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Keyword Research: The Secret Weapon of SEO

Introduction

Keyword research has long been one of the most underrated and misunderstood aspects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s also the key to ranking your site on Google, Bing, and other search engines. If you have no idea how to do keyword research or even where to start, you can finally boost your website’s visibility on the internet and generate more organic leads from Google!

Keyword research

Many bloggers neglect one of the most important tasks before writing a blog– keyword research.

This guide on keyword research breaks down exactly what you need to know about this often-overlooked part of SEO so that you can ensure your blog’s success in search results and conversions.

It’s time to stop leaving money on the table!

What is Keyword Research?

Keywords are words or phrases people type into search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo in order to locate information. 

By strategically choosing which keywords to optimize your website for, you can attract more visitors who are interested in exactly what you have to offer. 

On-page optimization and link building both work together with keyword research; they are all factors that contribute to SEO (search engine optimization). 

So if you want a successful website, learn how to do keyword research!

It’s not as hard as it sounds, either.

In fact, we’ve put together a quick guide to help you get started. All you need is some time and patience—and maybe even a bit of luck!

Why keywords are important

keyword research is important

Keywords are essential to our efforts because they allow us to focus our efforts on certain areas so we don’t waste time working on irrelevant terms. 

Using keywords and their associated metrics helps ensure that you get found when people search for what you offer online.

If someone types a chocolate cake recipe, they probably aren’t looking for a soup recipe!

For example, let’s say I wanted to create a cookbook but I didn’t know any relevant keywords beyond the recipe. Then I might start thinking about synonyms like food or dish, but those words are way too broad — my cookbook would likely be lost among millions of other results.

How to do keyword research?

There are two basic types of keyword research: 

1) Qualitative, which involves looking at search terms that people use.

 2) Quantitative, which looks at market statistics. 

Quantitative keyword research is better for finding more accurate data on how many people are searching for something. 

However, it’s also important to go beyond just using numbers when researching keywords.

If you want to be a true ninja in your research, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Think about what they’re asking themselves before they search. 

You’ll be able to look beyond those single words and discover a plethora of hidden gems!

Check out these examples below to see what I mean: 

Example #1: Instead of only checking what’s my car worth, Try what cars should I buy? 

Example #2: Instead of checking, Is my dog sick, Try how do I care for a sick dog?

Example #3: Instead of checking what college should I attend, Try how do I get into Stanford?

As you can see, even though there aren’t any specific phrases being searched by users yet, there are still plenty of opportunities to target searchers with relevant content. 

Don’t limit yourself by only focusing on short-tail keywords—go ahead and find long-tail phrases as well! 

Long-tail keywords typically have less competition because they contain more words than short-tails do.

 If you want to be a true ninja in your research, put yourself in your customer’s shoes. 

Think about what they’re asking themselves before they search. You’ll be able to look beyond those single words and discover a plethora of hidden gems!

What Is Domain Authority

Domain authority is a score developed by Moz that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines. 

This is known as domain rating and can give you an idea of how well you might rank in search engines.

 Unfortunately, there are no guarantees when it comes to domains; that’s why we also need to do keyword research to help us determine whether your site will be able to attract searchers. 

What is Page Authority

In Google’s own words, Page Authority represents a ranking factor that predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).

 In other words, it is calculated from hundreds of factors that are seen as important to Google and then assigned a single value. 

Think about it like GPA for your site—it shows how well you’re doing in relation to other sites. It does not directly correlate with your success in SEO. Good content and backlinks will help and is an important metrics for any webmaster to consider. 

The higher your Page Authority, the more likely it is you will place highly when searching for relevant keywords. 

So what can you do to increase your PA? 

A great way to start is by learning all there is about keyword research. 

Learn what phrases people use when they look for information on your topic or niche, find out which ones have high competition, and figure out how to make yours stand out. This post will be an excellent starting point.

Start with your competitors

Google your keywords and see what keywords your competitors rank for. 

If a competitor ranks for 10 keywords, chances are you will be able to rank for 2-3 of them.

 Come up with about 15 different long-tail keywords that you think have the potential to rank. 

Some things to keep in mind when picking a keyword are making sure it’s not too competitive. Also, make sure that if people are searching for these terms. they are genuinely searching instead of Google suggesting it or putting it into one of their boxes. 

You can look at search volume by using Google Keyword Planner which gives a rough estimate of how many searches it gets on Google every month. 

It’s important to note that even though it gives an idea of how many searches there are monthly, it doesn’t tell you how hard or easy it would be to rank for those terms. 

So don’t take those numbers as gospel but use them as a starting point. Now we need to find out if any other websites currently rank for those keywords so we can find out if there is competition already out there and what kind of content they are producing around these topics.

Keyword research tools

keyword research tools

Use keyword research tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner and Ubersuggest to see what other people are searching for. 

Keywords aren’t always obvious or intuitive—sometimes you need a tool to help brainstorm them. Try different combinations of words to see what comes up. 

For example, if you want to write about apartment rentals in Los Angeles, start thinking about other words that someone might search for along with it. 

What else do they have questions about? 

What else do they need to know? 

You can also use keyword research tools to find long-tail keywords (ones that include three or more words) related to your topic. 

These often convert better than single-word keywords because they give searchers more information upfront, which helps them decide whether your content is what they’re looking for before they click through.

Consider long-tail keywords

long-tail keyword

Long-tail keywords, or keyword phrases with three or more words, get over 6.5 times more clicks keywords with one to two words.

Long-tail keywords and keyword phrases are easier to rank for because they have lower competition and are typically longer, which makes them appear less often on a page.

Also, they usually have lower monthly search volumes than head terms. This is good news for your website’s SEO strategy because it leaves fewer competitors vying for a top spot in search results.

For example, if you sell cowboy boots online, people searching to buy cowboy boots are highly unlikely to click on your website. Since others sell similar products – especially many websites include that phrase in their titles.

Choose only the right keywords for you

While they may be somewhat behind the scenes, keywords are an essential part of blogging. Keywords help you attract readers and find your way in search engines.

For example, If you’re writing a post about “How to Write Professional Business Posts”, use these keywords: writing, business posts, professional, and how to start a business.

Use different combinations of long-tail keywords, high-volume terms, and other variations of your niche

use combinations of long and short tail keyword

Try searching for your phrase in a Google search along with different combinations of long-tail keywords and high-volume terms to see what keyword variations bring back traffic.

This will allow you to find other related phrases that might work well for you on your site. It also gives you an idea of how competitive certain phrases are.

In essence, it gives you information on what other people who have searched for a solution to their problem have searched for as well. If there is little competition for these types of phrases, then they may be worth using on your website.

If there is high competition for these types of phrases, then you may want to avoid them because they may not provide much value when it comes to bringing in visitors.

Before you dig into keyword research, think about whether you want to go with short-tail or long-tail keywords.

Long-tail keywords are usually easier to rank for and less competitive (because there’s less competition) than short-tail keywords.

For example, watches is a short-tail keyword whereas Rolex watches for men is a long-tail keyword. If you sell luxury watches, your target audience might be more interested in long-tail keywords such as Rolex watches for women.

If your goal is to get more traffic from search engines, using short-tail keywords will help you achieve that goal. However, if your primary goal is conversions and sales, then using long-tail keywords might be a better strategy because they’re more likely to lead to conversions and sales.

So which one should you use?

The answer depends on your goals!

Tools for keyword research

Google Keyword Planner

Google keyword planner

Google Keyword Planner is a free keyword research tool that helps you find long-tail keywords.

Google’s Keyword Planner is the best tool for finding keywords with high search volume, but it also has some limitations. For example, when you type in a phrase and select ‘Get search volume’ from the dropdown menu, Google will only show you results containing your exact word or phrase.

You can’t see other words that might have similar meanings or context to what you’re looking for, so this doesn’t give us enough data to make accurate predictions about which words we should target when optimizing our site content.

Google Search Console

Google search console

Google Search Console is a great place to start when you need information about search traffic to your website.

You can use this tool to monitor the keywords that drive traffic to your site, as well as their performance in terms of click-through rate (CTR).

It’s also useful for identifying new opportunities by seeing how well other people rank for search terms related to yours.

With Google Search Console, you can check if there are any pages on your site that aren't getting enough traffic from these searches—and make sure they're optimized (with the right keywords) so that they do!

Finally, one last thing: because this tool doesn’t show data from all possible sources (like organic search results), it’s not the most comprehensive keyword research tool out there.

But once you’ve learned more about your target audience and what kind of content will appeal directly to them.

Google Trends

Goolge trend

Google Trends is one of the best free tools out there for keyword research. With this tool, you can find out what keywords are popular in your niche and how they’re changing over time.

Google Trends will show you a graph with the search volumes of different keywords. The data is updated daily to give you an idea of how people search for products or services related to your business.

This tool makes it easy for newbie bloggers who don’t have much experience in SEO and SEM (search engine marketing) to get started on their journey toward ranking high on Google results in pages.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

ahrefs keyword research tool

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is one of my favorite SEO tools. It’s great for finding long-tail keywords, and it provides information about search volume and competition.

You can also use it to see which keywords are most popular in your niche, as well as which keywords your competitors are ranking for.

Moz’s Keyword Explorer

moz keyword research tool

Moz’s Keyword Explorer is a free tool that helps you find the right keywords for your site. It can help you do two things: find long-tail keywords and find keyword ideas. You can also use it to find keywords that your competitors rank for.

Let’s start by looking at some of Moz Keyword Explorer’s features so you know what to expect from this tool.

SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool

semrush keyword research tool

SEMRush is a paid keyword research tool. However, you can get a free trial of the product for seven days.

The results are pretty accurate and efficient in helping you find keywords that have high traffic volume.

It also provides information about your competitor’s positions on Google so that you know what kind of competition to expect from them when it comes time to rank your own website.

Answer The Public

answer the public keyword research tool
  • How to use Answer The Public to find keywords?

Answer the Public is one of the best tools for finding keywords, as you can see from our keyword research process.

You can use Answer the Public for multiple purposes like finding keyword ideas, variations, suggestions, and synonyms.

It’s a great tool if you want to get started with a new blog or content marketing campaign and find out what people are already talking about in your niche area.

  • How to use Answer The Public to find keyword ideas?

The first step is always “What kind of content should I create?”

Some people go straight into writing articles without knowing anything about their audience or what they might be interested in reading about, but this could quickly lead them down a dead-end road!

Ubersuggest

Ubersuggest keyword research tool

Ubersuggest is a keyword suggestion tool that finds long-tail keywords for your website. It’s free, and it works in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

All you have to do is enter the seed keyword (or topic) into Ubersuggest, and it presents you with hundreds of related terms that are perfect for creating content around.

Serpstat

serpstat keyword research tool

Serpstat is a great tool for keyword research, SEO, competitive analysis, and backlink analysis.

Serpstat can also be used for site audits. It checks your website’s performance in terms of on-page optimization and hence helps you improve its rankings.

KWFinder (Mangools)

kwfinder keyword tool

KWFinder is a keyword research and SEO tool that helps you find long-tail keywords, analyze competition and find profitable niches.

With KWFinder you can easily build an extensive list of profitable keywords that you can use on your website or in your marketing material.

This tool is great for researching the best keywords for local businesses as well as large companies.

Spyfu Keyword Research and Analysis Tool

spyfu keyword research tool

Spyfu is a keyword research and analysis tool that can be used to find keywords for your website, blog, or business. It’s a paid program but you can try it for free for 5 days before deciding if it’s worth purchasing.

Spyfu has a number of features including:

  • A keyword difficulty score that shows how hard it would be to rank for certain keywords with Google
  • A search volume graph to show how often people are searching for a specific word or phrase

FAQ

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is understanding words and phrases used by people while searching in search engines like Google and Bing. It helps you know words and phrases frequently searched by people so that you can create content that people are actually searching for.

Why do you need keyword research?

If you are a content creator for marketing then keyword research is needed to know what people are searching in Google or Bing. With keyword research, you can create content that can help you get traffic and conversion.

What are long-tail and short-tail keywords?

The long tail keyword has a long phrase like “How to make money online” while the short tail keyword is like “online marketing”. The long tail keyword has less competition and better conversion. While short tail keyword has higher competition with less conversion but can give huge traffic if you succeed in ranking it.

What are keyword research tools used for?

Keyword research tools are used to find profitable words and phrases for content marketing. These tools give you information about the volume and difficulty for keywords to rank in search engines.

What are some good tools to use for keyword research?

  • Google Keyword Planner
  • Google Search Console
  • Bing Webmaster Tool
  • SemRush
  • MOZ
  • Ahrefs
  • SpyFu

Conclusion

I hope you like the blog post! This is the first post in the keyword research series.

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