Guide to Keyword Research for SEO

Keywords are the heart of SEO. It’s where it all starts, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, where it all ends. To ensure it’ll play out well for you, dive right into this guide to keyword research for SEO. You’ll learn what keyword research is, why you should care about it, and how you can do it.

Of course, we’ll also touch upon some of the best keyword research tools you can use and give you a few of our tips and tricks. All that is yet to come, but now, let’s take a look at the basics.

What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and understanding terms that people use to search for something on Google. The better you get the intent behind the phrases they use, the closer you’ll be able to get to your audience, and the more you’ll pop out on the SERPs.

But is that all there is?

Why Should You Care About It?

If you do keyword research, you’ll get valuable insights into how your target audience uses Google. You’ll see which words and phrases they type in, so you’ll know what terms you can use to get their attention. It’ll help you shape your content and your overall marketing strategy.

Remember, when they’re searching for something online, people want either info or a solution. Hence, you need to make the content they’ll notice and want to consume. The more value you provide, the more traffic you’ll get.

As the experts from Movers Development explain it: you shouldn’t create content based on what you want to tell your audience. On the contrary, you need to create content about what they want to hear. This way, you’re luring the audience to come to you, which is much better than you chasing them around.

How to Perform a Keyword Research for SEO

Now that you know what keyword research is and why you should do it, let’s talk about how you can do it. Here’s a step-by-step process that’ll get you to the terms you should be using to rank high.

Make a List of Topics Relevant to Your Business

At the start, you’ll want to think generically. Come up with five to ten topic buckets you feel are important for your business and interesting to your audience.

If you already have a blog on your website, it’s safe to say these are the topics you cover the most often. That said, it would be wise to also think about the topics that come up in sales conversations. Think of your company the way your buyers think of it. Figure out what you’re offering and how you think people would like to find you online.

Once you list all the topics you want to rank for, we can move on to the keywords.

Fill Up Topic Buckets With Keywords

The next thing you’ll need is the keywords to fall into those topic buckets. And in this early stage, feel free to come up with some keywords on your own. List the phrases you think are important to rank for in the SERPs, and don’t stop writing for as long as you have ideas.

At the moment, the goal isn’t to come up with your final list of keywords. You’re just brainstorming phrases now, and you’ll narrow them down later on.

If you find yourself stuck here, take a look at which keywords you’re already ranking for. Log into your Google Analytics tool or use any of the SERP tracking tools to find your content that people are already reading and then draw ideas from it.

Understand the Intent Behind the Phrases

As we mentioned at the beginning of the guide to keyword research for SEO, one of the vital things here is to understand people’s intent when they type in their search query. Your job is to solve their problem, so your page must be about giving them a solution, rather than just carrying the keyword they used.

So, don’t take keywords for granted. They’re not all about the face value, but there’s also a lot going on under the surface. If you use a key phrase in the wrong context, it could harm your ranking.

Luckily, it’s easy to verify the intent behind any keyword. Just type it into Google and see what comes up.

Look at Related Search Terms

If you want to fill your topic buckets with more new keywords, pay attention to the related search terms. Type in your keyword and scroll right down to the bottom of Google results. You’ll be greeted by a list of phrases closely related to the one you just used. Even if you can’t use any of them, they might spark new ideas.

Use SEO Tools to Rule the SERPs

If you’re new in all of this, it’s easy to make a mistake. Keyword research is an essential part of SEO, and if you get it wrong, you can provoke lots of other problems that’ll show up down the line. That said, it’ll be easy to prevent missteps from happening if you use keyword research tools to your advantage. Here’s a list of popular choices among SEOs — some are free, and some you’ll have to pay for.

Ahrefs
SEMrush
Google Keyword Planner
KWFinder
GrowthBar

How to Stay on the Right Track

If you have followed every step of the guide, you have to refine your keywords list and start using it.
First off, use your chosen keyword research tool to determine which of your phrases have just the right search volume for you to chase after them.

The second thing is to focus on low-hanging fruit. Don’t try competing with big companies in your niche right away. Instead, find keywords they aren’t ranking for, but you feel have potential, and go with them.

Finally, make sure you have a mix of head terms and long-tail keywords in each topic bucket. To make SEO the turning point for your website success, you must find your place online, and a well-balanced strategy will get you there.

Keep in mind that the keyword research for SEO will stay the same, but the keywords themselves will change. Hence, reevaluate them every few months to make sure you’re keeping up with the trends.