How to Find the Right keywords for SEO
Keyword research is the foundation of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and helps you find the right keywords for your website. it helps you discover search terms used by potential customers to fond information , products , or services via search engines.
Without keyword research, your blog will lack audience engagement as you target the wrong people. However, when you get your keywords right, you improve rankings, get quality leads, and boost organic traffic.
In this guide, we are going to define the keyword research, explain its importance, and provide a structured approach on how to carry out keyword research.
What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is the process of capturing search terms entered by users in search engines, analyzing them, and then expanding them.
Let’s say someone wants to learn digital marketing, they could search for the following keywords.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing course for beginners
How to learn digital marketing
Best digital marketing strategies
SEO tips for beginners
These are examples of search terms or keywords.
Keyword research enables you to know the relevancy of keywords in relation to your topic and guides you on the keywords you should target in your content.
Why Is Keyword Research Important?
Keyword research helps you align your content with what your audience is actually searching for.
- Helps You Understand Your Audience
If there is a high search interest for “SEO for beginners,” then you would know that it is a good a keyword to target for your beginner-focused SEO guide.
- Result in Organic Website Visits
User assisted searches help pages show up for certain keywords. When your page becomes relevant for a particular keyword, people are able to see your website without having to pay for each click.
- Generate Ideas for Website Content
Keyword search helps to provide blog topics and headings, FAQs, and subtopics. It helps to create content to respond to actual queries.
- Assist in Building a SEO Strategy
Instead of randomly choosing topics to write about, you can choose to build your SEO foundation on pertinent keywords to your page/site and the intended audience.
- Help Understand Search Intent
Keywords help to understand what the user is searching for. Knowing the search intent of the user helps search engines decide what information to provide to the user.
Types of Keywords
Understanding the different types of keywords helps when you are searching to add keywords to your site.
- Short-Tail Keywords
These keywords are very broad and are typically worded as single or dual word combinations (example: as below).
Social media
SEO
Digital marketing
These tend to have a high search volume, but can also be very competitive to rank for.
- Long-Tail Keywords
These are long and very descriptive keywords.
Best SEO tools for beginners
How to do SEO for beginners
How to do keyword research for a blog
Digital marketing for small businesses
- Informational Keywords
These are utilized when the user requires information.
Examples:
What is SEO?
What is Google Ads?
What is keyword research?
4.Commercial Keywords
When a user is looking for a product or service.
Examples:
Best SEO tools
Best Digital marketing courses
SEO software comparison
Understanding these will help you select keywords based on your content goals.
How to Find the Right Keywords Step by Step
Step 1: Understand Your Topic
Identify your topic and your audience.
Let’s say you are starting a website dedicated to digital marketing for beginners, your topics or keywords could possibly be:
SEO
Social Media Marketing
Google Ads
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Keyword research
This should give you an idea on how to proceed with your keyword research.
Step 2: Create Seed Keywords
Seed keywords are broad terms related to your topic.
For the example of a digital marketing website, your seed keywords could be:
Digital marketing
SEO
Keyword research
Google Ads
Social media marketing
From there you can look for more specific keyword ideas.
Step 3: Use Keyword Research Tools
There are different resources and tools that can give you keyword ideas and keyword data.
Google Keyword Planner
Google Trends
Google Search Console
Ahrefs
Semrush
Ubersuggest
For starters, Google Keyword Planner is helpful because it provides right keywords and search data.
Step 4: Check Search Volume
This metric indicates the number of searches within a given period of time.
For example:
Keyword: SEO tips for beginners
Search volume: 1,000 monthly searches
Higher search volumes indicate more opportunity for traffic, but it also likely means more competition.
Therefore, you cannot solely base your keyword choice on search volume.
Step 5: Check Keyword Competition
Competition refers to how challenging it is to compete for a keyword.
For a new website, trying to optimize for highly competitive keywords is a lost cause.
For example:
“SEO” is really broad and really competitive.
Something possibly a little more competitive for this website is
“SEO tips for beginners.”
Exact competition metrics vary depending on engine, tool, country, and the search result.
Step 6: Focus on Search Intent
Search intent is the reasoning behind the user’s search.
For example, if someone types in
“What is keyword research?”
they’re probably looking for a definition.
For someone searching
“Best keyword research tool”
they are likely comparing tools.
Someone searching
“buy SEO software”
is probably looking to buy and someone with a buying intent.
Optimize your content around the keyword’s search intent.
Step 7: Consider the Search Results
Before targeting a keyword, take the time to study the search results.
You need to look at
What kind of pages are ranking?
Consider the length and depth of the pages.
Is there an opportunity to provide additional answers?
What topics are missing?
pay attention to these things to help you understand what Google thinks is important for that search.
Step 8: Target Long-tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are frequently useful for beginners and newer sites.
Everything can be targeted toward:
SEO tips for small business websites
Rather than:
SEO
Everything can be targeted toward:
How to create a Google Ads campaign for beginners
Rather than:
Google Ads
Each of these offer specificity and draw users with a search need that is easier to identify.
Keyword Selection Example
Let’s say that you want to write a blog article about SEO.
You find the following keywords:
Keywords Search Intent Competition Recommended Content Idea
SEO Informational High Complete SEO Guide
SEO tips Informational Medium SEO Tips
SEO tips for beginners Informational Lower Beginner SEO Guide
How to improve SEO Informational Medium Step-by-Step SEO Guide
Best SEO tools for beginners Commercial/Informational Medium SEO Tools Comparison
For a newly established website, it could be better to target “SEO tips for beginners” or “Best SEO tools for beginners” instead of “SEO.”
Common Mistakes When Doing Keyword Research
Many keyword mistakes that beginners make can be attributed to a lack of experience.
Over-Focusing on Volumetric Keyword Selection
Keyword selection cannot only be about volume. There must be consideration for relevance and competition.
Overlooking Search Intent
It is important that your content focuses on matching search intent and not keyword inclusion. Otherwise fixing ranking can be problematic.
Keyword Stuffing
Content cannot be stuffed with keywords. Writing content for users should come first, and then keywords can be added as naturally as possible.
Focusing on Many Keywords at Once
It can confuse your content to try to rank for dozens of keywords on one page. Related keywords should be focused on.
Ignoring Long-Tail Keywords
Long-Tail Keywords can draw traffic and provide specific questions about your audience. This is useful especially for new sites.
How to Choose the Appropriate & Right Keyword
A good keyword will tend to meet the following requirements:
Related: It will be closely connected to your content.
Search Demand: People will need to be searching for it.
Competition: The competition will be suitable for your site.
Search Intent: Your content will satisfy what the user wants.
Value: The keyword will help you achieve your business/content goal for the website.
Remember, the ‘best’ keyword is usually not the one with the highest search volume. Often times, the best keyword is the one that is relevant, achievable, and useful to your audience.
Conclusion
The essence of keyword research stems from audience understanding and the ability to identify gaps in content to create optimized content.
Develop your first list of potential keywords based on your understanding of your topic, add additional words people might use to find content around your topic, use keyword research tools, consider the search volume and competition, understand what search intent means, and study the search result descriptions.
Beginners should not go for broad terms. It is better to target long-tail keywords that are more specific. If you have great content, you can target keywords to gain visibility among your intended audience over the long term.