What Is Keyword Research?

Keyword research is the process of finding and searching for terms that people type into search engines. Your overall goal is to use the data that you find for a specific purpose such as SEO. Keyword research can help you find the topics or queries that you should specifically target. 

Why Is Keyword Research Important?

Keyword research is important because it helps you find which keywords are best to target. These can provide valuable insight into the queries your target audience is searching for on Google. The insight that you get from keyword research can help you to form your content strategy. 

How To Complete Keyword Research?

Brainstorm “Seed” Keywords

Seed keywords are the beginning of your keyword research process. Seed keywords help you to define your niche and help you to identify your competitors. All keyword research tools will ask you for a seed keyword. For example, if one of your clients is a personalised gifts company then you might put into the search bar “personalised gifts”. You only need to spend a few minutes pinpointing these seed keywords.

Use A Good Keyword Research Tool

To complete keyword research you will need a good keyword research tool. Our two favourite keyword research tools are Ahrefs and Semrush. If you work in digital marketing, these are going to be tools that you use a lot. They can be a bit of an investment. However, to complete your keyword research as best you can then you need to spend the extra money as cheaper tools will have their drawbacks. 

Consider Search Intent

Search intent is the term that is used to describe the purpose of an online search. You want to find out why a particular user is searching for particular keywords and how you can provide them with the knowledge and the information they need for that search intent. 

There are four types of search intent that you will want to become familiar with:

• Informational Intent

This is when the user is looking for information. When people are looking for specific information, they have a specific question or they want to know more about a particular topic. For example, if a user searches for “vegetarian lasagne”, search engines will understand that the user may be looking for a recipe and will rank informational recipes higher. 

• Transactional Intent

This is when the user is looking for something to buy or compare prices of a particular product or service. When people are searching with transactional intent it is always good to direct people to transactional pages. 

• Navigational Intent

This is when the user is looking for a specific website. For example, searching for Instagram in a search bar has a navigational intent. There isn’t very much point in trying to rank for a keyword like this as it will most likely mean that you will not drive traffic to your website because you are not the website that the user is looking for. 

• Commercial Investigation

This is when the user is still deciding on their purchase but they are looking to buy in the future, this just means that the user is researching whether they want to make a purchase.  For example, if a user is searching for “noise-cancelling headphone recommendations, ” they may be looking for a list of information that compares different headphones if they are undecided/ or unsure which ones are best for their needs. 

When you are completing keyword research you will need to consider the search intent every time. 

Identify Any Content Gaps

Content gaps are a great way to better your SEO strategy. When completing keyword research, you will want to look for keywords that have a higher search volume but are not competitive. You can identify content gaps by looking at competitors to see what they are failing to do well so that you can do it better. 

Look At Your Competitors

Whilst you are doing your keyword research you will have been looking at your competitors the entire time. It is important to keep an eye on competitors at key points throughout your strategy. 

SEO Tools 

There are plenty of SEO tools that you can use, especially if you are on a budget. Some tools that are great if you are on a budget are:

Answer The Public

This is a tool that shows you the questions, statements, and keywords that people are searching for. This is great if you are stuck for content ideas, especially because you want to create content that people actually want to see. 

Google Keyword Planner

This tool tends to be used for Google Ads. This tool allows you to get an estimation for monthly searches of certain keywords. This isn’t the most accurate tool but it is a good tool if you are on a budget.

Some tools that are great though if budget isn’t an option are:

SEMrush

SEMrush is a data tool that helps you to optimise your website for Google. Through this tool, you can complete keyword research by searching for keywords and the tool tells you roughly how many times this particular keyword has been searched for and how easy the keyword is to rank for. 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is similar to SEMrush in the fact that it is an SEO software that contains tools for link building, keyword research, competitor analysis, rank tracking, and site audits. 

There you have it, our tips when it comes to keyword research. If you are interested in reading more about digital marketing, social media marketing, keyword research, and more, then please visit our website here.