Keyword research might bias your SEO
SEO keyword research is a lot like crafting a survey with leading question
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Crafting an exceptional survey is an art form that requires striking a balance between creativity and precision to uncover insights that might otherwise remain hidden. My years at SurveyMonkey ignited a deep passion for this process, not just for the mechanics of survey design, but for the way a well-constructed question can peel back layers of human thought and reveal truths that rarely surface in casual conversation.
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Leading questions that embed the creator's assumptions directly into the inquiry are the biggest threat to this process of honest curiosity. There’s a striking parallel between this survey pitfall and how keyword research can derail SEO strategy. Both efforts, when mishandled, risk imposing the assumptions onto the audience, distorting results, and missing opportunities for genuine insight.
Leading questions in surveys
A leading question is one of the cardinal sins of survey creation. It subtly nudges respondents toward predetermined answers by baking bias directly into the phrasing. Consider this seemingly innocent question: "How much do you dislike spam?" (the food, not the email).
At first glance, it appears straightforward. But it drips with assumption. The question presupposes that the respondent dislikes spam, aligning their perspective with the questioners without ever confirming if that's true.
What if the respondent enjoys spam? Perhaps they grew up eating it, find it nostalgic, or consider it a delicacy. By framing the question around "dislike," the survey creator has shut down the possibility of capturing that reality. The respondent gets boxed into a corner, forced to answer within a framework that doesn't reflect their truth.
Some might try to fix this with scaled responses: "Rate your dislike of spam from extreme to somewhat dislike." While this offers more flexibility, it still anchors the respondent to think negatively. The word "dislike" remains the frame, priming a negative response before they've even considered their actual opinion.
The gold standard strips away bias entirely. A neutral question, such as "Rate your opinion of spam on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is highly negative and 10 is highly positive," allows respondents to express their true stance without being prodded in any direction. This approach doesn't just reduce bias, it maximizes the chance of uncovering unexpected insights, which is the whole point of surveying people in the first place.
Keyword research is leading too
Keyword research seems objective on the surface. You plug terms into tools, retrieve search volume and competition data, and then optimize your content accordingly. However, just like survey design, your approach can introduce bias that skews your entire strategy.
Picture a pizza shop owner looking to boost their online presence. They dive into keyword research and discover that top-searched terms include big chain names like "Domino's" and "Pizza Hut," as well as the generic "pizza near me." A typical SEO approach would focus on optimizing for these high-volume keywords. The logic seems sound: these are the terms people use, so ranking for them should drive traffic.
But this is where the bias creeps in, creating the equivalent of a leading question.
The flaw lies in assumptions about intent. When someone searches for "Domino's," they want that specific brand: its locations, menu, or ordering system. An independent shop optimizing for "Domino's" might get some clicks, but it's essentially a bait-and-switch that ignores what the searcher wants. Those visitors won't convert because the content doesn't match their intent.
Similarly, "pizza near me" sounds promising but remains frustratingly broad. Are searchers looking for chains or local spots? Delivery or dine-in? Cheap or gourmet? Keyword research alone doesn't provide these crucial details.
This keyword-first approach acts like a leading question in survey design. Just as "How much do you dislike spam?" assumes the respondent's stance, optimizing for high-volume keywords often assumes searcher intent without actually understanding it. The entire strategy is built on that shaky foundation.
Remove the bias
In survey design, we prioritize neutrality to let the respondent's authentic voice emerge. The SEO equivalent means rethinking our reliance on keyword research as the primary starting point. Instead of asking "What keywords should I target?" we should ask "What do my customers actually care about?"
For our pizza shop example, this means stepping back from keyword lists and considering what makes the business unique. Perhaps it's the quality of the ingredients, the speed of delivery, or the location. Page copy could then highlight these genuine strengths.
Over time, search engines pick up on these authentic signals because they matter to users and the site naturally ranks for terms that align with its actual offerings: "fresh ingredient pizza" or "fast pizza delivery." This organic approach mirrors the survey ideal of starting with a blank canvas and letting the audience guide the process.
Find the intent
Both disciplines hinge on a shared principle: understanding genuine intent. In surveys, leading questions fail because they override the respondent's true thoughts. In SEO, keyword-driven approaches falter when they misread searcher intent, chasing vanity metrics over meaningful results.
Success comes from stepping outside your own perspective and meeting the audience where they are. For survey creators, this means investing time in crafting neutral questions. For SEO, it means focusing less on keyword volume and more on creating content that solves real problems.
A page titled "Why vegan pizza is worth the calories" could generate far more qualified traffic than a generic "pizza near me" landing page, even if the latter has higher search volume. The former addresses actual customer interests; the latter merely meets a keyword requirement.
Questions behind questions
The real breakthrough happens when you look beyond the obvious, just as the best surveys include open-ended questions that capture unexpected insights, the most effective content often addresses problems people don't yet know how to search for.
I recently worked with a client who ignored keyword data suggesting they create another “best parenting tips" listicle. Instead, they wrote about the psychological cost of giving screens to toddlers. There was zero search volume for the exact phrase we used, but the approach resonated to the point that it created its own search demand.
This doesn't mean keyword research is useless; it's still like having access to thousands of survey responses in someone else’s survey, it’s just not yours. The key is recognizing its limitations. Traditional keyword research says, "People search for 'xyz' 50,000 times per month. Write about that." A more nuanced approach asks, "What are people really trying to achieve when they search for xyz?"
The first approach generates more of what already exists. The second will lead to a strategy that matters most to users.
Don’t start just with keywords
The solution requires triangulating data from multiple sources. Keyword research should be one input among many. Find the intent in a search by asking the questions behind the questions, the problems people haven't yet figured out how to articulate.
Every time someone types a query into Google, they're essentially responding to a survey about their needs. Your job isn't just to tick boxes on existing search terms but to understand the deeper needs driving those searches.
My experiences at SurveyMonkey taught me that the beauty of good research lies in its ability to reveal something unexpected because it doesn't impose one's assumptions. SEO, at its best, can achieve the same results if you follow users instead of leading them.
Before you analyze and prioritize all your SEO efforts with keyword data, start by learning about your users and build around that.
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