Keyword Research

## How To Do Keyword Research Conducting keyword research isn’t an easy task. It takes time, effort and reflection on your brand or business. Here are a few steps to getting started though: ### 1. Make a Seed List This is the first step of keyword research and involves finding keywords and phrases that relate closely to your brand or business. When creating this list bear in mind: - Keywords you use in your business - Keywords your competitors use - Related keywords found in Google searches - Keywords typically used by your target audience ### 2. Determine a Keyword’s Popularity Once you have collated a list of relevant keywords, you'll need to find out their potential by taking a look at the [search volume](/marketing-glossary/search-volume-seo) for each term - you can do this using a keyword tool. ### 3. Refine the List Sure, you’ve gathered a good list of keywords, but you need to have the best. - Look at the [keyword difficulty](https://growhackscale.com/marketing-glossary/keyword-difficulty) score (more on that below) - Get rid of any words that appear ambiguous - Be wary of broad keywords - these are mainly used for international businesses ## What Are Some Other Components of Keyword Research? ### 1. Long Tail Keywords Long tail keywords are very specific phrases (usually three words or more) that searchers use when they know exactly what they are looking for. There is usually less content on the web about niche or specific topics, therefore long tail keywords are easier to rank for, and are tailored to the right audience. ### 2. Keyword Difficulty Understanding keyword difficulty is also an essential part of keyword research and relates to how hard it is to rank for a specific keyword. This is based on the level of competition for a keyword and the number of people searching for it. ## Tools to Help With Keyword Research It’s not an easy landscape to navigate but there are lots of tools out there to simplify the process (both free and paid for). ### 1. [AnswerThePublic](/go/answer-the-public) [AnswerThePublic](/go/answer-the-public) is **a visual keyword research tool** that furnishes you with a number of searches centered on your keywords in question form, giving you valuable insight into the mind of your target audience. It exports most of its data from Google and groups the information into Questions, Prepositions, Comparisons, Alphabetical and Related. It also has a **Search Listening Alerts** feature which tracks conversations revolving around your preferred keywords. It’s easier to craft relevant content and evoke your creativity when you keep abreast of the discourse. ### 2. [LongTailPro](/go/longtailpro) [LongtailPro](/go/longtailpro) software is, as the name suggests, used to seek out longtail keywords. This SEO tool can **generate up to 400 long tail words per seed keyword** along with a viability ranking for each suggestion. Its **Target Keyword Competitiveness** feature color codes each keyword according to its level of difficulty with green indicating easy, yellow being moderate and grey suggesting "don't even go there". This SaaS tool also allows you to identify and dissect the SEO strategy of websites and social media accounts that are graded high on your preferred keyword. It reveals the number of external backlinks and top-ranking keywords on their domain. This insight can help you create a winning SEO strategy. ### 3. [KWFinder](/go/kwfinder) [KWFinder](/go/kwfinder) is an uncomplicated keyword research tool designed to appeal to anyone regardless of their budget or SEO experience. It has two search alternatives: keyword or domain. The **Search by Keyword** option can narrow down search results to locations, not just by countries but cities. This unique feature helps one keep up with longtail keywords trending in a specific location. Click on any one of the **200+ suggested keywords** and the system automatically generates a SERP overview, exposing the SEO strategy of each highly ranked URL. ### 4. [SEMrush](/go/semrush) [SEMRush](/go/semrush) is a popular SEO tool that **covers all aspects of visibility management including keyword research**. The software collates data from one search engine only, Google. With it, you have access to about 20 billion keywords used in 130 countries. The research tool **scopes search volume per country, keyword difficulty, alternative keyword recommendations and SERP results**. It also reveals keyword variations, questions centered on that keyword as well as other related keywords. That's a load of suggestions to keep one's creative juices flowing with relevant content. ### 5. GrowthBar Growthbar is a **content marketing tool that executes keyword research and generates blogging ideas centered on your seed keyword**. It has a standalone web application as well as a Chrome extension. This software furnishes insights based on the keywords entered into the Google search bar. It will display the difficulty score of that particular keyword, generate a list of alternatives and related longtail keywords that you can exploit. In addition to that, you get an array of top-tier content ideas capable of scaling up your SERP ranking on Google. ‍ Other tools include: **Ahrefs Keywords Explorer**, **Google Keyword Planner**, **Keywords Everywhere**, **Ubersuggest**, **Moz Keyword Explorer** etc. ### How Can We Help? Feeling overwhelmed? We’ve got your back! Contact us and we could match you with a team that is ready to help! If you’re not looking to spend that much, why not try one of [our training courses](https://growhackscale.com/academy) instead? There’s something for everyone and you could start implementing new techniques immediately.