HOW TO DO KEYWORD RESEARCH FOR SEO

seo keyword research

What is a Keyword?

Keywords can be defined as ideas or topics that cover the subject matter of your content. The words and phrases that are entered into search engines by the searcher are known as “search queries” in SEO. These are your primary keywords if you reduce everything on your page, and so on — to simple words and phrases.

As a  content creator and website owner, you want the keywords on your site to be relevant to what users are searching for so they can find your content amongst the results.

How to do Keyword research for SEO

Draw up a list of significant and relevant subjects based on your knowledge of your industry

 Consider the topics you want to rank for, you’ll come up with roughly 5-10 topic buckets that are relevant to your business, and you’ll use those topic buckets to help you to come up with specific keywords later on.

Either these are the topics you blog about the most or perhaps they’re the most frequently discussed issues in sales meetings. Put yourself in your buyer’s place: Which types of topics you would like your target audience to associate with your company?

The most common general topic buckets, you might have come across could be-

SEO, Social Media Marketing, Blogging, Digital Marketing Companies, Email Marketing, etc.

The monthly search volume will help you analyse how relevant these topics are to your target audience, as well as how many different sub-topics you’ll need to cover to be profitable with that keyword. 

Add Keywords to those topic buckets

Once you’ve decided on a few topic buckets to concentrate on, it’s time to find keywords that fit into those categories. These are keyword phrases that you believe are vital to rank for in the SERPs (search engine results pages) since your target consumer is likely searching for them.

For example, If I were to use the First subject category for a Digital marketing company — “Search engine Optimization” — I’d come up with a list of keyword phrases the user would use to search for that topic. These could include the following:

  • Keyword Research tools
  • how to make my website more mobile-friendly?
  • What is On-Site Marketing?
  • Lead Generation
  • How to create backlinks?
  • Best SEO tools

   The list goes on and on. The goal of this phase isn’t to create your ultimate keyword phrase list. You just want to come up with a list of terms that you believe potential consumers could use to find content relating to that certain topic bucket. Later on in the process, we’ll reduce the lists down so you don’t end up with something cumbersome.

    Despite the fact that Google is encrypting more and more terms every day, another effective technique to come up with keyword ideas is to see which keywords your site is already being found for. You’ll need website analytics software to perform this. Dig deeper into your site’s traffic sources and scan through your organic search traffic bucket to find the keywords that people are using to find you.

    This exercise should be repeated for as many topic buckets as you have. And don’t forget that if you’re having difficulty coming up with appropriate search terms, you can always ask your buyer colleagues — those in Sales or Service — what types of terms their prospects and customers use, or what common questions they ask. These are frequently strong starting points for keyword research.

Understanding Effect of Intent on Keyword Research

As I mentioned in the previous section, user intent is now one of the most significant factors in your ability to rank well on search engines such as Google. Today, it is more important that your web page addresses the problem that a searcher intended to solve rather than simply containing the keyword that the searcher used. It’s easy to take keywords at face value, but they can actually have a variety of meanings beneath the surface. Because the intent behind a search is so essential to your ranking possibility, you must exercise extreme caution in how you perceive the keywords you target.

Assume you’re looking up the keyword “how to start a blog” for an article you want to write. “Blog” can refer to a blog post or the blog website itself, and the intent of a searcher behind that keyword will influence the direction of your article. Is the searcher interested in learning how to begin a personal blog post? Or would they want to know how to simply launch a website domain for the aim of blogging? If your content strategy is solely focused on the latter, you’ll need to double-check the keyword’s intent before committing to it.

To confirm what a user’s intent is in a keyword, simply enter the keyword into a search engine and see what types of results are obtained.   Ensure the type of information Google displays is closely related to the type of content you seek to make for the keyword.

Research related search terms

This is a creative step that you may have already considered when conducting keyword research. If not, it’s a great way to get those lists filled out.

If you’re having trouble coming up with additional keywords for a specific topic, look at the connected search terms that emerge when you enter a keyword into Google. After you type in your word and scroll to the end of Google’s results page, you’ll see some search suggestions related to your original input. These keywords may spark ideas for additional keywords you should consider. For example,  Digital Marketing Companies would look for the results given below as a suggestion.

Put keyword research tools to use

Based on the ideas you’ve generated so far, keyword research and SEO tools can help you generate more keyword suggestions based on targeted search keywords and phrase match keywords. 

Importance of Keyword Research

Prior to semantic search, keywords were the essential medium of indicating to search engines the subjects you were focusing on. In general, the relevance of the keyword was dependent on the number of times you used the keyword in your article. Here are a few of the advantages of keywords:

  1. Recognizing your keywords will help you better understand your brand and company, as well as know what your target audience is. What are you attempting to sell and the services you offer? Needless to say,   when starting a business or creating a website, you need the right audience. Knowing your keywords can help you figure out who you are if you don’t already know.
  1. Keyword research can reveal important information to understand where your keywords rank, the keywords that are easier to rank, and lastly, the keywords your competitors rank for. The main reason for starting an internet business or website is to be successful. Keyword research will reveal whether or not it is worthwhile to pursue a specific topic. To conduct a competition study, you must first determine the authority of the other websites listed for the keywords you’re interested in. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including manually or with the assistance of a keyword research tool, which expedites the process.
  1. Keyword research may unveil what people are searching for rather than what you think they are searching for. For keyword research, you’ll need to conduct some preliminary research on your target audience. You will undoubtedly learn a lot about your customers if you conduct a Google search or visit a forum about your problem. All of this client knowledge will come in handy as you progress. Acknowledging customer behaviour and trends will help you provide your customers with what they want.
  1. If only search engines are aware of your company will they be able to rank your website. Google will rank you for the keywords if you include them on multiple pages of your website. Identifying keywords to use in blogs and outreach will increase the number of visitors to your website.
  1. You give people what they want after conducting relevant keyword research. They are more likely to spread your content, implying that your website will grow organically and with fewer link-building efforts.  Most of the people love to sharing especially on platforms what they like Facebook and Twitter. A product of great Keyword research could be social shares.

Conclusion

A sign of good Keyword research is when you receive organic searches as you have understood what the masses are searching for. All you need is some strategic planning and some tools that will help you find the perfect set of keywords for your website. Follow the steps given above and it will help you gain the ranking you always wanted.

Author’s Bio 

I have completed my degree in Hotel Management and working in the field of Digital marketing. I am mainly focused on content writing but besides that, I find myself interested in SEO and Social Media marketing. My expertise spans in the field of hospitality industry, mainly in the food and beverage department.