Writing Keywords That Work

Every keyword is a short phrase your agent looks for, word for word, inside real posts and comments. That one fact explains every rule on this page: your keywords must be phrases a customer would naturally type while describing their problem, in their own language, not yours.

The containment test

Before adding a keyword, ask: could this phrase appear, exactly as written, inside a sentence a frustrated customer would post? "crm for small team" passes: "any recommendations for a crm for small team like ours?" A phrase like "best crm alternatives 2026" fails; nobody writes that inside a sentence, they type it into a search engine. LeadPinger reads conversations, not search bars.

The four rules

• Two to four words. Every word must appear for the phrase to match. One word matches everything and buries you in noise; five words match almost nothing.
• Topics, not intent words. Drop "best", "recommend", "looking for", "how to". People write about their problem, not about needing a solution. Keep the topic underneath: "email deliverability" finds the person asking "how do I fix email deliverability?", and also the one venting about it.
• Problems, not your brand. Almost nobody names a brand they have not bought yet. A brand keyword finds your existing reputation, not your future customers. Search the problem you solve instead. (Competitor names are the exception: those find people already shopping.)
• Their words, not yours. Your category name ("revenue intelligence platform") is marketing language. Customers say "sales call notes" or "call recording for sales". Read ten real posts in your market and steal the vocabulary.

A worked example

Let the evidence rewrite them

Keywords are a starting hypothesis. Expand any agent card on the Agents page to see each keyword's matches, intent and leads over the last 30 days. A keyword with no leads after a fair run is a candidate to replace, and LeadPinger prepares a suggested replacement with the reason. The Insights page and the Analyst will also tell you which phrases to cut, with numbers.