How to do keyword research

Google’s algorithm updates keep us on our toes, one thing has remained fairly consistent for inbound marketers wanting to improve their websites for search: keyword research.ms.

Let’s go over the basics of keyword research before we get into the nitty gritty of how to find the best keywords for your business.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of locating and evaluating search phrases that people enter into search engines with the intention of utilising the information for a specific purpose, such as SEO or general marketing. Keyword research can provide target inquiries, as well as their popularity, ranking difficulty, and other information.

What is the significance of keyword research?

Keyword research is the only way to find out what people are typing into search engines. This is something you should be aware of in order to avoid writing about things that no one is interested in.

The goal of keyword research is to discover words and phrases that people are looking for on Google and other major search engines. These phrases are associated with your website’s products and services. Keywords are now more than ever focusing on the purpose of the searcher. Taking the time to understand your audience and the questions they’re asking, then finding ways to answer those questions in your content with a combination of keywords and phrases, is a big part of keyword research.

 

Keyword research can also assist you in answering questions such as:

• How difficult will ranking for this term be?
• What type of content should I develop to rank for this keyword?
• Are people who search for this keyword likely to become my customers?
• If I rank for this keyword, what type of traffic can I expect?

Finding the correct answers to these questions will assist you in intelligently choosing your conflicts.

 

How to do keyword research

Fortunately, you can do it in two easy steps. 

1. Choose a topic.

Let’s imagine you have the following keywords on your list:

• How to do seo 
• Seo audit 
• Link building strategy
• What is digital marketing

You could be wondering whether you should create a separate page for each keyword or if you should target them all on the same page.

The answer is mostly determined by Google’s interpretation of these terms. Is it of the opinion that they are part of the same subject? Or does it treat each of them as a separate topic? Looking at the Google results will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

The downside with this method is that it is quite manual and slow, so it can take a long time if you have a large number of keywords to evaluate.

Our solution to this problem in Keywords Explorer is to display a “Parent Topic” for each term. It shows you whether we think you’ll be able to rank for your goal keyword if you instead target a broader topic.

We take the top-ranking page for each keyword and locate the keyword that provides the most traffic to the page to determine the “Parent Topic.”

Our Parent Topic function, on the other hand, isn’t without its limitations. Because Google’s search results are unpredictable, it doesn’t always give you clear instructions on how to organize your keywords by page (a strategy known as “keyword clustering” in SEO).

2. Determine the purpose of your search.

Assume you’ve compiled a list of the following keywords:

• Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
• Google Analytics
• Email marketing tools
• Social media marketing tools

If you have an online store and a blog, you must know which to target with blog entries and which with product pages.

The top results for a keyword are frequently a good proxy for search intent because Google understands intent better than anybody else. You should develop the same type of content that is already ranking on the first page if you want to have the best chance of ranking.

In Keywords Explorer, you may see the top results for your country. Simply press the “SERP” caret.

From here, you can look at the three C’s of search intent to figure out how to best target the keyword:

 

1. Type of content

Blog entries, products, categories, landing pages, and videos are the most common content types.

 

2. Format of the content

The term “content format” refers mostly to “informational” content. How-tos, listicles, news stories, opinion pieces, and reviews are all common examples.

 

3. Aspect of the content

The key selling feature of the content is its angle. People looking for “how to make latte” don’t seem to want to know how to do it without a machine or any particular equipment, for example.

Just keep in mind that, while it’s crucial to match your content to what searches expect, you don’t necessarily want to follow the herd and keep searchers trapped in their expectations bubble. Give it a chance if you’re convinced that a different content type, format, or angle will catch searchers’ interest.

Prioritization of keywords isn’t the last stage in the keyword research process. It’s more of a thing you should do as you move through the preceding steps.

 

Ask yourself these questions as you’re looking for keywords, examining their metrics, and categorizing them:

• What is the keyword’s estimated traffic potential?
• Do you have any content on this subject already? What will it take to develop and promote a competitive page if you don’t already have one?
• Do you already have a ranking for this term? Could you increase traffic by a few points in your ranking?
• What is the level of competition? What would it take to get it ranked?
• Is the traffic you’re getting likely to convert into leads and purchases, or will it only raise brand awareness?

 

Everything mentioned above should be sufficient to grasp the fundamentals of keyword research and create your content strategy.

Check out the links to additional reading dispersed throughout the article if you want to learn more about keyword research. These can help you gain a better knowledge of the measurements and tools accessible to you, as well as how to use them.