According to Cognitive Market Research, the global affiliate market size has long surpassed $18 billion and is expected to exceed $31 billion by 2031, an impressive 8% CAGR. However, as demand grows, so does competition, including competition for rankings in search engines, a significant revenue source for affiliate marketers.
There’s no doubt that affiliate marketing keyword research should be the backbone of your organic growth strategy. As an affiliate, focusing on the right keywords is crucial – and these are not necessarily high-volume keywords.
Read on to learn how to conduct affiliate marketing keyword research and come up with a realistic organic growth strategy.
Why Is Keyword Research Essential in Affiliate Marketing?
As an affiliate marketer, you’re always on the lookout for ways to generate more leads (if you’re selling leads) and sales (if you’re getting a commission on the sale), with organic lead generation like being one of your major traffic sources.
Now, if you dissect organic lead generation, you can see that what lies at the heart of it are the queries users type in Google and other search engines when looking for a solution to their problem. This is why it’s so important to have those questions answered in your content, as well as give search engines clues about what your content is.
Affiliate marketing keyword research helps you figure out:
- What your audience is searching for
- How competitive those topics are
- What kind of content should you create
- Which keywords are likely to bring clicks, leads, or commissions, given your domain authority, topical relevance, number of backlinks you can get, and more
Without it, your SEO affiliate marketing remains a game of guesswork. You might write helpful content, but if no one is searching for it – or if you’re targeting highly competitive queries – your efforts are quite unlikely to pay off.
Affiliate Marketing Keyword Research Step-by-Step
When it comes to affiliate marketing, paid ads can get you fast feedback, but organic promotion is the key to long-lasting success. Building your traffic through search engines means your content keeps bringing visitors and commissions long after you publish it.
Here are the main affiliate marketing keyword research steps:
- Define your niche and goals
- Identify seed keywords
- Expand keyword list with long-tail keywords
- Analyze keyword metrics and competition
- Map keywords to content
- Optimize your content for user intent and E-E-A-T
- Track and refine keyword performance
Let’s break down each step in detail so you can start creating content that ranks.
Step 1: Define Your Affiliate Niche and Goals
Before you dive into affiliate marketing keyword research, choose your niche and set clear goals so you can understand where you are going at all times.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What topics do I enjoy or know a lot about?
- What audience may be interested in it: age, background, gender, location, hobbies, pain points, etc.?
- Are there high-ticket affiliate products in this niche?
- Is there long-term growth potential?
The better you research your niche, the easier it will be to get the ball rolling.
Step 2: Identify Seed Keywords
Seed keywords are broad search terms that define your topic and that you’ll later refine into targeted keyword clusters and long-tail keywords. Note that seed keywords are not always the keywords you’ll try to rank for directly, but they give you a starting point for deeper, more strategic research.
Here are some obvious seed keyword choices for auto insurance:
| Seed Keyword | Why It’s Useful |
| car insurance | Extremely broad but essential starting point |
| auto insurance quotes | Indicates transactional, high-buying intent |
| cheap car insurance | Reflects a common user goal (saving money) |
At this stage, your goal is to generate a diverse list of relevant, high-level terms that your audience is likely to use. And you can do it even without paid keyword research tools – use Google Autocomplete, Amazon Search suggestions, or competitor blogs.
Step 3: Expand Keyword List with Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are a viable strategy for highly competitive niches like home insurance or solar. Usually, long-tail keywords reflect questions and needs of consumers who are further down the marketing funnel.
Here are a few tools to find long-tail phrases:
- Google Autocomplete. Just start typing your seed keyword and see what Google suggests.
- AnswerThePublic. Plug in a seed keyword and get dozens of question-based phrases.
- Ahrefs, Semrush, or Ubersuggest. These tools allow you to plug in a seed keyword and pull thousands of long-tail variations, complete with data on search volume, keyword difficulty, and cost-per-click (CPC).
Not all long-tail keywords are equally valuable, though. You want to focus on ones that signal strong intent. In Ahrefs, for example, the intent type is shown as informational, transactional, etc.
Step 4: Analyze Keyword Metrics and Competition
As your affiliate marketing keyword research progresses, you need to evaluate which keywords are worth your time and effort.
| Metric | Meaning |
| Search volume | How many people are searching the exact phrase |
| Keyword Difficulty (KD) | How hard it is to rank for a keyword in organic search |
| CPC (Cost-Per-Click) | How much you pay for each click on a paid ad |
Step 5: Map Keywords to Affiliate Content
Now that you’ve identified your keywords, it’s time to create a content plan.
Take each keyword group and determine the type of content for it. This way, you can create a system that aligns with your goals to build solid topic clusters while avoiding keyword cannibalization.
Here’s what it may look like for a car insurance affiliate:
Main Page: Best Car Insurance by State
Subpages:
- Best car insurance in California
- Car insurance in Texas with the lowest premiums
- Cheapest auto insurance in Florida
And so on. Each subpage can rank for local keywords while feeding authority to the homepage and, of course, including affiliate links to regional providers.
Step 6: Optimize Your Content for User Intent and E-E-A-T
Once your keywords are mapped to the correct content types, you can begin writing content and optimizing it according to the E-E-A-T standard:
- Experience. Show that you’ve personally used, tested, or interacted with the product or topic.
- Expertise. Demonstrate deep knowledge or skills in the subject you’re writing about.
- Authoritativeness. Build credibility by being recognized as a reliable source and referencing trusted sources.
- Trustworthiness. Ensure your content is accurate, honest, and transparent.
This framework isn’t a “ranking factor” in the technical sense, but Google uses it to evaluate content quality, especially in Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) niches like insurance, finance, and health insurance.
If someone searches “how does full coverage car insurance work,” they’re not ready to buy just yet. They want clarity, so they are looking for content that can explain the topic in simple terms.
Now contrast that with “compare car insurance quotes in Texas,” where users are actively shopping. Here, you can use strong CTAs and place affiliate links throughout the content.
Here are a few more great additions to your content:
- Author bio with the author’s real name, photo, experience, and links
- Demonstration of first-hand experience with phrases like “I tested,” “we reviewed,” or research/case studies
- Citation of reputable sources, such as government or educational websites
- Transparency with comprehensive About, Contact, and Privacy Policy pages
- Feedback field with the ability to leave comments, ratings, or screenshots.
Remember, even though algorithms constantly change, above all, Google prioritizes helpful, trustworthy content written by experts who know what they are talking about.
Step 7: Track and Refine Keyword Performance
Once the piece is out, you need to track it. Start by checking how your content ranks with tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, Ubersuggest, SERPWatcher, and SE Ranking.
However, just because you’re ranking well doesn’t mean you’ll be able to monetize it. If things aren’t converting, try tweaking your content. Sometimes, small changes can make a big impact. Check what data tells you and adjust accordingly.
Top-3 Affiliate Marketing Keyword Research Tools
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools since it provides a myriad of features, including:
- Keyword Explorer with deep insights into search volume, difficulty, CPC, and related terms
- Content Gap that shows you which keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t (yet).
- Traffic Potential that tells you how much organic traffic a page really gets, not just what the main keyword shows.
With Ahrefs, you can plug in any competitor’s site and instantly see what keywords they’re ranking for and which ones are bringing them the most traffic. Likewise, you can use Ahrefs to find long-tail keywords with low difficulty and high buying intent.
Semrush
While Ahrefs excels in backlink analysis and organic SEO, Semrush is ideal for affiliates seeking a platform that supports both SEO and paid affiliate campaigns.
Here are some Semrush features you might need for affiliate marketing keyword research:
- Keyword Magic Tool to generate keyword ideas, grouped by topic.
- Checking search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, and SERP features like featured snippets or People Also Ask.
- Pay-per-click (PPC) data to spot keywords for paid campaigns
- Competitive Research Tool to know what your competitors are ranking for or bidding on
Google Keyword Planner
Google Keyword Planner gives you search volume ranges, suggested keywords, and bid estimates, straight from the source. It also returns accurate search volume ranges, suggested bid prices (CPCs), and keyword ideas based on your niche or seed term.
On top of that, you can discover high-intent keywords by sorting results based on “Top of page bid”, which is excellent for spotting which terms advertisers are willing to pay for. Google Keyword Planner helps you identify broad themes and search demand directly from Google’s ad network.
Convert Your Leads into Profits with Profitise
Profitise is a high-ticket insurance and solar affiliate network that pays one of the highest prices for web and call leads and provides customizable JavaScript forms that qualify leads on the fly.
Here’s what you get with Profitise:
- Easy-to-embed JavaScript forms to generate quality traffic
- One of the highest per-lead rates in the insurance and solar industries
- The ability to sell your leads instantly
- Support from an affiliate manager
Sell insurance and solar leads with Profitise as an affiliate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is keyword research in affiliate marketing?
Keyword research in affiliate marketing is the process of finding search terms that your target audience types into Google (or other search engines) when looking for products, reviews, comparisons, or solutions. These keywords help create content that ranks, generate traffic, and drive conversions.
How to do keyword research for affiliate marketing
Start by choosing a niche and identifying broad seed keywords. Use SEO tools (like Ahrefs or Semrush) to find long-tail variations with high intent and low competition. Analyze metrics like search volume, CPC, and keyword difficulty. Then, map keywords to content types such as reviews, comparisons, or guides.
Why is affiliate marketing so popular?
Affiliate marketing is popular because it’s low-risk, low-cost, and scalable. You don’t need to create your product, but you can promote products or services of other businesses and earn a commission from each sale or phone call.
Affiliate marketing is perfect for bloggers, influencers, and advertisers alike, and with the right content and SEO, it can generate passive income over time.
