Keyword research is one of the most essential tasks in SEO, and mastering it will help you grow your website traffic. This guide will walk you through how to conduct keyword research like a pro.
Start by identifying the general categories or “buckets” you wish to rank for. This can include product categories, topic areas that your target audience searches for, or any other relevant terms.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of uncovering keywords that search engines use to index and rank websites. It is a fundamental part of any SEO strategy, and it allows businesses to create content that meets the needs and wants of their audience.
The process begins by creating a seed list of initial ideas. For example, if you run an ecommerce store that sells coffee-making equipment, some of your first keyword ideas might include “cappuccino maker” and “vinyl records.” You can then investigate these terms further by using a tool like Moz’s Keyword Explorer, which provides information from monthly search volumes to competition levels and more.
By conducting keyword research, you can better understand your audience’s interests and problems, and the ways in which they use language to find solutions. Ultimately, this knowledge helps you craft more effective content that can meet their needs and achieve your business goals. This is why understanding how to conduct keyword research is such a valuable skill for digital marketers. The steps and tools to do keyword research are simple, but the implications are far-reaching.
Identifying Your Target Audience
The process of identifying your target audience is one of the most important parts of keyword research. It allows you to create content that truly resonates with your potential customers and drives targeted traffic to your website.
When determining which keywords to use, it’s essential to understand your audience and how they search for products, services, and information. You can start by thinking about the questions, problems, Remove term: campaign success campaign successRemove term: Digital marketing Digital marketingRemove term: Digital Marketing Campaign Management Digital Marketinand words your target audience uses when searching for something online.
Once you have a solid idea of what your potential customer’s language is, you can start plugging it into a tool like Ahrefs to find keyword opportunities. When you do, be sure to consider the intent of each keyword, as this will help you tailor your content accordingly. For example, a search for “wedding cake ideas” shows informational intent while a search for “buy wedding cake near me” shows commercial intent. Targeting the latter will compel a user to visit your site, while targeting the former will likely result in a quick bounce and low click-through rate.
Seed Keywords: Where to Start
The process of generating seed keywords is an important step in keyword research. A seed keyword is a short, relevant phrase that describes your business or industry. For example, if you run a pest control company, your seed keywords might include “termites,” “pest infestation,” and “pest control.”
Brainstorming is one of the best ways to generate seed keywords. Gather a team of individuals with a deep understanding of your business, products, services, and target audience to brainstorm. This group could consist of marketing professionals, subject matter experts, sales representatives, or even engaged customers.
Using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush can also be helpful for discovering seed keywords. These tools will provide you with search volume and competition data that will help you select the most relevant keywords for your niche.
Additionally, examining the keywords that your competitors rank for is another great way to find potential seed keywords. Using a tool such as Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer, you can analyze the keyword phrases that your competitors are ranking for by domain, subfolder, or even the specific page.
Using Google Tools for Keyword Research
There are a lot of free tools available for conducting keyword research. One of the best is Google’s own keyword planner, which allows you to enter a niche-relevant seed word or website URL, select locations, and see a ton of related keywords with their monthly search volume.
Another great tool is AnswerThePublic, which scrapes Google’s autocomplete results and displays them in a useful spreadsheet. This makes it easy to see both the keywords people are searching and what kind of content they’re looking for (e.g., beginner’s guides, listicles).
Moz also has a keyword research tool that allows you to look at a particular set of keywords and see all the usual metrics like difficulty and search volume, plus a few other valuable ones I haven’t seen elsewhere, including organic CTR and priority. They also have a paid version that’s a lot more comprehensive. This is a good option for anyone serious about SEO, but it’s not a great choice for beginners because the price tag can be a bit steep.
Competitor Keyword Analysis
Competitor keyword analysis is the process of discovering keywords that your competitors are ranking for, as well as their content marketing strategy. This helps you determine which terms your target audience is searching for, and how to optimize your content around those terms.
Competitor research is an essential part of SEO and content marketing, but many digital marketers skip this crucial planning step. Without a deep understanding of your target audience, their needs, and what they’re looking for online, it’s difficult to write content that attracts search engines and drives traffic.
Conducting competitor keyword analysis helps you avoid these mistakes by identifying and evaluating the keywords that are driving traffic to your competitors’ websites. You can then use these keywords to identify keyword opportunities and content gaps in your own strategy. This will help you to outrank your competition and increase your online visibility. This also ensures that your content aligns with your target audience’s interests and search intent, which boosts the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. Fortunately, there are a number of helpful tools that can help you with this process, including Semrush and SpyFu.
Best Keyword Research Tools
Whether your business is in need of more organic search traffic or you’re looking to expand your paid search advertising campaigns, keyword research can help you identify new opportunities. The key is to find terms that match the intent of your potential audience and align with your content and product offerings.
Fortunately, there are a number of great tools that can help you conduct keyword research and uncover opportunities. A few of our favorites include Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz. Each tool offers a different approach to discovery and offers unique metrics around search volume, difficulty, and user intent.
In addition to using these tools, we recommend talking to your customer-facing colleagues in sales or support to get an idea of the types of keywords that customers are searching for. Remember, search language changes constantly, and so do your audiences’ needs. For these reasons, it’s essential that you make regular updates to your keyword strategy as needed. By doing so, you’ll ensure that your content is always on point and is serving up the most relevant results to your audience.
Tracking Keyword Performance
In addition to analyzing data and insights, it’s important to continually track keyword performance. This will allow you to see whether your efforts are making an impact on your search engine visibility, and help you adapt your strategy accordingly.
One way to do this is to observe SERP landscapes. This will give you a better idea of what types of content your target audience is looking for. For example, if someone searches for “dresses,” they may be searching to learn more about the different types of dresses available or perhaps compare prices. In contrast, if someone searches for “buy wedding dress,” they’re likely closer to the point of purchase and are ready to buy now.
In a world where SEO is constantly changing, having the right tools and skills at your disposal is essential to creating a successful strategy. By following these steps, you can ensure that your content is speaking to the souls of your audience and achieving your marketing goals. So, get out there and start researching! With a little hard work and the right tooling, you can master this skill and create a content strategy that will keep you on top of your game.
Ongoing Keyword Strategy
To be effective, keyword research must be an ongoing process that is integrated into your content marketing strategy. It is essential to track the performance of your keywords and use the results to guide future content creation.
Whether you are creating new thought leadership content, revitalizing academic program pages, or optimizing e-commerce product listings, you need to understand how your audience searches for what you offer. It is a planning step that should not be cut corners, and one that will help ensure that your content is visible, relevant, and impactful.
The key to a successful keyword strategy is relevance. Make sure that your keywords reflect the search intent of your target audience. For example, a user searching for “vinyl records” likely has informational search intent, whereas someone searching for “buy wedding cake” likely has navigational intent.
This comprehensive guide aims not to just elucidate, but empower, so that keywords become more than an item on an SEO checklist, and are instead strategic guides for your digital endeavors. By guiding you through the realms of keyword research and strategic implementation, we hope to help you navigate with ease through the ever-shifting sands of search trends.