What is SEO Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing search terms. Often for SEO strategies, PPC/CPC advertising platforms such as Google Ads, social media marketing, or marketing in general. Keyword research uncovers queries to target, the popularity of these queries, their ranking difficulty, and more. Check online tutorials for more in-depth information about SEO keyword research.
Why SEO is Important?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is important for several reasons:
- Increases visibility and traffic: SEO helps to improve the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs), which leads to increased organic traffic from search engines for potential customers on e-commerce websites. There are several SERP feature snippets that Google will highlight if used correctly.
- Builds credibility and trust: Websites that rank higher in search engine results pages are generally seen as more credible and trustworthy. By improving your website’s SEO, build a better online reputation and establish your business as a thought leader in your industry.
- Improves user experience: SEO also helps to improve the user experience on your website. Optimizing your website’s technical elements and content make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for, and provides a better overall experience.
- Boosts brand awareness: Higher rankings in search engine result pages also increase brand awareness and exposure. SEO keywords help your site rank on more organic searches.
- Cost-effective marketing: SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy that provides long-term benefits.
How to Decide the Best Keywords for Your Content?
When deciding on the best keywords for your content, there are several factors to consider. Here is a beginner’s guide for finding keyword suggestions:
- Relevance: Your keywords should be relevant to your content and the topic you are writing about. Ensure that the related keywords accurately reflect the content of your article and that they are not misleading.
- Search volume: Look for new keyword ideas with a decent search volume, which means they are searched for by a significant number of people. Use keyword research tools to identify the search volume of keywords. Volume is measured by MSV (monthly search volume), which means the number of times the keyword is searched per month across all audiences. Monthly search volume is the number of times a search query or keyword is entered into search engines each month.
- Competition: Avoid targeting highly competitive keywords that are difficult to rank for. Instead, focus on low-competition keywords that are easier to rank for.
- Long-tail keywords: Consider using long-tail keywords, which are more specific and less competitive than broad keywords. Long-tail keywords are also more likely to attract targeted traffic to your website.
- User search intent: Understand the user intent behind the keywords. Think about what people search for to choose the right keywords.
- Value: Choose keywords that are valuable to your business. Consider the potential ROI of ranking for a specific keyword and choose keywords likely to drive conversions for searchers.
How to Get Relevant Keywords?
- Brainstorming: Start by brainstorming a list of keywords and phrases relevant to your business, products, or services. Consider what your customers would search for as seed keywords when looking for your offerings.
- Competitor Analysis: Analyze your competitor’s websites and see what keywords they are targeting. Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to get insights on your competitor’s keywords and backlinks.
- Keyword Research Tools: Use keyword search SEO tools like Google Keyword Planner, AdWord Keywords Tool, Ubersuggest, or Moz Keyword Explorer to get keyword ideas. These best keyword research tools will help you to identify high-volume and low-competition keywords that you target. Use free keyword research tools to determine popular keywords on your content and place them on your landing page and page title.
- Google Autocomplete: Start typing a search term related to your business in Google and see what suggestions come up. These suggestions are based on what people are actually searching for, so they provide good keyword ideas.
- Google Trends: Use Google Trends to see what keywords are trending in your industry. This tool helps you identify seasonal trends and opportunities for creating content around hot topics.
- Website Analytics Software: Although more and more keywords are getting encrypted by Google every day, another smart way to come up with keyword ideas is to figure out which keywords your website is already getting found for. To do this, you need website analytics software like Google Analytics. Drill down into your website’s traffic sources, and sift through your organic search traffic bucket to identify the keywords people are using to arrive at your site. Also, Google Search Console is a great tool to see what keywords you’re ranking for and how many clicks and impressions you get for them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keyword research helps you find which keywords are best to target. It also provides valuable insight into the queries that your target audience is actually searching on Google. The insight that you get into these actual search terms helps inform your content strategy.
Keyword difficulty is a metric that indicates how difficult it will be to rank for a particular keyword on Google. It is a measure of competition based on a number of factors. Some of these factors include websites already ranking for that keyword, their authority and the quality of their content.
