Can’t find the right keywords for your website? Don’t rely on the basics of a keyword research tool. Use Some tips to discover a goldmine of keywords. Let’s explore the powerful keyword research process

keyword

What are keywords and why are they important?

Keywords are very important for every business website as they drive targeted web traffic to your business for free. When done well, using the right keywords can skyrocket your business to sales success online.

Keywords are the words and phrases that Internet users type into search box of a search engine, such as Google, to find what websites that match what are looking for.
Some keywords get hundreds of thousands of unique searches a day while others get a couple of hundred. At the same time, some high trafficked keywords are very competitive online because many businesses are trying to get referrals and traffic from users when they search for those keywords while others are not.

What is Keyword Research?

keyword research

Keyword Research is a process search engine optimization (SEO) professionals use to find and research alternative search terms that people enter into search engine while looking for similar subject.
Keyword research is one of the most important, valuable, and high return activities in the search marketing field. Ranking for the right keywords can make or break your website. By researching your market’s keyword demand, you can not only learn which terms and phrases to target with SEO, but also learn more about your customers as a whole.


Keyword Research Process

If you can master the art of finding awesome keywords for your business — you’ll not only benefit from more search engine traffic,but you’ll also know your customers better than your competition.

Despite the importance of Keyword Research Process, most people’s keyword research process looks something like this:

  1. Come up with a few keywords that potential customers might search for.

2. Plug those keywords into the Google Keyword Planner.

3. Pick a keyword based on gut feeling.

Well today, all that changes.

There is a long road ahead and establishing a keyword research process is the first step that will help get you where you want to go more effectively and efficiently.

Step 1: Brainstorm

There are 4 steps to an effectively keyword research process, and the first is brainstorming of keywords. Let’s remember who we are optimizing for: the user. With that in mind, let’s ask:

How would a customer search for you?

What services do you offer?

Is there more than one way of saying an industry term? (policy/industry vs. customer). 

Some more ways to explode that keyword list: 

  1. Thesaurus
  2. Google Suggest
  3. Google Keyword Tool
  4. Competitor Website
  5. Website

After you’ve brainstormed a list of specific keyword ideas to research, you’re ready to get started on your research.

Step 2: Run a keyword report on an industry-related website

I love this technique when coming up with blog ideas for my clients.

Industry-related websites, like online magazines or associations, typically generate a lot of content on a regular basis to appease advertiser demands.

Since their content marketing engine is high geared these types of websites usually rank well for many different keywords. Keywords that could be extremely relevant to your own website.

But, be prepared to sort through A LOT of keyword data. Most of these industry-related websites are ranking for thousands of keywords.

Step 3: Google’s “Related Searches” at bottom of Search Results page

Google is presenting other similar keywords based upon my original search term. I started with “chicago bears apparel” and they’re showing me other long-tail keywords that may help me narrow down websites more specific to my needs (e.g. chicago bears vintage apparel).

Basically, you’re leaning on Google (which isn’t a bad thing) to help you research keyword ideas. This screams opportunity. And it’s fast. And free!

Step 4: Use Google Suggest

Google Suggest (aka “Autocomplete”) was introduced in 2007 and quickly become a core feature. Google is attempting to suggest the best matching search queries for what you’re entering in real-time. Generally you’ll see 3-5 suggestions, sometimes even up to 10 are displayed. You’ll see something like this every time you google:

Aside from helping searchers, Google Suggest can be an option for finding great keywords for your website.

If your business is offering a product, fire up a search around your products and see if referenced in different ways .
Google Suggest is a great technique to start the momentum on your keyword research process. If you’re stuck and making no headway, use this tip to energize yourself.

google-suggest

Step 5: Keyword Research Process requires multiple techniques & tools

As the saying goes, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

Very rarely will a single keyword research tool be sufficient for the job. I’m consistently using multiple tools and techniques to find the right data to optimize my client’s websites. As you begin to experiment and familiarize yourself with these techniques, you’ll start to learn the strengths of each.

Focus on the right keywords

#Steps to choose focus keyword:

  • Fetch some relevant and right keywords that suit your content
  • Sort these keywords in the descending order of search volume and in the ascending order of difficulty score.
  • Select a keyword with low difficulty score and high search volume as your focus keyword

How to find the best keywords?

Many of the tools listed below can help you analyze other aspects of your website’s performance, not just keywords. But even if you’re just looking at keyword data, these tools can give you information like search volume, ranking difficulty (useful for content strategy and SEO), keyword value (useful for pay per click advertising), competition and more.

There are dozens of keyword research tools,and these tools are helpful in various ways. You can check this article 10-best-seo-tools-for-your-business  to know more about the tools and it’s uses.

Here are some of our favorites to get you started.

  1. Ahrefs is a complete suite of keyword research, content and SEO tools.
  2. Answer the Public breaks down its results by type of question, so that you can target content to providing the answers.
  3. Google Adwords Keyword Planner lets you evaluate monthly global and local search volumes for keywords, competition levels and an estimated cost per click. To get keyword ideas, login and go to Tools » Keyword Planner, and choose one of the options under Find New Keywords and Search Volume.
  4. SEMrush provides keyword data and helps you find keywords related to your main search terms. This paid tool has lots of other features, too, but you can try out a free keyword search on this page.
  5. The SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool provides search volumes, related terms, estimated value and more.                                                    
Conclusion:

Of course, you’ll also use keywords and related terms throughout your content. Avoid keyword stuffing, though-it’s considered a black hat SEO tactic and will backfire. Have a main keyword in mind and then use variations, so you write like a human being for human beings. When you’re done, check back to see if you can include additional semantic keywords without compromising readability and content effectiveness.
Now you know how to use keyword research process to choose the right terms for Google and help your target customers find your content. Don’t forget to periodically perform an SEO audit to catch any errors that might be tanking your rankings and traffic.

Happy Researching! Don’t forget to share your views in the comment box.

4 Comments

  • Hi,
    The trends of using the right keywords and their relative density have definitely changed a lot in this year. The tools you have mentioned are quite popular and using a balanced combination of long tail and other LSI keywords can certainly help for a better optimization, keeping the seo audit – as you said – in the view.
    Thanks for sharing this post.

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