Keyword Research Made Simple – Find the Right Keywords
Table of the content
Why Finding the Right Keywords is Challenging
Poor Keyword Research Impact
How to Find Keywords that Rank and Drive Traffic Solution
1: What is Keyword Research?
2: Why Keyword Research is Necessary?
3: Using Google Keyword Planner to Find Keywords
4: How to Use SEMrush for Keyword Research
5: How to Find Keywords Using Ahrefs
6: Low Competition, High Search Volume, and High Search Intent Make Perfect Keywords
Introduction
Day 8: 90-Day Free SEO guide! Today we delve into advance keyword research, which provides the basis for most SEO strategies. Learn how you can find-and then use-the right keywords to dramatically enhance the visibility of your site and increase your rankings on Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, and much more.
Hello, I am Deepak Sharma, Local SEO Specialist, and founder of Digital Deep Tech. Today, I would like to give you a way through which you can discover the best keywords for SEO. You may wonder how to identify that actually drives real traffic. If it’s yes then don’t skip this lesson
Why Finding the Right Keywords is Challenging
Many fail to strike good SEO keywords because they haven’t identified their target search intent for their target audience. They either make a very broad and also overly competitive choice, or the opposite: “going niche” at the expense of attracting only a trickle of traffic. Keywords are not words just thrown around the content; they should relate to the user’s intent and fit within your industry.
It seems almost too intimidating because finding those killer keywords is a daunting task alone, and still, one could opine that even with the millions of tools and strategies, it is just too much to swallow. If you are not adequately guided, then you will end up wasting precious time and resources on ineffective keywords that never deliver.
Poor Keyword Research Impact
If the keywords you are using are inappropriate, then the content gets lost there. That is kind of like writing a great book and then putting it on the shelf.
It does not matter whether you have the best blog posts, videos, or social media content; without proper keywords, you are invisible, and all efforts then lead to failure.
Probably the most frequent mistakes are targeting a whole lot of short-tail keywords that appear super competitive. They do bring a lot of traffic, but usually they are very general terms and those conversion rates are much lower.
On the other hand, trying to target extremely niche keywords can bring you search volumes that are just extremely low and in turn extremely limited audience reach.
How to Find Keywords that Rank and Drive Traffic Solution
Luck is that these proven methods and tools exist to help find the right keywords. In this blog, I will show you how to find keywords with Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs and give you actionable steps, tips, and free tools for beginners.
Let’s get rolling
1: What is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is how you determine what people type into a search engine. Keywords gives you an idea of what people are looking for and enables you to work towards filling that need better. The bottom line is to rank higher in a search engine and get more organic traffic to your site.
Key Concepts and Terms:
- Short-Tail Keywords: Short, one or two words phrases with a high search volume but lots of other competition. Example: “SEO.”
- Long-Tail Keywords: More elongated phrases 3-5 words; less competitive, but rather targeted. Example: “how to boost SEO for small business.”
- Search Volume: Number of searches for a keyword per month. This metric will help you decide the popularity of the keyword.
- Keyword Difficulty: This is how hard it will be to rank for that keyword. Again, this will guide your choice of keywords according to your authority.
- Find Competitors’ Keywords: You may get to know the gaps in your strategy and what opportunity you may bank on by knowing the kind of keywords used by your competitors in ranking.
- Keyword finder: This is something you use to find other keywords for your scheme, depending upon the volume of searches and competition. Most of the tools contain a lists of relative keywords that are likely to motivate your content strategy.
2: Why Keyword Research is Necessary?
Keyword research is vital since it tells you exactly what people want in your industry. In the absence of keyword research, you may be optimizing on terms that no one is really looking for. That means you would waste all that effort and, at the same time, due to such not tap into an opportunity.
Keywords you are finding which your audience is actively searching for:
- Improves website visibility
- Increases organic traffic
- Reaches the target audience at the right time
- Boosts conversion rates.
In addition, keyword research enables you to write on subjects relevant to the issues and concerns in people’s minds. An answer for all their questions puts your brand on the radar as a go-to voice in the subject area under research; in addition, you help them gain confidence and return to your website more often.
Let's Discuss Your Project
Get a free one-week consultation and share your vision for digital marketing with us.
3: Using Google Keyword Planner to Find Keywords
The very first one I have, and perhaps the most popular of them all is Google Keyword Planner. This is free, easy to use, and tells you exactly what people are searching for.
How to Use Google Keyword Planner in a Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1. Log into Google Ads: If you haven’t already created a Google Ads account yet, then create one. You do not have to run any ads when using Keyword Planner.
Step 2. Access Keyword Planner: Keyword Planner can be accessed from the login window. Tools and Settings menu >> From “Planning”, select Keyword Planner.
Step 3: Select Tool There are two options below: Find new keywords: You can add some words or phrases about your business and find new keywords. This allows you to enter keywords already listed and show the amount of searches as well as predictions: Already have a list of keywords? This tool shows you how often those keywords get searched.
Step 4: Enter Your Keywords: Enter a word or phrase that makes sense for your industry. If you’re in the roofing business, you may want to enter “roof repair services”.
Step 5: Analyze the Results: Google Keyword Planner will provide you with a massive list of keywords related to what you entered. The results include average monthly searches, competition level, and bid ranges. Zoom in on the keywords with medium- and low-competition and decent search volume.
Step 6: Filter the list: Filter the list of keywords with competition, location, and search volume. Then sort so you can zero in on the keywords that better meet your needs.
Step 7: Export your keywords: Finally, when you find some keywords that catch your eye, you’re able to export those into a CSV for further analysis.
Step 8: Develop Keyword Plan: Use the insights you are garnering to create a content plan. It might be video or even social media post ideas.
4: How to Use SEMrush for Keyword Research
SEMrush is one of those sweet paid tools that go much further than keyword research and have the capability to carry out competitor analysis and SEO audit.
How to Use SEMrush for Keyword Research Step by Step
- Login to SEMrush: If you aren’t a user already, sign up for a free trial for sure
- Keyword Magic Tool: Left-hand menu: Click “Keyword Research” > Keyword Magic Tool
- Seed Keyword: Input the broadest keyword possible in your niche. So if you are targeting travel SEO, it might likely be something you would just type: “best travel destinations.”
- See Keyword Suggestions: SEMrush will now give you a number of associated keywords along with their search volume, keyword difficulty, and competition.
- Use Filters: You can easily filter these results through keyword difficulty, by the search volume, and even specific match types- broad, exact, or phrase match. Look for those long-tail keywords in which the keyword difficulty is relatively lesser.
- Competitor Keywords: You will compare your site with competitors, and through the Keyword Gap in SEMrush, it will highlight which competitor is ranking for what keywords that you are missing.
- SERP Features Analysis: SERP features (like featured snippets, local packs, etc.) associated with your target keywords will be provided to you through SEMrush for crafting content by focusing on those needs.
- Export and Export Your Keywords: Once you get the correct keywords, you can export them to use in your campaigns of SEO.
5: How to Find Keywords Using Ahrefs
Ahrefs is actually a paid tool that’s really helpful for keyword research as well as competitor analysis. While the tool mainly stands out from its competitors through great backlink research, it performs well at keyword research.
Step-by-Step Keyword Research Using Ahrefs:
- Login to Ahrefs: If you do not have an account you can sign up for a free trial.
- Keyword Explorer: Once in Ahrefs find Keyword Explorer on the main dashboard.
- Input Keyword: Just like in SEMrush input a broad keyword related to your niche.
- Interpretation of Results: Ahrefs will give you a list of the related keywords, their search volume, keyword difficulty, and the number of clicks each produces. Ahrefs is amazing at showing click potential; prioritize your keywords by actual clicked users.
- SERP Overview: Ahrefs gives you the full overview of the SERP overview. In return, it tells you the top-ranking pages for a specific keyword. So, you’ll understand what content ranks and how you can use similar content to make your own rank better.
- Keyword Difficulty Score: Use keywords with low keyword difficulty score and high volume to easily win.
- Content Gap Analysis: This will tell you which keywords your competitors rank for, but you don’t. That’s a great opportunity to grab much more traffic.
- Export Your Keywords: Once you have all that keyword data collected, it is always possible to export it for further use.
6: Low Competition, High Search Volume, and High Search Intent Make Perfect Keywords
There should be a balance in terms of competition, search volume, and search intent when doing the keyword research. You need to zero down to have a higher volume but less competition keywords that are going to be a game changer for your SEO strategy.
Perfect Keyword Criteria
- Low Competition: You would want to target keywords which attract relatively fewer websites trying to rank for them. That will give you a better chance getting into the first page of searches. SEMrush and Ahrefs provide a keyword difficulty score, which makes it easy finding such low-competition options.
- High Search Volume: Find keywords that have a number of searches per month. It means a pretty good number of people are currently looking for that kind of information.
- High search intent: Keywords must represent what your audience may want to find. If someone wants to search for “best travel SEO strategies,” the probable intent of the search would be to have actionable tips. The more you understand search intent, the better it allows you to present a user with content that directly deals with their needs, thus increasing the chances of engagement and conversion.
Tools to Use: Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs will aid you in filtering them based on competition and search volume. This way, you’ll know the perfect keyword that fits all three criteria discussed above.
Generating Your Keyword List: After finding the niched keywords, you can narrow it down to the most targeted list for the content strategy. Using long-tail keywords catering to a niche audience segment will give better conversion chances.
Useful tips for Keyword Research
- Follow the Trends: Keep updated on the trending keywords moving up within your niche through Google Trends. Below, I applied a mix of trends to take my content game up quickly and consistently.
- Check your Competition: See what kind of content they are creating and strategy they follow. SEMrush and Ahrefs will give you a hint about what kind of keywords they are getting traffic from.
- Use Related Searches: Google the term you are trying to rank for. Then, scroll to the bottom for “Related Searches.” Many of these phrases produce long-tail keyword ideas.
- Review Your Keywords Periodically: Keyword research is not a one-time activity. Review your keywords periodically to ensure they remain relevant to your intended audience’s interests and search behavior.
Conclusion
Keyword research is actually considered the very first and most basic action for any solid SEO strategy. For this, you can use programmatic SEO tools that help point out the correct keywords to attract traffic and engage your audience, such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs.
This just means that low competition, high search volume, and high search intent are the basis to have a good list of keywords. As you follow this 90-day SEO course, do not stop practicing your keyword research skills because it is sure to make a huge impact in increasing the visibility and traffic of your site.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How would I know which keyword to focus on?
Identify relevant keywords with a high search volume, minimal competition, and aligned with your content.
2. Keyword research: only for SEO?
No! Keyword research is also worthwhile for PPC campaigns, content marketing, and social media strategy.
3. Can the free tools be effective?
Yes! Indeed, some free tools like Google Keyword Planner appear incredibly useful. But the paid ones like SEMrush and Ahrefs offer much more comprehensive data.
4. How frequently should I do keyword research?
As often as you can, at least every couple of months, to stay on top of trends and changes in how your audience will be searching.
5. How much keyword density is good?
Shoot for a natural flow of writing. For SEO optimization purposes, that would be 1-2% keyword density.
6. What is a short-tail keyword and a long-tail keyword?
They are usually one or two words, so they have a high volume of searches and therefore also a high level of competition. Long tail keywords are longer phrases – they’re more specific – they must match the targeted query, so therefore usually have lesser competition, and higher conversion rates.
7. Where can I find keywords related to my niche?
Make use of tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and so much more while reviewing competitors’ sites, social media, and online forums to discover those words that are most important to your target audience.
8. Do I need to optimize keywords on every page?
Remember that while it can be helpful to optimize each page around some keywords, above all else, you want to be delivering valuable, user intent-answering content. Quality always trumps keyword stuffing.
9. How do I measure the performance of my keywords?
Use analytics tools, Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track keyword performance in impressions, clicks, and rankings over time.
10. Are there limits on using the same keywords with multiple different content?
Yes. However, don’t just keyword spam with the same keyword phrase over and over. Instead, target multiple keywords for every piece of content in support of your general SEO strategy.
About the Author
Deepak Sharma is the founder of Digital Deep Tech and a renowned SEO and digital marketing expert with over a decade of experience. Passionate about helping businesses enhance their online presence, Deepak specializes in creating SEO strategies that drive traffic and generate leads.