The Beginner’s Guide to Keyword Research

According to research, a staggering 93% of online events begin with a search engine! Moreover, with the growth of smartphones and mobile devices, these statistics are only expected to increase! As such, ensuring that a website ranks well in the search engine result pages (SERPs) is a vital part of being found online and the overall success of a business in the digital age. The first step in implementing this strategy, search engine optimization (SEO), is keyword research.

 

So, what exactly is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of understanding the language used by the target audience when searching for a business or its products, services, or content. It also involves the study, analysis, and comparison of the most suitable keyword options which would help in directing traffic to the business's website.

 

Mentioned below are 4 easy steps to follow for the most optimum keyword research for your business -

 

Create Your Own List Of Keyword Ideas

To begin with, create your own list of keyword ideas tailored to your business, the product or service you’re offering and the industry you’re associated with. While doing so, ensure that you think from your target audience’s point of view and curate a list accordingly. This is primarily because Google now prioritizes ‘search intent’ in order to enhance the user experience. To understand with the help of an example - a user searching for ‘is SEO helpful to a small business?’ and a user searching for ‘SEO companies in Canada’ are on the lookout for two very different things. While the former is still contemplating whether investing in SEO will benefit his business, the latter is looking to hire an SEO agency based in Canada. Taking this into consideration, Google will display different results for both of these users. For this reason, it is extremely important to think from your customer’s perspective while brainstorming keyword ideas for your business to get the best results.

Refer to Auto-Suggest and Related Search Queries

Another great way of researching keywords for your business is to enter some of your short and long-tail keywords into the search engine and have a look at the auto-suggest options and the related search queries’ results derived from it. ‘Auto-suggestions’ will be reflected in the search bar itself as you type your keywords while ‘related search queries' can be found at the bottom of the first search engine result page (SERP). Doing so will help you understand what your potential customers are exactly searching for as well as their queries and concerns about the same. With respect to the example mentioned above, performing a search for ‘SEO companies in Canada’ may also reflect auto-suggestions like ‘affordable SEO packages’, ‘SEO for small business’, etc. Taking this into account, you can not only add new keywords to your list but also create content that addresses these concerns in order to help your website rank higher in the SERPs and drive more traffic to it!

Check What Your Competitors Are Ranking For

Next, study your competitors’ SEO strategy and find out what keywords they are targeting and ranking for. This can be done by analyzing their online presence (website, blogs, social media channels, etc) and trying to understand their approach in terms of content strategy. This is an excellent way to explore some aspects that you may have overlooked whilst undertaking your own research and bridging the gaps in time. Apart from studying your competitors’ online presence, you can also use some of the leading tools for keyword research (mentioned in the next point) to understand various aspects of their SEO strategy in-depth. To learn how to generate content ideas using Google analytics, read this.

 

Use Keyword Research Tools

Lastly, make use of leading tools for keyword research like SEMrush, Ubersuggest, Ahrefs Keyword Explorer, Google Keyword Planner, Answer The Public, etc as they will not only simplify the keyword research process for you to a great extent but also provide detailed reports and actionable insights (like search volume, cost-per-click, paid difficulty, SEO difficulty, related keywords, etc) for strengthening your overall SEO strategy. In addition to this, you can also refer to Google Trends to learn about what’s trending in your industry niche, further capitalize on those keywords by incorporating them into your SEO content strategy and ranking higher in the SERPs!

 

In conclusion, once you have an extensive list of keywords tailored to your business, analyze, compare and shortlist the best ones to integrate them into your overall SEO strategy for optimum results.

For further support to grow your business, our team at Parkyd Digital is available and happy to help you. With a deep understanding of the digital marketing landscape and over a decade of industry experience, we offer holistic marketing solutions that are customized according to your requirements to effectively boost your ROI and achieve your business goals.

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