Best Practices for Creating Keyword Sets

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Creating effective Demandbase Intent keyword sets helps you identify accounts researching topics related to your products, services, and competitors.

Use the following recommendations to select relevant keywords, improve intent signal quality, and maintain your keyword sets.

Research Keywords

Before creating keyword sets, research the terminology commonly used to describe your products, services, and competitors. Focus on keywords that appear in relevant B2B content and indicate potential buying interest.

Tip: When researching keywords, prioritize specific two- to four-word phrases over generic terms. For example, custom application development services is more specific than application development.

Use the following sources to identify keywords:

Source

Recommendation
Company and competitor websites

Review product and service pages, headings, submenus, and descriptions to identify commonly used terms.

Focus on specific offerings rather than broad industry categories such as Digital Banking or Ad Tech.
SEO keyword tools

Use tools such as Moz Keyword Explorer, RankActive, or Ubersuggest to discover keyword ideas.

Avoid importing SEO keywords in bulk or using generic search phrases such as best system integrators.
Generative AI

Use tools such as ChatGPT to brainstorm product- and service-related terminology.

For example, ask AI to identify commonly used phrases on a company's website. Verify suggested keywords against published B2B content.
Competitor research

Search for phrases such as alternatives to company name or company name competitors. Use the Similar Companies tab in Demandbase Sales Intelligence or sources such as Owler, Crunchbase, and G2 to identify potential competitors.

Cross-reference multiple sources because similar companies are not necessarily direct competitors.
Non-English content Research keywords in the languages used by your international target audiences.

Recommendations for Creating Keyword Sets

Use the following recommendations when planning and maintaining keyword sets:

Recommendation

Description
Create keyword sets early Set up keyword sets early in your account-based marketing (ABM) strategy to begin tracking relevant intent activity.
Create general and competitor keyword sets At a minimum, create a General keyword set and a Competitor keyword set to track research related to your offerings and competing solutions.
Create product-specific keyword sets If your company offers multiple products, create a separate keyword set for each product.
Include enough keywords

Demandbase recommends 40–100 keywords per keyword set, with a minimum of 25–35 keywords.

Competitor keyword sets can contain fewer than 25 keywords.
Use consistent naming conventions Apply standardized names to make keyword sets easier to identify, especially when creating versions in multiple languages. For example, Product A - English and Product A - French.
Include non-English keywords

For global advertising campaigns, create keyword sets in the languages used by your target audiences.

See Best Practices for Creating Non-English Keyword Sets.
Review keyword sets regularly Review and refine keyword sets approximately every six months to keep them aligned with your products, services, and business priorities.

Guidelines for Selecting Intent Keywords

Demandbase Intent uses exact keyword matching to identify relevant research activity. Select phrases that are specific enough to indicate interest in your offerings but common enough to appear in published B2B content.

How Exact Keyword Matching Works

Exact keyword matching requires the selected keyword phrase to appear in the content being consumed.

For example, consider a company offering cloud-based data analytics platforms.

Keyword

Explanation
Acme Corp innovative data solutions Too specific and unlikely to appear frequently in published B2B content.
Cloud-based data analytics platforms Describes the offering and is more likely to appear in relevant industry articles and reports.

Keywords that are too broad can generate irrelevant intent signals, while overly specific keywords may produce little or no intent data.

Tip: Use Suggest from URL when creating keyword sets to identify relevant phrases from B2B web pages.

Recommended Keyword Practices

Recommendation Reason Example
Use two- or three-word keyword phrases. Specific phrases help reduce irrelevant intent signals. Custom application development, CRM software for sales.
Use terms relevant to your offerings. Keywords should reflect products, services, or initiatives that indicate potential buying interest. Sales pipeline management, lead tracking.
Make single-word keywords more specific. Generic terms can match unrelated content. Use single-word keywords only when they are unique to your offering. Apple Inc instead of Apple.
Use full terms instead of acronyms. Full terms provide more context and help identify relevant content. Go-to-market platform instead of GTM.
Use singular keyword phrases when appropriate. Singular forms are commonly used in published content. Salary tracker, integration tool.
Choose keywords that cover related topics. Keywords should be specific enough to indicate relevant interest without excluding related content. Traffic data can cover metro traffic data, real-time traffic data, and traffic data sets.
Choose keywords with sufficient online content. Keywords that appear frequently in published content are more likely to generate intent signals. CRM software for sales.

Tip: Search Google for keyword phrases enclosed in quotation marks to evaluate exact matches. Consider phrases with a significant number of results, such as 5,000 or more. This is a research guideline, not a validation requirement.

Keyword Practices to Avoid

Not Recommended Reason Example
Broad or overly specific keywords Broad keywords can generate irrelevant signals, while overly specific phrases may not appear frequently enough in published content. Software, Acme Corp innovative data solutions.
Paid search terms Search phrases are often uncommon in published B2B articles. Top 10 laptops, best data centers in the world.
Capitalization variations Keyword matching is not case-sensitive. Keyword, keyword, KeyWord.
Singular and plural variations Including both versions provides minimal additional benefit. Keyword, keywords.
Similar keyword phrases Closely related phrases provide limited additional value. Employee salary tracking system, employee salary tracking.
Misspelled keywords Demandbase may assign an Ineligible validation status. CRM integrattions, invoiice tracking.
Unnecessary special characters Special characters are often spelled out in published content. !, &, /, unless part of a branded name.