Quick & Smart Keyword Research: Weekly SEO Tips with Ross Tavendale
Welcome to the Weekly Wisdom series—your go-to for expert insights on everything from SEO to content strategy. Each week, we spotlight actionable techniques shared by industry leaders that help marketers improve their performance across various digital channels.
In this episode, Ross Tavendale brings a hands-on tutorial focused on Quick & Smart Keyword Research, offering a tactical walkthrough to accelerate your keyword discovery and content mapping process. This is not your traditional keyword research guide—it’s about using automation, grouping tools, and smart formulas to streamline your workflow.
Whether you’re building content for a brand new site or revamping your SEO strategy, the techniques in this video will help you target the right keywords, understand their search potential, and assign them to the appropriate landing pages.
Ross walks us through a series of tools—some familiar like Google Search Console and SEMrush, and others more advanced like Keyword Grouper Pro and Supermetrics. With this toolkit and his framework, you’ll be able to uncover thousands of valuable keyword opportunities, cluster them into themes, and align them with your existing site structure—all without spending hours buried in spreadsheets.
Let’s dive into this high-efficiency process to learn how to extract, clean, group, and use keywords smarter than ever before.
Why Fast Keyword Research Matters
In the ever-evolving digital landscape, agility is everything. SEO teams and content marketers are constantly racing to capture visibility before their competitors. This is where Quick & Smart Keyword Research can give you a real advantage.
The faster you can identify what your audience is searching for, the faster you can produce relevant content and start climbing the rankings. Traditional keyword research methods are often slow and tedious—manual sorting, categorizing, and page mapping can eat up precious hours. Speed isn’t just convenient—it’s a competitive advantage.
Moreover, automation tools make it easier to scale without compromising accuracy. By tapping into real-time data from Google Search Console and SEMrush and pairing it with processing tools like Supermetrics, you can automate much of the heavy lifting.
More importantly, this strategy ensures you’re not just finding keywords—you’re learning how to target the right keywords. High-volume terms are only valuable if they’re relevant, low-competition, and mapped to the correct landing page.
Ross’s approach is designed for marketers who want to move quickly without missing critical opportunities. It’s about being data-informed and proactive, using the best tools to stay ahead of the curve.
Tools Used in This Process
Ross Tavendale’s method relies on a powerful blend of SEO tools, each playing a distinct role in executing Quick & Smart Keyword Research:
1. Google Search Console
This is your starting point. Pull performance data for your site—especially keyword queries and landing pages. It shows what you’re already ranking for and where your untapped potential lies.
2. Keyword Grouper Pro
This tool takes your messy list of keywords and groups them into thematic clusters. These keyword clusters allow you to organize your content around topic relevance—ideal for planning silo structures or creating pillar pages.
3. Supermetrics
Supermetrics acts as the connector between your keyword data sources (like SEMrush and Google Search Console) and your working spreadsheet. You’ll use it to automate keyword pulls and ensure fresh data is always at your fingertips.
4. SEMrush
An all-in-one SEO toolkit, SEMrush helps you gather phrase match keywords, discover related terms, and pull competitive data. It’s a foundational tool for expanding your keyword universe.
5. Google Sheets
All data flows into Google Sheets. From custom formulas to tagging, filtering, and mapping, this is your command center for organizing and finalizing your keyword research.
Together, these tools offer a comprehensive workflow—from keyword discovery to assigning high-potential search terms to appropriate landing pages.
Step-by-Step Keyword Research Process
1. Setting Up the Keyword Research Sheet
Start with a custom Google Sheet. Ross recommends structuring it with green-coded tabs as “output” sheets—these contain the final, refined keyword lists.
Include the following columns:
- Keyword difficulty (0–1 scale)
- Monthly search volume
- Estimated revenue potential
This layout ensures quick access to key data points that help you target the right keywords without manual guesswork.
2. Analyzing Seasonality
Incorporate a seasonality section in your sheet. This helps you:
- Predict peak months for each keyword
- Plan content publication accordingly
- Align SEO strategy with search demand over time
3. Gathering Keyword Data
Use Google Search Console to download performance queries. These show what your site is already ranking for. Then:
- Import the queries into Keyword Grouper Pro
- Cluster terms into meaningful categories
- Remove brand names or irrelevant phrases
At this point, you’ll have a clean list of themed keyword groups ready for deeper analysis.
Automating Data Collection with Supermetrics
1. Using SEMrush for Phrase Match Keywords
Once your keyword categories are set, use Supermetrics to pull phrase match data from SEMrush. Aim for the top 5,000 related keywords per group.
Organize them into specific categories like:
- “Lamps”
- “Sofas”
- “Tables”
These large datasets will help you evaluate search potential across multiple product lines or blog themes.
2. Related Searches Extraction
In addition to phrase match, pull related keyword terms from SEMrush. These are queries users are also typing in that are contextually linked to your categories.
To combine these into a single sheet:
- Use Google Sheets array formulas (e.g., UNIQUE({A:E; G:K}))
- Create a unified, editable keyword list that’s easy to work with
Cleaning & Organizing Keyword Data
1. De-duplication & Formatting
Once you’ve pulled all your keyword data:
- Use the UNIQUE() function in Google Sheets to eliminate duplicates
- Organize everything into one column for easy tagging and review
This cleanup process ensures you’re working with a sharp, focused keyword list
2. Tagging Keywords
Next, add a layer of organization:
- Use IF ISNUMBER SEARCH() formulas to automatically tag keywords based on category triggers
- Manually review and remove any unrelated or irrelevant terms
This step sharpens your ability to target the right keywords by intent, product type, or funnel stage.
Matching Keywords with Landing Pages
1. Analyze Existing Content
Check which of your Quick & Smart Keyword Research terms already have landing pages. If a keyword ranks but lacks a dedicated page, that’s a missed opportunity.
2. Pull Search Console Data with Supermetrics
Use Supermetrics to pull a detailed Search Console report. Key configuration:
- Choose “Split to rows by Search query” and “Full URL”
- This creates a full map of every keyword and its corresponding landing page
3. Content Gap Identification
Use INDEX MATCH to cross-reference your keyword list with page URLs. If no match is found, label it as “No Landing Page.”
For example, if you’re ranking for “bedside tables” but the associated URL is /table-lamps, it’s time to create a more targeted page.
Final Output: Your Actionable SEO Plan
At the end of this process, your Quick & Smart Keyword Research system delivers:
- A clean, categorized keyword list ready for action
- A full mapping of keywords to landing pages
- Seasonal data that helps you prioritize what to publish and when
This refined output isn’t just data—it’s an SEO playbook. With content gaps clearly identified and keyword intent aligned with pages, you’re ready to publish strategically and capture valuable search traffic.
Conclusion
Ross Tavendale’s method offers a refreshing perspective on keyword research—fast, efficient, and smart. By combining automation with data organization, his approach turns an otherwise daunting process into a repeatable SEO engine.
To recap, you’ll:
- Pull and cluster data using tools like Search Console and Keyword Grouper Pro
- Use Supermetrics and SEMrush to scale your keyword research
- Clean and tag keywords with precision
- Map everything to your content ecosystem
The result? You don’t just gather keywords—you target the right keywords, create better content, and rank faster.
Keyword research doesn’t need to be time-consuming. With the right tools and this strategic workflow, you can work faster and smarter.