vanity metrics (and what to track instead)

  • How new AI-powered tools like Content Raptor and Keywords Everywhere are changing the game

  • The role of search across Google, YouTube, social and even email

  • What to look for in competitor analysis and how to use keyword clustering effectively

Louise brings sharp insight into modern search behaviour and the growing importance of voice, conversational search, and featured snippets, while Ciaran opens up about years of chasing traffic volume before realising conversions are what truly count. (Spoiler: a blog about banana peels and Botox might bring in traffic—but probably not sales.)

The episode ends with a step-by-step process for approaching keyword research in 2025, including content ideation, testing, SEO hooks, and how to integrate what you learn across multiple marketing channels.

Key Takeaways:

  • Keyword research isn’t about finding more keywords - it’s about finding the right ones.

  • Strategic alignment between brand, content, and intent is critical.

  • Most marketers overinvest in top-of-funnel traffic and neglect conversion-focused content.

  • Updating and optimising your existing content can often move the needle more than publishing something new.

  • A good keyword is one that drives results - not just visits.

With tools, frameworks, and honest advice, this episode is your ultimate keyword research sanity-check. Whether you’re building a content strategy from scratch or refining an existing one, this is the guide you didn’t know you needed.

🎧 Listen now and get your complete step-by-step guide.

You'll find all links on TargetInternet.com

Show notes: https://targetinternet.com/resources/complete-guide-to-keyword-research 

Have any feedback on the show? Send us your feedback, tell us what you love and what you think could be better. And, if you are really enjoying the show, please leave us a review.