This framework is how I decide what to work on first. You score each keyword from 1 to 3 on four factors: business value, fit, winnability and traffic potential. The sheet adds up the scores and labels each keyword High, Medium or Low.
The Scoring guide tab defines every score, so the results stay consistent whether you are scoring 20 keywords or 2,000, and whoever on your team is doing the scoring.
What’s included
- Scoring tab: keyword, volume, KD and intent, with 1 to 3 dropdowns for each factor
- Automatic total and priority: High for 10 to 12, Medium for 7 to 9, Low for 4 to 6
- Target page column: map each keyword to an existing page or a new URL
- Scoring guide: a clear definition of every score for every factor, with examples
- Worked example: 10 scored keywords for a fictional coffee roaster, from High to Low
How to use it
- Make your own copy of the sheet in Google Drive.
- Read the Scoring guide and agree what strong, moderate and small traffic means in your niche.
- Paste in your keywords with volume, KD and intent from your keyword tool.
- Score each keyword from 1 to 3 on business value, fit, winnability and traffic potential.
- Sort by Total score, add a target page for each High keyword and plan those first.
Google Sheets
Keyword Prioritisation Framework
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Tips from my client work
- Score business value first. A keyword that will never lead to a sale or enquiry should not jump the queue because of its volume.
- Check the live results page before scoring winnability and traffic potential. KD does not show who ranks, or how many clicks AI answers take.
- Group close variants under one keyword and one target page so you do not create pages that compete with each other.
- When two keywords tie, choose the one that strengthens a topic you are already building.
FAQs
Why score keywords instead of sorting by search volume?
Volume tells you how many people search, not whether those people will buy from you or whether you can realistically rank. Scoring on business value, fit, winnability and traffic potential balances those factors, so high-volume keywords you cannot win, or that will never convert, drop down the list.
What is the difference between search volume and traffic potential?
Search volume is how often one keyword is searched. Traffic potential is how much traffic the top-ranking page actually gets, which usually comes from many related keywords. It also reflects clicks lost to AI answers and other features on the results page.
Can I change the weighting of the factors?
Yes. If business value matters more to you than anything else, change the Total score formula to count it twice, for example =E2*2+F2+G2+H2, and adjust the Priority thresholds to match the new maximum score.