# Research and save keywords

> Get keyword ideas from a few seed terms, save the ones you want, check who ranks for them, then filter, tag, remove, and track them for rank checks, and add buyer questions from People Also Ask.

Source: https://docs.use-mark.com/docs/research-and-save-keywords

**Keywords** is where you find search terms worth writing for and keep a list
of them. Select **Analysis** > **Research** in the sidebar. **Research** has
four tabs: **Keywords**, **Competitors**, **Buyer questions**, and
**Rankings**. **Keywords** is the first tab. It has two views: **Research**
gets new keyword ideas, and **Saved** is your list. For **Buyer questions**,
see [Add buyer questions from People Also Ask](#add-buyer-questions-from-people-also-ask).

Each run of keyword research is a paid lookup, and so is each audience check.
Nothing is requested until you select **Run keyword research** or **Check
Google top 10**. Opening either view, saving, tagging, removing, and tracking
are free.

## Research keyword ideas

1. Select the **Research** view.
2. Enter one to five seed terms in **Seed terms (1–5, one per line)**. The line
   under the box counts them. You'll see "Enter at least one seed term." until
   you add one.
3. Choose a **Location** and a **Language**. They start at United States and
   English.
4. Choose a **Result count**: 10, 25, 50, or 100 ideas.
5. Optionally select **Include SERP overview (may increase provider cost)**.
   It adds a summary of each keyword's Google results, and it costs more.
6. Select **Run keyword research**. The button reads **Running keyword
   research…** until the results arrive.

A line under the button says how many ideas came back and what the lookup
cost. If it says "No keyword ideas were returned for these seed terms and
settings.", try broader seed terms or another location.

## Read the results

Each idea has one row:

* **Keyword** is the search term.
* **Volume** is how many people search for it each month.
* **CPC** is the average cost per click for ads on it.
* **Competition** is how crowded the ads are for it, as a percentage.
* **Difficulty** is how hard it is to rank for it. Higher is harder.
* **Intent** is what the searcher is likely after, like informational or
  commercial.
* **SERP** shows **Available** when the SERP overview came back for that
  keyword.

A dash means no figure came back for that keyword.

## Save keywords

1. Select the box next to each keyword you want, or the box above the table to
   select all.
2. Select **Save selected**.

A line confirms how many were newly saved, and how many were already saved
if any. Keywords save with the location and language of the run. Find them under
**Saved**.

## Find saved keywords

Select **Saved**. The newest saved keywords are at the top. Until you save
one, it says "No keywords saved yet. Research keywords and save them here."

To narrow the list:

* To search, type part of the keyword in the search box and press Enter. Your
  filters stay applied.
* To filter, fill in any of these, then select **Apply filters**. Your search
  stays applied.
  * **Tags**: one or more tag names, separated by commas.
  * **Source**: **All sources**, **Research**, **Domain**, **Agent**, or
    **Search Console**. **Domain** means you saved it from a domain lookup
    on the **Competitors** tab. A keyword keeps the source it was first
    saved from.
  * **Audience verdict**: **All verdicts**, **Unchecked**, **Keep**, or
    **Kill**. See [Check who a keyword's searchers are](#check-who-a-keywords-searchers-are).

Select **Clear** to reset the search and every filter. If nothing matches,
you'll see
"No saved keywords match these filters."

Sort by **Keyword**, **Volume**, or **Saved** by selecting the column
heading. Select it again to reverse the order. Keywords without a volume sort
last either way. Use **Previous** and **Next** under the table to move between
pages.

## Check who a keyword's searchers are

A keyword can match your product word for word and still be searched by the
wrong people. Search volume doesn't tell you who they are, and volume tools
can disagree by about four times on the same query. In Mark, volume only
orders your list. It never decides that a page should exist.

The audience check shows you who Google ranks for the keyword today, so you
can judge whether that crowd is your buyer.

1. On the keyword's row, select **Check** in the **Audience** column. It says
   **Review** once the keyword has been checked.
2. Select **Check Google top 10**. It is one DataForSEO call, about $0.004.
   The keyword's own location and language are used.
3. Read the results. Each of the top 10 organic results shows its position,
   title, domain, and a rough page type: **Article**, **Product or service**,
   **Directory or listing**, **Forum**, **Video**, or **Government or edu**.
   **SERP features** lists which of People Also Ask, AI Overview, Local pack,
   Video, and Shopping appeared.
4. Decide. Select **Keep** or **Kill**. **Kill** needs a reason of up to 200
   characters, like "Ranking pages are DIY forums, not homeowners hiring."
   The reason is optional for **Keep**.

The **Audience** column shows **Unchecked**, **Keep**, or **Kill** for each
keyword. Mark never sets a verdict for you. Volume, difficulty, and every
other metric leave it alone.

Select **Re-check** to fetch the results again. The new results replace the
old ones, and your verdict stays. If DataForSEO fails, you'll see a message,
nothing is saved, and you can try again.

## Tag saved keywords

1. Select the keywords.
2. Enter a **Tag name**.
3. Select **Add to selected** or **Remove from selected**.

To remove one tag from one keyword, select the **×** on the tag in the
**Tags** column.

## Remove saved keywords

1. Select the keywords.
2. Select **Remove selected**.
3. Confirm with **Remove**, or select **Cancel**.

Removing deletes the keywords, their tags, and any rank history from your
saved list. It does not undo.

## Track keywords for rank checks

Tracked keywords get Mark's own Google rank checks for one of your sites. The
results show on the **Rankings** tab and on **Performance** > **Search**. See
[Read performance](/docs/read-performance).

1. If you have more than one site, pick the rank tracking site from the row of
   site buttons at the top of **Saved**.
2. Select the keywords.
3. Select **Track selected** or **Untrack selected**.

To track or untrack one keyword, select **Track** or **Untrack** on its row.
The **Rank tracking** column shows **Tracked** or **Not tracked** for the site
you picked.

Tracking is free. To run rank checks, see
[Check your keyword rankings](/docs/track-keyword-rankings).

## Add buyer questions from People Also Ask

**Buyer questions** is the list of questions your buyers ask AI tools. When AI
answer checks are on, Mark asks each active question every week on ChatGPT,
Gemini, Google AI Overview, and AI Mode. Select the **Buyer questions** tab to
see the list. To leave a question out of the next check, select
**Deactivate** on its row. **Reactivate** brings it back.

To add your own question, type it in **Question** and select **Add question**.

Once you track keywords and a rank check has run, the tab also shows
**Suggested from People Also Ask** when there are any. These are the
questions Google showed in People Also Ask for your tracked keywords on the
latest rank check for each site and locale. Mark saves them during the check
at no extra cost, so viewing suggestions never starts a paid lookup. See
[Check your keyword rankings](/docs/track-keyword-rankings).

A suggestion is not a buyer question. Mark never asks it in an AI answer check
and never adds it for you.

1. Read the question. **Seen for** shows the tracked keyword whose results
   showed it, plus a count like **+2** if more keywords showed it too.
2. Decide if a buyer would ask it in those words. Once added, a question can't
   be edited, only deactivated.
3. If the wording is close but not right, type your own version in
   **Question** and select **Add question**. Otherwise, select **Add** to put
   the suggestion on your list as written. It starts active.

Suggestions leave out any question already on your list, active or not. The
questions Google showed most often come first. Mark shows up to 50.
When there are more, a line under the table gives the total, like "Showing 50
of 64."