Keyword research is a crucial first step in any SEO strategy. Finding the right keywords to target can make or break your efforts to rank well and drive traffic to your site. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the best keyword research techniques for SEO to help you identify low-competition, high-volume keywords that align with your business goals.
Whether you're new to SEO or a seasoned pro, having a sound keyword research process is key to maximizing the impact of your optimization efforts. With the right approach, you can gain invaluable insights into your target audience to tailor your content accordingly. Let's dive in!
Gather Background Info on Your Industry and Customers
Before rushing into keyword tools, take time to understand your business environment. Research your industry extensively to identify key themes, trends, terminology, challenges, and thought leaders.
Look at competitors and complementors to analyze the language they use to describe products and services. Study your existing customer base through surveys, interviews, and past interactions to uncover common questions and pain points.
This background information will help you brainstorm relevant keywords and topics to guide your research. The more informed you are at the outset, the more targeted your efforts will be.
Leverage Free Keyword Research Tools
Keyword research doesn't have to be costly. Many free tools exist to generate keyword ideas and provide useful data to filter and prioritize terms. Google's suite of keyword tools, including Keyword Planner and related searches, are invaluable resources.
Additionally, tools like Ubersuggest, Moz's Keyword Explorer, and Soovle harness Google's auto-complete data to suggest keyword variations. SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Keywordtool.io offer free trial options for more robust keyword data.
Use the filters in these tools to segment keywords by search volume, competitive density, location, device, and more. Expand on initial seed terms to find closely related keywords to target.
Analyze Your Top Competitors' Keyword Targeting
Your competitors have likely invested heavily in keyword research. Piggyback off their efforts by analyzing the terms they actively target and rank for.
Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and SpyFu to uncover the specific keywords driving traffic to their site. Look for gaps where competition is lower. This tactic takes the guesswork out of finding profitable, attainable keywords.
You can even search keywords on Google and see what domains rank in the top spots. Or use advanced site: and inurl: searches to reveal keywords in URLs and content. There are lots of DIY methods to learn what's working for others.
Search Intent Is Key
Keywords with high commercial intent should form the core of your SEO strategy. But it's not enough to look at search volume alone.
Focus on keywords and phrases used by people who are actively looking to make a purchase or acquire a service. Tools like Google's Keyword Planner and UberSuggest provide metrics like CPC and buyer intent keywords to prioritize high-converting terms.
Layer in informational and navigational keywords too to attract visitors throughout the purchase cycle. Just keep commercial keywords central to maximize ROI.
Expand Seed Keywords Into Semantic Keyword Clusters
Single seed keywords will only get you so far. The most effective SEO strategies target clusters of semantically related terms.
Take one relevant keyword and find other phrases with the same meaning and intent. For example:
popular shoes trending sneakers
top athletic footwear brands
These all have nearly the same semantic meaning, expanding your targeting opportunities. Apply this same clustering technique across your entire list of seed keywords.
Mine Keyword Ideas From Existing Content Assets
Your current website content, ads, and social posts offer a wealth of inherited keyword opportunities.
Audit this material to uncover valuable terms and phrases your team has already used successfully. Identify sections driving the most organic traffic and engagement. Analyze what keywords visitors used to land on those pages.
Repurpose what's working while also filling content gaps with new keyword-focused content to round out your targeting. Internal data can provide the perfect springboard for expanded keyword mining.
Search Trends Are Your Friend
Consumer search behavior and hot topics change over time. You'll want your keyword list to stay current and capitalize on rising trends.
Google Trends allows you to input keywords to view their popularity over time. You can even compare multiple terms. Set alerts for trending searches related to your business to stay on top of demand.
Keyword research should never be a one-and-done exercise. Revisit keyword performance and search trends regularly to adjust your priorities.
Organize Keywords By Topic Clusters
As your keyword list grows, organize terms into logical topic groups and buckets. For example:
- Product-specific keywords (nike shoes, adidas originals)
- Category keywords (sneakers, athletic footwear)
- Question keywords (how to clean shoes)
- Industry keywords (footwear trends)
This makes it easier to map keywords to relevant content during the content creation process. You want each piece of content to focus on a tight cluster for clarity.
Categorize Keywords By Intent
Group keywords not just by topic but also by searcher intent. For example:
- Informational (history of shoes)
- Navigational (shoe store near me)
- Transactional (buy nike sneakers online)
Tailoring content to match each intent type is crucial for providing value to searchers. This classification also helps you identify gaps in your keyword targeting.
Prioritize Keywords By Opportunity
At some point, you'll need to decide which keywords to actively pursue first with content and optimization efforts.
Factor in criteria like search volume, competition, relevance to products/services, commercial intent, and cost-per-click value to calculate opportunity scores. Sort keywords into A, B, and C groupings according to opportunity.
Leverage automation tools or spreadsheet formulas to help with scoring to remove manual effort. Revisit scores regularly as market conditions change.
Layer In Long-Tail Keywords
Don't just target main head terms. Also include longer, more specific long-tail keywords for diversity.
For example:
Head term: running shoes Long-tail: best running shoes for flat feet
These long-tail versions have lower search volume but also less competition. They help you capture traffic from more niche searches.
Perform Negative Keyword Analysis Too
Avoid wasting effort targeting totally irrelevant searches by researching negative keywords too.
Analyze search query data to identify terms indicating wrong intents or products/services not offered. For example, if you sell shoes, someone searching "shoe polish" has different intent.
Add these irrelevant keywords as negatives at the campaign or ad group level in paid search to avoid improper matches. In SEO, use exclusion syntax like "shoes -polish" in Google Search Console to filter them out.
Validate Keyword Difficulty
Before moving forward with a keyword, validate how hard it will be to rank for it. Keyword difficulty tools like Moz and SEMrush provide this data point.
Or you can manually assess based on domain authority of current top pages, page authority of ranking URLs, number of backlinks, etc. Only pursue keywords with a reasonable path to success.
Localize Keywords As Needed
If your business has a local service area or locations, incorporate relevant geo-modifiers into keywords. This helps you geo-target your pages and campaigns accordingly.
Some examples:
- shoes seattle
- sneaker store portland
- buy running shoes online bay area
Adjust keywords based on your actual service geographies. Geo-local keywords attract nearby searchers.
Enrich With Google Autocomplete
Google's autocomplete predictions when typing keywords into search provides a list of additional suggestions. Mine these for ideas.
Start typing a keyword and see what else Google recommends. The suggested phases can unlock more specific questions and search terms to factor into your research.
Search Partners Yield Hidden Gems
Keyword data from Google's search partners (like Gmail, Maps, Play) contains hidden gems not in the core search index.
Search Partner data in tools like Keyword Planner and SEMrush surfaces high-value, low-competition keywords ideal for SEO content creation. Actively filter for these terms.
YouTube Keyword Research
Don't overlook doing keyword research specifically for YouTube. Identify keyword gaps by researching competitors' video titles/descriptions.
TubeBuddy is an excellent free tool for uncovering video keyword opportunities with high volume and relevance. Optimizing video content accordingly helps drive YouTube visibility.
Treat It As An Ongoing Process
Keyword research should be ongoing, not a one-time event. Search trends and competition levels fluctuate over time.
Revisit your keyword list monthly to prune outdated terms and find new opportunities. Schedule it on your calendar so it doesn't fall through the cracks.
Proper keyword research takes effort, but it paves the way for SEO success. Now that you're armed with the best techniques, you're ready to build a rock-solid keyword strategy.
What other tips would you add for researching the best SEO keywords? What challenges have you faced in the past with keyword research? I welcome additional thoughts and discussion!
Tips for Managing Large Keyword Lists
As your keyword research expands, you may end up with giant keyword lists spanning hundreds or thousands of terms. Here are some tips for effectively managing extensive keyword data:
Use keyword management software
Tools like Moz Keyword Explorer, SEMrush, and Excel allow you to store and organize keywords for easy access. Features like tags and categories keep things tidy.
Truncate based on opportunity
Keep curating your list down to keywords with the highest opportunity and impact for your targets. Don't spread yourself too thin trying to manage thousands of keywords.
Automate keyword tracking
Leverage automation tools to regularly update keyword metrics like rank, volume, CPC and more. This saves time vs. manual tracking.
Visualize in charts and graphs
Visual representations make it easier to digest large keyword datasets. Pivot tables, bar charts, and scatter plots can reveal patterns.
Use tags and metadata
Adding tags, notes, and metadata to keywords enables easier searching, filtering, and reporting. Tags also facilitate grouping keywords by categories and topics.
Share keyword lists collaboratively
Using shared, cloud-based keyword management tools allows you to distribute keyword research tasks across teams. This lightens the load.
Split into ad group buckets
For PPC, divide keywords into logical ad groups based on themes, products, etc. Makes campaign setup easier.
Prioritize clusters for content
Identify the highest-potential keyword clusters to focus on for new content development and optimization in the near term.
Common Keyword Mistakes to Avoid
Keyword research is a nuanced process with many potential pitfalls. Be aware of these common missteps:
Relying solely on volume
High-volume keywords are enticing but also attract lots of competition. Also factor in relevance and intent.
Ignoring long-tail varieties
Long-tail keywords are lower hanging fruit worth targeting despite lower volumes.
Not validating keyword difficulty
Failing to assess the level of effort required to rank for keywords wastes optimization time.
Using just one tool
Each keyword tool has unique data. Gathering signals from multiple sources gives a more complete picture.
Forgetting negatives
Overlooking negative keyword analysis leaves you open to bad search matches.
Only doing research once
One and done researching yields dated and incomplete results. Continue researching at regular intervals.
Focusing on generic keywords
Broad keywords cast too wide a net. Blend in specific phrases with detailed intent.
Not organizing keywords
Having an unstructured list makes optimizing content more difficult. Use categories.
Ignoring search trends
Not continuously evaluating search popularity and seasonality causes missed opportunities.
Creative Keyword Research Ideas
Keyword research doesn't have to be bland and boring. Try these creative tactics to stir up inspiration:
- Browse related niche sites for terminology ideas
- Search social media hashtags for relevant phrases
- Analyze lyrics of songs related to your niche
- Look at recipes if food-related for ingredient nouns
- Search patents for technical jargon inspiration
- Scan industry publications, magazines, books
- Extract keywords from Quora topic questions
- Plug seed keywords into Google Translate to get variants
- Identify filler words used in natural language queries
- Inspiration from Pinterest keyword tags when relevant
- Use AnswersCloud Q&A data for keyword seeds
- Enter emojis into Google for search ideas
Sometimes you have to get a little unconventional in dreaming up new keyword angles!
Reducing Keyword Cannibalization
Targeting multiple similar keywords can lead to content and rankings cannibalization. Here are some ways to avoid:
- Make pages ultra-specific using distinct keywords
- Only go after one major keyword per page
- Differentiate pages by searcher intent and question styles
- Vary media types used - video vs. blog vs. guide
- Have clear calls-to-action per page
- Ensure content depth matches keyword specificity
- Use keyword in initial sentence and headings
- Craft meta descriptions with focus keywords
- Include related keywords in content but with lower density
- Monitor search user behavior in Google Analytics
- Redirect or 301 less ideal versions of pages
Doing yourkeyword homework pays dividends by earning you organic visibility and traffic. But keywords are just one piece of the SEO puzzle. Your content, technical foundations, and promotion all work hand in hand with keyword optimization to maximize your search presence.
Keyword Tools to Try
Conducting thorough keyword research requires having the right set of tools in your toolbox. Here are some top-notch options to consider:
- Google Keyword Planner - Free keyword data straight from Google
- SEMrush - Robust paid keyword research with free trial
- Ahrefs - Powerful but pricey keyword research
- Moz Keyword Explorer - Well-regarded keyword planning tool
- Ubersuggest- Free keyword suggestions utilizing Google autocomplete
- Keywordtool.io - Lets you generate keyword ideas for free
- Soovle - Leverages Google autocomplete for keyword discovery
- Google Trends - Identify keyword search popularity over time
- AnswerThePublic - For mining questions people are asking online
- TubeBuddy - Specialized YouTube keyword research
- Keywords Everywhere - Browser plugin for keyword research
The possibilities are endless for generating keyword ideas and prioritizing them using the wealth of tools now available. Assembling the right software stack tailored to your budget and needs empowers successful keyword strategy development.
Optimizing for Voice Search Keywords
With the rise of voice search, keyword optimization now requires paying attention to how people speak naturally. Here are some tips:
- Use natural language conversational phrases
- Ask questions from the searcher’s point of view
- Include question words like “where can I”, “what is the”
- Think single-intent instead of keyword-heavy
- Add location when relevant - “near me”
- Review Google voice search question data
- Study spoken word vs. written word patterns
- Identify gaps where competitors lack voice search content
- Highlight key information in easily scannable format
- Feature FAQs and explainers targeting common queries
- Update content over time to match evolving questions
The way users interact with voice search differs significantly from typed keyword queries. Adapting your keyword strategy and content accordingly is key to remaining visible and useful.
Avoiding Keyword Stuffing
While keyword targeting is important, you want to avoid over-optimization. Keyword stuffing hurts both user experience and search rankings.
Some common keyword stuffing mistakes:
- Cramming a high density of keywords on a page
- Repeating the same keyword over and over
- Forcing awkward keyword placement in sentences
- Using keywords that are incongruous with the overall topic
- Hiding lists of keywords unrelated to page content via white text or tiny font
- Loading up metadata and headers only with keywords
- Having minimal unique content beyond keywordslists
- Overusing exact match keyword phrases verbatim
- Minimal use of synonyms, related terms and natural language
Find a happy balance between keyword optimization and readability. Don't go overboard. Google's algorithms can detect unnaturally high densities.
Examples of Keyword Stuffing:
Comprehensive keyword research takes time but delivers immense SEO value. Use this guide to improve your methodology. Over time, you will master how to:
- Identify low-competition, high-potential keywords
- Uncover emerging keyword opportunities
- Target keywords matching all searcher intents
- Organize keywords for streamlined optimization
- Maintain keyword lists for consistent discoverability
- Translate keywords into compelling, relevant content
With this knowledge, you are now equipped to build a smart SEO keyword strategy that aligns with your broader goals.
Remember to approach keyword research as an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Consistently refine and expand your keywords to keep pace with evolving search behaviors and trends within your niche. Let me know if you have any other keyword research best practices to add!
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