RapidAPI to Google Sheets, keyword scores logged
You look up a keyword. Copy the difficulty score. Then copy the top results. Then paste it into a sheet. Again. And somehow it still ends up messy.
This RapidAPI Sheets logging workflow hits SEO specialists the most, but content leads and agency owners feel it too. The outcome is simple: every keyword check becomes a clean row in Google Sheets, without the manual shuffle.
You will see what the automation does, what you need, and how to adapt it for your own research process so your tracking stays consistent and client-ready.
How This Automation Works
Here’s the complete workflow you’ll be setting up:
n8n Workflow Template: RapidAPI to Google Sheets, keyword scores logged
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Why This Matters: Keyword Research Falls Apart in Spreadsheets
Keyword research sounds tidy until you do it at scale. One person pulls difficulty from one tab, SERP snippets from another tool, then pastes everything into a “master” spreadsheet that already has three competing formats. Next week you revisit the same keyword and can’t remember which country you checked, which date it was, or why the score looks different. Worse, you send a client a report and realize half the rows are missing SERP context because copying the top results is the part everyone “does later.” Later never comes.
It adds up fast. Here’s where it breaks down.
- Manual copy-paste turns a 2-minute check into 10 minutes once you include formatting and cleanup.
- Different teammates track different columns, which means your sheet stops being comparable after a week.
- SERP results get skipped because they’re tedious, so you lose the “why” behind a difficulty score.
- Country targeting is easy to forget, and that one missing detail can derail content planning.
What You’ll Build: RapidAPI Keyword Checks Logged to Sheets
This workflow turns keyword analysis into a repeatable intake-and-log process. It starts with a simple form where you (or your team) enter a keyword and pick a country. The workflow sends that input to RapidAPI’s Keyword Difficulty Checker API using an HTTP request, then receives a structured response that includes a difficulty index and a list of SERP results. From there, it cleans the response into two usable pieces: a single difficulty score, and a SERP list you can analyze later. Finally, it appends both outputs into Google Sheets, so every check is captured in the same structure every time. No extra tabs, no “I’ll paste it later,” no reformatting.
The workflow kicks off on form submission. RapidAPI returns the difficulty score and SERP data, then n8n splits that data into two clean payloads. Google Sheets receives those payloads in two different tabs, so your score tracking stays separate from SERP detail (but still tied to the same keyword).
What You’re Building
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Expected Results
Say you evaluate 30 keywords for a content sprint. Manually, a “quick check” often becomes about 10 minutes per keyword once you grab a difficulty score, skim SERPs, and paste into a sheet, which is roughly 5 hours. With this workflow, you can submit each keyword via the form in under a minute, then wait for the API response and sheet updates in the background. You still review the data, but the logging work drops to about 30 minutes total instead of eating your afternoon.
Before You Start
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- Google Sheets to store keyword scores and SERPs
- RapidAPI to access the Keyword Difficulty Checker API
- X-RapidAPI-Key (get it from the RapidAPI API “Security” tab)
Skill level: Beginner. You’ll connect accounts, paste an API key, and map a few fields into your Sheet columns.
Want someone to build this for you? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
Step by Step
Form submission captures your intent. You enter a keyword and choose a country in the form trigger. That becomes the single source of truth for what’s being checked.
RapidAPI returns fresh difficulty and SERP data. n8n sends a POST request to the Keyword Difficulty Checker API (via the HTTP Request node) and receives a JSON response that includes a difficulty value and a SERP results list.
The workflow cleans the response into two useful chunks. One reformat step extracts only the keywordDifficulty value, and another extracts the serpResults list so it’s ready for spreadsheets instead of raw JSON.
Google Sheets gets updated automatically. One tab receives the keyword and its difficulty score, and the other tab receives the SERP results for later review and comparison.
You can easily modify the sheet names and which SERP fields you store based on your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Form Trigger
Set up the intake form that collects the keyword and country inputs for the API request.
- Add the Form Intake Trigger node as your workflow trigger.
- Set Form Title to
Keyword Difficulty Checker. - Set Form Description to
Keyword Difficulty Checker. - In Form Fields, create two required fields: keyword and country.
Step 2: Configure the API Request
Send the form inputs to the keyword difficulty API and prepare the response for downstream processing.
- Add the Keyword Difficulty API Call node and connect it to Form Intake Trigger.
- Set URL to
https://keyword-difficulty-checker1.p.rapidapi.com/keywordDifficulty.php. - Set Method to POST and enable Send Body.
- Set Content Type to
multipart-form-dataand enable Send Headers. - In Body Parameters, add keyword with value
{{ $json.keyword }}and country with value{{ $json.country }}. - In Header Parameters, set x-rapidapi-host to
keyword-difficulty-checker1.p.rapidapi.comand x-rapidapi-key to your API key (replace[CONFIGURE_YOUR_API_KEY]).
[CONFIGURE_YOUR_API_KEY] with a valid RapidAPI key or the request will fail.Step 3: Set Up Parallel Data Extraction
Split the API response into two parallel paths to extract difficulty scores and SERP results.
- Add the Extract Difficulty Score code node and connect it to Keyword Difficulty API Call.
- Set JavaScript Code to
return $input.first().json.data.semrushAPI.keywordDifficulty;. - Add the Extract SERP Data code node and connect it to Keyword Difficulty API Call.
- Set JavaScript Code to
return $input.first().json.data.semrushAPI.serpResults;. - Confirm parallel flow: Keyword Difficulty API Call outputs to both Extract Difficulty Score and Extract SERP Data in parallel.
Step 4: Connect Google Sheets Outputs
Append the extracted difficulty scores and SERP data to two separate Google Sheets.
- Add the Append Difficulty Sheet node and connect it to Extract Difficulty Score.
- Set Operation to
appendand Authentication toserviceAccount. - Select the destination Document ID and Sheet Name for the difficulty log.
- Add the Append SERP Sheet node and connect it to Extract SERP Data.
- Set Operation to
appendand Authentication toserviceAccount. - Select the destination Document ID and Sheet Name for the SERP data.
- Credential Required: Connect your googleApi credentials in both Append Difficulty Sheet and Append SERP Sheet.
Step 5: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Validate that data flows correctly from the form through the API and into both sheets.
- Click Execute Workflow and submit a test entry via Form Intake Trigger using a sample keyword and country.
- Confirm that Keyword Difficulty API Call returns data without errors.
- Verify that Append Difficulty Sheet and Append SERP Sheet each receive new rows in their respective Google Sheets.
- When testing is successful, toggle the workflow to Active to enable production use.
Troubleshooting Tips
- RapidAPI credentials can expire or be tied to the wrong app. If things break, check the RapidAPI “Security” tab for your key and confirm the API subscription is active.
- If you’re using Wait nodes or external rendering, processing times vary. Bump up the wait duration if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
- Google Sheets appends can silently fail when columns don’t match. Confirm your target spreadsheet tab names and make sure your mapped fields line up with the header row.
Quick Answers
About 30 minutes if your Sheets and RapidAPI key are ready.
No. You’ll mostly connect accounts and map fields into Google Sheets.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in RapidAPI usage costs based on your Keyword Difficulty Checker plan.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
Yes, and it’s the main reason n8n is handy here. You can swap the form trigger for a Google Sheet “new row” trigger if you want bulk runs, then keep the same RapidAPI request and append steps. You can also change what you store by editing the “Extract Difficulty Score” and “Extract SERP Data” steps to keep only the fields you care about (titles, URLs, positions, or snippets). Common tweaks include adding a “project/client” field to the form, logging a timestamp, or routing high-difficulty keywords into a separate sheet or email.
Usually it’s an invalid or expired X-RapidAPI-Key in the HTTP request headers. Confirm you’re subscribed to the correct API on RapidAPI, then regenerate the key and update it in n8n. If it works for one keyword and fails for many, you may be hitting rate limits on your RapidAPI plan or sending an unsupported country code.
If you self-host n8n, there’s no execution cap, so the practical limit is your server and RapidAPI plan.
Often, yes, because this kind of flow benefits from shaping JSON responses and splitting outputs cleanly across multiple spreadsheet writes. n8n is comfortable with that: you can add branches, add logic, and keep costs predictable, especially if you self-host. Zapier or Make can still do it, but multi-step parsing and “write two different tables from one response” tends to get fiddly and expensive as volume grows. If you want approvals, client-specific routing, or bulk runs, n8n gives you more room to expand without rebuilding. Talk to an automation expert if you’re on the fence.
Once this is running, keyword checks stop being a chore and start being a system. Your spreadsheet stays clean, your team stays aligned, and you can move on to the work that actually compounds.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
