Arguably the most important part of any SEO strategy, keyword research is attracting visitors to your site, enticing prospects, and driving conversions of your products or services. When writing content for your website, identifying keywords and high-volume search terms is critical for boosting traffic and reducing bounce rates. 

This is because keywords help direct and inform your content, help Google index it well, and allow it to be easily accessed by search engines. While it is a time-consuming task that requires attention to meticulous detail, it is the foundation of your content and SEO strategy and helps you create content that converts. 

What is a Keyword?

Summarising a keyword, it is simply a word that describes your content best. It is also used as a search term for which you want that page to rank. This means that when anyone searches that word or search term, they are directed to that page on your website. When creating your content, you need to think about:

• What search terms will be used in search engines? 
• What search terms do you want to be found for?
• What will this search query look like? 

Summarising your content using your keywords will help you be found on different SERPs and allow your business to grow. Always think of what reflects your content best and use the appropriate keywords.

What is Keyword Research?

In a broad sense, keyword research is analysing and finding lists of valuable keywords that can be utilised when doing the process of SEO copywriting or content writing. These keywords guide your content and your marketing strategies to help inform your users and readers.  

Keyword research can be more than just singular words. Sometimes, keyword research includes search terms that combine several keywords that form a search query on search engines. 

The Importance of  Keyword Research 

So, you’ve found high-volume keywords or search terms to use on your website—that’s the end of the story, right? SEO keywords have to be more than just placed on your website. They have to reflect your brand, products, and services that your customers would use naturally. This is why keyword research is so important. 

Once you have conducted thorough keyword research, you can begin developing an SEO strategy that will eventually lead to your achieving your goals. You need to be precise in how you present your keyword research. 

For example, you might want to rank for ‘Belfast apartment’ because you rent a city home. However, people are using the search term ‘apartments in Belfast’. These subtle distinctions make keyword research necessary because while that search term is technically correct, it isn’t what users are specifically looking for. 

Keywords should also consider your target audience because then you will be able to select keywords designed specifically for that niche. It is also important to consider similar keywords, which will usually have different search volumes and competition levels. 

Choosing higher, more relevant keywords will yield better results than related or semantic ones. 

Carrying Out Keyword Research

Now that you understand the importance of keyword research, the next stage is to begin doing it. To carry out keyword research, a range of factors have to be taken into consideration. Outlining your goals and objectives while understanding what tools to use can help you create a keyword strategy that positively impacts your overall SEO strategy. Here are eight important ways to carry out keyword research.  

1. Understand Your Niche and Target Audience

You are promoting your brand or product, and you know what you want to deliver, but before you find out exactly what keywords to utilise, ensure that you understand your target audience or niche. 

Carrying out keyword research requires a firm grasp and understanding of your audience and what they are looking for. Talking to your existing customers is a good way of determining what people are searching for and gives you insight into how they describe your brand, product, or service. This allows you to generate keywords specifically in your niche for a particular segment. 

Read deeper into your niche, be it going on forms or socials. Analyse your competitors’ sites and see what language they are using and what is performing well. Keep up with the trends in your niche and reflect on how you can best showcase your brand, product or service to new customers. 

2. Set Out Your Goals 

When planning a keyword strategy, you also need to be clear on your goals and what you want to achieve with each piece of content. Things to consider are your brand and what it represents, your unique selling point, and what you want to deliver or achieve when someone buys your product or service or even visits your website.

Understanding your brand and what you want to achieve allows you to curate custom content, providing a direction for your SEO strategy and delivering content that converts. Because your target audiences are already mapped out, you can create custom content through a keyword strategy that can be directed at your target audience at different stages of the marketing funnel. 

Doing this will allow you to reach a larger audience and bring in people who will convert with relevant search terms and informative content. It also scores well with Google, as your site is seen as trustworthy and has domain authority. 

3. Create Topic Clusters 

Now that you understand your goals and audience creating topic clusters is another integral part of keyword research. This allows you to make a list of all the topics related to or relevant to your brand that you want to rank for on Google. 

If your brand is a sports equipment brand, you might want to search for terms like ‘yoga leggings’, ‘football boots’ or even ‘equipment for hockey’. Remember, when creating your topic clusters, consider your segments or buyer personas and think about topics important to your business. 

You know your brand best and what people are looking for. Think of topics directly related to your business, and then break these down into keywords that can be used to attract visitors to your site.

4. Develop a Seed Keywords List

You’ve got your topic clusters and done the research to appeal to your target audience; now, you can carry out keyword research by developing a seed keywords list. From topic clusters, you can lift keywords that are directly correlated to what your target audience will be searching for on search engines.  

Your seed keywords list is the foundation of your keyword research. These help you identify competitors and define your business within your niche. Using keyword search tools enables you to deliver these topic clusters and lists to create complete target keyword lists that make your content valuable and drive traffic to your site that converts prospects.

5. Use Keyword Research Tools

We understand our audience and have developed our topic clusters. Now, we want to expand from our seed keywords list, but how do we clarify what is being searched for online? 

Using keyword research tools helps you take the knowledge you have gathered and apply it to your SEO strategy. 

Refining your search terms helps you curate relevant and valuable content to your audience. You can use these to inform and educate with lower-volume keywords in blog posts and higher-ranking keywords for web copy content. 

There are a plethora of keyword research tools that you can utilise to delve into keywords relating to your business. Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Wordstream, and Ubersuggest are just some of the tools that can aid you effectively in developing a keyword strategy. There are also tools like Keyword Surfer that can be added as a browser extension. 

Using these tools helps you narrow down your search terms to help direct your target audience to your site. It can also give you more creativity as it offers keywords you might not have previously considered that you can rank for. 

6. Discover Search Intent 

Many people think putting high-volume keywords and stuffing them on their pages is how they get website traffic. The truth is that pulling customers onto your pages requires more finesse. Google’s Algorithm updates regularly, so understanding how it works is integral to ranking high.  

The algorithm is so advanced now that it compares search terms with user queries. Why does it do this? Google wants to know more about search intent – why people search for a specific term. You must also understand this to help develop your SEO and overall marketing strategy.

Learning why someone is searching is key to understanding their mindset. Do they want a question answered or are they searching for a specific website? Are they trying to buy something in particular? Once you have this knowledge, you can directly answer their problems and queries by cleverly weaving targeted keywords and phrases into your copy. 

Search intent also helps you refine your keyword research, as you find keywords that directly match why your audience is searching online in the first place. 

7. Find Long Tail Keywords

We have discussed seed keywords that are used to reflect shorter search terms that are related to a brand’s major topic. Longer tail keywords are more descriptive (usually) and contain content from topic clusters that are typically in sub-topics. 

Due to the nature of long-tail keywords, it is easier to match them to an audience’s search intent than it is for seed keywords. If you had a website that published content on music and reviewed albums you could have “best album of 2021” which would attract a more relevant audience than “best album”. 

While they do get fewer clicks, they have a much higher chance of conversion because they are focused on a specific product or topic. 

8.Identify Your Competitors

As mentioned briefly earlier, another essential part of carrying out keyword research is identifying who your competitors are. You need to understand what they are doing and help you glean parts of their content strategy that are performing well and applying it to your work. 

The content landscape that your niche fits within can determine what your target audience enjoys and wants. Understanding can help you develop your SEO and understand the competitiveness of specific keywords. It also enables you to see what might be too hard to rank for.

The most important part of this process is keyword opportunity gaps. You can identify these keywords in your industry with low to medium competition. This means you can lock in key search terms and outrank your competitors.

Keyword Research: Integral for Every SEO Strategy

When you have completed a thorough keyword plan, you can create and curate high-quality and high-performing custom content and expand your SEO strategy. Keyword research is a crucial component to online success, regardless of your brand or business.  

Keyword research can be complex. If you want a professional opinion on how to develop your keyword strategy and expand your SEO opportunities, contact ProfileTree today to speak to one of our SEO experts.

2023 Search Engine Statistics: Navigating the Keyword Landscape

Keyword research remains the cornerstone of SEO success, but the landscape constantly evolves. To craft optimal keyword strategies in 2023, let’s dive into the latest search engine statistics and trends:

Search Volume Growth Rates:

• Overall search volume: While growth has slowed compared to the pandemic boom, global search volume is projected to reach 5.4 trillion searches in 2023 (Source: Statista)
• Mobile search: Mobile search continues to dominate, accounting for over 63% of all searches globally (Source: Search Engine Land)
• Voice search: Voice search is on the rise, with 46% of adults using voice search daily (Source: Pew Research Center)
• Local search: “Near me” searches have grown by 500% in the past few years, highlighting the importance of local SEO (Source: Google)

Conversational vs. Commercial Keywords:

• Conversational keywords: Long-tail, question-based keywords like “how to fix a leaky faucet” are gaining traction due to the rise of voice search and semantic understanding (Source: Moz)
• Commercial keywords: While still important, traditional “buy now” keywords face increased competition and require more sophisticated targeting strategies (Source: SEMrush)

Emerging Trends:

• Intent-driven targeting: Understanding user intent behind each keyword is crucial for effective SEO. Tools like Google Search Console and keyword research platforms can help identify intent (Source: Backlinko)
• Topic clusters: Grouping related keywords into clusters can improve website structure, topical authority, and organic ranking potential (Source: HubSpot)
• Entity-based SEO: Optimizing for entities (people, places, things) can expand your reach and improve search engine understanding of your content (Source: Ahrefs)

These statistics point towards a dynamic keyword landscape where understanding user intent, embracing conversational search, and utilizing advanced targeting strategies are key to success.

Here are some actionable insights based on these statistics:

• Focus on long-tail, question-based keywords: These are often less competitive and offer valuable insights into user intent.
• Optimize for local search: Claim your Google My Business listing and target relevant local keywords to attract nearby customers.
• Utilize intent-driven keyword tools: Analyze search intent behind keywords to ensure your content meets user expectations.
• Embrace entity-based SEO: Research and incorporate relevant entities into your content to improve search engine understanding and reach.
• Continuously monitor and adapt your keyword strategy: Stay updated on industry trends and search engine algorithm changes to adjust your approach accordingly.

By staying informed and adapting your keyword strategy to the evolving search landscape, you can attract the right audience, boost your website traffic, and achieve your SEO goals in 2023 and beyond.

Keyword Research Techniques with Actionable Insights

Mastering keyword research goes beyond just listing methods. Let’s delve into specific how-to instructions, insightful screenshots, and actionable examples for each technique, equipping you with the knowledge to conquer the keyword landscape:

1. Keyword Seed List:

• Action: Brainstorm relevant keywords related to your niche. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool, and Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.
• Screenshot: Example of a seed list created in Google Keyword Planner: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Prioritize broad, high-volume keywords, then expand to long-tail variations and related searches.

2. Keyword Competitiveness Analysis:

• Action: Analyze keyword difficulty using tools like Moz Keyword Difficulty and SEMrush Keyword Difficulty Index.
• Screenshot: Example of keyword difficulty insights in SEMrush: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Focus on keywords with medium difficulty initially, gradually targeting higher difficulty terms as your authority grows.

3. Search Intent Understanding:

• Action: Use tools like Google Search Console and SpyFu to understand user intent behind keywords (informational, transactional, etc.).
• Screenshot: Example of search intent insights in Google Search Console: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Tailor your content to match user intent. For informational keywords, create blog posts and guides. For transactional keywords, optimize product pages and call to action.

4. Long-Tail Keyword Exploration:

• Action: Use tools like Answerthepublic and Long Tail Pro to discover long-tail keywords based on user questions and searches.
• Screenshot: Example of long-tail keyword suggestions in Answerthepublic: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Utilize long-tail keywords in blog titles, meta descriptions, and page content to target specific user searches.

5. Competitor Keyword Research:

• Action: Use tools like SpyFu and SEMrush Keyword Gap Analysis to see which keywords your competitors rank for.
• Screenshot: Example of competitor keyword gap analysis in SEMrush: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Identify valuable keywords your competitors are missing and target them to gain a competitive edge.

6. Local Keyword Optimization:

• Action: Claim your Google My Business listing and optimize it with relevant local keywords and NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency.
• Screenshot: Example of a well-optimized Google My Business listing: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: To attract customers in your area, target “near me” searches and optimize for local voice searches.

7. Topic Cluster Building:

• Action: Group related keywords into topic clusters to build a comprehensive content strategy. Use tools like Topic Clusters and Semrush Content Hub.
• Screenshot: Example of a topic cluster map in Topic Clusters: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Create pillar content (detailed guides) for each cluster and link to supporting content (related blog posts) to improve topical authority and SEO performance.

8. Entity-Based Optimization:

• Action: Research and incorporate relevant entities (people, places, things) into your content using Ahrefs Content Explorer and Google Knowledge Graph.
• Screenshot: Example of entity-based content suggestions in Ahrefs Content Explorer: [Insert screenshot]
• Insight: Optimizing for entities can expand your reach, improve search engine understanding, and attract users searching for specific entities related to your topic.

Keyword Research Method Comparison Table

Method	Strengths	Limitations	Ideal for
Surveys	Direct user insights, Identify hidden gems, Validate existing research	Sample bias, Recall bias, Cost and time	Refining existing keyword lists, Discovering niche opportunities
Competitor Analysis	Uncover winning strategies, Identify untapped opportunities, Benchmarking performance	Uncover winning strategies, Identify untapped opportunities, and Benchmark performance.	Finding new keywords, Identifying gaps in your strategy
Search Predictions	Real-time insights, Identify trending topics, Stay ahead of the curve	Short-term focus, Limited detail, Over-reliance on tools	Keeping up with current trends, Adapting content to evolving searches
Keyword Research Tools	Vast data analysis, Competition insights, Long-tail exploration	Cost and complexity, Data overload, Overdependence on tools	Analyzing large datasets, Identifying high-potential keywords, Assessing competition

Additional Notes:

• Consider combining methods: Using various approaches to gain diverse insights for a comprehensive strategy.
• Choose based on goals and resources: Select methods that align with your needs and available resources.
• Human analysis is key: Tools provide valuable data, but human judgment and interpretation remain crucial.
• Experiment and adapt: Continuously test different methods and refine your approach based on results.

FAQ: Demystifying Keyword Research

Q: Which keyword research method is the best?

A: There’s no one-size-fits-all answer! Different methods offer unique strengths and limitations. Combine surveys, competitor analysis, search predictions, and keyword research tools to create a comprehensive strategy.

Q: How often should I conduct keyword research?

A: Aim for an annual audit to stay updated. Consider semi-annual audits for rapidly changing industries or high-traffic websites.

Q: What are some free keyword research tools?

A: Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush Keyword Magic Tool offer limited free features. For more advanced features, consider Ahrefs and Moz, which require paid subscriptions.

Q: I’m new to SEO, where do I start?

A: Begin with essential keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and focus on long-tail keywords with medium difficulty. Don’t overwhelm yourself; start small and expand your strategy gradually.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake to avoid in keyword research?

A: Over-reliance on tools! While they offer valuable data, human analysis and understanding user intent are crucial. Don’t blindly copy competitors – create your unique keyword strategy based on your specific audience and goals.

Conclusion: Unlock Your SEO Power with Keyword Research

Keyword research isn’t just about finding the right words; it’s about understanding your audience, their needs, and how to connect with them. By strategically choosing the proper methods, analyzing data effectively, and adapting your approach based on insights, you can unlock the full potential of keyword research and propel your website to the top of search engine results.

Remember, keyword research is a continuous journey, not a one-time destination. Embrace experimentation, stay informed about industry trends, and never stop refining your strategy. With dedication and a data-driven approach, you can use keyword research to conquer the SEO landscape and achieve your online success goals.