Keyword Mapping Template

This template gives each page one primary keyword, a short list of secondary keywords and a clear next action. It also has a tab for checking cannibalisation and a tab for keywords that do not have a home yet.

It works for a local business with 20 pages or an online store with a few hundred. Copy it, clear the example rows and start with your most important pages.

What’s included

• How to use: step-by-step instructions inside the sheet, so anyone on your team can pick it up.
• Keyword map: one row per URL with page type, page title, primary keyword, volume, KD, intent, secondary keywords and current position.
• Action dropdown: mark every page Keep, Optimise, Merge, Create or Redirect so the next step is clear.
• Cannibalisation flag: a Yes/No column that makes overlapping pages easy to filter.
• Cannibalisation check: compare two competing URLs side by side, decide which page should win and record the fix.
• Unmapped keywords: a place for keywords with no page yet, with a suggested URL and a create-new-page decision.
• Worked example: a completed map for a fictional Sydney electrician, so you can see how a finished sheet reads.

How to use it

1. Export your indexable URLs from your CMS, XML sitemap or a crawler and paste them into the URL column.
2. Give each page one primary keyword that matches its intent, using data from your keyword tool and Google Search Console.
3. Add two to five secondary keywords per page. These are close variations the same page can answer, not separate topics.
4. Flag any page whose primary keyword overlaps another page, then work through each pair in the Cannibalisation check tab.
5. Choose an action for every row and move keywords without a suitable page into the Unmapped keywords tab.
6. Update the map whenever you publish, merge or redirect a page so it stays accurate.

Tips from my client work

• Match the page to the intent, not just the words. A service page and a blog post can share words but answer very different searches.
• When two pages compete, keep the one with the better position, more backlinks or stronger content, and point the other at it.
• Check the live search results before you merge pages. If Google shows both guides and service pages, two of your pages can sometimes rank side by side.
• In Google Search Console, filter the Performance report by a query and open the Pages tab to see which of your URLs show for that search.

FAQs

What is keyword mapping?

Keyword mapping means assigning a target keyword to each page on your site. It shows which page should rank for which search, where you have gaps and where two pages are competing for the same query.

How many keywords should I map to one page?

I give each page one primary keyword and a handful of secondary keywords that share the same intent. If a keyword needs a different answer, it usually needs its own page.

How do I know if I have keyword cannibalisation?

Look for two or more of your URLs showing for the same query in Google Search Console, especially if the ranking URL keeps swapping. Pages with near-identical titles or primary keywords are another warning sign.