Keyword research is essential to the success of any online marketing campaign. Knowing how to do keyword research for SEO will not only boost your search rankings on Search Engine Results Pages or SERPs, it will also open new avenues that will help you make smarter decisions about your strategy, budget, and implementation.
However, keyword research for search engine optimization is a time-consuming process that can affect how you reach potential leads, traffic, and customers online. Fortunately, we put together some keyword research tips, so you don’t have to spend hours researching keywords and comparing them to one another.
Before we get into that, let’s take a preview of some basics.
What is keyword research, and why is it important for SEO?
Keyword research is the process of identifying words and phrases (known as “keywords”) that people often use in search engines like Google. This includes popular search queries that are usually pertinent to customer’s interests. Businesses make use of this information to know what their prospective customers search for the most.
By making use of the most-searched keywords on SERPs, you can create blogs or content that can help you rank higher on Google, thereby promoting your businesses to larger audiences and more qualified leads. Simply put, knowing how to research high-traffic keywords helps you become more visible to your prospective customers or clients. By being on top of organic listings, you will receive more clicks, increase engagement with customers, and generate more sales and revenue as a result.
Now that you understand why it’s important to make use of efficient keyword research practices let’s unleash your site’s untapped opportunities with these helpful keyword research tips.
1. Know your topic.
First things first – you have to find relevant topics that your prospective customer would be interested in. Make a list of topics that relate to the different aspects of your business. Your aim for this step is to find a good topic that can rank you high up in general topic buckets. You can have around 5-10 topics, and from there, you can derive specific keywords that have an outstanding search volume. For example, “SEO” (214K).
2. Identify your audience.
One of the most overlooked practices when it comes to keyword research is first to understand who you are delivering and optimizing content for. You may not realize it, but you can find tips in the questions that are often posted by your customers or by checking out Google’s “People also ask” section. This will give you an idea of what your target audience looks for when they are searching for information about products and services. You can apply this knowledge when conducting market research. By “getting into their heads,” you can narrow down the keywords to a list of those that will likely lead them to your site.
3. Use keyword research tools.
Keyword research tools can help you expand your keyword research even further. These tools make the entire process of finding effective keywords that are related to your website or business a lot easier – and the good news is that several of them are free. Some of the best keyword research tools are the following:
- Google’s Keyword Planner
- ExplodingTopics.com
- Ubersuggest
- Keyword Surfer
- WordStream’s Keyword Tool
As per online marketing consultant Aaron Aders, using relevant variations among the tool’s suggested list of potential phrases can help marketers expand their keyword portfolios.
4. Go for Longtail Keyword Phrases
It is important that you use longtail keyword phrases, which are keywords that are specific to a particular market. To optimize content for the right people, you need to be specific. For instance, you can use “sports training” – or even “basketball training” – compared to only mentioning “training” in your keyword. The more specific you are, the better content optimization for your site. Plus, longtail phrases usually have less competition in search results – allowing you more chances of ranking higher on Google and other search engines.
5. Keep Yourself Updated
You should know by now that Google updates its algorithms constantly. To keep up with these updates, you need to know how to do keyword research for SEO. Keep yourself informed of Google’s changes so you can build a content strategy that complies with these changes. Doing so can surely optimize your website and increase the number of visitors you have.
There you have it! With these keyword research tips, we hope that you can generate a list of keywords that will help you focus on the right topics for your business. Remember to re-evaluate these keywords and keep your content updated, as keyword research is not only done once. Get professional help! Call us today or visit our website for more information.
