How to Do Keyword Research for SEO?

What is a Keyword?

As you learn to optimise a webpage and create a space whereby users and search engines can better understand and interpret your work, streaming more traffic to your webpage, you would have probably come across the term ‘keyword’ more than once. So what exactly are keywords and how can we use them to better optimise our web pages to be more in line with SEO practices? To start off, a keyword refers to a word or phrase that can be used to describe the content on a webpage best. These words have to do with the topics that you are writing about and they are more often than not the words and phrases that users will use to try and find information about the content you are creating. These types of keywords and phrases are used by search engines rank pages, as they are an easy way to comprehend and understand what a webpage is about. 

To better understand this, let us look at an example. Let’s say that you are a fruit vendor who has just opened up an online store where people can order and purchase all kinds of fruit products. One of the best keywords to use would be ‘buy fruit’, or something similar to this. So why is this keyword, or a variation of it, so important to use within the content on a webpage? This keyword is what many will type into search engines to try and find, so you need to make sure that you are optimised to rank highly on search engines for this phrase so that your website will appear at the top of search engines results pages. to summarise briefly, keywords refer to a rankings factor that search engines use to determine where your website should rank and what queries will be best suited to the content you have on your webpage. 

What are The Types of Keywords?

Whether you are completing keyword research for blog posts or are looking to better optimise your website, it is important to know and understand the various types of keywords out there. There are many different types of keywords that can be defined across different categories, but one of the most popular ways to define and group these words is according to their length. The following three types of keywords are segregated and organised according to their length. 

Short-Tail Keywords

These types of keywords are also known as generic keywords and they are often the broadest and the shortest. These short-tail keywords bring in the highest amount of traffic as they relate to many different search queries, this does however make them the hardest to rank for as there is tons of competition. 

Mid-Tail Keywords

Mid-tail keywords are a bit more descriptive compared to short-tail keywords and they are often longer, looking more like a phrase than a keyword. These types of keywords are slightly less competitive compared to short-tail words as they are not as general and therefore fewer websites will be trying to rank for them. 

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords or phrases are direct and targeted to something very specific, they are often the keywords that have the least amount of competition around them. This means that they are easier to rank for, but the search queries that they will be shown under will need to be incredibly specific. 

What is Keyword Research?

So now that we have a good idea of what keywords are, we need to better understand how we find them. Keyword research is an important part of any SEO strategy, and time and effort need to go into finding the perfect keywords to use to draw in customers and rank highly on search engine results pages for queries that relate to your content. Keyword research involves understanding not just your own content and finding the perfect words to describe it, but also having an idea of what users and potential customers will type into search engines to find content that is similar to your own. Understanding search queries and finding the perfect keywords to use on your webpage can help you to not only rank higher but also better understand what you are trying to do, creating a structure that you may not have had if you had not completed adequate keyword research. Keyword Research involves many different things, from the beginning phases of comprehending what you are selling to relating how your customers and competitors will search and rank for. 

Why Is it Important to Do Keyword Research?

Keyword research is incredibly important as it can help your web page to rank better on search engines results pages. The main objective of SEO is to increase the number of high-quality site visits, streaming organic traffic to your page through a number of different techniques, one of which is adding in constructive keywords. Keyword research can also help you to better understand what it is you are wanting to achieve and the different topics and aims that your content has. Using keyword research tools can help you to understand which keywords are best suited for the content that you are wiring about, and even give you some ideas on information that should be included about a specific topic. 

Another vital part of the process is gaining insight into what users are searching for, understanding user intent can greatly improve the quality and effectiveness of the content on your webpage. There are many different keyword research strategies that can help you to gain insight into user intent and find out what people are most interested in! 

What are The Elements of Keyword Research?

There are many different elements that make up keyword research and these different aspects of this broad SEO tactic should be taken into account when developing a keyword research process and strategy. Having each of the elements clearly outlined can better equip you with the tools you will need to find the best keywords related to your content, ensuring that you have the best possible chance of attracting and streaming high-quality traffic to your webpage. The following are just a few elements of keyword research to consider when developing a keyword research planner and strategy. 

Relevance

One of the most important things to consider when compiling and doing your keyword research is relevance. The keywords and phrases that you use on your webpage should be relevant to the topic, both in the context that they are used and in the meaning and definition of them. Search engines have become better equipped at gaining insight into the context that keywords are used within and base ranking around the relevance of the context in terms of your topic and not just the clear definition. Finding relevant keywords and using them in the correct context is, therefore, an important part of the keyword research process. 

Authority

When it comes to ranking for short-tail keywords, keywords that are most often searched and have the highest search volume, it is important that your webpage and the authors that create your content have a level of authority. Your website itself needs to be easy to index and have all SEO features that will lead it to be noted as an authoritative website, ensuring that you rank highly for keywords with a high volume. 

Volume

Volume in terms of keyword research refers to the number of times a specific keyword is searched, and keywords with a high volume are usually the ones that bring in the most amount of traffic. Short-tail keywords are often the terms that have the most amount of search volume as they are the ones that are searched more frequently and are broad, offering a higher chance of you ranking for many different search queries. Though the volume of a word and the number of times that it is searched should be high, it is important to remember that the higher the search volume, the greater the competition! There are many keyword research volume tools that can help you to monitor the volume of specific words or phrases. 

How is The Relation Between Keyword Research and SEO?

Keyword research and analysis for SEO is known to be one of the most important ranking factors that search engine crawlers will look for. Keywords and phrases tell search engines what your website is about and provide the information needed to rank your page according to certain search queries. SEO is all about getting your page the most amount of traffic and getting search engine crawlers to accurately rank your page for search queries that will result in high-quality organic traffic is an integral part of having a good website. Keyword research and SEO and therefore two elements that work together to improve the quality of your website and increase the traffic that makes its way to your website. 

What are The Effects of Keyword Research on Your SEO Strategy?

Keyword research should be a large part of your SEO strategy and how you compile your research and carry it out can greatly impact the effectiveness of your SEO. The effects that keyword research can have on your SEO strategy should be considered while compiling your data and looking for the best strategy to use to construct your keyword research plan. Keyword research and the implementation of a good and direct keyword research strategy can greatly improve your SEO. Keywords help search engines to better understand your content and help them to rank your webpage for search queries that will result in more visits to your webpage. More site visits increase the chances of you gaining customers through organic search results, offering a free way for you to attract customers. 

How To Do Keyword Research for SEO?

There is a system of keyword research methods that can help you to better optimise and sort through the various systems that need to be in place to find good and productive keywords. The following is a brief look into the best ways to do keyword research to improve your websites SEO. 

Examine your niche

Every brand and business would have a specific niche area where they could produce content based on something specific. If you are a fruit vendor who is selling fruit through an online platform, speaking and creating content centred around the benefits of buying fruit online could be a potential niche topic that you could talk about on your website. Within this niche topic, keywords and phrases should be easy to intertwine with your content, ensuring that your content is not just centred around keywords but that users will be able to easily read and understand the topic at hand, and they may even learn a thing or two while reading your content! 

Define your goals

Having clearly defined goals will ensure that you are able to understand what your final product should be capable of doing, both in terms of the content you hope to appear on your webpage and the number of site visits you hope to draw in through the content you create. the goals that you come up with should be centred around creating awareness around your brand and informing potential customers of what you do and how you do it. Defining your final product and planning the outcomes you hope to achieve will provide you with a clear outline of what needs to be done to accomplish your goals! 

Make a List of All The Topics Related To Your Content

Keyword research is not just about finding the best possible words and phrases to get you noticed by search engines. It can also equip you with a better understanding of what related topics and information can be included in your content, helping you to better understand who your brand is and what they do. Good keyword research can help you find keywords or phrases about relevant topics that you may have not thought of before, ensuring that your webpage discusses all relevant topics that could lead to more traffic being streamed to your webpage. 

Examine Customers Search Intent

There are tons of different keyword research metrics that can be used to find out who your customers are, but one of the best ways to ensure your webpage comes up for the best and most valid search queries is examining search intent. Finding out why a user is researching and entering certain searches is important in finding out what they want to know and how you can better optimise the content on your webpage for these different searches. There are various ways that search intent can be measured, but one of the easiest is by looking at the related searches that come up when typing in a query that relates to your content into a search engine. These related topics will help you to better understand a users search intent and ensure that you optimise your content to handle these questions. 

Create a List of Core Keywords

Core Keywords are basic terms that can be used within your content and they can also be used to find other relevant words. They are the very basic terms that make up your keyword research and they are very important to label at the beginning of your research. Creating a list of these kinds of keywords can be done by brainstorming your topic and looking into the basis of your competitor’s keywords, finding certain phrases or terms that may be repeated in different keywords throughout the content. 

See What Keywords Your Competitors Rank For

keyword analysis and finding out what your competitors are doing can provide you with the feedback you need to create a good keyword research strategy. More often than not, the keywords that your competitors are using will greatly benefit your own plan, and you may find a few topics and keywords that you would not have thought of without this analysis. 

Identify Long Tail Keywords

Although long tail keywords are words that do not necessarily have the highest search volume, they do direct high-quality traffic to a webpage. Having good long tail keywords can help to improve the number of conversions you get on your site, particularly if you are attempting to get a user to make a purchase or complete a certain action. These types of keywords should be littered throughout your content.

Use Keyword Research Tools

Keyword research tools provide valuable information about how well a keyword will work within your specific content and they can also provide variations of a keyword to ensure you have all your bases covered. These kinds of tools offer an effective way to monitor, update and analyse the keywords that you use throughout your content and are vital keyword research marketing platforms. 

Analyse The Results

Once your strategy has been implemented, keywords are not something that you can just leave and they are changing as topics fall in and out of relevance. By creating a keyword research report, you can actively monitor your keyword research strategy, and see whether or not the results are what you had aimed for. 

What are The Things to Consider When Doing Keyword Research?

Things to consider when doing keyword research involve understanding the content and topic you are writing about in-depth and making sure that the content is something that a certain target market will want to read. 

What Happens if Keyword Research is Not Done Carefully?

It’s all good and well to have compiled a couple of good keywords and have them placed throughout your content, but this will only get you so far. Keyword research is about more than just finding relevant keywords and phrases and using them within your content, it is about strategizing how these keywords can be effective tools in drawing customers in and grabbing the attention of search engine crawlers. Just because a keyword has a high volume and relates to your topic does not necessarily mean that it is going to help you to better your rankings, you have to have a well-defined plan in place that can help you to carefully construct the perfect plan using specific keywords. If this plan is not thought out carefully, the keywords you use will not be as effective, leaving you with fewer site visits than if you had created a better and more well thought out plan of attack. 

What are The Benefits of Doing Keyword Research For Your SEO Strategy?

Keyword research helps you to determine what your content is about and better equips search engine crawlers with information about what your page should rank for. This is highly beneficial when it comes to attracting users to your webpage, increasing organic traffic and helping users better understand how your content can help them with various things. Keyword research also helps website designers and content creators better optimise content to suit the needs of users, coming up with topics and terms that may have not been thought of before. All in all, to have a good SEO strategy in place, you need to have compiled a good amount of keyword research and put in a lot of effort coming up with the perfect content to place on your webpage! 

What are The Best Keyword Research Tools? 

Whether you are hoping to better your understanding of keyword research for local SEO or are trying to find a tool that has the perfect keyword research guide for your brand to follow, there are tons of different platforms that have been specially designed to help you perform keyword research and meet your goals when it comes to SEO. The following are just a few are the top keyword research tools available for users. 

Ahrefs

As far as keyword research SEO tools go, Ahrefs has one of the best keyword tools in the business! The Ahrefs keyword research tool is able to find valuable keywords that your competitors are using, ones that may not have even been on your radar before. Compiling research on your keywords involves finding out what your nearest competitors are doing because they are using certain keywords and receiving hits and site visits just from using these keywords, it is likely that if you had to go and add these keywords to your webpage, you could potentially take some of that business for yourself! While there may be a few keywords that are not relative to you or your business, as your competitors, it is more than likely that there are a few you could add to your content to improve your ranking and gain more organic traffic. Doing a competitive analysis is a great way to gain insight into what your competitors are doing to succeed and it may offer you the chance to find keywords that you may not have known about before. For the best keyword research analysis, be sure to use the use Ahrefs for keyword research tool! 

SEMrush

The SEMRush keyword research tool is an extraordinary addition to this platform and with over 20 billion different keyword options to consider, you can be sure that you will be able to find an assortment of highly ranked keywords to suit your content. This tool works by generating thousands of different keywords from a phrase that you type into the search bar, these words are ranked according to their popularity and they are grouped to ensure that users are able to sort through words that are relative to their own content. This is considered to be one of the best SEMRush keyword difficulty tools as the difficulty of your keywords can actually be calculated using this tool! 

Google Keyword Planner Tool

Keyword research on Google is done by using a keyword planner tool, which is a great tool that can successfully help you to plan a keyword research campaign. This tool can help you to find the best keywords related to a number of different topics, and it can also help you to find out more information about user intent and popular keywords related to your topic. This tool is one that is easy to use and can help you to specifically optimise your keyword research to be in line with Google’s algorithms. 

How Can Our Expert Team at Markethinkers Help Its Customers to do Keyword Research for Their SEO?

As Markethinkers, developing an SEO strategy around the best SEO practices is what we do best, and coming up with the best keyword strategy to suit your brand or business is what we do best! With a set of tools on hand that can help you to rank for all the best and most effective keywords, we can help you achieve success and increase the amount of organic traffic that makes its way to your webpage. With our professional SEO consulting team, we are able to give you expert advice on the best practices and tools to use to ensure that you achieve your SEO goals. 

For those who are looking for a team to not only provide advice but take over your content creation entirely, our skilled SEO copywriting experts are able to help you achieve success by taking your vision and combining it with the best practices and keyword research services and tools, providing you with the highest quality content. For a team who knows all the ins and outs of the business and keeps up to date with the best possible SEO practices when it comes to keyword research, look no further than our team here at Markethinkers!