What is keyword research, and why is it important?
How to conduct keyword research
- Make a list of broad topics relevant to your topic.
- Expand each topic with a list of phrases you think your customers use.
- Find related search terms.
- Analyze the strength of your keywords.
- Determine how you rank in your industry.
- Verify search intent.
Let us explain these steps one after the other.
- Make a list of broad topics relevant to your topic.
In this first step, you want to create a spreadsheet with general categories or “buckets” for the keywords you wish to rank for. These might correspond to product categories or anything you believe your target audience would be interested in. If you blog from time to time, you may already have some topics you cover regularly.
2. Expand each topic with a list of phrases you think your customers use:
Next, with these general categories at hand, it’s time to identify the terms and phrases your target customer might type into the search bar to locate information, products, or services.
If you already have data from website analytics software like Google Analytics or HubSpot’s Sources report, look through your organic search traffic bucket to identify keywords consumers already use to arrive at your website.
This is not meant to be a final list of keywords but an opportunity to brainstorm for data points to make your research more targeted and fruitful.
3. Find related search terms:
There are many creative ways to add to your keyword lists.
- Search a keyword phrase in Google and scroll to the bottom of the page, where you’ll see a list of related search phrases in bold.
- For a deeper dive, click on one of the related searches and check out the list Google suggests at the bottom of that second page.
- The website AnswerThePublic allows up to 3 free searches a day. It delivers a chart of phrases people are searching for related to your topic.
- You can also type your keyword phrase into Google’s Keyword Planner or one of the paid tools listed below and see what other relevant terms people use.
4. Analyze the strength of your keywords:
The easiest way to accomplish this next step is with Keyword Planner or a paid keyword research or SEO tool. Ahrefs, Semrush, Wordtracker, and Ubersuggest are some of the most popular. Wordtracker and Ubersuggest both have free versions you can use to start.
Here’s what you’re looking for when you analyze your keywords.
- What is the exact search term? Make sure your keyword phrase matches the precise search term people use.
- How high is the search volume? If no one uses a keyword phrase, it won’t do you much good to structure a strategy around it. Look for the highest search volume available.
- How steep is the competition? The paid tools differentiate between competition for paid ads versus for organic search. You want a higher search volume with lower organic search competition. That’s the sweet spot.
- Check for related terms you may have missed that have high search volume and low organic search competition.
5. Determine how you rank in your industry:
Check the SERP for your most desired search terms. If it’s filled with solid brand names that have more influence and market share than your company does (at the moment), go back and refine your list with long-tail keywords.
The one exception to this strategy is if your competitors haven’t been publishing quality content. If you know you can outdo their content in length, quality, and layout, then you may be able to outrank them even if they spend more money marketing their brand.
6. Verify search intent.
When a consumer enters a search query into Google, they are on a quest for something and every question needs a matching answer.
Make sure you understand your customers’ intent by typing your keywords into the search engine. What pages already rank for that phrase and what do they offer?
If a buyer is looking for information and you instead try to sell them a product, you may get a click, but they’ll bounce quickly, which will hurt your ranking. However, if a shopper is ready to buy and you deliver a product page, they’ll happily make a purchase.
Make a note in your spreadsheet about the buyer intent for each keyword phrase, or establish a habit for you or your team to check the intent of a keyword before creating content using it.
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