- Step-by-Step Guide on Conducting Keyword Research
Here's a step-by-step guide to conducting keyword
research effectively:
- What are you aiming for?
- Increase organic
traffic?
- Target local
customers?
- Rank for specific
products or services?
- Align your keyword research with your business objectives
and audience's needs.
- Research your audience demographics, interests, and pain
points.
- Identify:
- What problems they are trying to solve.
- What questions
they are asking.
- Example: A health blog audience might search for
"healthy meal plans" or "home workouts for beginners."
Step 3: Create a List of Seed Keywords
-What are seed keywords?
Basic terms that
describe your business or niche. These are the starting points for keyword
research.
- How to generate them?
- Use your products, services, or content topics.
- Consider analysis of customer feedback and FAQs.
- Tools: Google Auto-Suggest, industry forums, social media
sites.
- Example: For an online bookstore, seed keywords could be "buy books online," "novels," or "children's books."
Step 4. Keyword Research Tools
Use the following tools to expand and analyze your seed
keywords:
- Google Keyword Planner: for searches volume,
competition, related keywords
- Ahrefs/SEMRush: advanced keyword analysis tools,
keyword difficulty, and backlinks
- Ubersuggest: provides search volume, competition, and
content ideas
- Answer the Public: helps identify questions people ask
around your seed keyword
- Google Trends: for seasonal trends and comparing
popularity over time
- Informational: Users are searching for
information.
Example: "What
is a ketogenic diet?"
- Navigational: Users want a particular site or
brand.
Example:
"Amazon books."
- Transactional: Users want to buy.
Example: "Buy
Nike running shoes."
- Commercial Investigation: Users are researching
products.
Example: "Best
smartphones under $500."
Key metrics to look at:
- Search Volume: Monthly average of searches for the
keyword.
- Aim for medium to
high volume keywords.
- Keyword Difficulty (KD): Indicates how hard it is to
rank.
- Target
low-to-moderate difficulty keywords initially.
- CPC (Cost-Per-Click): Helpful if running ads. High CPC
suggests high commercial value.
- Trends: Seasonal or evergreen keywords.
Step 7: Group Keywords into Clusters
- Cluster keywords with similar intent or themes.
- Example:
- Cluster: Weight loss
Keywords:
"how to lose weight," "diet plans for weight loss,"
"weight loss workouts."
- This way, focused content or web pages are created for
better rankings.
Step 8: Competitor Analysis
Use tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush to analyze your
competitors:
- Which keywords are bringing traffic to their sites?
- What is ranking
for these keywords?
- Gaps and potential
untapped opportunities
- Rank your keywords according to:
- High intent and relevance.
- Medium to high search volume with manageable competition.
- Aligns with the content or business strategy.
Seed keywords are the core terms that define your website's niche, products, services, or content. To find seed keywords, follow these steps:
1. Determine Your Website's Niche
- Define your primary business or objective. Example: If your website sells custom handmade jewelry, then your site's focus might be described as "custom jewelry" or "handcrafted accessories."
Ask yourself the following:
- What is my website about?
- What products, services, or information do I offer?
- Who is my target audience, and what are they looking for?
2. Deconstruct Your Products, Services, or Content
- Write down the broad categories of your offerings.
Example: For a fitness website:
- Categories: Workouts, Diet Plans, Fitness Equipment.
- Seed keywords: "workout routines, "weight loss diets," "home gym equipment."
3. Competitors' Websites
- Identify the keywords competitors are aiming for.
How to do this:
- Install Ahrefs, SEMRush, or Ubersuggest to analyze competitor sites.
- Find out broad keywords in meta tags of their sites in the titles and content.
4. Google Search Autocomplete
- Type the first part of a keyword into Google and capture all the suggestions.
Example:
- Just type "healthy recipes" → Suggestions: "healthy recipes for weight loss," "healthy recipes quick."
5. Leverage Industry and Niche Forums
- Go to platforms like Reddit, Quora, or niche forums and see what people ask.
- Example: In a parenting forum, you will find seed keywords such as "baby care tips" or "toddler activities."
6. Leverage Online Tools for Ideas
- Answer the Public: Provides seed keywords through the questions that people ask.
- Google Keyword Planner: Provides related terms along with their metrics.
- Google Trends: Identifies trending topics associated with your niche.
7. Tap into Customer Insights
- You talk to your customers or audience. Ask them
Questions like:
- What would you search for to find this product/service?
- What problems are you trying to solve?
8. Analyze Your Website
- If your site has existing content:
- Utilize Google Search Console for existing keywords bringing traffic.
- Look over any blog posts or product descriptions for recurring terms.
9. Browse Social Media
- Check for hashtags, posts, and trends related to your niche.
- A travel blog might get ideas for seed keywords from hashtags like #TravelTips or #SoloTravel.
10. Begin Broad, Narrow Down
Seed keywords should be broad terms at the onset. As you dive deeper into keyword research, narrow them down based on:
Geography: "restaurants in Delhi".
Audience -specific needs: "fitness for beginners".
- Role of Search Intent in Keyword Research
Search intent, also referred to as **user intent**, is the main target or purpose that motivated the user to search for it. Understanding the search intent is important in keyword research because it enables you to align your content and SEO strategy with what users are actually looking for. Here's an in-depth look at its role:
Why Search Intent Is Important in Keyword Research
1. Relevance to Content
- Users are always searching for specific content related to their intent, which will increase engagement and reduce bounce rates for your content.
2. Improved Search Engine Rankings
- The next thing is that search engines, like Google, prefer content that meets the user's intent. Your content is most likely to rank if it matches the intent.
3. Boosts Conversion Rates
- Achieving transactional or commercial intent keywords turns visitors into customers
4. Saves Wasted Effort \
- Content is not aligned (such as when aiming for informational intent and they are here to buy) wastes both your time and resources and might even anger the visitor.
Search Intent Types
1. Informational Intent
Users are looking for knowledge or an answer to a question. \
Example keywords:
- "How to bake a cake"
- "What is SEO?"
- Content Type: Blog posts, how-to guides, explainer videos.
2. Navigational Intent
- Users search for a particular website, brand, or product.
- Example keywords:
- "Facebook login"
- "Nike official store"
- Content Type: Homepage, branded landing pages.
3. Transactional Intent
- Users are action-ready, usually going to complete a transaction
- Examples of keywords:
- "Buy iPhone 15"
- "Cheapest flights to Paris"
- Content Type: Product pages, e-commerce listings, sign-up forms.
4. Commercial Investigation
- Users compare products or services before making a decision.
- Example keywords:
- "Best smartphones under $500"
- "Adobe vs Canva review"
- Content Type: Comparison articles, reviews, "best of" lists.
Incorporating Search Intent in Keyword Research
1.Analyze Keywords by Intent
- For each keyword, determine its intent by considering:
- The wording (e.g., "how to" suggests informational).
- The type of results Google displays (e.g., articles vs. product listings).
2. Segment Keywords by Intent
Plan your content according to keywords in categories: informational, navigational, transactional, commercial.
3. Focus on High-Intent Keywords
For a sales-oriented strategy, focus on transactional and commercial keywords
Use informational keywords to increase brand awareness and build leads
4. Use Tools to Discover Intent
- Tools such as Ahrefs and SEMRush provide the ability to determine keyword intent based on SERP features as well as analyzing which content remains at the top of SERPs for a while.
Examples of Search Intent in Action
Keyword: "Best laptops for students"
- Intent: Commercial Investigation
- Content to Create: Comparison guides, "Top 10 laptops for students in 2024."
- Content to Create: Product page, special offers, or reviews with direct links to buy.
Keyword: "How to lose weight fast"
- Intent: Informational
- Content to Create: Blog post, how-to video, or step-by-step guide.
Tips to Leverage Search Intent
- Conduct SERP Analysis Check the content currently ranking for the keyword to understand what search engines think is relevant.
- Align Keywords with the Customer's Journey
Informational keywords go in the awareness stage, and transactional keywords go in the decision stage.
- Hybrid Content
Combine elements to fulfill multiple intents. For instance, an article on "how to choose a laptop" could include affiliate links (transactional).