The first and most critical step in any search engine optimization (SEO) campaign is conducting thorough research on target keywords. Using SEO keywords as a guide helps ensure that your material is relevant and easily indexed by Google.
It takes a long time and a lot of effort to sift through data, figures, and lists of keywords to find the best keywords to match your site. However, it is an essential task for any online business or SEO company as SEO and content production are built on the foundation of careful keyword research.
In this article, we will run you through the importance of keyword research and how you can find the best ones for your site.
Understanding Keyword Research
Before we get into the step-by-step process of conducting keyword research, let’s quickly cover what we mean by the term.
Keyword research is closely related to SEO. It is a process of understanding and tracking the demand, use, and popularity of certain words or phrases, typically within search engines.
The process involves the identification of expected search queries that bring visitors to a website and then optimizing a website’s content to suit those queries.
Keywords are essential to SEO as they tell the search engines what your site is all about. If a search term has a lot of searches but has a low keyword difficulty score, it’s a great keyword to target.
Typically, SEO keyword research is used to find low competition, high-volume keywords that a site can rank for organically. You can then use these keywords for your website content, pay-per-click ads, social media content, etc.
The Importance of Keyword Research
Keyword research is one of the fundamental techniques in SEO. It is the “key” to knowing how to make your website visible to your target audience.
Conducting proper keyword research allows you to do the following:
- Increase the number of visitors to your site
- Get better engagement on your content
- Improve your lead generation
- Drive higher conversions to your website
- Identify relevant content for your target market
A Quick Guide to Conducting Keyword Research
So, how do you go about conducting keyword research? Here is a quick guide on what to do:
1 – Figure Out Your Niche
Before doing any keyword research, the first thing you should do is determine what your site will be about. Is the site about puppies, political science, cars, or shoes? What is the central theme or topic of your site?
Once you have identified the central theme of your site and you’re able to categorize it, it becomes easier to identify and rank for specific keywords relevant to your content.
2 – Set Up Your Goals
Once you’ve figured out the topic of your site, you need to determine what you want to do with it. Ask yourself some reflective questions like what is your brand about and what makes you unique? Do you want to sell a product or start a weekly newsletter? How will you measure the success of these goals?
Your SEO strategy and plan will have a direction if you clearly define your goals. Your goals will also influence the objective of your SEO copywriting and the content. To get the most out of your search strategy, you need to ensure that the phrases you employ are linked with your goals.
Put your plans into writing. Create diagrams and graphs. As a starting point for your content and internet marketing strategy, these will serve as a guidepost.
3 – List Down Relevant Topics and Seed Keywords
Now that you’ve established a broad category and goals, it’s time to divide them down into smaller topic buckets. Seed keywords can be derived from these topic buckets.
These keywords should be connected not only with your central theme but more significantly with the terms that your target audience may look for on Google.
Seed keywords, also known as focus keywords, are crucial because they will serve as the foundation for your keyword study. They help establish your niche and determine who your competitors are.
By brainstorming and listing down seed keywords, you can make sense of the large web of keywords available to you. Be sure to conduct some keyword search queries and study the results. Then, you can start to filter out the potential ones that are relevant to your website.
4 – Use Keyword Research Tools
If you need help looking for seed or focus keywords for your brand or product, there are various online tools to help you. These tools can make the keyword research process so much easier.
To use these tools, you first need to think of your service in the most basic way and consider how other people would search for it on Google. You input these words into the tool, and they will help you find related keywords easily!
There are various keyword research tools you can use online. However, only use these once you have set up your goals, central theme, and seed keywords. These are only meant to refine your search and not dictate your search.
Some common tools include Google Keyword Planner and Keyword Tool.
5 – Identify Your Search Intent Keywords
Now that you know the broad categories of your site and the seed keywords that you need to focus on, it’s time to start narrowing them down.
Search intent keywords help you figure out the action your target audience would like to take. These are “how-to” or “what is” keywords. They allow you to determine the purpose of a person’s search query.
So, if your niche is “fashion” and your seed keyword is “boots,” a related search intent keyword could be”how to choose the best boots.”
You can then use these search intent keywords to set up some long-tail keywords. These are longer keywords with about three to five words. This may include the location of your business, a specific model of your product, and high intent keywords.
Conclusion
Keyword research is a crucial step in the SEO process. Many newbies to SEO tend to overlook the importance of keyword research. Don’t be one of them. Study your niche, set up your goals, and use the keyword tools to help guide your search.
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