How do you perform keyword research?

hotsiagoodman
November 26, 2024

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How do you perform keyword research?

Performing effective keyword research involves several steps, tools, and strategies to identify the most relevant and valuable keywords for your business or website. Here’s a step-by-step guide to performing keyword research:

1. Understand Your Business and Audience

Before diving into tools and data, it’s crucial to have a clear understanding of your business goals, products, services, and target audience. Ask yourself:

  • What does your business offer?
  • Who are your ideal customers?
  • What problems do your products or services solve?
  • What words or phrases might your target audience use when searching for these solutions?

Understanding these questions will help you identify seed keywords (basic keywords) that form the foundation of your research.

2. Brainstorm Seed Keywords

Start by thinking about broad terms or phrases that are directly related to your products, services, or industry. These will serve as seed keywords, the starting point of your research.

For example:

  • For a coffee shop: “coffee,” “espresso,” “cappuccino,” “coffee beans.”
  • For a digital marketing agency: “SEO,” “online advertising,” “PPC,” “social media marketing.”

These seed keywords are general and can be expanded using keyword research tools.

3. Use Keyword Research Tools

Once you have a list of seed keywords, you can use keyword research tools to find variations, search volumes, competition levels, and related terms. Some of the most popular tools include:

  • Google Keyword Planner: A free tool from Google Ads that helps you find keyword ideas, search volume, and competition levels.
  • Ahrefs: A powerful tool for keyword research that provides keyword ideas, search volume, keyword difficulty, and more.
  • SEMrush: Offers keyword suggestions, search volume, competition data, and insights into what competitors are targeting.
  • Moz Keyword Explorer: Provides keyword suggestions along with search volume and competition data.
  • Ubersuggest: A free tool by Neil Patel that gives keyword ideas, search volume, competition, and cost-per-click (CPC) data.
  • Answer The Public: Generates questions and phrases related to a specific topic based on search volume, helping you understand what users are asking.

Enter your seed keywords into one of these tools to discover new keywords, variations, long-tail keywords, and phrases related to your target audience’s search queries.

4. Analyze Search Volume and Competition

Once you have a list of keyword suggestions, it’s time to analyze them. Key factors to consider:

  • Search Volume: Indicates how often a keyword is searched, usually on a monthly basis. A higher search volume means more people are searching for that keyword.
  • Keyword Difficulty/Competition: This metric indicates how hard it is to rank for a particular keyword. Keywords with high competition may require more effort, budget, or authority to rank for.
  • Cost per Click (CPC): If you’re doing paid search, CPC shows how much advertisers are willing to pay for a click on that keyword. A higher CPC often signals more competition and a higher potential return.

Focus on finding a balance between high-volume keywords and those that have relatively lower competition. Long-tail keywords (more specific phrases) are often easier to rank for, and they can bring highly targeted traffic.

5. Evaluate Keyword Intent

Understanding search intent is critical when selecting keywords. There are four main types of search intent:

  • Informational: The user is looking for information or answers (e.g., “how to make coffee”).
  • Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website or brand (e.g., “Starbucks coffee”).
  • Transactional: The user is ready to make a purchase or take action (e.g., “buy espresso machine”).
  • Commercial Investigation: The user is comparing products or services before making a decision (e.g., “best coffee beans for espresso”).

Make sure to target keywords that match the intent of your audience. For instance, a business looking to generate sales should focus on transactional or commercial investigation keywords, while a blog or content site might prioritize informational keywords.

6. Refine Your Keyword List

After gathering keyword ideas, start refining your list. Consider the following when narrowing down:

  • Relevance: Is the keyword highly relevant to your business or the content you’re creating?
  • Search Volume: How often is the keyword searched? Aim for a balance between volume and competition.
  • Competition: Are you able to rank for this keyword, or is it too competitive?
  • Long-Tail Keywords: These are more specific phrases that tend to be less competitive and more likely to convert. For example, “best coffee beans for French press” is a long-tail keyword compared to the more general “coffee beans.”

7. Analyze SERP (Search Engine Results Pages)

Before finalizing your list, check the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) for your selected keywords. This helps you understand how competitive the keyword is and what type of content ranks. Look for:

  • Featured Snippets: If a keyword triggers a featured snippet (the boxed content at the top of the SERP), it’s an opportunity for your content to rank in that position.
  • Local Packs: For local businesses, keywords that trigger local packs (e.g., “coffee shops near me”) require strong local SEO optimization.
  • Ad Results: If there are many ads for a keyword, it might indicate a commercial intent or higher competition.

By understanding the SERP, you can tailor your content to meet the specific needs of users searching for that keyword.

8. Group Keywords by Themes or Topics

Once you’ve identified your target keywords, group them into categories or themes. This is particularly helpful for content creation and SEO, as it allows you to focus on creating comprehensive content around specific topics. For example:

  • Coffee-related Keywords: “best coffee beans,” “buy coffee beans online,” “how to brew coffee.”
  • Espresso-related Keywords: “best espresso machine,” “how to make espresso,” “buy espresso coffee beans.”

This grouping helps you develop more focused content and optimize your website or landing pages for multiple related keywords.

9. Track Keyword Performance and Refine

Keyword research is an ongoing process. Once you start using your selected keywords in content, SEO, or paid ads, track their performance using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Pay attention to:

  • Organic Search Traffic: Which keywords are bringing traffic to your site?
  • Conversion Rate: Are users converting after landing on your pages optimized for these keywords?
  • Ad Performance: For paid campaigns, which keywords are driving clicks, and are they cost-effective?

Regularly update and refine your keyword strategy based on performance data. Keywords and search trends change over time, so it’s important to stay flexible and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Tools for Keyword Research:

  1. Google Keyword Planner – Free tool for keyword ideas and search volume.
  2. Ahrefs – Comprehensive SEO tool with keyword research features.
  3. SEMrush – A tool for competitor analysis and keyword suggestions.
  4. Moz Keyword Explorer – Provides keyword difficulty and suggestions.
  5. Answer The Public – Great for finding questions and phrases around topics.
  6. Ubersuggest – Free tool for keyword research and SEO suggestions.

Summary of Steps to Perform Keyword Research:

  1. Understand your business and audience.
  2. Brainstorm seed keywords based on your business and target audience.
  3. Use keyword research tools to expand your list with related terms and variations.
  4. Analyze search volume, competition, and CPC to find the best keywords.
  5. Evaluate keyword intent (informational, transactional, etc.) to match user needs.
  6. Refine your keyword list by focusing on relevance, search volume, and competition.
  7. Analyze the SERP to understand the competition and opportunities.
  8. Group keywords into themes to focus content creation.
  9. Track performance and refine your strategy over time.

By following these steps, you can perform keyword research that helps attract the right audience, improve SEO, and optimize paid advertising efforts.

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