What Is Keyword Research?
Keyword research is a process used to identify words and phrases most appropriate to target, in order to generate brand awareness and attract a specific target audience.
Why Is Keyword Research Important?
Keyword research is important, because it ensures that your target audience matches with your website.
Researching into what keywords your target audience searches for the most and then incorporating it into your content, means that you'll be sure to reach the right people.
This leads to more of the right traffic filtering into your site, and a higher conversion rate.
Keyword research is also the first step towards 'keyword clustering' which is gaining more and more traction in the SEO world.
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 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 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)
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 instead?
There’s something for everyone and you could start implementing new techniques immediately.
