What is Keyword Research in SEO, and Why is it Important?
Keyword research is the process of finding and analyzing the words and phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information, products, services, or solutions related to their niche or industry. Keyword research is a crucial part of search engine optimization (SEO), improving the visibility and relevance of your website or web pages in the organic (non-paid) search results.
- Keyword Research Helps drive targeted traffic to the website
- Keyword Research Helps improve search engine rankings
- Keyword Research Helps understand user behaviour and preferences
- Keyword Research Helps create relevant and valuable content
- Keyword Research Helps identify new opportunities and trends
Why is keyword research important for SEO?
Here are some of the benefits of doing keyword research:
- It helps you understand your target audience’s needs, preferences, pain points, and intent. By knowing what they are searching for and why, you can create content that matches their expectations and provides value to them.
- It helps you identify the topics and themes that are most relevant and popular in your niche or industry. By knowing what your competitors are ranking for and what gaps exist in the market, you can find opportunities to create unique and engaging content that stands out from the crowd.
- It helps you optimize your website or web pages for the keywords that matter most to your business goals. Knowing which keywords have high search volume, low competition, and high conversion potential, you can prioritize them in your content creation and SEO strategy.
- It helps you measure and improve your SEO performance. By tracking how your website or web pages rank for your target keywords over time, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and make adjustments as needed.
How to do keyword research for SEO?
Here are some of the steps involved in doing keyword research:
Define your goals and objectives.
Before you start researching keywords, you need a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your website or web pages. What is the purpose of your content? Who is your target audience? What actions do you want them to take? How do you measure success?
Brainstorm a list of seed keywords.
Seed keywords are the main keywords that describe your niche or industry. They are usually broad and generic terms that have high search volume but low specificity. For example, if you have a website about gardening, some of your seed keywords might be “gardening”, “plants”, “flowers”, “vegetables”, etc. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or AnswerThePublic to generate more seed keywords based on your initial ideas.
Expand your list of seed keywords into long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and descriptive phrases with lower search volume but higher relevance and conversion potential. For example, if one of your seed keywords is “gardening”, some of your long-tail keywords might be “how to start a vegetable garden”, “best plants for small spaces”, “organic gardening tips”, etc. You can use tools like Google Search Console, Google Trends, or SEMrush to find more long-tail keywords based on your seed keywords.
Analyze the keyword difficulty and competition.
Keyword difficulty is a metric that indicates how hard it is to rank for a given keyword in the organic search results. Keyword competition is a metric that indicates how many other websites are targeting the same keyword. Generally, you want to find keywords that have low difficulty and low competition, as they are easier to rank for and have less competition. You can use tools like Moz Keyword Explorer, Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, or KWFinder to analyze your potential keywords’ keyword difficulty and competition.
Evaluate the keyword intent and relevance.
Keyword intent is the goal or purpose behind a user’s search query. Keyword relevance is how well a keyword matches the content and context of your website or web page. Generally, you want to find keywords with high intent and relevance, as they are more likely to attract qualified traffic and generate conversions. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or Hotjar to evaluate the keyword intent and relevance of your potential keywords.
Choose the best keywords for your website or web page.
Based on the previous steps, you should have a list of potential keywords that meet your goals and objectives. Now you need to select the best ones for your website or web page. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or SEMrush to compare the metrics and features of different keywords and choose the ones that have the best balance between search volume, difficulty, competition, intent, and relevance.
Keyword research is essential to SEO to help you create content that attracts and converts your target audience. Following these steps, you can find the best keywords for your website or web page and optimize them for better rankings and results.