Have you ever wondered how some websites reach the top of search results? Luck has nothing to do with it; it’s all about the power of choosing perfect keywords. Keyword research is the foundation of SEO. You won’t get visitors or clients if no one is looking for what you write. That’s why learning how to do keyword research for SEO is crucial for your online success. In this blog, we will know what keyword research is, its importance & how to do keyword research for SEO using best-proven strategies that even a beginner can follow.
What is Keyword Research in SEO?
Keyword research in SEO is finding & analyzing the best keywords, phrases, or search terms that your user or target audience writes on any search engine while looking for products, services, and information. This SEO keyword research process helps uncover valuable information, such as which keywords/queries to target, their popularity, and their ranking difficulty. It enables you to create content, ads, and videos tailored to your audience’s search queries, boosting website visibility and driving more traffic.
Why is Keyword Research Important for SEO?
Keyword research ensures that there is demand for the specific keyword/ topic you’re writing about, which you can see through its search volume ( continue reading to learn more on this), so if your page ranks well in Google for your target, you will get a steady stream of highly targeted traffic to your site, increasing your sites’ SEO value. Keyword research for SEO also helps uncover any related topic that you must add to your blog posts or websites. This way, people will see you as an industry expert ( like Investopedia). According to Ahref’s search traffic study, almost 96.55% of all the index page content gets no traffic from Google. In simpler terms, if the topic or blog you’re writing about doesn’t have a real audience, then what’s the point of writing it? If no one is looking for your topic, you will not receive any search traffic—no matter how high your search engine rankings are. Keywords guide users to organic search results and, in turn, to websites that align with their search intent. This is why it’s so important to find the right & specific keywords when it comes to SEO. When you know how to do keyword research, you can make informed decisions about your search engine optimization strategy. You don’t have to guess what your audience is searching for. You know exactly what keywords will lead users to your business & can optimize your content to target those keywords.
Read more: Keyword Funnel In SEO? What It Is & How It Works Must Know Before Starting SEO Keyword Research
Knowing how to do keyword research can be a game changer for your SEO strategy. However, there are some keyword research elements that you must know beforehand. Let’s learn more about them.
Keyword Relevance or Intent
Keyword relevance is the relationship between the targeted keywords and the overall theme or topic of your website, product, or service. Simply say your chosen keyword must match the searcher’s intent. To rank high in SERPs, the keywords you’re targeting need to be relevant to your content. There are broadly 4 search intents you must know-
- Navigational intent: Users want to find a specific place or page. He/she already knows what they are looking for. (e.g., “ Starbucks near me,” “Facebook login”). These search queries are often branded.
- Informational intent: Users want to learn more & have questions about who, what, where, why, and how. (e.g., “What is omnichannel marketing”). Google often answers these in zero-click searches or rich snippets like knowledge graphs, FAQs, video snippets, etc.
- Commercial intent: Users want to research further before purchasing (e.g., “best mobile phone”). The search results for these queries include third-party pages with independent reviews of the specific product/service.
- Transactional intent: Users want to do something specific. Please note that these are not restricted to queries about buying something. (e.g., “MacBook Pro price”). These keywords are the real money-makers as if these are often used by users ready to convert. Google does not want to provide searchers with results that do not resolve their query. So before proceeding with keyword research for SEO, you must be straightforward about the type of search intent you need to target.
What is keyword search volume?
The average number of people searching for a keyword within a given time frame or a month (also known as monthly search volume) is known as keyword search volume. Various SEO & PPC tools use this metric to inform marketers how often a particular keyword is searched in a given month. You can use keyword volume to determine how popular and competitive a particular keyword is. This can help you target the keywords most likely to generate traffic.
So, how much keyword search volume does a webpage need?
A website can have hundreds or millions of searches in a month. This will depend on several factors, such as your SEO, business goals, needs, etc. Keyword Difficulty (SEO difficulty or keyword competition) is the metric used to measure how hard it is to rank for a given keyword in organic search results. Several factors, including Domain Authority, Page Authority, and Content Quality, determine a keyword’s difficulty. Below are the all keyword difficulty scores.
Why is keyword difficulty significant?
Understanding keyword difficulty helps you determine how many resources & backlinks you’ll need to rank for the chosen keyword.
How To Do Keyword Research for SEO- 10 Best Ways to Start
Make A List Of Your Business & SEO Goals
Whether you are conducting keyword research for your client’s business or yourself. Start by setting clear objectives for your keyword ideas. Keyword research for SEO begins with putting yourself in the potential customer’s shoes. Knowing your audience, what they’re looking for, and how they search is essential. Also, knowing your end goal helps a lot. Do you want to drive more traffic to your site, get more conversions, or increase your brand awareness? Suppose a local gym, “FitZone,” is keen on enhancing its organic search visibility. Before finding relevant keywords for a fitness gym’s SEO, it’s essential to understand who their customers are and their goals. Don’t miss this crucial planning phase, which is often skipped due to its time-consuming nature. This will help you open doors to the possibility of keyword ideas that you must be sleeping on before. Returning to the “FitZone” example, questions like below are a good start for a keyword finding & analysis process:
- What types of fitness programs, classes, or equipment are people searching for?
- When do people typically search for fitness services or equipment?
- Are there seasonal trends in fitness-related searches?
- How do people search for fitness-related information? What keywords, queries, and phrases do they use?
You power up your SEO keyword research strategy by answering questions that explore end-user needs, behavior, and concerns. This approach provides a clearer understanding of the keywords you should focus on.
Look For “ Seed Keywords ”
After gaining a clear picture of the potential customer’s mindset. Now is the time to determine your main or seed keyword. Seed keywords define your industry niche and help you find your competition. Identifying seed keywords is easy if your product or business is already online and you want to promote it. Think about what people type in Google to search for what you offer. Let’s take the same example of a gym. If you aim to promote the gym online, your seed keywords might include- Gym Workouts Fitness Classes Strength Training Cardio Exercises It’s important to note that seed keywords alone won’t be worth targeting with your site’s pages. As the name implies, you will use them as ‘seeds’ for the next steps of this process. So, don’t worry too much about your seed keywords. Keep in mind these are just your topics to begin with. Identifying your seed keywords shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Once you have a few broad ideas related to the topic of your website, move on.
Use Wikipedia & Related Search for SEO Keyword Research
If you’re looking for a keyword research gold mine, Wikipedia is the place to go. It’s where you’ll find thousands of articles written by industry experts organized into neat categories. Here’s a quick guide to start: Type a broad term related to your industry in the Wikipedia search bar. Explore the article that appears. Read the table of contents and subheadings to find more specific topics. Take note of any relevant keywords or phrases that you can use in your own content. Repeat the process with related search terms to uncover even more keyword ideas. Wikipedia is a valuable resource for finding keywords and understanding the structure of your industry. It can provide insights into popular topics, industry terminology, and related search terms that you might not have considered.
