If you want to get straight into it, here’s a video to watch how it can be done:
1. Identify Your Target Audience and Topic
When conducting keyword research, identifying your target topic should be one of the first steps in the marketing research methodology. This will help you narrow your search to a niche and make sure the keywords you use are relevant to the topic you want to cover. In order to guide the rest of the process, you must first determine what keywords you want to rank for.
First, think about the topic that would be of interest to your target audience—age group, gender identity, location, etc. Once you know who you’re writing for, make a list of words that describe the topic and are directly related to it.
For example, if you want to cover the topic of “fashion trends” for young adults between 18-25 years old living in New York City, some keywords could include “current fashion trends” or “NYC street style.”
This is a way of getting inside the head of your customer, and what links they will likely click when they perform search queries. Think about what value you can provide on your website, and how relevant this keyword will be to them
A direct way of doing this is to literally start entering in keywords in to Google and coming through the People Also Asked Section, and Suggested Searches at the bottom of the SERP. Search engines are more predictive and provide suggestions to their users to keep them clicking through their Google search results to find the right answer to their question.
Then use sure to use keyword modifiers to build further insights into keywords that are relevant to your key topic.
2. Use A Keyword Research Tool
Once you have created a list of potential keywords related to your target audience it’s time to start searching for more specific terms using various online tools such as Semrush, Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, and Answer the Public.
These free tools allow users to enter their desired term(s) and generate hundreds (sometimes thousands!) of related phrases with each search query submitted; making researching very efficient and much less time consuming than manually scouring through pages upon pages trying find suitable terms yourself!
Furthermore, many platforms provide additional information such as the average monthly searches per phrase, which can be useful in determining which phrases work best for SEO optimization purposes.
Once this is complete, copy and paste your keywords that you’ve selected into a main spreadsheet with Keyword, Difficultly Score, and Volume as your basic metrics.
3. Analyze Search Volume & Competition Level
Once you have a list of potential keywords, it’s important to analyze the results to see which keywords are the most relevant to your website. Look at the search volume, competition, and relevance of each keyword to determine which ones are the best fit for your website – this is key data for SEO. Search volume essentially indicates traffic potential for the website if it was to rank for this target keyword.
This will save time from investing effort into something that may not result desired outcomes due higher difficulty or increased competitive pressure from other sites targeting same topic area within SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). To determine these factors try using either Surfer SEO or Ahrefs Explorer Plugin which both offer great analysis features regarding page authority/ranking difficulty scores respectively so user can make better informed decisions around topics being researched .
4. Optional: Google Trends
Keyword research is a fundamental aspect of SEO, and one of the most effective tools for uncovering the phrases and terms that your audience is searching for is Google Trends. This invaluable resource allows you to see the relative popularity of keywords over time, giving you insight into seasonal fluctuations, geographical variations, and more.
Beyond just identifying popular keywords, Google Trends also allows you to compare the performance of multiple keywords side-by-side. This can help you to determine which terms are most closely associated with your brand, product, or service, and to fine-tune your content strategy accordingly. And with the ability to drill down into specific regions or even cities, you can gain a granular understanding of the search behavior of your target audience.
5. Start Optimising!
Once you have identified the best keywords for your website, it’s time to optimize your website to rank for those keywords. This includes creating high-quality content, optimizing your website’s meta tags and meta descriptions, and building backlinks to your website. There’s a ton of great things you can do after your keyword research is done too.
Here’s a video with more keyword research tips:
What are some tools that can be used for keyword research?
Some tools that can be used for keyword research include Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, SEO Surfer, Inlinks, Keyword Insights and Ahrefs.
How can identifying a target audience help in keyword research?
If you know who you want to reach, you can narrow down your search and make sure that the keywords you use are relevant to that audience. By understanding the demographic information of the target audience, such as age group, gender identity, and location, it can assist in creating a list of descriptive words that relate directly to them.
How can monitoring trends over time help in keyword research?
Keeping an eye on trends over time can help you spot new opportunities and take advantage of them before other people hear about them. By staying up-to-date with the latest news in the space, users should be able to get a jumpstart on the next big thing. This can be done by measuring performance results against industry benchmarks and metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and total impressions.
What is the importance of refining and reevaluating the keyword research process?
To keep a keyword strategy working, it is important to keep improving and re-evaluating the keyword research process and learning SEO continually. It allows users to check stats and see if adjustments need to be made by reallocating resources or adjusting focus on different areas. This ensures that the team stays one step ahead of the competition and is always ready to tackle the latest challenges.
