With the ever-changing algorithm on search engines, the best content strategy is keyword research. More than half of any activity online starts with Bing or Google search.
The two main objectives of keyword research are finding out what your target audience is looking for online and determining what it will take to rank for those terms in search engines.
Today we'll dive into what it is and how to do keyword research.
What Is Keyword Research?
Finding out what search terms your target audience uses to find businesses and websites similar to yours on search engines is known as keyword research. Your chances of showing up on the search engine results page increase if you optimize your content for those keywords.
You can use keyword research to find topics universally searched for on a national or international level. However, you can also use local keyword research to identify subjects that locals only search for. This indicates that you can conduct keyword research even if your small business only caters to clients in a particular city or state.
When conducting keyword research, one should consider whether achieving high rankings and receiving traffic from a particular keyword is worthwhile. Not all traffic is created equal.
There are many paid and free keyword research tools, or you can conduct your keyword research.
Why Keyword Research Is Necessary For SEO?
Keyword research helps a keyword planner with their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy because it entails finding and placing the best keywords from the long list of keywords available.
The queries a user enters to find an answer or pertinent information to their search query are the foundation of a search engine, an information retrieval system.
Google's primary goal is to connect users with the best website pages and answers to their queries to satisfy them. This emphasizes the importance of SEO.
A company's ability to connect with its audience and potential customers is built on solid keyword research. Understanding this aids in the comprehension of an effective SEO strategy.
Understanding the target market's needs is the first step in developing a business strategy.
- Which do they seek?
- What are they lacking?
- What keeps them awake at night?
- What could fix their issue?
The keyword research process begins by considering your audience's needs and then the words, phrases, or queries they employ to find solutions, so you can better understand them.
As a result of knowing what terms your audience looks for, and their search intent, thorough keyword research for SEO can also help you identify opportunities.
Your ability to prioritize where to direct your attention and resources will improve.
You can determine where you can expect a return on investment to justify your efforts with the aid of keyword research:
- Does a keyword bring in targeted traffic that could lead to a conversion?
- What is the estimated volume of that traffic, and what does each customer mean for your company?
In a nutshell, keyword research is the best tool for conducting business research.
Keyword Research Basics
Monthly Search Volume
A common way to gauge the value of a keyword is Monthly Search Volume (MSV). It's a helpful metric to use as a starting point when determining whether anyone is looking for that keyword, but it shouldn't be used alone or as the only yardstick of success.
A keyword may not be the best for you to rank for just because it has a high search volume.
The top of the funnel receives most of the "browsing" traffic from high-volume relevant keywords. They help raise brand awareness but do not for driving direct sales.
Because they can deliver users who are prepared to purchase, low-volume keywords can be much more valuable.
User Intent
When users search for a query, their intention is expressed in the search results they hope to find.
Since it is one of the most crucial aspects of the process, user intent will be a topic that is frequently discussed when conducting keyword research.
User intent is significant in two ways.
First, it helps you create content and web pages that give users the information they want.
Since your user only cares about their needs and problems, there is no point in creating a page about your interests.
If a user searching for [marshmallow] wants a recipe for smores, they will only click on your link if you have the best page in the world about the history of smores.
Second, Google considers relevance when displaying search engine results pages (as mentioned above, it aims to present the best answer for a query). Therefore, your page may rank higher if it more closely matches user intent.
Short Tail keywords vs. Long-Tail keywords
Because they fall to the right of the search demand curve, where the graph appears to be a long tail extending to the right, long-tail keywords are so-called because they are long-tail.
A Long-tail keyword is valuable because frequently highly targeted terms convert well. After all, users are actively looking for something particular.
Long-tail keywords are beneficial to include in a keyword strategy because they are typically much more straightforward to rank for and achievable for a new website. The cumulative volume of long-tail keywords adds to your organic search traffic bucket.
This approach is much more stable than concentrating on a single ambiguous high-volume keyword.
Marketing Trend Insight
Effective keyword research can give you information on current marketing trends and assist you in focusing your content on the pertinent subjects and search terms your audience is using.
Traffic Growth
As discussed on our on page SEO checklist: The more relevant keywords you choose for the content you publish, the higher your rank in search engine results and the more visitors your website will receive.
Customer Acquisition
If your company offers the content that other business professionals seek, you can satisfy their needs and give them a call to action that will take them through the buyer's journey from the awareness stage to the point of purchase.
You can answer the questions that most of your audience wants to know the answers to by researching keywords for their popularity, search volumes, and general intent.
Keywords vs. Topics
We hear more and more about how SEO has changed in the last ten years and how irrelevant keywords are now to our ability to rank highly for daily searches.
This is true, but from the standpoint of an SEO agency, it's a different strategy. Instead, it's the purpose behind the keyword and whether or not the content fulfils that purpose.
However, this does not imply that keyword research is a dated practice.
If you use the right SEO tool, keyword research will also reveal how popular specific topics are with your audience. The key word here is topics; by researching keywords that receive a lot of monthly searches, you can recognize and group your content into categories for which you want to produce content. Then, you can use these subjects to guide the search terms and keyword phrases you focus on.
Three Elements of Keyword Research
1. Relevance
Based on relevance, Google ranks content. At this point, the notion of search intent is introduced. If your content satisfies the searchers' needs, it will rank for that keyword. Your content must also be the query's best resource. Why, after all, would Google search give your content a higher ranking if it offers less value than other online content?
However, you should still throw away those keyword ideas with zero search volume from your target audience.
To help you, Google's keyword planner is free of charge, with the only requirement being a Google ads account. You can also view Google Analytics or other website analytics software to know the specific keyword metrics of a blog post.
2. Authority
Google will place more emphasis on sources that it deems reliable. As a result, you must exert every effort to establish yourself as an authoritative source by enhancing your website with educational content, creating helpful content, and promoting it to gain social signals and backlinks. Unless your content is exceptional, you have a lower chance of ranking if you're not recognized as an authority in the field or if a keyword's SERPs are stacked with authoritative sources you can't compete with (like The Mayo Clinic or Forbes).
3. Volume
Even if you end up on the first page of search results for a specific keyword, no one will ever visit your website. Equivalent to opening a business in a deserted location.
The number of times the keyword is searched per month across all audiences is known as MSV (monthly search volumes) and is used to measure volume. Your average monthly search volume data is in the Google keyword planner.
Types Of Search Query
Four types of keywords are helpful to understand as they categorize the different user intents and can help when planning a keyword strategy:
Informational
Top of the funnel users seeking knowledge or a solution to a problem.
Navigational
Users search brands to locate a particular company, website, or page.
Commercial
Middle-of-the-funnel users are doing brand, product, or service research.
Transactional
End-users who are prepared to complete a transaction or action.
How To Do Keyword Research
After today's blog answered "What is keyword research?" and "Why is keyword research important?", the next question to answer is "How to do keyword research?".
How Do I Find Keywords?
You can research keywords for your keyword list by considering the following:
Consider the target audience.
Your audience's wants and needs come first in everything you do. Consider their requirements and desires, but pay close attention to their issues and pain points. This will help you gather keyword ideas to raise the search results.
Start compiling your extensive list of target keywords, concepts, and subjects related to your industry or business.
What about questions?
Featured snippets and a way to rank higher for highly competitive keywords can be obtained using question-based keyword queries, which are valuable.
To determine your audience's questions, consult your sales team and review CRM data.
As you begin to compile your list, consider the following question modifiers as well:
- What [is a bicycle]?
- How to [ride a bike]?
- When is [the best time to repair a bike]?
- What is [the best bicycle brand]?
- Where is [the store for this bicycle brand]?
Current site search requests
Google Search Console can let you know what Google thinks your website is relevant for if it has already been online for some time. This is useful for determining whether your website is sending the right message and identifying opportunities.
You must give your pages more keyword focus if Google displays many searches that have nothing to do with your brand or product.
Keep an eye out for queries that are ranking at ten or higher, have decent impressions, and you believe are pertinent to your business.
You can seize these potential quick-win keyword ideas by improving and optimising the query pages.
Relevant Keyword ideas from your competitors
Because they may have already made significant research investments, your competitors are a gold mine of information.
Keep an eye on the content they create and the best keywords they target. A business should already be constantly watching its competitors.
A keyword gap analysis will assist you in identifying new keyword ideas that you may have overlooked that your competitors are pursuing.
Seed keywords
Start with a high-level "seed" keyword that you can use to launch variants and related searches.
Such "big" head terms as "laptop," "makeup," "iPhone," or "cupcake" are examples of seed keywords.
Consider related topics for each seed keyword by starting with:
- How often to shut down the laptop?
- Charging a laptop.
- Laptop accessories.
- Laptop care.
Use question modifiers and buying modifiers as well, like:
- A good laptop brand.
- Purchase a laptop.
- Price [for a specific laptop model and brand].
- Where is the best place to buy laptops?
- Review of [specific laptop model and brand].
Once you've completed this process, you should have a rough list of potential keywords grouped into topics, such as upkeep, attire, training, etc.
How To Analyze Keywords?
Once you have the raw list of your targeted keywords, it's time to begin analyzing and sorting by opportunity and value.
Search volume
You can determine whether people are actively looking for this term by looking at the search volume.
It would be best to start with keywords with a mid-range and long-tail volume to get quick wins and then work your way up to more competitive terms with a greater search volume.
Head keywords with extremely high search volume, such as "Samsung," are not the best to concentrate on because they are frequently too ambiguous and lack a clear search intent.
Additionally, unless you already have a well-established domain with considerable authority, the amount of work required to rank may be too high a barrier to entry.
It's only sometimes a good idea to ignore a keyword that a tool indicates has no organic search volume.
Consider targeting a keyword in your strategy that may be valuable if it appears in the tool. Before investing resources in a zero-volume keyword, though, be sure that you are aware of your audience and what is relevant search terms to them.
Search intent
It's time to examine the intent for each keyword phrase you want to target after sorting your raw lists by search volumes.
You can learn everything you need to know from the SERP, and it's a good idea to constantly check them for tips on creating content and ranking well.
View the other highly ranked listings:
- Do they state they are "how-to" guides or merely informative?
- Are there words like "buy," "best," or product names in the titles?
- Exists a shopping carousel displays a keyword for purchases?
- Does the search's location map show that it's a local query?
After classifying each keyword type, prioritize the keywords that are strongest to use.
Additionally, you can use a research tool to inform you of the right keywords and their category.
Subject Groups
A sophisticated keyword strategy that can help to increase a site's topic authority is grouping the right keywords into topic clusters.
It would be best to research several keywords supporting a high-volume head term to accomplish this.
You use internal linking to connect pages about the same subject after you've written pages of content focusing on each keyword phrase.
Choosing Organic Keywords
You must first sort the volumes, intent, and topics to determine if you can rank on a term. Next, you must decide how much competition each keyword has.
Keyword difficulty
One of the most crucial keyword metrics when conducting research is keyword difficulty.
Getting strategic is necessary if a keyword is so competitive that it will cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars to rank.
The simplest way to determine keyword difficulty is by utilizing a research tool that scores each keyword.
Alternatively, use the Google Keyword Planner Tool to check the CPC and difficulty level. Competition increases as CPC bids rise. You can also use other SEO keyword tools.
When you start, focus on achievable lower-competition keywords and work up to more complex terms.
The connection between objectives and goals
Unless a keyword can deliver search queries to your blog post - do you want to target it?
Targeting head terms is not the best tactic, as previously stated, as they will only, at best, deliver browsing or drive-by visitors. This is only the best use of your resources and budget if you are a large brand with a large budget trying to build brand awareness.
Starting with what will provide you with the best return in the shortest time is how to prioritize your keywords.
Targeting a high-volume, well-known keyword is only one aspect of effective keyword research. Finding the ideal keywords for your needs and goals is the foundation of a successful keyword strategy. Remember to keep that in mind.
Utilizing A Keyword Research Tool
With a tool, your research is unlimited; with limited research, your search volume can stay high. To conduct the most thorough keyword research, you need assistance identifying keyword opportunities.
You can start with the free versions of all the following SEO keyword research tools.
Google Keyword Planner
Although the initial keyword research tool has changed, it is still among the best free keyword tools and an excellent place to start when looking for seed keywords and keyword ideas.
The keyword tool aligns with Google Ads, so the data is biased toward paid advertisements but still useful for research.
To use the tool, you need a Google Ads account. Google will attempt to persuade you to create an active campaign, but you can access the report by creating an account without a movement.
The keyword tool is still helpful for its keyword idea suggestions, even though you will only get a small number of search volumes displayed in ranges without a campaign running. Google will display the monthly search volume if you have a running drive.
You can run competitor URLs through the tool to find their target keywords. You can enter up to 10 seed keywords to get a list of suggested keywords. Building out raw lists of keywords to work from is best done by doing this.
Google Trends
Google Trends provide data from actual search query data.
Even though it doesn't provide search volumes, you can compare the data in Google Trends with actual search volumes from other keyword research tools to understand how many people are searching at any given time.
Trends excel at spotting hot niche topics, subtopics, and local search trends. Trends will suggest related keywords that are currently gaining in popularity.
This can help you determine where to concentrate your efforts and when to stop spending money on terms as part of a keyword strategy.
Google Autocomplete
To assist users with their search by providing what Google calls "predictions," Autocomplete, formerly Suggest, is built into the Google search box. '.
Google uses trending and popular searches to make its predictions.
The results displayed give you an idea of other related terms that users might be searching for because the suggestions are all variations of the theme you are typing.
You can find more variations and keywords to consider by looking at Google's predictions in Autocomplete.
Google has all the means to help in your keyword research, but there are other free and paid keyword research tools you can utilize to gain more information about the specific keywords you are targeting.
There are many ways to conduct keyword research, as it is a vital part of SEO. There are even marketing companies and SEO experts in Singapore that can do your keyword research for you and other SEO features! If that piques your interest, check out Khepri Digital, one of the top SEO companies in Singapore. Their main priority is to help you with SEM and SEO.
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