Do you know what secondary keyword is? You might have noticed people focusing solely on primary keywords when we talk about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But if you seriously want to improve your rankings, you have to focus on all the aspects of SEO, including primary keywords, secondary keywords, and various other SEO practices. Secondary keywords are the supporting terms or phrases to your main keyword and hence play a crucial role in improving the visibility of your content.
In this blog, we will discuss everything about the secondary keywords, including its importance, need and the difference between primary and secondary keywords. Read along to improve your search engine rankings and content visibility in 2025 and beyond.
Secondary Keywords: Meaning
Secondary keywords are the words that you use in your content but they are not directly related to the topic. Instead, they are similar terms, words or phrases that are used to improve visibility. A secondary keyword can be a synonym, a subtopic or a long tail keyword.
Many times it happens that you do not rank for the main keyword you have targeted. In this case, secondary keywords help you to rank for various other search queries rather than just one. It eventually helps in improving the visibility of the content and hence your website.
For example, if your primary keyword is ‘digital marketing courses’, then you can include secondary keywords like digital marketing course fees, digital marketing courses with placement, best digital marketing course, learn digital marketing online, etc.
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Why Are Secondary Keywords Important?
When you target a primary keyword, you are not just the only one who is adding that keyword in your content, there are many other people who target the same keyword which increases the competition and thus it becomes difficult to rank for it. Now, this is when secondary keywords play an important role.
It helps you to cover the topic in full and also meet the reader’s expectations. You don’t need to create multiple content pieces for each keyword, a single piece can be recognized as the relevant source of information for all the search terms.
When your content is published and indexed, the secondary keywords increase the chances of ranking for hundreds or thousands of more keywords apart from the primary one you actually optimized. The two main reasons why secondary keywords are important are mentioned below.
- It helps to rank for multiple search queries: Secondary keywords add scope to the content and give context to the search engines to help you rank for a wider range of search queries rather than just the one you chose.
- It improves content quality: Adding secondary keywords naturally in your content can make your content in-depth and informational, which can provide a rich reading experience to the users.
How To Find Secondary Keywords?
Choosing the right secondary keywords is very important if you want to rank higher and improve the visibility of your content. Identifying the right secondary keywords is not very challenging if you walk on the right path. Let’s have a look at three of the most simple yet effective approaches you can use to find the right secondary keywords.
1. Google
The easiest way to find the best keywords is to do the same thing that your audience will do: perform a Google search. There are three ways by which you can find keyword ideas from Google:
- Google autocomplete
- People also ask questions
- Related searches
Let’s have a look at each of them. The following image is an example of Google Autocomplete. For example, when you type ‘digital marketing courses’, you get multiple suggestions from Google’s Autocomplete. These are often the most asked queries on Google.
Now, after searching for Digital Marketing courses, scroll down and you will find a section of ‘people also ask’. These are the questions that people generally ask and are curious to know. You can include secondary keywords related to these questions so as to improve your reach and reach a wider audience by answering their queries.
On the same page scroll till the end and you will find some of the related searches, which can be included as secondary keywords.
Now, you might wonder what is a good way to know whether a search term can be used as a secondary keyword or not?If you notice many of the same search results as the primary keyword, then you can consider adding the query as a secondary keyword in your content.
2. Keyword Research Tool
There are various keyword research tools which you can use to find the right secondary keywords for your content. Also, you don’t need to pay to search for keywords using these keyword research tools.
Many of them are free like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, Moz, Ahrefs, etc, you just need to enter your primary or your main keyword and find the suggestions based on the data they have. You must select the keywords which have high search volume, low to moderate keyword difficulty and that match the search intent of your content. This increases the relevancy of the content.
Read More: Top 4 Keyword Research Tools for SEO in 2025
3. Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool by Google, so if you already have an established website and have published some content, then you can assess its performance using GSC by simply following the below steps:
- First of all, open GSC and go to the ‘Performance’ tab
- Then, click on ‘Search Results’
- Now, you can choose the date range and devices for which you want the data
- Check (✔️) the boxes next to Total Clicks, Total Impressions, Average Ctr and Average Position
- Scroll down and you will find an option ‘Queries’
- Here, you will see all the search terms or queries your page is ranking for.
You can optimize your content including these keywords to improve its performance and ranking.
Read More: How Do I Remove a Property from the Google Search Console?
How To Use Secondary Keywords In Your Content?
Using the secondary keywords in the right way is one of the most important steps and where most people make mistakes. To use the secondary keywords correctly in your content, you have to keep the following three points in mind:
1. Include Keywords Naturally
You have to make sure that whatever keywords you are including in your content are added naturally and do not look forced. Only Google should be able to recognise your efforts to rank higher, not your readers.
If you try to fit in keywords where they seem to be irrelevant, it can lead to a poor reading experience for your readers, so you have to maintain the relevancy and the content flow while adding secondary keywords. Place your keywords smartly, so they don’t hamper the readability.
Read More: What Are Branded Keywords? 11 Smart Ways To Use Them
2. Focus on your Primary Keyword
Secondary keywords are just the supporting terms of phrases that you use in your content, along with primary keywords but you have to ensure that you prioritize your primary keyword.
Sometimes you may rank for secondary keywords rather than your primary keyword but in reality, primary keywords are the actual ones you are trying to rank for. So your key focus should be on including your primary keyword in the content. Make sure to include the primary keyword in your meta title, meta description and the main heading (H1). However, you can include secondary keywords in the meta description if it fits naturally but there is no need to add your secondary keyword(s) in title or H1.
3. Don’t Do Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is one of the mistakes that most people make, especially in the initial stages when you are trying to get your content ranked.
Keyword stuffing is a Black hat SEO practice which means that it is not considered correct to overuse keywords because if you do so your content will be considered as spammy and just for promotional purposes. You have to make sure that your content does not look like that it has been written just for ranking purposes instead, it should be in such a way that it helps people, solves their problems and satisfies the user intent.
How Many Secondary Keywords Should Be Used For SEO?
There is no fixed rule on how many secondary keywords should be used in content but if we talk about a blog, approximately 3 to 6 well-researched and selected secondary keywords are considered good. As we discussed, keyword stuffing is not a practice that you must be using as it can make your content look spammy and rather than helping and improving the rankings, it can have a negative impact.
Keywords help in improving the overall SEO performance only and only if they are used correctly. Don’t overuse keywords, add secondary keywords in a limit and place them naturally to organically improve your rankings.
Secondary Keywords FAQs
Q1. What are secondary keywords and how are these different from a primary keyword?
Ans: Secondary keywords are the related terms or phrases that support your main or primary keyword. Secondary keywords help in improving visibility by ranking on keywords other than the ones you optimize.
These are different from primary keywords because a primary keyword is the main focus of the content, whereas secondary keywords add context, variations and help in capturing more search queries.
Q2. What is the difference between secondary and long tail keywords?
Ans: Secondary keywords are the supporting terms of phrases to the main keyword, whereas long tail keywords are longer, more specific, detailed and target a specific audience. A long tail keyword sometimes works as a secondary keyword.
Q3. Should I include secondary keywords in meta description and title?
Ans: Yes, you can include secondary keywords in meta description and title but make sure they don't look forced. If your secondary keywords fit in naturally in your title and description then you can definitely add, it will help you to improve visibility of the content.
Q4. How to pick the right secondary keywords if there are too many options?
Ans: It is natural to feel confused while choosing the right set of keywords, especially if there are so many options available.
You must choose the keywords with moderate competition and high relevance to your topic. Also, look for the keywords with search intent that match your content.
Q5. How many secondary keywords must be used in one blog?
Ans: You can add around 3 to 6 secondary keywords in one blog. You must focus on integrating the secondary keywords naturally rather than just forcefully adding them to get ranked.
